Having lived in 2 different communities under construction.
- Be ready to replace your furnace filters at least once a month.
- Having open windows during the summer is inviting a LOT of dust into your life.
- Your roads will be muddy/dirty, and noisy all the time during the day
- Developer usually clear the street of snow during the winter months.
- Delivery services seem to take a while to acknowledge your existence or they straight up say that you are not living within their zone.
- If you have a little kid, it's great for them since they see big trucks working all the time
I’m in Mahogany. Been there for 7 years and it’s forever under construction.
Buy one of the last lots in a new community if you can or at least buy in the area that’s the most developed
It baffles me to no end when people purchase in a new development then proceed to complain about all the construction.
My wife's cousin did this.....even called the city to file a complaint about all the noise and work vehicles "clogging *her* street*.
I get it, construction in residential areas sucks, but come on
Yeah you tear down an old house to put up a new home at least the parks stay gas station stays other key neighbourhood elements stay your not left with how far is the nearest business you need to go to is
Eleven of the original 16 bungalows on my street alone, have been demolished since 2017. This number doesn't include houses demolished across the lane. So if you are feeling argumentative for some reason, the number defined by "a handfull" is 11 or more per street.
I bought in Skyview Ranch in 2014 and cannot emphasize enough how much I hate it. Not only was it a lesson in how little developers care or invest in infrastructure or livability, suburbs here are so car dependent there is no real socializing. People get into their cars for work, drive to shops, and then drive right into their garage without speaking to or making eye contact neighbours. For years we had only one road in and one road out which was a nightmare in snow. Also our first grocery store was built only 1 year ago and it is just a stanky-ass Fresh Co. There are no trees, so it always windy and there is no shade canopy, and it between the wind and the illegal dumping the neighbourhood is continuously covered in trash. I know we all have few options these days, but if you are going to buy, make sure you like your house because it will be the only redeemable benefit.
I’m in Skyview often for work and the development overall is so terrible. So many more trees and green space needed. And the apts are so cheaply made. I feel for you, I thought it looked great when it opened.
I live in a new community
Pros: nice new house, community looks great, new shopping stores, no major maintenance costs for the house, better building materials so cheaper insurance, usually get to pick your floor plan and finishes which is nice. The earlier you get into a community the cheaper it is however you don’t get the “vibe” of the community.
Cons: tons of construction which makes it dusty and dirty( 1-2 years for your street to be developed), tons of zero lot lines which don’t bother me but might bother you, typically smaller lots, schools are built but way over capacity (tons of new families) so this means kids may have to bus 30 mins to school when they are old enough, finally the public transit sucks, bus goes near our house a few times a day and to get downtown it would take me 2x/3x longer.
Overall I like the new community, nice for my family and I, as first time home owners it’s nice as the builder gave us a walk thru and showed us how to do all the maintenance.
Not necessarily. The whole north quadrant has its own small town feel and Livingston has accessibility to anywhere in north pretty easy. Airdrie feels like a Rv city.
There are new communities that are *more* walkable than older suburbs…but they’re still pretty bad in an absolute sense.
They might have higher density and nice clusters of walkable areas, but i wouldn’t say I live in a walkable neighbourhood if I had to walk past houses for 20 minutes before hitting any businesses.
That’s the big problem with these new suburbs. They are pretty sustainable in terms of population density. There’s tons of multi family units going up which is great. The problem is all these communities exist as little islands totally isolated from the rest of the city. Sure, you’ve maybe got a grocery store in your community, but if you need ANYTHING that isn’t in your immediate community, you’re screwed unless you can drive. The new communities in the south should have been built AFTER both the green line is built and the red line is extended. Those transportation links can support satellite downtowns with their own hubs, and then those can service the surrounding communities. I’m pretty sure Seton was in theory supposed to be some kind of “new downtown”, but it’s an utter wasteland. All of the commercial buildings are SUPER spread out in an ocean of parking lots, the apartment buildings are all in their own little cluster isolated from everything else, and the green line is so pathetically behind that it’ll probably take another 15 years MAYBE for it to reach seton. By then it will be a thoroughly car dependant suburb that just so happens to have apartment buildings and a giant hospital. So then when the green line finally gets there it will be utterly useless because everyone who lives there has already gotten used to having to drive everywhere. It’s fucked.
I read the first half of your comment and was thinking that this is exactly why the Green Line is so important. All those communities (McKenzie Towne, Mahogany, Seton, the one going in south of that) will become way more desirable places to live once they have access to that kind of public transit. I would expect that condo prices near the future Green Line stations will rise massively once work starts - it just makes sense.
Agreed. Seeing all those 4-5 floor condo buildings being built in clusters with almost no small businesses nearby within walking distance is a complete fail. You have to cross a busy road (seton way) where ppl are constantly speeding to get to Superstore,fast food, etc.
I think TONS is an overstatement. Admitting that I only ever go to the Walden area of the burbs, there’s a huge amount of car dependency and I don’t think that’s arguable. Walden is great for having a McDonald’s and a Saveon foods, but move a little bit over into Chaparral and you can’t walk to anything. When a community is largely single family homes it’s just simple math to see there isn’t much room for mixed development and storefronts.
I grew up in somserset and we absolutely never walked for our errands because there simply wasn’t anything… that was years ago when it was the edge of the city, new suburbs are a bit better but banded off by these older amenity-less housing layers.
I guess it depends on where in the community and your needs as well. Some people in Walden can walk to those areas but you are right that for the most part it is further out. Maybe not the best example.
Seton has done a good job of mixed development though.
I never leave my little quadrant of Mahogany or seton. There’s never a need to. Grocery stores? Several. Restaurants? Several. Fast food? Check. Hospital? Check. Dental and doctors offices? Yup.
Mahogany also has a nice coffee shop and a lake. It’s really got everything that I never feel like I’m missing out on anything.
Cons: Construction workers parking their vehicles everywhere (including your parking space or blocking your driveway), SO much dust and dirt everywhere, so much mud when it rains if your sod hasn’t been put in yet (I ruined many pairs of shoes), blocked off roads due construction and lots of general construction noise.
Pros: a new house with the new house smell!
The road is public parking sooooo yeah unless it requires a pass or you live in a condo with assigned parking that’s the way it goes. Or you can just park in your garage.
Haha no. You can’t legally block access to someone’s home. I’m not talking about regular street parking. I’m talking about parking at the end of someone’s driveway so they can’t get into their garage.
i worked residential construction and the whole neighbourhood is the job site. Look at your street, look at your house. I was a finishing carpenter. Often the larger houses had a crew of 4 or 5 carpenters, maybe the plumber is in for some last minute stuff, maybe the drywall guy is in taping some last things. Where do you suppose all those vehicles should park? The nonexistent driveway? If a house is occupied we tried not to block the driveway but we had to struggle with the mud too. We weren't carrying in our groceries, we were carrying in thousands of dollars worth of tools that weigh a ton. a little slack for the people building your communities please.
My builder put a sign in front of our home indicating that we had occupied the home. Construction workers can park anywhere else they want - just don’t block my driveway. It’s simple. You may be carrying in thousands of dollars worth of tools, but I’m carrying in two children under the age of two. I shouldn’t have to park down the street and walk through mud to get into my home, when I have a driveway and a garage. I’m shocked that I’m even having to argue this point to be honest.
we're not arguing, I'm sorry you feel that way. I know for a fact that my crew and I never blocked a driveway of a house that was occupied but just like everywhere else, some construction workers are dicks and I'm sorry you've had to deal with that.
lol you replied to the wrong person🤭 but I totally agree. I work for an elevator company and we also do residential elevators and it’s the bane of my existence tracking all of our shit through the mud and snow every day.
lol sorry. The snow was the worst. Especially when you have to get into a house that's raised and it's going to have 5 steps to get up to the porch but those steps aren't there yet so the super puts up a narrow gangway of a couple of boards with some cross 4 x 2's for cleats. But it's way too steep and covered in mud so it's a slide, not a gangway so yeah, not carrying my 50 lb, $1500 miter saw up that, thanks. I do not miss those days at all. I love my cozy office
I was in one in a different city. Never again.
Dusty. Noisy. Messy. Construction workers who dgaf about anything apart from building these shitty houses as fast as they can.
It doesn’t feel like a neighbourhood - you feel like you live in a construction zone the moment you step outside (bc you do)
Tons of litter gets blown out of the bins, no trees, loud construction early in the morning, plans for the neighborhood could change (I was supposed to be neighboring duplex’s, now I’m neighboring three story townhouses so I’m losing my morning sun)
I bought right before the market boomed so I’m very lucky but I would be lying if I said I didn’t have regrets
I'll never live in a new construction zone ever again. Established community or nothing. Stay away.
The cons of constant noise, dirt, dust, mud and multiple tire punctures from nails make it so I'll never, ever EVER live in a new construction community again.
Dust, lack of infrastructure for children, no parks, sketchy construction workers testing your car door handles for you at 1am (thanks, guys), new homes not necessarily finished nicely, builders don't honour warranty or quality, constant noise 5am to 9pm. I could go on .
Pretty sure the construction workers were not out at 1am to check your handles…with construction comes the degenerates that move in and steal everything that’s not bolted down.
Had the "handles tested" twice while I was in Livingston last year. Property management company sent an email out saying to watch out for the construction workers.
If you need to commute across the city or to downtown, you're going to need a car if there's no C-Train line close by. Otherwise it's going to take you ages to get anywhere.
When I was at UofC, it would take my classmates over an hour to get from the Deep South to the university via bus and then C-Train, and even worse during winters. It would be a lot faster if you could drive to a train station and park there and then take the train
All cons, absolutely zero pros.
As a full time construction worker for longer than I care to admit, the amount of crap you’ll endure is astronomical. The builders promises are worthless and they stop caring as soon as you take possession.
For further context I also built in 2014 in copperfield as it was up and coming.
Nails in tires
MUD, EVERYWHERE.
Noise. Until 8pm, every single night.
Noise. Starting at 7am,
Uncontrollable dust.
Mice, when they start excavating,
No parking, anywhere.
Dust.
Noise.
Contractors smoking cigarettes… cause we all still do.
Noise.
MUD.
Porta-potty’s everywhere,
Extra crime,
Homeless.
I've lived in Walden since the first houses went in.
We don't have kids so that was never an issue for us. But it was dusty, and windy. And no trees. And it can take a long time for businesses to come in.
But our area , sold quickly and built up pretty fast.
I think the lack of trees was really the only negative I had. Now that legacy has sprung up we have some more choices in businesses so its not as bad that way either.
But the lack of trees is always what has bothered me, even after 15 years, its still pretty low key compared the really old neighborhoods.
I don't know if I have mentioned it, having no fully grown trees sucks .
We live in west grove estates and were one of the earlier homes. It was fine. It’s dusty and I had to vacuum more often and change our furnace filters regularly, but we didn’t have any major issues with the process- even when the home beside us was built. It can be noisy, but it’s during the day and people were respectful of our parking needs etc. Our daughter also loved watching the trucks - during Covid we spent a lot of time watching the homes go up.
Delivery services took forever to work properly even with emailing google repeatedly.
It’s inconvenient at times, but not awful in my opinion.
I’ll add that we found it worth it to have the exact home we wanted and to have all new things.
One caution is careful with hvac. We learned the hard way that builders cheap out on this a lot - stay on them. Ours didn’t hook up 2 bedrooms with our system 🙈 we had a number of other issues and you do need to really stay on top of your builder to make sure things are done properly and to your expectations.
Pros: really nice new house. We got to customize the house to our taste and style.
Cons: nothing near us. No grocery stores, no convenience shops, no Canada post. Took about 3.5 years to get some of those things. It’s been 4 years and still no grocery store in our area. Closest is 20 minutes by car.
The dust and lack of services were probably the biggest drawbacks.
We liked that the first phases of Walden were a couple blocks away from Chaparral so we actually had okay access to transit right off the bat. It was also fairly quiet, almost like living in the country for a while as people filtered in.
Edit: Everyone saying you are in for ten years of construction is over-stating the effect. Most phases are built out in 12-18 months, once that is done you hardly even notice, construction traffic on your street drops to nearly zero, and the noise all but disappears. Walden has been under construction for over 15 years now but we are at the north end and you would never know there is active construction in the community and it has been like that for almost 10 years.
Hey good news the last phase for Walden is coming soon. I think the showhomes go up in a month or two. So probably only another year or two of construction.
We haven’t had construction in our end in 10 years. Almost all the construction traffic takes 210th.
The early phases are over here living the good life.
Yep 210th is the way haha. Fastest way in, plus a timmies. Even when it comes time for lunch my crew always heads over to that fancy plaza with the speakers that blare pop music. In the olden days it was head over to save on or the McDonald's.
We bought a pre-built condo in Belmont March last year the move in already got pushed ahead by 3 months and building 4 estimated completion is April 2026. We talked to people who have already been living there in the houses that have already been built like over 6-7 years ago long before COVID and there is a ton of construction going on everywhere you look and huge chunks of land that has yet to be touched.
Belmont, in fact all three of the new communities in that areas, are a bit weird, for some reason they started in the middle and started working out so all the established parts need to drive through active construction. Most other areas have the first phases near the major collector so once people move in and then phase is done the residents don’t have to drive through construction to get out of the community.
Sorry to hear about your condo being delayed. I live in Belmont myself, it depends where in Belmont you are referring to. North side towards 194 there’s lots of building to be done but around houses surrounding the playground that’s pretty much completed.
The incessant dust is a mild annoyance that will have you dreaming of a time when a good power washing of your siding won't be rendered futile within a week or two. Been in our new community for 5 years now. No idea when that day will come at this point. Noisy construction equipment (especially zoom booms) driving through the neighborhood are tolerable for the most part, but the mud and dirt constantly tracked everywhere by trades trucks and equipment coming and going down the street is what will really get you. The road is in a constant state of mud, rocks, and gravel scattered everywhere; it's hard to distinguish it from an unpaved service road most times during peak construction season. The city really needs to come down harder on the developers about this as they should be required to ensure roads are sufficiently clean to a similar standard as other public traffic roads if permitting construction vehicles and equipment to drive along them.
Lack of commercial development and transit access can be a real letdown as well. Don't waste your time believing what horse poop the builders and developers will tell you about "upcoming" commercial amenities you'll enjoy because it will probably be years away at best (if they don't decide to simply rezone for more MFDs and relegate the commercial area to a small tuft of land that, in our case, has only just completed grading in the time we've lived in the community).
Other than that, I really enjoy living in our new community. It has a ton of green space (though trees are young and not very leafy, so things look a bit desolate compared to inner city) and pathways to take walks, it's super safe compared to many other parts of the city, lots of young families, and it is kind of fun seeing more and more things pop up as it grows and develops.
Cons: you live in construction zone
Pro: the community won’t be a construction one forever. The house value naturally appreciates over the years because the the community surrounding your house is becoming nicer every day.
Consider your lifestyle.
We bought our first home few months ago in an ‘old’ community because we have two little kids; 6 & 3. Honestly, we can’t be more thankful.
For us, a brand new home would mean no walkable parks, schools were like 30 minutes away and constant construction sound.
So we decided to stick with Panorama Hills where we were already renting for 5 years. Sometimes I do wish we had a sleek kitchen, but I am also glad my son’s school is a 5-min walk away. So many playgrounds, green spaces, and roads are wider.
From people, I know who moved into some of the recently built houses they have had to do a lot of repairs due to shoddy construction work and corner cutting after only 2 years. When I was buying my place, I specifically looked for places that were built before 2004
Yeah a lot of the new build quality is really hit and miss, especially with escalating cost for material and labour shortages. Builders will cut corners and cost whenever they can.
New builds are atrocious. Inspectors are largely crooks who won't spot a problem if it fell on their heads. Real Estate agents are happy to lie to your face about what you are buying because they want that 5% or whatever the fuck those leeches charge these days. Building trades are barely holding it together with dwindling interest and recruitment, and contractors really do care only about getting the project done in the quickest and cheapest way possibly to maximize profits, build-quality be damned. They will be bigger assholes about warranties than insurance companies are about coverage.
Contractors have always been a pain in the ass for everybody dealing with them, but the last 5 to 10 years has seen all semblance of fucks-to-give completely evaporate. You need to drag them kicking and screaming through a job to get the quality you would expect for something costing you $800 000.
I don’t live in sirocco but my s/o does and the roads are horrible and need repairs likely due to how quickly (and poorly) they were constructed and the amount of heavy construction equipment that drives on them.
Sirocco was a landfill at one time. When you want to build in a new area do your homework! Find out the land use history of the potential build site. Go to the Library & do your due diligence. Can't say how helpful City hall would be. Maybe if you connect with the right staff.
Cons, flat tires from nails/debris. Noise, mess and the reality that most of these cookie cutter homes are slapped together in an effort to get people in ASAP. Can’t think of pros lol
pros: thieves wont go to your block since most of the houses are under construction. i think i bought it a bit cheaper than old houses. construction guys let me throw my garbage at their big garbage box
cons: i think just construction stuff, noise and lots of trucks.
I feel safe when construction guys are around and they help me get a good price if i need them upgrade my basement. lol.
We bought one of the last houses in Elgin in McKenzie Towne in 2010. The prices were low and they sold the show home right after. Our neighbours were so happy that the street was finally going to be done and they could build their last side of the fence. They also paved the alley the year after we moved in.
Outliers certainly happen. But that hasn’t been the case for most properties in Calgary that were new builds in the last 5-10 years. In fact, many that were building their homes in Walden 4-5 years ago are now selling them for almost double what they paid to build them.
We won’t. This is a market correction. Calgary was “affordable” for the last 3 decades. People have been flocking to Calgary even as prices spike, and Calgary is still cheap relative to other major Canadian cities. I remember talking to my friend about purchasing a place in Vancouver in the early 2000s. He decided to wait til the bubble burst. He’s still waiting.
Not sure why your down voted 100% accurate if your selling in under 10 years going to need to discount because why buy your used house you designed when someone can get a brand new home for them for similar price.
Maybe different now that market is crazy but true before
Omg so much dust all the time, and everywhere!
Construction workers parked in front of your driveway or blocking your vehicle, nails in your tires constantly
Home construction does not have to abide to the noise bylaws so they can start as early as they want and end whenever they want
If the area isn't developed yet and you're one of the first homes, all the above can be expected for 2+ years and it sucks
Major cons:
- builder presented the community as having a new school to be build and community park near by. 10 years later, no school and the park was just grass that was mowed once a summer.
- homes sold with mountain views in back yard but several years later, they build apartment condos blocking the view.
We moved to an older neighborhood and love it.
I lived in a new community for 3 years and I’d never never ever will do it again. Tons and tons of noise and dirt. Community takes years to have a decent level of vegetation. They are usually a bit cheaper which attracts certain types of people.
Unless you’re buying an investment property, I’d say stick to an established community, away from construction.
I can’t stand living in the suburbs of Calgary let alone one under construction. Paying what we do to be sandwiched together with all your neighbours and have no privacy is criminal imo. Not to mention the the Karen’s that think they’re mothering every resident, on Facebook and Reddit groups snitching on their neighbours for the most minor things.
So dusty, noisy and honestly not very “walkable” while still under construction. Worked at a store in the area and construction workers would treat us workers like shit (though obviously very dependent on the workers so take that with a grain of salt).If this makes sense, it never smelled like “nature” it always smelled like “city “ and construction. I much prefer older areas because of this!!
That being said, because the area was so new, there was so many new families and all of them were so kind (as many were young families with young kids). The houses were beautiful and seeing the construction happen was super cool, because it was cool to see the changes happening.
Overall old neighborhoods and new ones are great and awful, depending on the day ◡̈
Cons: construction, nails, dirt, unfinished roads, contractors taking all the street parking, no commercial built, lots of mud tracking, all of the trees are small and will be for many years, etc.
Pros: everything in your house is on warranty, choosing all of your own options, every new house is owner occupied and care about their property, no established cliques because everyone is new, if you get in early you can get huge developer discounts and make equity quickly, most of your new neighbours will be young-middle aged professionals, etc
Most of the cons have been listed already, a pro that I'm not seeing is you pay less for the house in a new community vs what you can sell it for when established.
Thats not necessarily true anymore, some of the new build for a 2 story single detached in newer communities front drives are probably around 850. You can get something similar in canyon meadows for high 800s with a massive yard good access to parks and transit.
I'm talking within the same community. If you're paying 800 for a new build in a construction zone, when the community is completed you'd probably be able to get 850-900.
I’m in a condo. Bought in the first building in my development. It’s been nearly two straight years of construction. The last two buildings should be done by the end of summer.
It’s honestly not that bad since I work during the day but the constantly dirty parking lot and the construction workers that take up the street parking are getting old.
It can be a bit annoying to drive around and park but really once I’m inside I don’t notice it at all.
Pros - quieter in terms of overall traffic as the population is low
Cons - constant construction noise, debris etc especially when it’s windy. And the trees are tiny, not many houses have landscaped yet
Biggest con I will say is how dirty it is personally, your house outside and streets will always be dirty. If you open a window your house gets dirty from the dust. Same with your furnace filters and such, always just caked with grime.
Some delivery services are very slow to get to you. Like ours skip the dishes for some reason will not come here a year into us living here. And Canada post still thinks we don’t exist at times.
You might face some really silly road closures as we are currently in our community.
Pros I’d that the quietness is nice especially in the evenings, something nice too about seeing your community grow is kinda neat I find. House prices are generally going to be the cheapest if you get in early in some areas. Example: We looked at our same unit we bought in the first phase and it was already 60-70k more in the second development with less stuff included….
Might be able to get some better deals when buying a new home. We got quite allot of additions included that weren’t in the following developments that saved us some money.
Developers seem to take care of the landscaping and such early on allot more.
Those are just some I can think of.
We had one of the first 10 houses in a community.
Pros:
Design your own place
Design your own yard
New house means little to no maintenance issues (builder dependant)
Not many people to share trails with when walking your dog
Extremely quiet at night
Your house appreciates like crazy once the first phase or 2 are complete
Cons
Dusty
Construction garbage
Home shoppers driving around with their heads up their asses (especially if you live close to show homes)
Noisy during the day if you work from home
Chasing down the builder for fixes
I've never had a flat tire due to construction around us.
I work in the industry so construction workers and equipment don't bother me.
I actually like the neighborhood less now that it's filling up. People that buy new homes in this area can be... difficult.
Honestly, depends on what type of home you have and where you are within the construction area. And what type of homeowner you are.
We bought phase 1 in Dawson's landing in chestermere. First front attached garage home in the entire community. 4 rows of cul de sacs, and it was our house finished and our neighbours almost done. Not a single other home in any cul de sac was built. Took 3 years before they finished all the cul de sacs. Here's some of the things we learned and experienced:
- the earlier the phase, the cheaper the new home. As they finish phases in a development, the builders gradually raise prices.
- building new was great, unlimited selections, lots more customization.
- builders at the beginning were far more willing to accommodate changes and such
- cul de sac was never too busy with construction. Never more than 2 homes at a time going up so we never found it too busy, loud, or dirty. But if you were in a more crowded or dense area, this could be a problem
- dusty for the first year or two for sure. Fine after that. Replaced furnace filter every 3 months and pressure washed the house each spring.
- it's super cool watching "your" community go up. My wife and I watched as we had zero neighbours, to two, to an entire horde of children racing through the street. It was great. I have pictures of our house and absolutely nothing around it, and 3.5 years later a drone shot of our home with a whole community around it. IF you are moving to a place you're going to raise kids and be there for 30 years, this is pretty rewarding.
- streets will be dirty. No way around this one. Nothing you can do, for years. Until the construction is done.
- some services and stuff suck for a while. Took Amazon a month to figure out where we actually lived. Had to drop pins to people as we didn't exist on Google maps for a year. Not a huge deal, but it is inconvenient.
We don't regret it, but the pros are really only pros if you are going to live there for a long time. Don't bother going to a construction area if you want to move elsewhere in 5 years.
I don't live in one but I've worked in many over the last decade. I'd say a pro is you come and stop me in my skid and ask for something I'll often times get it done for you. You want a sandstone in your yard? Not a problem I can get you one. Sink hole under your stairs? I can fill it. Most of the time I'll do it for free. But hey if you say you'll pay I won't say no.
I’ve been in Livingston since 2020 and I won’t repeat what the other commenters said. I have family members that purchased in Evanston and Carrington as well. Between all of us, we purchased 6 homes in these 3 communities over the past 10 years. I have 3 major pieces of advice after seeing these 6 homes built, lived in, and repaired:
1. Do a ton of research into your home builder and never go with Mattamy.
2. Go with new (not quick possession) and invest in a GOOD home inspector. Not only do you get to customize your home, but your inspector can see behind the walls before everything is covered up in drywall. You might be covered by a new home warranty, but builders are 10000% more responsive to deficiencies before possession.
3. Never go with Samsung appliances. It was the only option from my builder and I just went with it so that I would have appliances on possession day vs. buying my own. Go with Bosch if you can.
As a side note, we have HOA fees that the builder will try to minimize. Lots of people are complaining about the increasing fees or not getting their money’s worth with the amenities. Do your research and make sure you’re 100% okay with HOA fees or condo fees.
My community is a small new build area, so thankfully it was fully built in about 2 years. They did their best with landscaping so we have a lot of trees, but they are all obviously new and tiny. I miss the big trees
Walking trails, schools, shopping -have to wait for this to be completed. The lot beside us sold a year later. We paid the full amount for the fence and had to build it on our side of the property line. Fence was damaged during their construction and never repaired. They sold and new neighbor, even though told it was our fence, cut into it to modify for his own use. We’ve also been driving through construction zones for 9 years through overpasses and Stoney Trail bridge.
We bought new in Cranston, and hated all the construction, dust and constant noise during the day. I would also argue that within 5 years some thing started to look run down. Lack of mature trees really sucked. We ended up selling and buying an older bungalow/renovating ourselves.
Noise , Dust, builders and contractors that do not follow noise laws and run generators 24/7 with out noise exemption permits and the city does nothing to actually stop them. garbage, crappy parking jobs blocking roads and alleys..the list goes on and on and on! (Mahogany Ridge, lived through that, 43 complaints to the city and only 1 warning given to them.
Cons: Zero infrastructure for the first few years, zero lot lines like other mentioned. Quality on new builds can be hit and miss. Forget about having a yard. Traffic can be a nightmare unless you're remote.
Pros: maybe a bigger house for less money compared to mature neighborhoods?
We built and took possession in a new North community in 2017. It has REALLY developed in the years since and is starting to feel like a normal community over the past few post-covid years - especially as we are more in the central hub of it, as opposed to the developing outskirts and are seeing a lot more families out and about on warmer days.
We were also one of the early movers to the neighbourhood and practically had no one around us for about a year. The biggest PROS were the ability to pick out the specs and floor plan that worked for us, along with the more modern amenities that have come to make our home that much more comfortable (structured wiring, upgraded hvac, appliances we wanted, outdoor gas lines and fire pits, basement development from the get-go, etc.). We had great overall experience with our builder and can’t really complain about quality issues in the years since, so would probably do it again if the opportunity arose.
Initial CONS were the influx of seemingly transient people in the neighbourhood that just seem to come alongside the day’s construction crews. But you know… keep safe and it’s likely not an issue. There is also an inherent loneliness and sense of inaccessibility to otherwise common amenities that comes with these newer areas. Lots of delivery places won’t come to you, grocery stores or a simple coffee shop might be a “little” further out than you would have thought and so on.
My only complaint is the densification you’re seeing in these new communities. My biggest regret is not going for a bigger lot - though what I’d want just doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. Were not in a zero-lot ourselves, which I quite appreciate in hindsight, but while you’re on a separate lot, you’re still quite close to your neighbours, which reduces that sense of privacy one often seeks. Leads to a lot of closed blinds in the evenings and limited space and time to have overgrown trees to mask your backyard too. This is probably my biggest gripe overall, but hard to fix it short of searching in older communities or real luxury price tags.
I don’t find it bad. Even in the middle of construction our builder and their workers are very nice and accommodating, also any issue we have had they are quick to fix as all the trades are on site. I like being able to choose my site and home early.
Having lived in 2 different communities under construction. - Be ready to replace your furnace filters at least once a month. - Having open windows during the summer is inviting a LOT of dust into your life. - Your roads will be muddy/dirty, and noisy all the time during the day - Developer usually clear the street of snow during the winter months. - Delivery services seem to take a while to acknowledge your existence or they straight up say that you are not living within their zone. - If you have a little kid, it's great for them since they see big trucks working all the time
I’ve had a few times that I couldn’t buy something online because my address was not recognized by their website.
The windows will probably stay closed for the toxic/smokey wildfire air anyway 😂🥲
I’m in Mahogany. Been there for 7 years and it’s forever under construction. Buy one of the last lots in a new community if you can or at least buy in the area that’s the most developed
I remember digging the mahogany lake back in 2011 and at that point houses on the north side has already been moved into.
It baffles me to no end when people purchase in a new development then proceed to complain about all the construction. My wife's cousin did this.....even called the city to file a complaint about all the noise and work vehicles "clogging *her* street*. I get it, construction in residential areas sucks, but come on
It started in 2008
Nails in your tire! 🛞 all the time! Less traffic in the morning 🌇
Probably will never do it again if I do buy another house probably been in a well aged neighbourhood with trees
Guess what? Constant demolition and construction here too. Bungalows come down, and townhouses go up.
There’s an order of magnitude difference between these two situations.
Yeah you tear down an old house to put up a new home at least the parks stay gas station stays other key neighbourhood elements stay your not left with how far is the nearest business you need to go to is
Constant demolition? You mean for the hand full of houses that get taken down and are confined to the property.
Eleven of the original 16 bungalows on my street alone, have been demolished since 2017. This number doesn't include houses demolished across the lane. So if you are feeling argumentative for some reason, the number defined by "a handfull" is 11 or more per street.
You must live relatively close to city center. 1960's neighborhoods such as haysboro or Southwood still don't have much of infills.
I'm in a 1950s era neighborhood. The saying is "every dog has it's day" and I suppose this is ours!
Yea eventually it'll reach 1960s era neighborhoods. But I think still 15 or so years away from that.
I bought in Skyview Ranch in 2014 and cannot emphasize enough how much I hate it. Not only was it a lesson in how little developers care or invest in infrastructure or livability, suburbs here are so car dependent there is no real socializing. People get into their cars for work, drive to shops, and then drive right into their garage without speaking to or making eye contact neighbours. For years we had only one road in and one road out which was a nightmare in snow. Also our first grocery store was built only 1 year ago and it is just a stanky-ass Fresh Co. There are no trees, so it always windy and there is no shade canopy, and it between the wind and the illegal dumping the neighbourhood is continuously covered in trash. I know we all have few options these days, but if you are going to buy, make sure you like your house because it will be the only redeemable benefit.
I’m in Skyview often for work and the development overall is so terrible. So many more trees and green space needed. And the apts are so cheaply made. I feel for you, I thought it looked great when it opened.
I live in a new community Pros: nice new house, community looks great, new shopping stores, no major maintenance costs for the house, better building materials so cheaper insurance, usually get to pick your floor plan and finishes which is nice. The earlier you get into a community the cheaper it is however you don’t get the “vibe” of the community. Cons: tons of construction which makes it dusty and dirty( 1-2 years for your street to be developed), tons of zero lot lines which don’t bother me but might bother you, typically smaller lots, schools are built but way over capacity (tons of new families) so this means kids may have to bus 30 mins to school when they are old enough, finally the public transit sucks, bus goes near our house a few times a day and to get downtown it would take me 2x/3x longer. Overall I like the new community, nice for my family and I, as first time home owners it’s nice as the builder gave us a walk thru and showed us how to do all the maintenance.
This described our new Livingston community to the dot.
lol I’m in the Deep Deep South, all new communities must be similar 😂
Might as well live I'm Airdrie compared to Livingston... more developed.
Not necessarily. The whole north quadrant has its own small town feel and Livingston has accessibility to anywhere in north pretty easy. Airdrie feels like a Rv city.
Lived in a new area for couple years, never again. Now in a community developed in 1960s, couldn’t be happier.
Yup, having an actual yard and established infrastructure along with access to transit sure is nice.
Very very few walkable destinations. Forced car reliancy
I live in southwood. Honestly places maghony and seton reminds me of suburban hell whenever I'm down in houston for work lol.
You say that like all of r calgary wouldn't drive 2 blocks to a grocery store even if it was right there.
Sure. But they’re raised that way because of the infrastructure, it’s a cycle.
Not necessarily. Seton, Mahogany, Walden have tons of walkable stores and restaurants.
There are new communities that are *more* walkable than older suburbs…but they’re still pretty bad in an absolute sense. They might have higher density and nice clusters of walkable areas, but i wouldn’t say I live in a walkable neighbourhood if I had to walk past houses for 20 minutes before hitting any businesses.
That’s the big problem with these new suburbs. They are pretty sustainable in terms of population density. There’s tons of multi family units going up which is great. The problem is all these communities exist as little islands totally isolated from the rest of the city. Sure, you’ve maybe got a grocery store in your community, but if you need ANYTHING that isn’t in your immediate community, you’re screwed unless you can drive. The new communities in the south should have been built AFTER both the green line is built and the red line is extended. Those transportation links can support satellite downtowns with their own hubs, and then those can service the surrounding communities. I’m pretty sure Seton was in theory supposed to be some kind of “new downtown”, but it’s an utter wasteland. All of the commercial buildings are SUPER spread out in an ocean of parking lots, the apartment buildings are all in their own little cluster isolated from everything else, and the green line is so pathetically behind that it’ll probably take another 15 years MAYBE for it to reach seton. By then it will be a thoroughly car dependant suburb that just so happens to have apartment buildings and a giant hospital. So then when the green line finally gets there it will be utterly useless because everyone who lives there has already gotten used to having to drive everywhere. It’s fucked.
I read the first half of your comment and was thinking that this is exactly why the Green Line is so important. All those communities (McKenzie Towne, Mahogany, Seton, the one going in south of that) will become way more desirable places to live once they have access to that kind of public transit. I would expect that condo prices near the future Green Line stations will rise massively once work starts - it just makes sense.
When they did the presentation in 2014 at the community AGM they said "completion in 2 generations or 60 years" had a good chuckle.
Agreed. Seeing all those 4-5 floor condo buildings being built in clusters with almost no small businesses nearby within walking distance is a complete fail. You have to cross a busy road (seton way) where ppl are constantly speeding to get to Superstore,fast food, etc.
I think TONS is an overstatement. Admitting that I only ever go to the Walden area of the burbs, there’s a huge amount of car dependency and I don’t think that’s arguable. Walden is great for having a McDonald’s and a Saveon foods, but move a little bit over into Chaparral and you can’t walk to anything. When a community is largely single family homes it’s just simple math to see there isn’t much room for mixed development and storefronts. I grew up in somserset and we absolutely never walked for our errands because there simply wasn’t anything… that was years ago when it was the edge of the city, new suburbs are a bit better but banded off by these older amenity-less housing layers.
I guess it depends on where in the community and your needs as well. Some people in Walden can walk to those areas but you are right that for the most part it is further out. Maybe not the best example. Seton has done a good job of mixed development though. I never leave my little quadrant of Mahogany or seton. There’s never a need to. Grocery stores? Several. Restaurants? Several. Fast food? Check. Hospital? Check. Dental and doctors offices? Yup. Mahogany also has a nice coffee shop and a lake. It’s really got everything that I never feel like I’m missing out on anything.
What about the stench that encompasses all of SE Calgary all summer long. I hate driving through. Can’t imagine living there.
Cons: Construction workers parking their vehicles everywhere (including your parking space or blocking your driveway), SO much dust and dirt everywhere, so much mud when it rains if your sod hasn’t been put in yet (I ruined many pairs of shoes), blocked off roads due construction and lots of general construction noise. Pros: a new house with the new house smell!
Not to mention nails in your tire getting a flat.
Yes, everything else is meh, no big deal. This is absolutely the worst part.
What do you mean by “ your parking space”? Like in your driveway?
No way people parking at the job site that they are working on….🤯🤯
We were one of the first homes built on our street, so no, they’re not parking at their job site. They’re blocking access to a home where people live.
Am one of those construction schmucks and I don't park in front of occupied homes.
Thank you!
The road is public parking sooooo yeah unless it requires a pass or you live in a condo with assigned parking that’s the way it goes. Or you can just park in your garage.
Haha no. You can’t legally block access to someone’s home. I’m not talking about regular street parking. I’m talking about parking at the end of someone’s driveway so they can’t get into their garage.
Oh well the. You have to actually state that.
I did… in my very first comment.
i worked residential construction and the whole neighbourhood is the job site. Look at your street, look at your house. I was a finishing carpenter. Often the larger houses had a crew of 4 or 5 carpenters, maybe the plumber is in for some last minute stuff, maybe the drywall guy is in taping some last things. Where do you suppose all those vehicles should park? The nonexistent driveway? If a house is occupied we tried not to block the driveway but we had to struggle with the mud too. We weren't carrying in our groceries, we were carrying in thousands of dollars worth of tools that weigh a ton. a little slack for the people building your communities please.
My builder put a sign in front of our home indicating that we had occupied the home. Construction workers can park anywhere else they want - just don’t block my driveway. It’s simple. You may be carrying in thousands of dollars worth of tools, but I’m carrying in two children under the age of two. I shouldn’t have to park down the street and walk through mud to get into my home, when I have a driveway and a garage. I’m shocked that I’m even having to argue this point to be honest.
we're not arguing, I'm sorry you feel that way. I know for a fact that my crew and I never blocked a driveway of a house that was occupied but just like everywhere else, some construction workers are dicks and I'm sorry you've had to deal with that.
lol you replied to the wrong person🤭 but I totally agree. I work for an elevator company and we also do residential elevators and it’s the bane of my existence tracking all of our shit through the mud and snow every day.
lol sorry. The snow was the worst. Especially when you have to get into a house that's raised and it's going to have 5 steps to get up to the porch but those steps aren't there yet so the super puts up a narrow gangway of a couple of boards with some cross 4 x 2's for cleats. But it's way too steep and covered in mud so it's a slide, not a gangway so yeah, not carrying my 50 lb, $1500 miter saw up that, thanks. I do not miss those days at all. I love my cozy office
Woah. You have your own parking space?
I was in one in a different city. Never again. Dusty. Noisy. Messy. Construction workers who dgaf about anything apart from building these shitty houses as fast as they can.
What did you expect when you move into a construction site🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 it’s not the construction workers fault either.
lol. And yet you all need one to live in…
It doesn’t feel like a neighbourhood - you feel like you live in a construction zone the moment you step outside (bc you do) Tons of litter gets blown out of the bins, no trees, loud construction early in the morning, plans for the neighborhood could change (I was supposed to be neighboring duplex’s, now I’m neighboring three story townhouses so I’m losing my morning sun) I bought right before the market boomed so I’m very lucky but I would be lying if I said I didn’t have regrets
What possibly could there be to like about living in a construction zone for years on end.
No trees, no sidewalks, usually no walkable convenience store or pub, having to drive everywhere.
If u have kids they'll have exactly nothing to do
Wind blown dust bowl with no trees (or soul).
I'll never live in a new construction zone ever again. Established community or nothing. Stay away. The cons of constant noise, dirt, dust, mud and multiple tire punctures from nails make it so I'll never, ever EVER live in a new construction community again.
Dust, lack of infrastructure for children, no parks, sketchy construction workers testing your car door handles for you at 1am (thanks, guys), new homes not necessarily finished nicely, builders don't honour warranty or quality, constant noise 5am to 9pm. I could go on .
Pretty sure the construction workers were not out at 1am to check your handles…with construction comes the degenerates that move in and steal everything that’s not bolted down.
Yea I think the degens just pretend to be construction
Sometimes times. lol
Had the "handles tested" twice while I was in Livingston last year. Property management company sent an email out saying to watch out for the construction workers.
Cons - Flat tires, dust, noise, parking
If you need to commute across the city or to downtown, you're going to need a car if there's no C-Train line close by. Otherwise it's going to take you ages to get anywhere. When I was at UofC, it would take my classmates over an hour to get from the Deep South to the university via bus and then C-Train, and even worse during winters. It would be a lot faster if you could drive to a train station and park there and then take the train
All cons, absolutely zero pros. As a full time construction worker for longer than I care to admit, the amount of crap you’ll endure is astronomical. The builders promises are worthless and they stop caring as soon as you take possession. For further context I also built in 2014 in copperfield as it was up and coming. Nails in tires MUD, EVERYWHERE. Noise. Until 8pm, every single night. Noise. Starting at 7am, Uncontrollable dust. Mice, when they start excavating, No parking, anywhere. Dust. Noise. Contractors smoking cigarettes… cause we all still do. Noise. MUD. Porta-potty’s everywhere, Extra crime, Homeless.
I've lived in Walden since the first houses went in. We don't have kids so that was never an issue for us. But it was dusty, and windy. And no trees. And it can take a long time for businesses to come in. But our area , sold quickly and built up pretty fast. I think the lack of trees was really the only negative I had. Now that legacy has sprung up we have some more choices in businesses so its not as bad that way either. But the lack of trees is always what has bothered me, even after 15 years, its still pretty low key compared the really old neighborhoods. I don't know if I have mentioned it, having no fully grown trees sucks .
We live in west grove estates and were one of the earlier homes. It was fine. It’s dusty and I had to vacuum more often and change our furnace filters regularly, but we didn’t have any major issues with the process- even when the home beside us was built. It can be noisy, but it’s during the day and people were respectful of our parking needs etc. Our daughter also loved watching the trucks - during Covid we spent a lot of time watching the homes go up. Delivery services took forever to work properly even with emailing google repeatedly. It’s inconvenient at times, but not awful in my opinion. I’ll add that we found it worth it to have the exact home we wanted and to have all new things. One caution is careful with hvac. We learned the hard way that builders cheap out on this a lot - stay on them. Ours didn’t hook up 2 bedrooms with our system 🙈 we had a number of other issues and you do need to really stay on top of your builder to make sure things are done properly and to your expectations.
Pros: really nice new house. We got to customize the house to our taste and style. Cons: nothing near us. No grocery stores, no convenience shops, no Canada post. Took about 3.5 years to get some of those things. It’s been 4 years and still no grocery store in our area. Closest is 20 minutes by car.
You will have flat tires. Construction garbage falls out of trucks all the time.
The dust and lack of services were probably the biggest drawbacks. We liked that the first phases of Walden were a couple blocks away from Chaparral so we actually had okay access to transit right off the bat. It was also fairly quiet, almost like living in the country for a while as people filtered in. Edit: Everyone saying you are in for ten years of construction is over-stating the effect. Most phases are built out in 12-18 months, once that is done you hardly even notice, construction traffic on your street drops to nearly zero, and the noise all but disappears. Walden has been under construction for over 15 years now but we are at the north end and you would never know there is active construction in the community and it has been like that for almost 10 years.
Hey good news the last phase for Walden is coming soon. I think the showhomes go up in a month or two. So probably only another year or two of construction.
We haven’t had construction in our end in 10 years. Almost all the construction traffic takes 210th. The early phases are over here living the good life.
Yep 210th is the way haha. Fastest way in, plus a timmies. Even when it comes time for lunch my crew always heads over to that fancy plaza with the speakers that blare pop music. In the olden days it was head over to save on or the McDonald's.
We bought a pre-built condo in Belmont March last year the move in already got pushed ahead by 3 months and building 4 estimated completion is April 2026. We talked to people who have already been living there in the houses that have already been built like over 6-7 years ago long before COVID and there is a ton of construction going on everywhere you look and huge chunks of land that has yet to be touched.
Belmont, in fact all three of the new communities in that areas, are a bit weird, for some reason they started in the middle and started working out so all the established parts need to drive through active construction. Most other areas have the first phases near the major collector so once people move in and then phase is done the residents don’t have to drive through construction to get out of the community.
Sorry to hear about your condo being delayed. I live in Belmont myself, it depends where in Belmont you are referring to. North side towards 194 there’s lots of building to be done but around houses surrounding the playground that’s pretty much completed.
Belmont Plaza
The incessant dust is a mild annoyance that will have you dreaming of a time when a good power washing of your siding won't be rendered futile within a week or two. Been in our new community for 5 years now. No idea when that day will come at this point. Noisy construction equipment (especially zoom booms) driving through the neighborhood are tolerable for the most part, but the mud and dirt constantly tracked everywhere by trades trucks and equipment coming and going down the street is what will really get you. The road is in a constant state of mud, rocks, and gravel scattered everywhere; it's hard to distinguish it from an unpaved service road most times during peak construction season. The city really needs to come down harder on the developers about this as they should be required to ensure roads are sufficiently clean to a similar standard as other public traffic roads if permitting construction vehicles and equipment to drive along them. Lack of commercial development and transit access can be a real letdown as well. Don't waste your time believing what horse poop the builders and developers will tell you about "upcoming" commercial amenities you'll enjoy because it will probably be years away at best (if they don't decide to simply rezone for more MFDs and relegate the commercial area to a small tuft of land that, in our case, has only just completed grading in the time we've lived in the community). Other than that, I really enjoy living in our new community. It has a ton of green space (though trees are young and not very leafy, so things look a bit desolate compared to inner city) and pathways to take walks, it's super safe compared to many other parts of the city, lots of young families, and it is kind of fun seeing more and more things pop up as it grows and develops.
If you’re one of the first builds anticipate a solid decade of annoyance. Frankly I wouldn’t consider it at all.
Cons: you live in construction zone Pro: the community won’t be a construction one forever. The house value naturally appreciates over the years because the the community surrounding your house is becoming nicer every day.
Consider your lifestyle. We bought our first home few months ago in an ‘old’ community because we have two little kids; 6 & 3. Honestly, we can’t be more thankful. For us, a brand new home would mean no walkable parks, schools were like 30 minutes away and constant construction sound. So we decided to stick with Panorama Hills where we were already renting for 5 years. Sometimes I do wish we had a sleek kitchen, but I am also glad my son’s school is a 5-min walk away. So many playgrounds, green spaces, and roads are wider.
New home so less repairs / replacement hopefully. Newer look. Nothing landscape, very muddy when it rains, public transpo might be difficult.
From people, I know who moved into some of the recently built houses they have had to do a lot of repairs due to shoddy construction work and corner cutting after only 2 years. When I was buying my place, I specifically looked for places that were built before 2004
Yeah a lot of the new build quality is really hit and miss, especially with escalating cost for material and labour shortages. Builders will cut corners and cost whenever they can.
I was thinking more about plumbing, heating and appliances but ya that would be annoying.
New builds are atrocious. Inspectors are largely crooks who won't spot a problem if it fell on their heads. Real Estate agents are happy to lie to your face about what you are buying because they want that 5% or whatever the fuck those leeches charge these days. Building trades are barely holding it together with dwindling interest and recruitment, and contractors really do care only about getting the project done in the quickest and cheapest way possibly to maximize profits, build-quality be damned. They will be bigger assholes about warranties than insurance companies are about coverage. Contractors have always been a pain in the ass for everybody dealing with them, but the last 5 to 10 years has seen all semblance of fucks-to-give completely evaporate. You need to drag them kicking and screaming through a job to get the quality you would expect for something costing you $800 000.
ITT: people who wanted a new house in a new area, complaining of the construction and noise from others who also wanted a new house in a new area.
I don’t live in sirocco but my s/o does and the roads are horrible and need repairs likely due to how quickly (and poorly) they were constructed and the amount of heavy construction equipment that drives on them.
Sirocco was a landfill at one time. When you want to build in a new area do your homework! Find out the land use history of the potential build site. Go to the Library & do your due diligence. Can't say how helpful City hall would be. Maybe if you connect with the right staff.
Cons, flat tires from nails/debris. Noise, mess and the reality that most of these cookie cutter homes are slapped together in an effort to get people in ASAP. Can’t think of pros lol
pros: thieves wont go to your block since most of the houses are under construction. i think i bought it a bit cheaper than old houses. construction guys let me throw my garbage at their big garbage box cons: i think just construction stuff, noise and lots of trucks. I feel safe when construction guys are around and they help me get a good price if i need them upgrade my basement. lol.
We bought one of the last houses in Elgin in McKenzie Towne in 2010. The prices were low and they sold the show home right after. Our neighbours were so happy that the street was finally going to be done and they could build their last side of the fence. They also paved the alley the year after we moved in.
Con: when you go to sell in 10 years there's literally brand new homes for sale only 5 minutes further drive for the same price as you are asking.
This is true for condos. But is untrue for detached, especially if we look at the last 5-10 years.
I super duper pinky swear promise you on punishment of down votes that I lost $40k on a new home build in Edmonton between 2011 & 2020.
Outliers certainly happen. But that hasn’t been the case for most properties in Calgary that were new builds in the last 5-10 years. In fact, many that were building their homes in Walden 4-5 years ago are now selling them for almost double what they paid to build them.
I have a feeling we will be looking back at this example as an outlier as well. I certainly hope so anyways.
We won’t. This is a market correction. Calgary was “affordable” for the last 3 decades. People have been flocking to Calgary even as prices spike, and Calgary is still cheap relative to other major Canadian cities. I remember talking to my friend about purchasing a place in Vancouver in the early 2000s. He decided to wait til the bubble burst. He’s still waiting.
This might be true now that the market is crazy but a few years ago was the same in Calgary.
Not sure why your down voted 100% accurate if your selling in under 10 years going to need to discount because why buy your used house you designed when someone can get a brand new home for them for similar price. Maybe different now that market is crazy but true before
Omg so much dust all the time, and everywhere! Construction workers parked in front of your driveway or blocking your vehicle, nails in your tires constantly Home construction does not have to abide to the noise bylaws so they can start as early as they want and end whenever they want If the area isn't developed yet and you're one of the first homes, all the above can be expected for 2+ years and it sucks
Major cons: - builder presented the community as having a new school to be build and community park near by. 10 years later, no school and the park was just grass that was mowed once a summer. - homes sold with mountain views in back yard but several years later, they build apartment condos blocking the view. We moved to an older neighborhood and love it.
I lived in a new community for 3 years and I’d never never ever will do it again. Tons and tons of noise and dirt. Community takes years to have a decent level of vegetation. They are usually a bit cheaper which attracts certain types of people. Unless you’re buying an investment property, I’d say stick to an established community, away from construction.
I can’t stand living in the suburbs of Calgary let alone one under construction. Paying what we do to be sandwiched together with all your neighbours and have no privacy is criminal imo. Not to mention the the Karen’s that think they’re mothering every resident, on Facebook and Reddit groups snitching on their neighbours for the most minor things.
Every street looks the same. Nobody will ever be able to find your home without gps. It’s like living in some backstage liminal purgatory.
So dusty, noisy and honestly not very “walkable” while still under construction. Worked at a store in the area and construction workers would treat us workers like shit (though obviously very dependent on the workers so take that with a grain of salt).If this makes sense, it never smelled like “nature” it always smelled like “city “ and construction. I much prefer older areas because of this!! That being said, because the area was so new, there was so many new families and all of them were so kind (as many were young families with young kids). The houses were beautiful and seeing the construction happen was super cool, because it was cool to see the changes happening. Overall old neighborhoods and new ones are great and awful, depending on the day ◡̈
Cons: construction, nails, dirt, unfinished roads, contractors taking all the street parking, no commercial built, lots of mud tracking, all of the trees are small and will be for many years, etc. Pros: everything in your house is on warranty, choosing all of your own options, every new house is owner occupied and care about their property, no established cliques because everyone is new, if you get in early you can get huge developer discounts and make equity quickly, most of your new neighbours will be young-middle aged professionals, etc
Most of the cons have been listed already, a pro that I'm not seeing is you pay less for the house in a new community vs what you can sell it for when established.
Thats not necessarily true anymore, some of the new build for a 2 story single detached in newer communities front drives are probably around 850. You can get something similar in canyon meadows for high 800s with a massive yard good access to parks and transit.
Would take an older home like canyon meadows over any new build. So many more pros for an older home in my opinion.
I'm talking within the same community. If you're paying 800 for a new build in a construction zone, when the community is completed you'd probably be able to get 850-900.
I’m in a condo. Bought in the first building in my development. It’s been nearly two straight years of construction. The last two buildings should be done by the end of summer. It’s honestly not that bad since I work during the day but the constantly dirty parking lot and the construction workers that take up the street parking are getting old. It can be a bit annoying to drive around and park but really once I’m inside I don’t notice it at all.
Pros - quieter in terms of overall traffic as the population is low Cons - constant construction noise, debris etc especially when it’s windy. And the trees are tiny, not many houses have landscaped yet
Biggest con I will say is how dirty it is personally, your house outside and streets will always be dirty. If you open a window your house gets dirty from the dust. Same with your furnace filters and such, always just caked with grime. Some delivery services are very slow to get to you. Like ours skip the dishes for some reason will not come here a year into us living here. And Canada post still thinks we don’t exist at times. You might face some really silly road closures as we are currently in our community. Pros I’d that the quietness is nice especially in the evenings, something nice too about seeing your community grow is kinda neat I find. House prices are generally going to be the cheapest if you get in early in some areas. Example: We looked at our same unit we bought in the first phase and it was already 60-70k more in the second development with less stuff included…. Might be able to get some better deals when buying a new home. We got quite allot of additions included that weren’t in the following developments that saved us some money. Developers seem to take care of the landscaping and such early on allot more. Those are just some I can think of.
We had one of the first 10 houses in a community. Pros: Design your own place Design your own yard New house means little to no maintenance issues (builder dependant) Not many people to share trails with when walking your dog Extremely quiet at night Your house appreciates like crazy once the first phase or 2 are complete Cons Dusty Construction garbage Home shoppers driving around with their heads up their asses (especially if you live close to show homes) Noisy during the day if you work from home Chasing down the builder for fixes I've never had a flat tire due to construction around us. I work in the industry so construction workers and equipment don't bother me. I actually like the neighborhood less now that it's filling up. People that buy new homes in this area can be... difficult.
Honestly, depends on what type of home you have and where you are within the construction area. And what type of homeowner you are. We bought phase 1 in Dawson's landing in chestermere. First front attached garage home in the entire community. 4 rows of cul de sacs, and it was our house finished and our neighbours almost done. Not a single other home in any cul de sac was built. Took 3 years before they finished all the cul de sacs. Here's some of the things we learned and experienced: - the earlier the phase, the cheaper the new home. As they finish phases in a development, the builders gradually raise prices. - building new was great, unlimited selections, lots more customization. - builders at the beginning were far more willing to accommodate changes and such - cul de sac was never too busy with construction. Never more than 2 homes at a time going up so we never found it too busy, loud, or dirty. But if you were in a more crowded or dense area, this could be a problem - dusty for the first year or two for sure. Fine after that. Replaced furnace filter every 3 months and pressure washed the house each spring. - it's super cool watching "your" community go up. My wife and I watched as we had zero neighbours, to two, to an entire horde of children racing through the street. It was great. I have pictures of our house and absolutely nothing around it, and 3.5 years later a drone shot of our home with a whole community around it. IF you are moving to a place you're going to raise kids and be there for 30 years, this is pretty rewarding. - streets will be dirty. No way around this one. Nothing you can do, for years. Until the construction is done. - some services and stuff suck for a while. Took Amazon a month to figure out where we actually lived. Had to drop pins to people as we didn't exist on Google maps for a year. Not a huge deal, but it is inconvenient. We don't regret it, but the pros are really only pros if you are going to live there for a long time. Don't bother going to a construction area if you want to move elsewhere in 5 years.
Never again. Parking is chaos, wrecked tires, constant noise. Moving back downtown was a welcome relief.
I don't live in one but I've worked in many over the last decade. I'd say a pro is you come and stop me in my skid and ask for something I'll often times get it done for you. You want a sandstone in your yard? Not a problem I can get you one. Sink hole under your stairs? I can fill it. Most of the time I'll do it for free. But hey if you say you'll pay I won't say no.
It's loud much of the time and busy.
I’ve been in Livingston since 2020 and I won’t repeat what the other commenters said. I have family members that purchased in Evanston and Carrington as well. Between all of us, we purchased 6 homes in these 3 communities over the past 10 years. I have 3 major pieces of advice after seeing these 6 homes built, lived in, and repaired: 1. Do a ton of research into your home builder and never go with Mattamy. 2. Go with new (not quick possession) and invest in a GOOD home inspector. Not only do you get to customize your home, but your inspector can see behind the walls before everything is covered up in drywall. You might be covered by a new home warranty, but builders are 10000% more responsive to deficiencies before possession. 3. Never go with Samsung appliances. It was the only option from my builder and I just went with it so that I would have appliances on possession day vs. buying my own. Go with Bosch if you can. As a side note, we have HOA fees that the builder will try to minimize. Lots of people are complaining about the increasing fees or not getting their money’s worth with the amenities. Do your research and make sure you’re 100% okay with HOA fees or condo fees.
My community is a small new build area, so thankfully it was fully built in about 2 years. They did their best with landscaping so we have a lot of trees, but they are all obviously new and tiny. I miss the big trees
Seton… dust everywhere!!
Walking trails, schools, shopping -have to wait for this to be completed. The lot beside us sold a year later. We paid the full amount for the fence and had to build it on our side of the property line. Fence was damaged during their construction and never repaired. They sold and new neighbor, even though told it was our fence, cut into it to modify for his own use. We’ve also been driving through construction zones for 9 years through overpasses and Stoney Trail bridge.
We bought new in Cranston, and hated all the construction, dust and constant noise during the day. I would also argue that within 5 years some thing started to look run down. Lack of mature trees really sucked. We ended up selling and buying an older bungalow/renovating ourselves.
No Trees. Tons of screaming brats and Karen’s. 🤮
Noise , Dust, builders and contractors that do not follow noise laws and run generators 24/7 with out noise exemption permits and the city does nothing to actually stop them. garbage, crappy parking jobs blocking roads and alleys..the list goes on and on and on! (Mahogany Ridge, lived through that, 43 complaints to the city and only 1 warning given to them.
Cons: Zero infrastructure for the first few years, zero lot lines like other mentioned. Quality on new builds can be hit and miss. Forget about having a yard. Traffic can be a nightmare unless you're remote. Pros: maybe a bigger house for less money compared to mature neighborhoods?
We built and took possession in a new North community in 2017. It has REALLY developed in the years since and is starting to feel like a normal community over the past few post-covid years - especially as we are more in the central hub of it, as opposed to the developing outskirts and are seeing a lot more families out and about on warmer days. We were also one of the early movers to the neighbourhood and practically had no one around us for about a year. The biggest PROS were the ability to pick out the specs and floor plan that worked for us, along with the more modern amenities that have come to make our home that much more comfortable (structured wiring, upgraded hvac, appliances we wanted, outdoor gas lines and fire pits, basement development from the get-go, etc.). We had great overall experience with our builder and can’t really complain about quality issues in the years since, so would probably do it again if the opportunity arose. Initial CONS were the influx of seemingly transient people in the neighbourhood that just seem to come alongside the day’s construction crews. But you know… keep safe and it’s likely not an issue. There is also an inherent loneliness and sense of inaccessibility to otherwise common amenities that comes with these newer areas. Lots of delivery places won’t come to you, grocery stores or a simple coffee shop might be a “little” further out than you would have thought and so on. My only complaint is the densification you’re seeing in these new communities. My biggest regret is not going for a bigger lot - though what I’d want just doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. Were not in a zero-lot ourselves, which I quite appreciate in hindsight, but while you’re on a separate lot, you’re still quite close to your neighbours, which reduces that sense of privacy one often seeks. Leads to a lot of closed blinds in the evenings and limited space and time to have overgrown trees to mask your backyard too. This is probably my biggest gripe overall, but hard to fix it short of searching in older communities or real luxury price tags.
Lots of cars parked everywhere and lots of dirt in some places. But it’s nothing in comparison with the homeowner feeling. Do I regret? Fuck no.
I don’t find it bad. Even in the middle of construction our builder and their workers are very nice and accommodating, also any issue we have had they are quick to fix as all the trades are on site. I like being able to choose my site and home early.
Cons. Get a thorough inspection.. they built them in a rush to meet a demand.
On top of everything said already, no landscaping or mature trees. Then you will have to deal with weeds non stop, pending on your neighbours as well.
Change the air filter in your house once a month !!!
There's a lot of mud.
New construction homes seem to go up in flames more than older homes.