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And now for the opposite of suburban sprawl....... Calgary River Wave Surfpark.

globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The ambitious project is estimated to cost $10 million and would sink a hydraulic platform under the water and could be raised and lowered to adjust the size of the wave.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization​


RIVER-SURF-3.jpg
RIVER-SURF-1.jpg
Image5.jpg
 
Surrealplaces said:
And now for the opposite of suburban sprawl....... Calgary River Wave Surfpark.

globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The ambitious project is estimated to cost $10 million and would sink a hydraulic platform under the water and could be raised and lowered to adjust the size of the wave.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization​


View attachment 310346View attachment 310347View attachment 310348
Click to expand...

That gravel does not look very nice to sit on... 😐
 
Surrealplaces said:
And now for the opposite of suburban sprawl....... Calgary River Wave Surfpark.

globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The ambitious project is estimated to cost $10 million and would sink a hydraulic platform under the water and could be raised and lowered to adjust the size of the wave.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization​

Click to expand...
The scope of this has massively expanded. This is now in the range of Harvie Passage cost wise. It is really cool, but I wonder if direct impact makes it worth it.

Maybe it is worth it in indirect alone though. Imagine every article about Calgary with someone surfing in front of the peace bridge attached to it. Surf, fly-fish, live and write code with 5 blocks! It is so quirky and unique it can recast the city. Even just the ability to adjust the wave would generate 'a wave' of news coverage, which with a few surfers with the association giving good quotes could be massive.
 
The main issue I see with this is people going "So iT CaN bE uSeD foR 5 MonThS Out Of thE YeaR" and they do have a point, hopefully the can find a way to have it be utilized in the winter somehow. My idea was before the river freezes over close of the flow in the surf park and have a lagoon the could possibly be used as outdoor hockey rinks or something. It's definitely interesting and it could be one of those things that helps makes the city a little more unique.
 
Chinese_T said:
That gravel does not look very nice to sit on... 😐
Click to expand...
Pretty much. It looks to be the same type of edge treatment used at Harvie Passage, and most people there seem to sit on the rocks or in lawn chairs.

I love this idea, and it could be something that Calgary and downtown could use to market itself. I guess we'll see how feasible it is when the cost comes out, with the amount of griping about property taxes, there may not be much appetite by the general public for a project like this.
 
Ubran Outdoorsman said:
I imagine whoever owns the corner lot isn't going to be thrilled by that application. They'll be sandwiched between two developments to the north and south.

Also it'll be a little sad to see some of those homes on 19th Street get torn down. Some of the few really old houses left in the area are right on 19th.

But at the end of the day I do like the way 19th is evolving.
Click to expand...

I think it would be worthwhile surveying what remains in the city of those tiny 'war time houses' and see if there's any opportunity to preserve some small collection.
 
gsunnyg said:
LOL man Calgary's satellite cities are so trash compared to other cities in North America. Cochrane is the only proper one I can think of, but still nothing incredible from an urban standpoint. All the cities around Calgary literally feel like extensions of a suburban community or a quadrant. I'd love to see a toll tax slapped onto vehicles entering Calgary. I've had friends and coworkers from Airdrie that love to complain about Calgary's property taxes and whatnot yet they drive in every day to Calgary and use the Cities services and infrastructure. With Calgary's unanimous dominance in the area, a Mon-Fri commuter toll would really put the satellite city residents against a wall and generate some good tax dollars for Calgary.
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UrbanWarrior said:
High River is quite lovely. After the city was wiped out by the flood, they rebuilt their entire downtown, it's walkable, pedestrian friendly, and even closed off to vehicles for much of the summer. From what I've seen, it's superior to even Cochrane's little downtown, despite being less than half the population.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Airdrie and Okotoks were basically just whistle stops until aspirational commuters showed up.

Airdrie 1950s (pop 267)

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Okotoks 1950s (pop 767)

1617679282524.png


High River 1950s (pop 1888)

1617679338022.png


High River was a significantly larger town than the other two 'back in the day' and is far enough away from Calgary that it's not a tiny hamlet surrounded by large Calgary-style suburbs.
 
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Surrealplaces said:
And now for the opposite of suburban sprawl....... Calgary River Wave Surfpark.

globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The ambitious project is estimated to cost $10 million and would sink a hydraulic platform under the water and could be raised and lowered to adjust the size of the wave.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

Renewed optimism for river wave park amid Calgary downtown revitalization​


View attachment 310346View attachment 310347View attachment 310348
Click to expand...
Cowtown? More like Cowabunga, dude!! 🙋‍♂️ ayo up top
 
Surrealplaces said:
Pretty much. It looks to be the same type of edge treatment used at Harvie Passage, and most people there seem to sit on the rocks or in lawn chairs.

I love this idea, and it could be something that Calgary and downtown could use to market itself. I guess we'll see how feasible it is when the cost comes out, with the amount of griping about property taxes, there may not be much appetite by the general public for a project like this.
Click to expand...
It has to be something that is a bit more durable, something nice right at the rivers edge will get damaged in high water years and completely destroyed in a flood.

What Calgary needs is some sort of a public beach. I've kayaked through Harvie Passage on a hot day and it's completely full of people, and that area is definitely NOT meant as a beach. People are remarkably dumb on it too, last time I went through people are diving off rocks right in front of you and getting mad that you almost run them over. That happened about 5x then I saw a lady on a cheap inflatable raft getting carried through the rapids with people chasing after on the banks. No paddle and likely unable to swim. I feel like the same thing will happen with the river surf park, too many people looking to swim will disrupt the river surfing aspect. There is definitely demand for something, but given the variability of the water level and intensity on the rivers, it needs to be some sort of artificial lake or pond. Sikome is a good start, but it's too small and that water is gross. The private lakes in the south work well, but they are exclusive.
 
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Mountain Man said:
It has to be something that is a bit more durable, something nice right at the rivers edge will get damaged in high water years and completely destroyed in a flood.

What Calgary needs is some sort of a public beach. I've kayaked through Harvie Passage on a hot day and it's completely full of people, and that area is definitely NOT meant as a beach. People are remarkably dumb on it too, last time I went through people are diving off rocks right in front of you and getting mad that you almost run them over. That happened about 5x then I saw a lady on a cheap inflatable raft getting carried through the rapids with people chasing after on the banks. No paddle and likely unable to swim. I feel like the same thing will happen with the river surf park, too many people looking to swim will disrupt the river surfing aspect. There is definitely demand for something, but given the variability of the water level and intensity on the rivers, it needs to be some sort of artificial lake or pond. Sikome is a good start, but it's too small and that water is gross. The private lakes in the south work well, but they are exclusive.
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I wonder if a gravel beach could be built along the waterway separating Prince's Island and downtown
 
They are building a gravel beach as part off the Eau Claire Plaza/Riverwalk redevelopment.
 
haltcatchfire said:
We did back in 2017 according to the thread for it. I feel like it was just last year I made those comments though and not four years ago.

Calgary | Mission XVI| 29.5m | 8s | DeJong Design

DeJong Design Consultants recently submitted a development permit for a 44 unit, 8 storey residential development in Mission, located at 310, 25th ave SW.
skyrisecities.com skyrisecities.com
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I thought I saw that development earlier, but couldn't remember when. Nice to see it surface after 4 years.
 
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