CentreCity

World Town Planning Day Celebrated in Calgary

A group of budding urban planners in Calgary had a chance today to hear all about what it takes to help design, build and improve communities and cities. The unique learning session for children attending ACE Daycare in the Centre City was all part of World Town Planning Day (which is today, November 8th). The event took place at City Hall School at the Calgary Municipal Building where Mary Axworthy, Director of Land Use Planning & Policy was available to answer questions from the media. She also read to the children from "Where Things are From Near to Far" by Tim Halbur and Chris Steins (click that link to check it out - it really is a cool book about planning for kids!). 

The kids learned about the various buildings, services and infrastructure that make up communities and cities.  Then they got to work with a blank community and added all the fixin's!  We had a lot of red and yellow city halls, libraries sharing the block with houses and malls, as well as parks on every corner!  The Mayor even stopped in for a visit.  To quote one of the four year olds: "My favorite part of our city is everything.  I like the purple school I made because it matches the Mayor's tie."

November 8th of each year has been celebrated as World Town Planning Day since its inception in 1949 and is currently celebrated in over 30 countries on four continents.   It is an opportunity to highlight the contribution that sound planning makes to the quality of our region, city and communities.

Here are some photos from the engaging event: 

Your Photos and Ideas Needed

We have two calls for your help today - so please do read on and give your City a hand if you can! 

First up, looking for historic photos of Calgary: 

Get out your old shoeboxes, slide reels and photo albums. The City of Calgary is looking for photographs of Calgary past. The plan is put together a video project (with the help of public participation) to teach children about how our city has developed over time. It's a great way to see Calgary past and present, and also to show the roles citizens can play in that process. 

The project is intended to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Planning Commission on November 13th, 2011. 

To read more about the project, and what the Planning Commission is looking for, click here. 

 
(photo of Langevin Bridges 1977 - from Glenbow Museum archives) 

Photos, including a brief description of each (year, location, building name, etc.), can be submitted in the following ways:

• Flickr: www.flickr.com/groups/historiccalgary
• Email: CPC100@calgary.ca
• Mail: CPC 100th Video Project, P.O. Box 2100, Stn. M, #8062, Calgary AB T2P 2M5

Note: All original photos and home movies will be returned upon request; however, if possible, professionally scanned electronic copies are preferred rather than originals.

And now for some more public input - this time it involves Public Art:

(photo of John McEwan's "Weaving Fence and Horn" in front of the TransCanada Tower by "Tor")

If you've ever wondered how you might be able to get involved in the way public art takes shape in our city, here's your chance. The City of Calgary's Public Art Program wants your input on how to make the most of our public art in Calgary. Your input is needed in order make sure it serves your needs the most. 

Our Centre City is positively brimming with brilliant public art installations and pieces and there's no better way to keep that creative spark alive than to get new and inspired feedback from you.  

The City of Calgary Public Art Program is gathering input from Calgarians on how to make the most of public art in Calgary, and what the Program can do to best serve all Calgarians. All feedback will be taken into consideration and used to guide the public programming and planning process.

Here are some of the questions officials with the program are looking to ask the public: What exciting and innovative ideas do you have for making the most of public art’s collaborative potential? Who should we be talking to? What upcoming events and opportunities lend themselves to public art projects and initiatives? How can we best connect you to public art in our city? Information, interactivity, improved access? Let us know what is working, and what we can improve on. How can public art have the most impact in your life? Where, what and why?

You can send your answers via Email to publicart@calgary.ca 

Web through our online Feedback Form

Facebook - The City of Calgary Public Art Program​

You have up to September 30th to share your much-valued thoughts with The City's Public Art Program. 

High-Fives for Being Fifth Most Livable City!

(photo by Stephenccwu)

We've always heard talk from folks all over who think Calgary is a pretty amazing city in which to live...and now it's being confirmed: turns out we're the fifth greatest city in the world to live and we're proud of it!

The Economist Intelligence Unit says we ranked fifth out of 140 cities in their livability survey this year. We're in good company with Toronto (4th) and Vancouver (3rd) just ahead of us; Vienna takes 2nd place and Melbourne takes first. 

Great news for us all. Let's pat each other on the back because after all, it takes great people to make a great city. What do you think is our secret to being such a livable city? We'd love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment when you have a moment. 

To read the full breakdown of the livability rankings, click here. For GlobalTV's news report, click here. 

Historic Calgary Week July 22 - August 1

Do you have a favourite old building in the Centre City that you plan to visit this week to help mark Historic Calgary Week? There's plenty happening to help showcase some of our most beloved bricks and mortar. Here's a list to help:

Old Y Historical Journey: Take a tour of the architectural gems in Calgary's Beltline neighborhood through the eyes of Calgary Heritage architect, Lorne Simpson. It's happening this Saturday, July 23rd, between 4-6 p.m. (at Old Y Building, 223 - 12th Ave. SW). The Old Y was built in 1911 by the YWCA and served as a temporary home to single women who were new to Calgary. The City of Calgary purchased the YWCA several decades later (1970) and it now serves as home for several non-profit organizations. This special architectural tour and talk is open to everyone and it's a unique way to explore your Centre City and get to know the stories behind the buildings that populate it.

(photo Old YWCA - HistoricPlaces.ca)

Chinook Country Historical Society: This organization is hosting a bunch of great events to help you uncover the history of your city. Their lengthy list of Historic Calgary Week events can be found here - some of the highlights include a walking tour of East Village, a lecture and walk through our old City Hall, a tour of Chinatown and a walk through Calgary's core to talk about some of the hotels in our city's past.  

Both Historical and Modern Calgary Walking Tours put on by TARA: These ongoing free 2 hour guided walking tours which take place in downtown Calgary every Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. from May through September. To read more about TARA and the tours they put on in our Centre City, click here. And you can book a tour by calling (403) 284-3731.

 

Science Centre New Chapter

For forty-four years, the Calgary Science Centre called it's 11th Street S.W. location in the Centre City - home. This week, this cherished learning, playing and discovering staple for kids young and old in Calgary, has closed its doors for good.  

So now it's time to turn our sights toward the new Telus World of Science which is being built near the Calgary Zoo (at 220 St. Georges Dr. N.E.),. Anticipated to open at the end of October this year, memberships are already being sold and there's a healthy anticipatory buzz as we wait for the building to come alive: 

(artist's rendering of the new building) 

You can sign up for updates, read their blog, learn more about becoming a sponsor, donate and watch a video of the plans for the new 153,000 sqaure ft. facility here. 

Architecture & Design Lecture TONIGHT: Jan Gehl

A renowned Professor of Urban Design at the School of Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen is in town to share with us his Cities For People lecture.

Jan Gehl, who is also co-founder and partner for Gehl Architects – Urban Quality Consultants, has received much international attention for his ideas about the sociological and psychological side of design.

Gehl's lecture is based on his new book which is also titled Cities for People and to read more about it, you can click here. 

Jan Gehl is scheduled to speak at 7 pm tonight at the Calgary Public Library - Central Branch in the John Dutton Theatre (616 Macleod Trail SE). 

 

 

Focus on Safety Meeting Today!

This line has been cropping up a lot lately in the news: "Calgary and its image are changing from big small-city to small big-city." It's true, for the past few years we've been on this amazing journey and the changing landscape of our Centre City has been an exciting transformation to be witness to.

So how do we keep that vibrancy and quality of life in our core headed in the same positive direction? Collaboration, communication and a lot of people rolling up their sleeves.

 
Calgary's Centre City at night.

That small-big city growth of ours is why now is the perfect time for another Focus on Safety Meeting, which you are invited to. It's happening TODAY between 12 - 1 p.m. at the Calgary Public Library's John Dutton Theatre.

You'll hear from The City of Calgary's Centre City Implementation Team, with its partners, Clean to the Core and the Centre City Safety Impact Teams. The dialogue will be flowing - with a discussion about current projects and the impact they are having, safety in our core during the evening hours and an update on Late Night Ride Home Stands. Also, there will be a look at the team's 2011 priorities and goals.

If you love your Centre City, please do attend - but if you can't make it to this one, there's another Focus on Safety session planned for Thursday, June 23, 2011 at the Conoco Philips Theatre, Glenbow Museum.

Getting To the Heart of Darkness

(Photo by D'Arcy Norman)

Architects, designers and all other building-minded people with a fondness for light; and possibly more importantly, the absence of light, were treated to a lecture by visiting Architectural Lighting Professor Edward Bartholomew in Calgary recently.

Bartholomew, who teaches at the University of Washington, was in town to share his ideas about the health, safety and benefits of darkness. His talk was titled Exquisite Darkness: Exploring the Role of Darkness in Sustainable Environments. 

Lothar Wiwjorra, Senior Urban Designer with The City of Calgary's Urban Design division, attended this event that was held at Heritage Park and we caught up with him to get his thoughts about the talk, and darkness - and what it may mean for us here in some of our future Centre City projects. 

CCTalkBlog: What did you think of Bartholomew's talk? 

LW: It was excellent - he provided great insight into human behaviour and how we react and deal with light and the application of this knowledge into illumination practice. 

CCTalkBlog: What ideas did he put forth that really grabbed your attention? 

LW: The definition of darkness as a visual enhancement. That we already deal in all of our lighting projects with darkness as a feature; for example architecture and interior design of restaurants, clubs, apartments, houses deal mainly with dark materials to create atmosphere and style; all luminaires we use do not wash a place in light - the intention is always to create darker areas. 

CCTalkBlog: How can darkness or the absence of light affect us in a positive way in our daily travels (say, to and from work, etc.)?  

LW: There is no absolute darkness in our urban environment but there are various stages of light intensity in our environment; the more staged the more interesting an environment looks. Brightly lit areas put us off - look at the new C-train stations at 7 Avenue, the new Eaton's mall redesign downtown, the new Memorial Park illumination - they are all illuminated in a colourful and subtle fashion,   

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Lothar mentioned that their new Centre City Illumination Guidlines (found here) reflect precisely the kind of approach that Bartholomew outlined in his talk. That's great news for us and as new projects within the Centre City are tackled in the coming years, we'll see more and more of these philosophies taking shape - adding light and darkness where best suited. In fact, Lothar says you'll have a chance to see some new illumination projects within the Centre City getting launched this year. We'll keep you posted on that so stay tuned...

To read the full Exquisite Darkness PDF document (beware: it's a long one!), you can find it here.  

A Reminder to Drivers: No Parking in Late Night Ride Home Stands

We saw Calgary's Late Night Ride Home Stands launch this past weekend in the Centre City and it was exciting! They were in operation on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night from 10 PM to 3 AM. The goal with the stands is to get Centre City visitors home safely.

As a new program, The City and its partners are educating Calgarians about the project. Part of this included having our our partners out this past weekend helping to enforce the stands and what they found was that some drivers aren't paying attention to the parking signage.

"There are new signs out in the Centre City, indicating where the stands are and the hours of operation," says Lorna Wallace, Project Manager with Centre City Implementation. "We are reminding drivers to read the signs carefully, to make sure they are not parking in the stands because these spots are reserved for taxis only."

This weekend, most drivers who parked in the spots got a reminder - either verbally  or in some cases, they were ticketed or towed. All of these can be avoided with drivers reading the parking signs. They look like this:

 
The City and its partners have been sharing information about these new stands, on top of the new parking signage, we've provided notices to be posted on the doors of businesses located near these stands, through media (thanks to all) and through mini-map cards handed out at businesses and by our officers on the street. We also have all the details here on the blog, on calgary.ca/centrecity and through a Report to Calgarians, watch it here.

And you can also help! Here's how:

Please, tell your friends, family, co-workers, favourite Centre City businesses about this program. Having more people know about the stands will help prevent confusion and frustration on all sides. We appreciate everyone's cooperation on this - we all want to make our Centre City the safest and best it can be!

New Interactive City Services and Facilities Map For You

There's a new map that The City of Calgary has put together to help you get the information about the facilities and services that matter to you - faster.  It's a great interactive map that'll help you track down schools, recreation centres and health clinics (and so much more) in just a few clicks. 

 
The map is here. 

To read more about this new site, click here.