Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

[CalgaryTiger]

I'd rather see bus barns by the old Greyhound than by Vic Park. The site is choked by highways, and contaminated anyway, unlike Vic Park.

Really you could build a covered structure over the Chevy dealer land and give yourself a place to store buses. Throw some solar on the roof and build an indoor washbay and maintenance area and you have freed up the bus barns. Doesn't have to be crazy expensive either as it should be temporary, 20 years? The lifespan of a solar panel haha.

 

[Mountain Man]

There's a maintenance aspect of it as well, so I think it needs a heated building. Anyway I was thinking somewhere in Highfield would be more appropriate for a long term structure.

 

[RolleyMakr_168]

I'd rather they moved to an industrial area and left downtown alone entirely. The bus barns would be a great site to redevelop!

Well- you have to look at the logistics. Downtown is the very centre of the city- and the busiest area. Calgary Transit needs a presence in Downtown; and, Victoria Park’s central location also makes it easier for Calgary Transit’s buses to reach any of the four quadrants of the city in a reasonable amount of time. The move of the bus barn to an industrial area could complicate that. Ideally- they’d pick a site close to Downtown- and like you said- Highfield may be a contender. But there’s still more to consider.

 

[JoeUrban]

Love to see that Lacy Court isn't being demolished

I believe it is being demolished as the new building has a different form than the original

vs

What it does appear to be doing is reflecting the architectural style

 

[CalgaryTiger]

So... CMLC is getting into Transit Orientated Communities! To what @NWUrbanism posted below.

CMLC announced that they would begin work to explore the development of transit oriented communities (TOC) situated along Calgary’s light rail transit network, as part of CMLC’s 2025–2029 strategic plan.

Kate Thompson, CEO of CMLC, said that the expanded portfolio for the wholly owned City of Calgary subsidiary, was a natural extension of the city’s housing strategy.

“This expanded portfolio outside of the Rivers District responds to key priorities in the city of Calgary’s housing strategy, and is really a natural alignment for CMLC, given our expertise in transit-oriented communities,” Thompson said.

She said that Calgary City Council had approved $20 million in funding for the development of transit-oriented housing in 2024 and that funding would be used in 2025 to procure master design and planning services for potential development sites.

Although questions remain about whether those sites could possibly be in the communities of Franklin or Westbrook, Thompson said that announcements of particular TOC locations would come after the study.

“We’re just working on identifying the right sites—all of them. I would say what’s interesting about the sites is they all have potential, and what we want to be able to do is help the city of Calgary address their housing strategy needs,” she said.

 

[NWUrbanism]

So... CMLC is getting into Transit Orientated Communities!

More details about this here: https://livewirecalgary.com/2025/01...community-planning-to-other-areas-of-calgary/

They want to identify one or two sites along the C-train to create master plans over the next couple years. I wonder if they will be allowed to include park and rides within their scope?

 

[Mountain Man]

Well- you have to look at the logistics. Downtown is the very centre of the city- and the busiest area. Calgary Transit needs a presence in Downtown; and, Victoria Park’s central location also makes it easier for Calgary Transit’s buses to reach any of the four quadrants of the city in a reasonable amount of time. The move of the bus barn to an industrial area could complicate that. Ideally- they’d pick a site close to Downtown- and like you said- Highfield may be a contender. But there’s still more to consider.

The geographical center of the city is closer to Chinook, and I'd argue better access to the rest of the city from there as well. Downtown is the busiest part of the city as you say though, that to me would mean that busses would have to deal with traffic more, so wouldn't that make another location better?

 

[CalgaryTiger]

The geographical center of the city is closer to Chinook, and I'd argue better access to the rest of the city from there as well. Downtown is the busiest part of the city as you say though, that to me would mean that busses would have to deal with traffic more, so wouldn't that make another location better?

Interestingly Thompson from CMLC mentioned the bus barns in her quotes. So they're thinking about something.

 

[darwink]

So they're thinking about something.

As long as someone else is paying, they'll do almost anything they're asked to do.

 

[MichaelS]

So... CMLC is getting into Transit Orientated Communities! To what @NWUrbanism posted below.

CMLC announced that they would begin work to explore the development of transit oriented communities (TOC) situated along Calgary’s light rail transit network, as part of CMLC’s 2025–2029 strategic plan.

Kate Thompson, CEO of CMLC, said that the expanded portfolio for the wholly owned City of Calgary subsidiary, was a natural extension of the city’s housing strategy.

“This expanded portfolio outside of the Rivers District responds to key priorities in the city of Calgary’s housing strategy, and is really a natural alignment for CMLC, given our expertise in transit-oriented communities,” Thompson said.

She said that Calgary City Council had approved $20 million in funding for the development of transit-oriented housing in 2024 and that funding would be used in 2025 to procure master design and planning services for potential development sites.

Although questions remain about whether those sites could possibly be in the communities of Franklin or Westbrook, Thompson said that announcements of particular TOC locations would come after the study.

“We’re just working on identifying the right sites—all of them. I would say what’s interesting about the sites is they all have potential, and what we want to be able to do is help the city of Calgary address their housing strategy needs,” she said.

What expertise in transit-oriented communities does CMLC have? Do they mean East Village? Is that really a track record to hold up?....

 

[RolleyMakr_168]

The geographical center of the city is closer to Chinook, and I'd argue better access to the rest of the city from there as well. Downtown is the busiest part of the city as you say though, that to me would mean that busses would have to deal with traffic more, so wouldn't that make another location better?

I suppose the city could potentially look at spreading out its barns across the city. Keeping in mind location, logistics, traffic and land value. As you said- Highfield seems like a decent place to begin.

I’m pretty curious to see what Calgary Transit would have in mind.

 

[CallmeCatbread]

What expertise in transit-oriented communities does CMLC have? Do they mean East Village? Is that really a track record to hold up?....

Yeah I don't really trust CMLC to do good master planning. They should hold design competitions for their masterplans. Or at least hire someone who actually knows what they're doing.

 

[Albertasaurus]

With CMLC getting involved, our lack of any TOD happening appears set to continue.

 

[The Familia]

CMLC should worry about finishing East Village first before they tackle another area. EV is barely halfway built out and it’s taken almost 20 years to get to this stage.

 

[ByeByeBaby]

I suppose the city could potentially look at spreading out its barns across the city. Keeping in mind location, logistics, traffic and land value. As you said- Highfield seems like a decent place to begin.

I’m pretty curious to see what Calgary Transit would have in mind.

This is in the Route Ahead report; the downtown bus barns have about 15% of fleet capacity (courtesy cptdb.ca), with 10% of the capacity at Anderson colocated with the LRT barn, 35% of the capacity at Spring Gardens 10 min from downtown at 32nd Ave NE, and 40% of the capacity is the new Stoney garage in the far north. The three identified future sites are Highfield (bonus internet point to Mountain Man), as well as the deep south near 194 Ave and the west in Bearspaw.