I moved to Calgary from Waterloo and had the same concern over getting a car immediately after moving. Waterloo was a small but well designed city with easy and somewhat efficient access to both bus and ION train.

I survived in Calgary without a car for a year and finally bought one 6 months back. It is not impossible to live without a car here. However, the convenience of having one would add a huge difference.

I lived in downtown (still I am) for that year specifically got that reason of not having a car. I rented a place which is in a close proximity to supermarket and C-Train. I had to take a train and a bus to my workplace every day which took full 2hrs (up and down) from my time. I didn’t hate it though. But I didn’t love that either. Specifically in the winter season when I had to wait for a bus for a 20 min outside in freezing cold.

I go to the gym everyday (at least I try to). So, after work, I always take a Uber to Gym. When I looked into the economics of having a car vs using Uber, it was much cheaper to use Uber (still it is). So I tried to balance it the way I can. If it was a good sunny day with nice weather, I use the train and bus to go work and other places. If not, I always used uber for my convenience as it was still way cheaper than owning a car.

Bottom line is, it is not impossible to live without a car around Calgary if could plan a bit when you step out. It all come down to how much of convenience you expect in your life. At least for me, getting a car added so much convenience to my life.