Mixed feelings about Northern Hills

We have lived in Panorama Hills for 13 years. We really like our house and it's location within the community. Access to the rest of the city and outside the city has improved significantly since the completion of Stoney Trail in our area. Transit is difficult as the routes to downtown are crowded from the end of the line to downtown. The Green Line LRT has been long delayed and I don't see the city doing its best to start the line let alone complete it. An LRT would greatly improve transportation in this area.

The developers chose to put large attached garages in most houses. This really negatively impacts neighbourliness. If I walk in the neighbourhood I don't see people in the front of their houses and assume (like us) that their activity is all in the backyard. The house is oriented to the backyard and not the front so interaction is not easy.

The neighbourhood was developed with limited retail areas. We have large shopping areas in the middle of Northern Hills but Panorama Hills has limited shopping choices. So this means there is little to see if you walk in the neighbourhood and as shops attract people the residential streets lack pedestrians but there are plenty of cars. We generally drive for shopping as the hills make walking with packages a challenge.

We like that we can drive to just abut all services and shops within a short time. However prior to moving here we lived in the Downtown West area and liked that we could walk to do a lot of our shopping. Northern Hills is disappointing as it is not a walkable or particularly interesting area. As we are both seniors it would be better to have a neighbourhood with more distractions to encourage walking and socializing.