CentreCity

Visions of Our Future - East Village

We hear about the East Village redevelopment plans quite often these days. This immense project in the Centre City involves work in four major areas: infrastructure upgrades, heritage building rejeuvination, 4th Street underpass construction and environmental remediation. Most of us Centre City-ers have regular occasion to pass by the cranes, see the landscape work, the construction-in-progress in the area. But to give you a real chance to envision the project once all that construction dust settles, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation has put together a useful video - a chance to see the East Village of our future - with a bird's eye view.  

So why don't you take a wee coffee break and click play here. Then, let us know what you think of the vision...what caught your eye the most?  

  

 

Landscape Therapy

If you're feeling like you need an antidote to our brown-ish, dirty-looking-post-snow-landscape as of late, look no further than your Centre City LRT stop!  

We recently told you about an ongoing exhibit at the Telus Convention Centre windo space at the 7 Ave. and Centre St. LRT platform. Well now there's a new set of artists' work up on display there as part of the Open Spaces: Window to a View project Billie Rae Busby and Alice Helwig are showcasing each of their landscape styles within this unique forum.

We had a chance to ask Billie Rae Busby about what she thought of having her work in this unique location. She said that since there are so many people who use the transit there, when they're passing by, she "hopes (her) abstract landscapes catch peoples' eyes and remind them of some place familiar that they have been to or seen. The colours of the pieces were specifically chosen to evoke memories of the spring and summertime - which (she) thinks we are all eager to see again soon." 

Here are some samples of Billie Rae Busby's and Alice Helwig's work - obviously there's a wonderful juxtaposition in their takes on earth, land and sky:  

 

(Bounty, Billy Rae Busby)

 

(Nosehill - Fall is Coming, Alice Helwig)   

You can see Busby and Helwig's interpretations of our prairie landscapes at the Telus Convention Centre window space until April 30th.  

Hidden Centre City Revealed

How well do you know your Centre City?  Each Monday, we post a section of a photograph taken from somewhere in the Centre City (click here for parameters).  The photos are meant to be tough to guess...thus the title "Hidden Centre City".  We're looking to explore some of the unusual or notable design, architecture and style found within the CC area.  The photos will be taken in places we might not always get to in our day-to-day travels.  But the hope is, we might inspire people to get out there and explore Calgary a little more.  

Here's the full photo from last week:

 
 (photo by Sherlock77)

"Bigtime" guessed correctly - it is indeed a photo of the lettering on the church on 1st Street and 15th Avenue SW. It's called the Church of Immanuel.  That church is a great landmark on 1st Street - hard to miss it, especially with the huge lettering on its north side.  

Our clue for today is a strange one...here goes :

 
The answer is a tricky one (we think).  You might easily guess WHAT this photo is of...but we want to know some more details...maybe a guess as to when it was taken as well.  Good luck!  We'll post the answer next Monday.   

Centre City Book Shelf #2

 

  (photo by Horia Varlan)

What "must read" books are sitting on your bedside table? We decided to pose that rather nosy question to some of our colleagues on the Centre City Implementation and Urban Design teams. We figured that exchanging ideas about city planning-minded books is a great way to get us all talking about what makes a flourishing urban centre.   

This blog is primarily a place for you to come to get your Centre City news but every once in a while we like to discuss arts and culture - what inspires us in the Centre City. Books can often be a great way to instigate a change in approaches to how we think and how we live. Best of all, when you read a good book, it gets you talking - you share the ideas you liked (or didn't like) with others - with us(?)!  Books are great change agents, aren't they?  

Here's what Ben Barrington, of the Centre City Implementation team, said when we asked what book he was reading right  now: 

The book I am reading is called The Geography of Hope by Chris Turner. I have been a long time supporter of the environmental movement and believe we have a collective responsibility to be more mindful of how we effect the world's ecosystem(s). Somewhere along the line we as a species forgot how or thought is was not that important. The nice thing about this book is that it is generally about ground up initiatives throughout the world, demonstrating that if you want to do something it is more a case of a mindset than being difficult. Lots of good examples of people undertaking significant approaches that we can all learn from and glean hope from. Thus the title.”

Thanks for sharing that title with us, Ben. Have you read this book? Do you have any inspiring city-minded books you'd like to share with us?  Make sure you leave us a comment.  We'd love to hear about them.  

St. Patrick's Bridge Final Design Announced

A significant part of the visual landscape in Centre City's East Village revitalization plan has been decided upon. The St. Patrick's pedestrian bridge final design was announced this week by the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) - and here it is in all of its arched glory:

 

 

The winning bridge plan comes from Calgary-based Halsall Associates Limited, along with its Paris-based partner, RFR - and they had some stiff competition from around the world - click here to see the final three. The bridge will link St. Patrick's island to the East Village in the Centre City. Designers needed to work with a 25 million dollar budget in coming up with their plans.    

We'll be following this project closely and we'll be sure to share updates as they become available.  

To read the full story on CBC.CA you can click here. 

Hidden Centre City Revealed

How well do you know your Centre City?  We've been trying out this new game here on the blog where every Monday, we post a section of a photograph taken from somewhere in the Centre City (click here for parameters).  The photos are meant to be a little more difficult for people to figure out, thus the title "Hidden Centre City".  We're looking to show off some unique aspects of design, architecture and style found within the CC area.  The photos will be from places we might not always get to in our day-to-day travels.  But the hope is, we might inspire people to get out there and explore Calgary a little more.  

Here's the full photo from last week: 

(photo by Grant Neufeld)

Nice one, Andrew C!  You're correct.  It's a photo of that block where Mona Lisa Artists' Materials lives - located at 1518 - 7th Street SW.  It's a fun, colorful row of shops even in our grey transition between winter and spring.  

Here's our clue for this week's Hidden Centre City: 

If you have a guess, leave us a comment - we'll post the answer next Monday.  Thanks for playing!  

 

Citizen Satisfaction: It's in the Results

 

We have the data that shows Calgarians say it's so:  the Centre City is safer, cleaner, accessible and  a desirable place for Calgarians.  

That's what we'll be hearing at a meeting today at the Glenbow Museum in the ConocoPhillips Theatre (open to the general public - for details click here). Members from the Centre City team, along with partners on the Clean to the Core and Centre City Safety Impact Team will release results from the first ever Centre City Citizen Perception Survey. In this telephone survey, a wide sampling of Calgarians (close to 1200) were asked about their perceptions of Safety, Cleanliness, Living, Visitation and Infrastructure in the Centre City.  

 
Graham Gerylo is a Business and Policy Planner for Centre City Implementation. We caught up with him before today's public meeting to get his take on the survey results. When asked what results grabbed his attention, Gerylo said, "...the most interesting results were found in the answers about safety perceptions - approximately 9 in 10 Calgarians say they feel safe in the Centre City - and that they would feel safe alone during business hours." To bolster this sense of security, Calgary Police numbers show that crime in the Centre City has been steadily going down for the past three years. Gerylo also drew attention to the fact that 42% of Calgarians reported that they felt safety in the Centre City has improved over the last year. 

Another impressive number that jumped out at Graham was the percentage of people who said they were "very likely" to relocate to our Centre City (nearly three percent). And he said that when you think of the fact that there are already some 34 thousand already living in the Centre City, and nearly 3 percent of our city's population is "very likely" to move here - that translates to over 30,000 people - a potential to nearly double the Centre City's current population.  People WANT to move here, to be a part of this thriving, vibrant, approachable centre. 

 
 
Finally, we asked Graham which areas the survey showed room for the most improvement.  He said that Calgarians showed a high satisfaction level with roads and streets and that these also have a very high importance level for citizens. Translation: Calgarians use their streets and roads a LOT; by foot, car, bus and bike - you name it - and they want the City of Calgary to keep on top of it all. 

So you know, the big thing we pulled from this survey is that Calgarians are seeing the results of the work being done in the Centre City. The City of Calgary and its Clean to the Core group and the Centre City Safety Impact Team along with Centre City staff are out there listening to what you have to say. And this survey has given them just the right amount of feedback to see they're taking the right approach and where to consider going next. The great late Jane Jacobs said in her The Death and Life of Great American Cities, "Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody."  So let's keep the dialogue going.  Have a look at the Centre City Citizen Perception Survey highlights here and then let us know what you think. 

You're Invited!

We all belong to the Centre City - and the Centre City belongs to all of us - so how do we make sure to keep it flourishing?  

This week, the Centre City Implementation team and its partners on the Clean to the Core and Centre City Safety Impact Team want to meet with you.  It's a chance for the team to share results from the first Centre City Citizen Perception Survey.  

This Focus on Safety meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 18th, 2010 between 12 - 1 pm (doors open at 11:30 am and beverages will be provided).  It's at the ConocoPhillips Theatre at Glenbow Museum, 130 - 9th Avenue S.E.

Everyone's invited and we hope to see you there! For the full meeting details, click here.  We'll be posting more about the survey and also words from the team later this week.  

 

Hidden Centre City Revealed

How well do you know your Centre City?  We've been trying out this new game here on the blog where every Monday, we post a section of a photograph taken from somewhere in the Centre City (click here for parameters).  The photos are meant to be a little more difficult for people to figure out, thus the title "Hidden Centre City".  We're looking to show off some unique aspects of design, architecture and style found within the CC area.  The photos will be from places we might not always get to in our day-to-day travels.  But the hope is, we might inspire people to get out there and explore our Calgary a little more.  

Here's the full photo from last week: 

 

 (photo by Gord McKenna)

"B" guessed correctly - this is the Calgary Tower - and Vadim hit a home run in accurately telling us the perspective....this was indeed taken from the glass floor of the tower.  It's our opinion just about every Calgarian needs a photo of their feet looking down from that amazing glass floor.  Do you have one?  Let us know.  

Here's our clue for this week:  

 Any guesses as to what or where this is?  Leave us a comment if you have an idea and we'll post the answer next Monday.  Have a great week! 

Jane's Talk - Sunday

Here's something to check out this week-end.

The Calgary Foundation is partnering with the Calgary Public Library and the Federation of Calgary Communities to host Jane’s Talk – a film and discussion exploring the legacy of urban writer and activist, Jane Jacobs. The feature film, Urban Goddess: Jane Jacobs Reconsidered considers the livable city; an issue that directly impacts the quality of life of Calgarians.

To read more about Jane Jacobs click here.