ActiveTruth
Active Member
Hear Hear!This is all I ever wanted in Calgary...vibrancy!
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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion
- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
O
October
Guest
If only it would begin to spread across the river and into the CBD!This is all I ever wanted in Calgary
1875
Senior Member
if you had a friend visiting and you wanted to show them calgary is a real city youd take them here.
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JTron
Active Member
There or one of the other inner city neighborhoods, Inglewood, Mission, Beltline, Kensington.
gsunnyg
Senior Member
The problem with our City is if you drive through any one of those inner-city neighborhoods on a snowy or rainy day or 20/24 hours of any given day, they'll most likely be dead. It's quite embarrassing when you got fam and friends over from other places. Just doesn't feel like a 1.5 mil metro city. There have been countless times I've driven through Kensington or 17th ave and there's literally no one walking on the main street on a decent winter evening. This is something you don't see in other vibrant Cities. Even in the middle of a blizzard, you'll see dozens of people dragging around in Toronto or Montreal on the high streets.
Bridgeland is a great step towards creating a more vibrant Calgary. Next to transit, multifamily density, walkable, parks, amenities, and overall pretty well designed from an urban perspective. I hope it's an inspiration for other neighborhoods to build on. The next big one I'm banking on is East Village, once it's fully developed! Lots of potential for it to be a hotspot year-round. Although Sunnyside would be right up there because of its ideal transit location but the locals don't seem as upbeat about creating a vibrant TOD in comparison to the folks over in Bridgeland. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Bridgeland overtakes Sunnyside as a more vibrant inner-city neighborhood at the rate things are popping off.
Bridgeland is a great step towards creating a more vibrant Calgary. Next to transit, multifamily density, walkable, parks, amenities, and overall pretty well designed from an urban perspective. I hope it's an inspiration for other neighborhoods to build on. The next big one I'm banking on is East Village, once it's fully developed! Lots of potential for it to be a hotspot year-round. Although Sunnyside would be right up there because of its ideal transit location but the locals don't seem as upbeat about creating a vibrant TOD in comparison to the folks over in Bridgeland. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Bridgeland overtakes Sunnyside as a more vibrant inner-city neighborhood at the rate things are popping off.
darwink
Senior Member
1) Toronto - 6,555,205
2) Montreal - 4,364,189
3) Vancouver - 2,737,698
4) Calgary - 1,543,283
Disraeli
Active Member
This. I've also lived in DC (3million+) and Vancouver and there were definitely times where things were "dead" in their downtowns. Not as much in surrounding neighbourhoods but it wasn't exactly bumping downtown on a dreary Sunday or late night mid-week. I think for Calgary the main focus needs to be on that %30-50 growth goal is met. If we can add some 300-500 thousand people to established neighbourhoods by the time we reach 2.5 million we will be in good shape as far as density and vibrancy is concerned.
For the most part I agree. Calgary still has room for improvement, but I also find that the large cities aren't always busy. I was in Montreal a few years back and went wandering around old Montreal, and up Rue St Denis on a Tuesday night (in September) at 7:00pm and it was mostly dead.A different story on a Saturday night of course, but still. These are some pics I took. Obviously not trying to say Montreal is dead at night, as I've been there at times when it's busy also, but only to show that sometimes the big metro cities can be quiet.
Sometimes it's all relative. Prior to going to Montreal I was in NYC, and went straight from there to Montreal. After being in NYC for a week, Montreal didn't feel that much busier than Calgary.
potatopizzafan
Active Member
I live close to 17th ave and I almost find its busier on a weekday night in the summer than the weekend. This summer when patios and things were open, the ave was absolutely bumping during the weekday evenings
heightjunkie
Active Member
This exact thing happened to me last year. I was in Montreal with some colleagues for business- colleagues had never been to Montreal before, and I was talking up the city life down by the old port. We were staying out by the Airport, but I twisted some arms and got some to pile in a cab with me down to the old port on our last evening. We get down there and it was dead... I looked like a chump lol. still enjoyed it though!
Chinook Arch
Active Member
I used to go to Montreal regularly and I found it could be hit and miss. Most of the time it was busy, but there were times when it wasn't busy at all. Honestly, when it comes to Calgary and Montreal, in both cases their reputations often precede them. Calgary is often busier than it gets credit for, and Montreal has a reputation of being the nightlife capital of the world, but it isn't. It's a case of old stereotypes living on.
One place that has always been busy when I've been there is Yonge Street. In all my times there it's never been dead.
One place that has always been busy when I've been there is Yonge Street. In all my times there it's never been dead.
When it comes to Montreal's reputation, it's a bit of both sides. It can be at times be a place of great nightlife for sure, and generally speaking it''s a city that I would say overall has a good nightlife and vibrancy, but perhaps not up to the reputation it sometimes has. I've heard people from Montreal say that it's a city that never sleeps, and that's not true. s far as Calgary goes, it's getting there and has come a long way. It might not have the inner city vibrancy of a city of 1.7 Million people when, but is comparable to cities its size in Canada, and way better than metro areas of its size in the US.
gsunnyg
Senior Member
See from my experiences working in downtown Vancouver is that many of the streets are dead but I know I can walk down Granville or Davie from 6 am-12pm and see people wandering around. I'm solely talking about the main streets. That's all I want. Asking for vibrancy on every street is an impossible task. I'm sure Montreal St Catherine's is probably vibrant 12+ hours at least (I've only visited on a 2 day stop once in the Winter). My issue is that even on a good weekday afternoon in Winter or Spring, something like 17th ave hardly looks like a prominent street. Even 8th ave can feel dead in the middle of the day outside lunch hours.
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Mountain Man
Senior Member
I find the exact opposite. Aside from inclement weather, 17th and Stephen Ave are always bustling on a weeknight. You don't get the crush of people like you do in NYC or Toronto, but the reason for that is obvious.
UrbanWarrior
Senior Member
That's what I find as well, and I am on both of those streets during weeknights 7 days a week walking my dog. There are always dozens of people within view, and in the case of 17th, maybe hundreds. Kensington is also like this at virtually all times outside of late night/early morning. Calgary, especially for our size, does not have a problem with vibrancy.
If people are going to make comparisons, compare us to comparable cities. Edmonton and Ottawa have populations nearly identical to us, and we stack up extremely well against them. The fact that we are comparing ourselves to places like Van and Mtl I guess is evidence of the fact that we've left those other two in the dust and aren't even on our radar anymore.