I posted a comment on an article entitled "Saskatchewan Cost of Living vs Alberta" right here on SMA:

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I thought I explained myself well, so I thought I'd post it here and see if anyone agrees and/or wants to rebut.

I also came up with my favorite new word to refer to residents of Sask -- Saskatchians

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Like many Saskatchians, I moved to Alberta (Calgary) and lived there for a couple years back in the late 90's.

It is definitely not all it's cracked up to be. It may have a few more options in what you can do in your free time but you have LESS free time there.

Once you consider the absolute crazy housing prices, the cost of insurance, the failing infrastructure (roads there weren't built for the traffic they see today) - it does not generally pay off for everyone.

When I lived there, I knew few people my age (21 at the time) that actually rented a place of their own or even just had only 1 roommate. Most people I knew, including myself, where stuffed in a 4 bedroom with 4 or 5 other people. Sure, it made for a good party 24/7 but if you value your privacy like I do, then it's not cool.

I read an article a few years back that if you compare "life paths" between AB and SK - Albertans are nearly 10 years behind Saskatchians in regards to owning there own home, financial freedom, getting married, having kids and whatnot.

The main thing for me that makes Saskatchewan home is that it takes 12 minutes from the door of my house to my desk at work. In Calgary, I've driven an hour both ways just to get to and from work.

So even if you do make more money (which your Alberta pay stub will almost always verify) - once you take into account the higher cost of living and the fact that up to 10 hours of life is sucked from you every week commuting, it doesn't look as good when you actually sit down, think about it and get real.

I don't find it nearly worth it. Lots others have found the same thing and moved back to Sask.

I think it all stems from the fact that deep down - we all think the grass is greener somewhere else. Given the problems with Alberta living I've outlined here and the fact that many of us native Saskatchians leave tons of family and friends behind - it becomes apparent that people just need to suck it up and value Saskatchewan for all the benefits we have and stop taking your valuable knowledge and resources elsewhere.

Is our government perfect? Nope. Do we have mountains to ride off into on a nice Saturday afternoon? Nope. Do we have all the big city attractions? Nope.

I guarantee though that you will value those things all the more if you just visit them once in a while. I have a saying, "I love to visit Calgary/Toronto/Edmonton but I would never want to live here".

But look around, this province isn't just the flat piece of crap people like to think it is. SK has many awesome attractions - we just don't look for them and we sure as hell don't advertise our strengths.

I think it's high time we start.<br><br>Post edited by: Kevin, at: 2007/01/10 09:29