Bismillah...
We are learning a lot about this place. I emailed a lot of friends and asked about moving and relocating and it's so interesting hear about what people experience. Calgary is way different than Toronto for a few reasons:
Quadrants
Calgary is divided into four quadrants, try wrapping your head around that if you're from a major city like Toronto- GTA.
NW- Northwest Calgary is, in general, the region west of Centre Street and north of the Bow River
with the exception of several neighborhoods south of the Bow River on
the western edge of the city, which are also considered to be part of
the northwest.
NE-Northeast Calgary is the region east of Centre Street and north of Memorial Drive.
SW- Southwest Calgary is, in general, the region south of the Bow River and west of Centre Street/Macleod Trail.
SE- Southeast Calgary is the area south of Memorial Drive and east of Macleod Trail.
Streets
"Streets" run North-South, and "avenues" run East-West. Most of
Calgary's streets and avenues are numbered beginning at the Centre. Those closest to the core have the lowest numbers.
To approximate distance, it's about 10 streets to the mile or 15 avenues
to the mile.
Building Numbers
Building numbers generally indicate the street and avenue numbers.To figure
the nearest cross-street (or avenue) take off the last two digits of a
building number. For example, 2425 17 Ave SW, will be close to 24 Street on
17 Avenue South West. Higher numbers (those approaching 2440) are close to
the intersection, and lower numbers (like 2401) are closer to the next lower
cross-street (like 23rd Street).
There are exceptions -in newer neighbourhoods, the streets are named not numbered.
Neighbourhood Names
In some neighbourhoods all streets have a similar sounding name, forming
a theme for the neighbourhood. For example, in the neighbourhood called
"Whitehorn" all the streets begin with the word "White". When given an
address in such a neighbourhood, the last part of the address (street,
avenue, close, drive, or place) may be crucial for finding the address.
In these neighbourhoods the building numbers often have no relation to
nearby streets and avenues.
