[JonnyCanuck]

A good short read for anyone interested. Looks like the Beltline is expected to add 2500 rental and condo units over the span of a few years. Translating to roughly 4000 more residents. Great pace for a slow economy. Hopefully things kick into overdrive in the coming years and we double that number in the same span of time.

I am astonished at these growth projections for the inner city. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in downtown in the last 4 years. Not just oil & gas but also in retail and the hospitality industry. What will draw all these people to move to the inner city???? I mean, downtown Calgary is far from being the vibrant, and active destination that Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal's is.

 

[BKha]

Younger people like to live downtown, even if they work elsewhere. That and even though there have been jobs lost in the core, there are still new jobs being created as people retired. Case in point, we've had a couple of people retire in the last year, and both people were replaced by younger people. One of them who lives in the Beltline and the other in Sunnyside. I know that isn't happening by the thousands, but it does happen.

I am astonished at these growth projections for the inner city. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in downtown in the last 4 years. Not just oil & gas but also in retail and the hospitality industry. What will draw all these people to move to the inner city???? I mean, downtown Calgary is far from being the vibrant, and active destination that Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal's is.

 

[CBBarnett]

I am astonished at these growth projections for the inner city. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in downtown in the last 4 years. Not just oil & gas but also in retail and the hospitality industry. What will draw all these people to move to the inner city???? I mean, downtown Calgary is far from being the vibrant, and active destination that Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal's is.

What will draw people to the city centre like Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto? Great question!

The 200,000+ jobs that are still in the centre city for one thing, the single largest concentration of jobs in Alberta. And while I agree our vibrancy is minor next to the big 3, it's still the most vibrant urban area you'll get within a 12 hour drive. So if you want urban vibrancy, but don't want to move to Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto - it's your ticket. Significant improvements in the public realm in the city centre have supported that as well as the growing service and amenity mix that have followed the increase in city centre population.

I guess the question comes down to:

• to what extent will Calgary city's centre follow the trends of every other large city in this country?
• And if we are going to head for a different path, what makes us so different that we materially will buck the long-term urbanization trends all cities are experiencing?

I see little evidence we will be structurally different: we didn't invent suburban sprawl, nor did we invent urban re-population yet we are building both nonetheless. Our population is growing (as is all major cities), our economy is more diverse than ever (albeit still more concentrated than other places). But so were all of other cities when they were our size. Montreal went through a decade of recession worse than anything Alberta has seen in 40 years and their city never stopped growing, nor being vibrant, nor having a strong population in city centre. All Canadian cities built sprawly-suburbs, all reinvested and grew in their core after.

A few areas we are materially different right now:

• Far higher average incomes over decades have promoted ownership over renting which is reflected in our relatively tiny apartment supply and makes the suburban lifestyle be more dominate in the public mind here (because we have collectively always been able to afford it). This could change.
• Far lower student population (in the core and rest of the city). This depresses apartment supply and the youthful culture that is key to the vibrancy question. What's always lost on the oil-fueled boomers is that Calgary has never attracted more 18-24 years olds proportionally than the other major cities in Canada - boom or not. We have never been competitive for this demographic while we pat ourselves on the back for attracting middle aged professionals. Not a bad demographic to attract, just a real blind spot exists for students and youth here.

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Thanks CB. I appreciate your perspective on this. As a current resident of the Beltline since 2010, I was attracted to the potential of the the city centre and what it might become. (and I am not young by the way) There were and are some ambitious plans for Eau Claire, East Village, 17 Ave, east Victoria Park. Unfortunately, our current recession, has put a lot of this on hold. Population growth, if it is realized, will help accelerate things again. It is just going to take a lot longer to realize the vision. ?

 

[Mountain Man]

Noticed Google street view updated a few more streets in our city. This one pic really caught my eye. Makes u really go wow at what 4.5 years of development can do. Would have been nice if the economy didn't sink, or at least for a few more years. Makes you ponder on what EV and the Core area in general could have been right now:

May 2014:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.ca

Oct. 2018:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.ca

Incredible growth!

 

[Bokimon]

No other renderings, but @Bokimon mentioned that the final design will look similar to the rendering.

actually I think I may be wrong on that one, that render is a rough conceptual design that came from one of the national firms. The full design of it will be to whoever actually ends up designing this in cahoots with a local firm.

 

[Disraeli]

I am astonished at these growth projections for the inner city. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in downtown in the last 4 years. Not just oil & gas but also in retail and the hospitality industry. What will draw all these people to move to the inner city???? I mean, downtown Calgary is far from being the vibrant, and active destination that Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal's is.

I don't think it is a necessary condition to have vibrancy on the level of those cities to have a growing, healthy inner city. And anyways, we've had a booming commercial downtown for decades and if anything, it has taken away vibrancy rather than added it.

 

[Chinook Arch]

The feds are pitching in $168M toward flood mitigation. Is this the Springbank reservoir that some of the locals are opposing?

Canada helps protect southern Alberta communities from future flooding

CALGARY, March 13, 2019 /CNW/ - Now more than ever, communities need help adapting to the frequent and intensifying weather events caused by climate change....

www.newswire.ca

 

[gsunnyg]

I am astonished at these growth projections for the inner city. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in downtown in the last 4 years. Not just oil & gas but also in retail and the hospitality industry. What will draw all these people to move to the inner city???? I mean, downtown Calgary is far from being the vibrant, and active destination that Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal's is.

I agree with you that we're far behind vibrancy compared to the cities you mentioned and the scary part is that anyone coming from Europe/Asia could make an argument that those cities are hardly vibrant as well. Ive even heard people say Vancouvers to calm and boring, which really makes me nervous for Calgary. If we talk about the Core as downtown+Beltline for a second, I think the biggest problem it has in achieving vibrancy is poor retail. Unlike the cities you mentioned, Calgary's core doesn't have much different to offer compared to the suburbs. What Im afraid of is that all this density could be meanignless. We need more excluisve retaiilers in our Core along sidewalks to encourage pedestrian traffic and the problem is only being exaggerated with retail closing and moving over to Chinook or Market Mall. Theres no way we're gonna become vibrant by adding dental clinics and banks along 1st SW or 17th ave. They just don't drive enough traffic. Calgary Economic Development has projected that Calgary's youth population will shrink from todays numbers in the coming years. Vibrancy is very much important, I mean we've all heard it from a visitor one time or another that Calgary isn't very exciting. Thats not how you want your city to be represented. It just deters folks and companies away from settling in Calgary. I've had cousins and friends leave this city after giving it a try for a couple years, number one thing they always cite, lack of vibrancy and fun. I really would like to see that change. We got great projects in the bag with the Entertainment District and revitalization of the Rivers District in general. What makes me anxious is that when the CMLC is looking into examples like Colombus or Edmonton for arena disticts. Last I checked, no one ever said lets go to Colombus to experience vibrancy and fun. Most people would rather visit Vancouver, Toronto, NYC, London, Paris etc. Im hoping for the best here, we're on the right track, the problem is we don't execute enough on solutions. Calgarys 50/50 growth is a perfect example of this. Instead of growing 50 % of the population in existing areas, we lead the country by growing over 90% of our population in the suburbs, thats hella scary.

 

[Disraeli]

I agree with you that we're far behind vibrancy compared to the cities you mentioned and the scary part is that anyone coming from Europe/Asia could make an argument that those cities are hardly vibrant as well. Ive even heard people say Vancouvers to calm and boring, which really makes me nervous for Calgary. If we talk about the Core as downtown+Beltline for a second, I think the biggest problem it has in achieving vibrancy is poor retail. Unlike the cities you mentioned, Calgary's core doesn't have much different to offer compared to the suburbs. What Im afraid of is that all this density could be meanignless. We need more excluisve retaiilers in our Core along sidewalks to encourage pedestrian traffic and the problem is only being exaggerated with retail closing and moving over to Chinook or Market Mall. Theres no way we're gonna become vibrant by adding dental clinics and banks along 1st SW or 17th ave. They just don't drive enough traffic. Calgary Economic Development has projected that Calgary's youth population will shrink from todays numbers in the coming years. Vibrancy is very much important, I mean we've all heard it from a visitor one time or another that Calgary isn't very exciting. Thats not how you want your city to be represented. It just deters folks and companies away from settling in Calgary. I've had cousins and friends leave this city after giving it a try for a couple years, number one thing they always cite, lack of vibrancy and fun. I really would like to see that change.

But what do you mean by vibrancy? Lots of urban chain retail stores? That sounds like an inside out mall not a vibrant street. And if you think that Calgary's core doesn't have more to offer than the suburbs you need to open your eyes. Calgary isn't for everyone but alot of people seem inclined to base their impressions of Calgary having no culture, nothing to do, no fun ext. based off of stereotypes and ignorance rather than experience.

 

[gsunnyg]

I don't mean it as disrespect but how much travelling have you done in the past? You'll know what vibrancy looks like when you see it in other cities. People loitering, streets filled with pedestrians shoulder to shoulder, window shopping, an atmosphere where it feels like Stampede 12+ hours of the day etc. Visit the Calgary Core outside of lunch time and 3-5pm makes you wonder if theres really 1 million + people. Its not stereotypes it from experience. The first part to solving a problem is identifying that we have a problem. And no, Calgary Suburb malls are way more dominate than downtown shopping. If you want to go shop for fashion, you would rarely consider the Core or 17th ave, most people, or at least friends and family that come to visit prefer to go to Chinook. The opposite is true for Toronto and Vancouver where their dominate malls+street shopping with the exception of Yorkdale are within their inner city/downtown. I don't mean to sound nasty towards Calgary, I love this city, thats why Im giving it tough love, we have a very long way to go towards vibrancy. There was a survey done for a Calgary report where the number 1 reason youth chose cities like Vancouver and Toronto was due to lack of culture and entertainment.

Thats Vibrancy. Even if Calgary can reach 50% of those levels in the next 2 decades, I will be a happy camper.

Just to add: those two videos are just mere examples of ideal vibrancy for me, I know they have larger populations but I can think of smaller cities in England that have vibrant High Streets .Leicester is a great example with a smaller population.

 

[Stephen Ave]

Yes, I believe so.

The feds are pitching in $168M toward flood mitigation. Is this the Springbank reservoir that some of the locals are opposing?

Canada helps protect southern Alberta communities from future flooding

CALGARY, March 13, 2019 /CNW/ - Now more than ever, communities need help adapting to the frequent and intensifying weather events caused by climate change....

www.newswire.ca

 

[Surrealplaces]

The feds are pitching in $168M toward flood mitigation. Is this the Springbank reservoir that some of the locals are opposing?

Canada helps protect southern Alberta communities from future flooding

CALGARY, March 13, 2019 /CNW/ - Now more than ever, communities need help adapting to the frequent and intensifying weather events caused by climate change....

www.newswire.ca

I don't know if all the funds are going to the reservoir project, but yes, looks like it's all is going to that project.

Springbank Off-stream Reservoir project

The Springbank Off-stream Reservoir is a dry reservoir that will store water temporarily during a flood.

www.alberta.ca

 

[Disraeli]

I don't mean it as disrespect but how much travelling have you done in the past? You'll know what vibrancy looks like when you see it in other cities. People loitering, streets filled with pedestrians shoulder to shoulder, window shopping, an atmosphere where it feels like Stampede 12+ hours of the day etc. Visit the Calgary Core outside of lunch time and 3-5pm makes you wonder if theres really 1 million + people. Its not stereotypes it from experience. The first part to solving a problem is identifying that we have a problem. And no, Calgary Suburb malls are way more dominate than downtown shopping. If you want to go shop for fashion, you would rarely consider the Core or 17th ave, most people, or at least friends and family that come to visit prefer to go to Chinook. The opposite is true for Toronto and Vancouver where their dominate malls+street shopping with the exception of Yorkdale are within their inner city/downtown. I don't mean to sound nasty towards Calgary, I love this city, thats why Im giving it tough love, we have a very long way to go towards vibrancy. There was a survey done for a Calgary report where the number 1 reason youth chose cities like Vancouver and Toronto was due to lack of culture and entertainment.

Thats Vibrancy. Even if Calgary can reach 50% of those levels in the next 2 decades, I will be a happy camper.

Just to add: those two videos are just mere examples of ideal vibrancy for me, I know they have larger populations but I can think of smaller cities in England that have vibrant High Streets .Leicester is a great example with a smaller population.

I wasn't asking you to define vibrancy for my own sense of the word, I am asking you to define vibrancy so we all know what you are going on about when you say Calgary lacks vibrancy. But great, we've cleared that up... it's something like the touristy areas of London and Toronto. Gotcha. But yes, my travelling history. Well i've been to all three of those cities you mentioned more than once (I lived in Vancouver). It is interesting you lump them together. Very different cities in terms vibrancy if you ask me. Which is to my point: there are, in fact, different ways a city can be vibrant and that Calgary actually does have vibrancy. Maybe instead of treating Calgary as some city in need of rehab we should start promoting our great neighborhoods, restaurants, parks, bars, not to mention a incredible arts and culture community which works tireselly putting on shows, festivals, exhibits, and which supports young local artists. That might be more productive than the pessimistic " Calgary: It Just Ain't as Good as Vancouver" slant we hear about all the time.

 

[gsunnyg]

No one here is saying Vancouver or any of these cities are better than Calgary or at least thats not what Im implying at all. Im quite the opposite in fact, I will always start arguing with friends and family as why they should choose Calgary. When measuring great cities, theres more criteria than just vibrancy. Im simply saying vibrancy is one of the areas we seriously lack in and Ive always been consistent on these forums with this view. Im 99% sure if you did a short survey of 100 people from outside of Canada and told them to rank the most vibrant cities in Canada, Calgary would be last in the pack of Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto. So whats wrong in seeing that as our weakness and fixing it? Clearly the City of Calgary also realizes we have a problem so whats wrong in addressing it? Should we just forget about it and risk losing young folks, entrepreneurs, and newcomers who will shape our cities future? And as far as tourist cities go, theres plenty of other Beta cities that are just as vibrant and Calgary gets a fair share of tourists thanks to Banff. If we aren't improving and making our city better than what exactly are we doing? all those redevelopment plans issued by the city can practically be seen as rehab for fixing our mistakes in the past. And at least we can agree on one thing that we continuously hear the pessimistic outlook on Calgary, so why should we not address it try to fix it?