The Canals of Airdrie

A mere twenty kilometers north of the Canadian city of Calgary one can find the Canals of Airdrie. Airdrie is a suburban community in the midst of prairies, or the Great Plains, where Canada grows tens of millions of tons of grains. These are not agricultural canals, nor were they build to drain any swamps, the Canals of Airdrie is a luxury development for McMansions with a twist.

You can experience the allure of cottage living in a moderately sized but rapidly growing suburb. The development is a few hundred acres and it is expanding. In the past I always though people buying boats in the prairies were a little silly but not anymore!

There are really nice walking paths here which is why we decided to visit. One doesn't always have the time to go to the mountains or the strength. It was a beautiful day and people were paddling various pleasure craft in the canal. It's only a few meters deep and there really isn't anywhere to go so any boat with a large motor would be prohibited.

You can probably catch fish in here and people sit in their backyard next to the canal and enjoy a fire in the evening. It's suburban living at its finest for a few months of the year. Now the canals would be frozen and it's been snowing pretty good.

In case you are wondering, these houses go for around 1 to 2 million dollars. Some are fairly standard and just happen to be on the canal, others are mansions and directly back onto the canal without a public path. You could build a dock and put your feet into the water.

What a way to make a buck, these developers sure knew what they were doing. The same houses would be half a million dollars cheaper or more if they weren't next to the canal. Alberta can get extremely dry so having water is a luxury. We are also a good 12 hour drive to the Ocean.

Being able to Stand up Paddleboard, kayak, canoe, row or float around in your yard must be a pleasure. Anyone can bring their watercraft here but it's just so much nicer if you do not have to deal with lugging it home and can just drag it up onto the shore.

The community is still being built but they are calling one of the areas Bayside. The canal opens up into some sort of man made pond. To get here one takes the Deerfoot Trail (Highway 2) up from Calgary, then they get off the highways at Yankee Valley Boulevard. We just parked at the shopping center and walked around for an hour or so.

After coming to the canals, one can't help but think, is it worth giving up a view of the mountains and being in the city to move up to a waterfront property in Airdrie? I also wonder would the city charge a premium on property taxes for being on the water. Maybe one's insurance would also be higher. I'll take the mountain view thank you very much.

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The last photo was an image from some company selling houses in Airdrie. This was a big marketing vision turned into a reality. We were honestly impressed with the canals of airdrie. This isn't some Florida swamp where one just dredges to make such homes, here it would take a lot of effort to turn farm fields into suburban living at its finest.