Mixed feelings about Northern Hills
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.