Confessions of an Edmontonian: Calgary is Better!
I have a confession to make and it’s big! Calgary is better than Edmonton in developing municipal urban scapes. On May 2, 2025, my world was shaken to its core during the HGEO 499 Field School walk of East Village in Calgary with Nathan Flach of CMLC (Calgary Municipal Land Corporation) and Matt Knapik or 02 Planning and Design Inc. Now, I am old enough to remember East Village from over 30 years ago. When visiting Calgary, I would stay at Hostelling International which is located pretty close to the centre of East Village. 30 years and more ago, there was the Salvation Army a block away, a bunch of decrepit buildings, surface parking lots everywhere and my one memory was the huge needle drop box on a light pole just past the property line of the hostel. To say it was a dodgy neighborhood was putting it lightly.
The tour today was eye opening and we were treated to the new Calgary Public Library and the Bell Music Hall. Nathan highlighted a multi level parkade called “The Platform” that was built in such a way that if there was less demand for parking in the future, a portion or a whole parkade floor or more could be repurposed into apartments or offices. This type of development is forward thinking and this was accomplished in less than 20 years since Calgary began using the CRL. The CRL is a funding mechanism which is effectively using the provincial portion of property tax generated by present and future development in an area and using the pot of money today for current improvements like pedestrian and road infrastructure, artworks, playgrounds, low income housing, and almost anything else that would help kickstart a community upgrade. It effectively is using future taxes for present day improvements and expecting that private development will be more robust and payback that original tax funds and more.
Upgrades were all around us including new playgrounds with really big traffic circles surrounding them to slow vehicular traffic. There was funky art like the three drinking birds adjacent to the new library or the water drop (giant blue metallic art piece) in front of the newly expanded BMO Centre. Even the connections to the adjacent Beltline community have been improved so much that what was around 30 years ago is so much more pedestrian friendly today. Nathan talked about the “giant red wall” on the east side of Stampede Park. I had forgotten about this, but when he mentioned it along with the pedestrian bridge from the LRT to cross MacLeod Trail, it brought back unpleasant memories. The worst was walking from Lindsay Park (currently called the MNP Centre) to downtown and being inundated with vehicle exhaust and dust on the sidewalk exasperated by this huge red barrier to keep everyone out of the Stampede Park. Today the pedestrian bridge is gone, the massive LRT station has been simplified to be a surface station and 17th Avenue which, 30 years ago and until recently dead ended at MacLeod Trail, now traverses and follows a new road in and out of the Stampede grounds.
And a bit of research from the CMLC website:
https://www.calgarymlc.ca/districts/east-village, shows that $400 million has been invested in the East Village since 2007 encouraging over $3 billion of private investment has been made to date. The CRL investment would be considered a success by any measure. Funnily enough, Hostelling International Calgary is still there in its location. But now, other than a few surface parking lots, it is surrounded by high rises, amazing public buildings, rebuilt and renovated historic buildings, playgrounds, and public art. My confession stands; Calgary is better than Edmonton, at least in terms of municipally led developments.
-Written by Field Schooler Gary Poliquin