The coulees here offer amazing endless trails. The sound and scenes of nature everywhere, just minutes from town. Great exercise and good for the mind when escaping to the river bottom...and it is free.
Excellent video, I’m sold. We had narrowed down from BC to Alberta and Medicine Hat was up there as well. I’m a retired locomotive engineer tired of Manitoba weather. We will probably rent first the buy later so you’re number 1 on that list your personality and honesty shine through. Now to convince the wife that’s the place!
I often think about Lethbridge, even though I have only been there for a total of about 45 minutes. I was going to move from Vancouver to Lethbridge for about 8 months before returning home. On an almost literally last minute decision, I went to Regina instead for 8 months to pursue a similar opportunity. It has now been almost 19 years and I am still here in Regina. What would have happened if I moved to Lethbridge instead? Would I still be there? Would I have a spouse and 2 kids like I do in Regina? Would I have moved to Calgary after a short while? How would my political views be affected? Those are life's unanswerable questions for me and they are some things I think about from time to time.
With the ways thinks are in Ontario, AB looks tempting, especially for first time home buyers, The Loonie has over 25% more purchasing power in AB with lower taxes, friendlier ppl, Wish it had more jobs.. Few of my former classmates from college now living in AB and have no regrets. As per crime, You can't even bike up to WalMart here cause your bike will be gone by the time you come out. Taxes are creeping up to an unprecedented levels in ON, HST / Carbon tax, etc, while Albertans only pay GST (6%) If I can find a job in Lethbridge, we'll move there. Not scared of the cold, Lived in Ottawa for 2 decades.. Thanks for the video on this beautiful, clean town... See you soon!
It's my hometown but I've now been in the UK for about 30 years and not been back to Lethbridge since. Was curious to see what's up there these days. Pretty much all the points made in the video I was going, well yep, even after 30 years, that's the Lethbridge I know. Only surprises were: - the increase in crime rate and the idea that Lethbridge would even have a safe drug space. Back when I was there such a idea would have been anathema because it's quite a religious, conservative area (dominated by a lot of Mormons). For us, the main danger was always getting on the wrong side of aggressive cowboy types in nightclubs like Essies (the ranch people used to treat Lethbridge like they owned it). In general, crime was so little an issue it was genuinely shocking if it happened to you. - finding out there've been a few winters with practically no snow....that utterly boggles my mind. Winters in Lethbridge used to be a knee-deep in snow, cathedrals of icicles, breathing out vast clouds of frosty air, can barely walk five minutes before your fingers start freezing type of thing. Although, chinooks could definitely erase all that. One day, all the wintery conditions I just described. Then three days later, in the middle of January, a chinook would make things feel like Spring so huge was the rush of warm Pacific air. Everything turned to muddy slush. - speaking of Pacific air dropping over the Rocky Mountains...the wind. Definitely one of the worst aspects of life in Lethbridge, balanced out only barely by the admitted amount of sunshine. You'd see garbage bags regularly going out for long leisurely strolls along sidewalks halfway across town so full on and constant was the wind. If you move there, definitely get ready for quite a few days where you feel the sky is beating you around the head. But like I say, summers can be spectacular. Gorgeous skies. Epic lightning storms. All that incredible prairie sky stuff. - when I was last there (in my early to mid 20s, at the University of Lethbridge) the coulees were the playground of me and friends. On mountain bikes, tearing around the trails. There are campgrounds. Like the video says, all kinds of wildlife, and marmots. The coulees are probably one of Lethbridge's biggest selling points I reckon. A vast river bottom park extending for endless miles around the city. In fact, as the video also says, park space in Lethbridge is pretty amazing. Henderson Lake Park on Canada day is an amazing experience. If you're a cyclist, the city is made for you. Lots of linked up green paths through park areas. True, a car is needed for a lot of things, especially if you have friends (which you will) in outlying towns like Raymond or Magrath...no way to get to them except by car. But getting around on bike in Lethbridge was well catered for when I was there and I'm guessing that's still the case. - culture wasn't too bad when I was there. Yates centre has stuff. Saw my first concert at the age of 17 at the Sportsplex in 1985....Tears For Fears. So things do come your way. Although if arts and culture is a big thing for you, regular darts up to Calgary will become a way of life as well.
Currently livin in a city over 20 mil population. This seems the lifestyle I been looking for. Outdoor, chill, sports, peaceful. Amazing content and definitely looking into it.
Thank you! This was a really great reference and I appreciate it! You’re right, every single place has something but this one, so far, looks great to me!
Thank you for this comprehensive video which more on a positive note than the ones I’ve read in Quora forums. You have also mentioned the same cons that they complain so much about but you’re not overrated. I guess those who says it’s a boring city are the ones who are seeking more of nightlife. We are contemplating on moving from St. Albert to somewhere close to the mountains and nature but not as expensive as where we are living right now(Whistler). We are outdoorsy and love road trips and hiking and we are almost at the retirement age. We want to have more value for our money.
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Moved to Coaldale 10 years ago from the UK . Close enough to Lethbridge to leave an educated comment. Crime may be higher , but it's petty crime that bumps up the statistics. Shopping may be limited but you can get pretty much everything. We go to Calgary once or twice a year for bigger stuff and mainly a change of scenery. Lethbridge is booming just take a look at all the new houses. Google maps can't keep up . Once the numbers rise high enough then the bigger box stores will come and the airport will expand. Then I will have no reason to visit Calgary. Final comment, if I get all my timings right I can finish work on Friday lunch time and be in lad Vegas for a meal at 8pm , Great falls is just over the border . If I had the money to live in a bigger more attractive city then maybe Vancouver, but the house I have would probably be $2m . Lethbridge ain't that bad !!
@@cristoferchanimak maybe not big, but very quickly becoming unaffordable. average basement suites have gone from 1k to 1.5k/mo since march. its far worse here than you will see on the news.
My biggest peeve is the traffic lights. I am now retired but drove professionaly all over North America for more than 40 years. I have driven in pretty much every major city on the continent. I believe I can say I have never seen traffic lights as long as Lethbridge. Some are ridiculously long. Sometimes I'm almost tempted to take a nap while I'm waiting.
Is Lethbridge cheap rent for a studio flat,I'm 48,and I want to leave Australia,I'm not sure where to go , Edmonton, Lethbridge, calgary.i want to work as a office blocks buildings cleaner,I'm a working class man.Im not rich,I will leave Australia with about $35,000 Canadian dollars,When I arrive,I will have to get my permanent residence visa ,get the ball rolling.can someone give me some advice.?
I would like to visit Lethbridge , Alberta My younger son will be admition university of Lethbridge . Thank you sir, nice discussion of beautiful Lethbridge Of Calgary ,Alberta
Lol not true. Yes it’s windy and can get severely windy, but not all the time, just in a predicable pattern. Spring and fall are windy. The summers are amazing and the winters are warm from the wind !
man, $344,000 for detached home, while I mortgaged $1.2m for a 2 bedroom condo in vancouver BC before the interest went up... sigh, I made some wrong life decisions staying in vancouver
@@kurtishawkins I can't now, locked in here with wife and kids, hard to uproot, but I might go there for retirement though, definitely not staying in BC. I lived in calgary and fort mac about a decade ago, loved it. I only came back to BC at the time because trudeau killed the oil industry back then
I like your video very much. I am looking at Lethbridge as a potential retirement option when I eventually retire from my position in Winnipeg MB. I was looking at potential for purchasing a mobile/manufactured home. Also Lethbridge is a short drive from the US and I-15 which connects to US for snowbirding. I will keep you in mind when we look at options.
The noise laws are not enforced in Lethbridge. I live in Sunridge and the noise is constant. There is a guy in Sunridge who has been driving with no muffler, no license plate on the main street for 3 years. It's not just on the main streets. Police are just not enforcing the law. In a city like Ottawa you just wouldn't get away with that (with the notable exception of the freedom rally).
how is a city like lethbridge in terms of racism? I'm ethnically chinese, our family immigrated to canada when I was 7 so I had all of my education here and have no problems with english or an accent... but would I stick out like a sore thumb, or worse, be discriminated against? also, your prices for vancouver are out of date, lol. Even the crappiest 100 year old single-family detached house in surrey would be like 1.3mil, it's more like 2mil+ now for any single-family detached house that's in any decent shape/neighbourhood in vancouver.
@@kurtishawkins So the snow that’s been happening since late October should be gone by May right? Lol, kidding, just moved from Ontario and have been comparing weather back and forth for a while. I’m from southern Ontario and typically don’t see much snow or extreme cold till January. That’s already happening here, and the snow isn’t going anywhere any time soon unfortunately. Thunder Bay hasn’t even had a flake of snow yet, so should be interesting for me to see where things go weather-wise from here. Weather is sometimes a deal breaker for people, it is for me.
@@Aquarius964 HAHA dont worry, this is pretty out of the ordinary. The good news is, it wont last long. by next week its supposed to be in plus digits again. The snow will likely be gone in a week or two. Ill put money on that! haha
Great video talking about my favorite part of Alberta, and Canada. However, must correct you on your comment, at the 7:55 mark, that Lethbridge is further south than the majority of Canada. A popular geographic mis-conception of our country. All of western Canada is actually further north than the vast majority of the Canadian population which resides in the Windsor/QC corridor. Every single major city in eastern Canada is SOUTH of 49*N. Lethbridge is roughly on the same parallel as Sept Iles, QC. In eastern Canada terms: Way North!
@@kurtishawkins Thank you for the reply! Just curious, are you also familiar with surrounding area? We're pretty excited about looking in and around Pincher Creek, Blairmore, Fort Macloed, Cowley etc. A mountain view would be the cherry on top.
@@beetsbyhometownbrew974 of course, anywhere in southern alberta i can help you with! send me a text, or call me -403-892-6991. we can find you a mountain view!
Just curious what you can tell me about the Pincher house on Foothills, is it worth going to see? It's pretty much at the limits of what we can spend, but we're finding it hard to find any entry point to Pincher. Any insight would be appreciated! Cheers.
Hey Kurtis, nice video!! Thanks because there is no much info on internet about Lethbridge specifically. Can you make some about costs of having a car in Lethbridge
Thank you! I have more videos about Lethbridge coming up. But I’m not sure if the cost of owning a car in Lethbridge is too different than owning a car anywhere else. However, insurance is relatively cheap out here and gas prices are cheaper too!
Hello Kurtis, cheers from Argentina. Can I ask you an important question? My wife and I want to move to Lethbridge to study and migrate. But, I read that Lethbridge is a dangerous city and has a serious problem with drugs. Can you save anything about it? Thank you for your time!
Hello. I'm a Muslim and planning to study in Lethbridge College which is located in Alberta, Canada, I just wanna ask if it's okay for me to move there. Thank you!
The messed up oil fields & fire in fort mac have more to do with upswing in "drug addiction" than any safe inject site. It's taken several years for adjustment to what was a thriving oil business province. Drugs n booze n gambling is everywhere. Always has. Everywhere. That is an end result, not a cause. It's great to see a diverse economy in southern Alberta. Great video.
Lethbridge really doesn’t get effected by the oil and gas economy, but of course any downturn in job markets will effect drugs, abuse and crime unfortunately
The data are pretty incontrovertible. It’s hard to find a case where a safe consumption site was established where crime did not go up. And it’s not always petty. It’s also worth mentioning that many people with alcohol and drug problems can’t hold a job. That’s why they steal. And if they don’t steal then they need help with food and shelter. This means less money for schools and parks and everything else.
Irreversible ? That’s a little extreme lol Lethbridge was just ranked one of the safest cities in Canada! globalnews.ca/news/9826633/lethbridge-safety-ranking/amp/
@@kurtishawkinsthanks for info, moving there from Vancouver for a few month to take a job at the University. The downtown area doesn't look too vibrant, I am already feeling homesick for Vancouver's downtown, and I haven't even left.😂
Lethbridge has a very steady economy so the job market is always steady. Yes we have an international airport that mostly has connecting flights to Lethbridge, but we just got work that flair airlines is expanding their presence here.
Correlation is not causation: the Supervised consumption site (not safe injection) closed in aug 2020. The pandemic had more to do with the drop in crime rate than the closure of the SCS. And the SCS prevented thousands of overdose death. In terms of crime rate: it's property crime, and very rarely violent crime. for transportation: Lethbridge is EXTREMELY BIKEABLE YEAR ROUND.
If the majority of crime is property crime, and a majority of property crime is committed by addicts because they need drugs... Then the closing of the SCS had a major role in the reduction in crime.
Awesome video, this would totally sell me if I didn’t have concerns about social projects. I know Alberta has many of the same support systems as Ontario but would a smaller town like Lethbridge have these support programs for seniors and disabled individuals? 💯 agree smaller towns are better than big cities when it comes to neighbours!
Lethbrige is a great retirement community, I would do some research on what programs your looking for specifically, but I think we would have access to all support programs for seniors.
@@kurtishawkins a VERRRRRYYYYYYYYYY small city. Calgary itself, with a population of only 1.6 million, is a small city. Lethbridge is a verryyyyyyyyy small city.
@@kurtishawkins9822 yeah. Well for me an actual “big city” on a global scale is at least 15 million people. Tokyo area has almost 40 million! But yes in Alberta, even the smallest places will be in the top five because alberta has only 4 million
The biggest drawback like with every other city in Canada aside from Vancouver and surrounding cities, the harsh winters. Otherwise I'd love to move there because everything else is great about it.
Thanks for this video. For a low-income snowbird currently in Calgary for the six 'warmest' months, but looking for better transit system, lower rents, lower crime, warmer temperatures and *less wind - Lethbridge looks marginal for a move. High priority is low rents for rooms in shared houses, and unlike Brooks and Lloydminster, based on my reading dozens of adverts, Lethbridge rents are not significantly cheaper than Calgary (I mean for one room). Looks like the banana belt, especially in Saskatchewan (due to significantly higher seniors supplement) is the way to go. Is there any factor that is a deal-maker (not a deal-breaker) for pensioners that makes Lethbridge super-attractive? If so, I missed it.
I've traveled most places in the world . And lived in a wide variety of them too .Waterton has its downsides but no one can deny that it's visually stunning . Wouldn't like to work there, but the place is awesome for a few days camping. The townsite campsite is perfect for a cheap weekend..
@kurtishawkins Kurtis please reach out to me to connect, I enjoyed the videos bc I am seriously thinking of moving from ON for economic, political, & conveinience I can explain more when we talk, will be looking for something with income potential such as a triplex/4plex...
