But as much as I miss all those things, I’m happy with what I have gained in Calgary. Owning a home in an inner city neighborhood was way out of reach in Toronto. Financially, my wife and I are a decade ahead of where we would have been had we not moved from Toronto 5 years ago. Quality of life is so much better too! Calgarians have a better work life balance, and it’s so much easier to be active year round here (cycling, mountain biking, hiking, skiing, outdoor hockey rinks, etc.). I will also never complain about traffic in Calgary! My tolerance is too high after living in Toronto.
Toronto was great in my youth, and I would recommend it to anyone in their 20’s and early 30’s looking for career opportunities and wanting to make friends (Toronto gets flak for being unfriendly, but I think it’s such a great city for meeting people and making friends). But Calgary is exceedingly better if you have a family and want to be able to get ahead financially.