[Surrealplaces]

Today Calgary's core (DT, Beltline, Mission, Bridgeland, Kensington, Inglewood and EV) numbers around 100,000 people.

Pretty close I think. Going by today's estimate of downtown Calgary at 65K, plus 2021 numbers for Mission, Bridgeland, Kensington, Inglewood, EV and Lower Mount Royal, it comes out at around 97K. DT might be a bit less, or a bit more, but we know that all of those other neighborhoods have a fair bit higher population today than in 2021.

 

[lemongrab]

There used to be rail yards north of 104av so having a truck sized road adjacent wasn't unreasonable. Big big ball drop on Edm not reserving some of that rail ROW for LRT though, genuinely have no idea how they let that slide?

Valley Line West will run west down 104th from 107 St. I'm not sure how long they actually had that in mind though - maybe it's similar to Calgary and Centre St where the idea of a tram never seemed to occur to them until it did?

 

[Stephen Ave]

Edmonton's biggest downfall comes down to density IMO. It has less people than Calgary's downtown and is spread out over an area twice as large, but higher density would help increase retail and reduce crime.

For a city of Edmonton’s size, the downtown is surprisingly sparse people wise. Much more so than Calgary or Ottawa, and that’s the reason for the lack of vibrancy. They need to get more people in the downtown, but it’s easier said than done.

 

[Albertasaurus]

For a city of Edmonton’s size, the downtown is surprisingly sparse people wise. Much more so than Calgary or Ottawa, and that’s the reason for the lack of vibrancy. They need to get more people in the downtown, but it’s easier said than done.

I'd argue that by North American standards, Edmonton's downtown is actually not bad for its metro size. Most US cities in the 1.5-2 million metro range have terrible downtowns. It's more the fact that Calgary and Ottawa punch far above their weight, due to being a major economic hub and national capital respectfully.

 

[trtcttc]

I'd argue that by North American standards, Edmonton's downtown is actually not bad for its metro size. Most US cities in the 1.5-2 million metro range have terrible downtowns. It's more the fact that Calgary and Ottawa punch far above their weight, due to being a major economic hub and national capital respectfully.

I don't work in O&G, but do most O&G workers live in Edmonton? So they end up commuting out for work instead of going downtown?

 

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

Valley Line West will run west down 104th from 107 St. I'm not sure how long they actually had that in mind though - maybe it's similar to Calgary and Centre St where the idea of a tram never seemed to occur to them until it did?

Yeah that's a recent development, there were never any streetcar LRT plans at first.

While they've been criticized for sinking so many resources into the underground portion downtown, they did originally plan to make the most of it by using it for three cross town lines.

Their planners clearly had their thinking caps on back then.
No idea what happened over the years...
Must have been a stiff breeze.

 

[Alex_YYC]

I don't work in O&G, but do most O&G workers live in Edmonton? So they end up commuting out for work instead of going downtown?

In Edmonton most O&G workers live in the burbs or in small towns or acreages near the city.