다음은 켈거리 썬지에 실린 기사입니다.
경제적인 호황에도 불구하고 켈거리인의 삶의 환경이 좀처럼 개선되지 않자 이제 사람들은 켈거리 외곽지역으로 주거지를 이동하고 있다는 내용입니다. 하지만 생계수단을 여전히 켈거리에 둔 사람들로서는 출퇴근 거리가 늘어나서 교통체증이 발생하는 것 또한 문제점으로 지적되고 있습니다.
Calgarians take rural route
Increasing numbers of city dwellers fleeing to small-towns surrounding Calgary
Frustrated with steep housing prices, traffic congestion and crime, a growing number of Calgarians are swapping the big city for rural serenity -- but well beyond the bedroom communities of Bragg Creek, Airdrie and Okotoks.
Royal Lepage Foothills realtor Esther Leung said she's noticed more Calgarians moving to rural areas and stomaching a longer drive to work, well over an hour each way.
"They don't seem to mind," she said.
"It seems they are enjoying (the lifestyle) and there will be more people doing that."
In the last year, Leung said she's helped as many as 15 Calgary professionals find property in communities as far away as Vulcan, 100 km southeast of Calgary.
Others have moved to Nanton, 80 km south, as well as Mossleigh and Arrowwood, about 75 km southeast.
Buyers range from young couples looking for a smaller community to raise a family, to older professionals seeking a slower pace of life.
"They're too busy, the quality of life in Calgary is not as good, they're looking for quietness and schools," said Leung.
"Calgary has more crime, and traffic is more congested, and it's just getting too big."
Calgary legal assistant Pam Hyslop, 21, lives in the tiny Water Valley, about 120 km northwest of Calgary.
Her morning drive takes about 70 minutes and since it's mostly highway driving to downtown Calgary, it's not that bad, she said.
Hyslop and husband Darryl, a truck driver, tend to avoid the rat race that Calgary has become even though she has to work there.
"We don't even like coming into the city on weekends because its too much of a rush, rush, rush," she said. "Out where we are, it's very relaxed."
The downside is the high price of gasoline and the increased traffic on the highway over the three years she has been commuting. "I've noticed such an increase in volume in traffic because people are leaving Calgary to go to these smaller towns to live because it's cheaper, and now they're driving prices up as well," she said.
Strong demand for country life has left towns like Vulcan and Nanton with no available lots, said Vulcan town councillor Emmet Meehan, adding Vulcan council is looking at building a new 25-hectare subdivision.
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