Planner says city headed for trouble


Global Calgary


July 18, 2005

A world renowned urban planner says Calgary could be headed for trouble.

Leon Krier believes the city is putting too much emphasis on cars and roads instead of developing quality communities.

As John Gulka reports, Krier warns we could run into trouble when fossil fuels run short.

Paula MacLeod believes she lives in the best community in Calgary, at least the one best one for her lifestyle.

"I like to live in a neighborhood where I can walk to shops. I don't like to drive much. I hate getting in my car to run to the store for a loaf of bread and this is perfect." says Paula MacLeod

Macleod's ideal neighbourhood is Garrison Woods. It also gets a thumbs up from urban planner Leon Krier.

Urban planner Leon Krier says "I think that is the most relaxed of the new ones which almost looks like he has been there forever."

Krier says Calgarians love affair with their vehicles puts a lot of pressure on politicians to build roads and parking lots instead of investing the money in quality housing and user-friendly neighborhoods.

"Real good towns are the ones where you can do everything on foot and if we will not do it by choice it will come by fate within two or three generations we will be forced to walk rather than use the car." says Krier


Krier says McKenzie Towne is another example of Calgary doing something right. It embodies his belief that you should be able to do everything within a five minute walk from your home.

"In fact, you have here in the centre,is purely a town for the day. And the town for the night is outside and you have enormous traffic movements between both which you all know more than you want to."

City planners agree with Krier, but they say it's a difficult challenge to find balance between infrastructure and density.

City planner Gary Klassen says there "are areas of congestion, as he alluded to. Are there areas of issues. Absolutely, as a growing city we see that. The question is, how do we go forward?"

Ask Paula MacLeod that question and she'll tell you, build more communities like Garrison Woods.

"You can see people walking. You can chat to neighbors and it's a really neighborly community. It's great" says MacLeod

700 delegates from across the country are in Calgary for the planning conference .


Calgary is doing a pretty good job; Klein needs to cough up more money for more LRT lines to cover more areas. I miss McKenzie Towne, but do not miss the drive to downtown.

"As John Gulka reports, Krier warns we could run into trouble when fossil fuels run short"

That's pretty funny. When does he think that's going to happen? 2050, 2070, 2100? Get real buster.

I live in McKenzie lake right next to McKenzie towne. The drive to downtown is not that bad at all. Maximum 45 minutes during rush hour, 25 minutes the rest of the day. Calgary is very well planned out in my opinion. The majority of people all work downtown and everyone travels and it creates a misconception of how busy it really is. Instead of all roads being busy is both directions. Only a few are busy with every one traveling in the same direction. Also I believe that most communities in Calgary are within 10 minutes of a C-Train station or BRT Station.

Yeah, at least you can get to C-Train stations fairly quicky no matter where you live in the city. There really needs to be better suburban design standards though, I only get one bus through my community and it is a kilometre walk to the main road...

BTW a coyote just walked past my window... just to let you guys know... I was too slow on the camera draw though, damn case...

God forbid someone has car troubles on the Deerfoot or there is a crash. I don't know how many times we got f*cked trying to get home during rush hour thanks to f*ckheads who do not know how to drive.

I think Calgary has balanced urban planning quite well actually, where people actually have a fair choice between the auto and public transit. Of course, those downtown condos are a blessing too.

In general Calgary has been weel planned in my opinion, far better than Edmonton or even Vancouver.
What Calgary needs is to keep the LRT expansion going non-stop and denser communtities will revolve around it.
When do they expect to start the SouthEast line anyway?

^^ I think the SE line is going to start ~2017 with completion in 2020. With more provincial funding you could bump the completion dates down by 5 years. I believe that they might implement BRT along the corridor first then putting in LRT.

Suburban RT stations with massive/multi-level car parks.

I love Calgary and it works right now. Anybody who knows anything about urban planning can tell you the city is headed for disaster if certain things don't change though.

For one thing, all the industrial is in the East. That means that you get the "rush in, rush out" pattern clogging the roads every day. Still that's livable.

The big problem is Calgary's infrastructure. If Calgary doesn't do something in the very near future to start building far, FAR denser you are going to have infrastructure you just can't afford some day. And that some day is not that far away either. The Beltline is about the only decent example of what needs to be done and frankly, I'm amazed it took so long to put that together as a plan.

My two cents worth. Calgary is a progressive city. Things get done there, and I strongly believe any obstacles to balanced growth can and will be addressed. It can be painful to single out and discuss a city's weaknesses, but ultimately that brings change. The first step is moving from denial to acceptance :)

Look what an ex-Calgarian, now living in Victoria has to say:

Victoria can learn from Calgary's visionaries

Times Colonist

Saturday, July 23, 2005

I just returned from Calgary, where that city's display at the Stampede Exhibition touted its 100 Year Vision for growth. What a difference in attitude between the people who put that plan together, with enthusiastic support from the public, and their counterparts who run Greater Victoria's fief-dumbs (misspelling intentional).

Here, I don't think those who run the political interference against amalgamation want to, or can, look further down the road than tomorrow.

Speaking of roads, I was able to drive around the neighbourhoods where I lived and worked, back so long ago in the '70s and '80s, when Calgary had half the population it does today. I could still get around quickly, even in the rush, thanks to that city's superior traffic planning and decent roads.

No, I'm not ready to move back there. But a thinking person who visits Calgary will easily see the difference between that city's political leadership and our city's political inertia.

One more thing our neighbourhood leaders and municipal politicians should take to heart is that the varied enclaves in Calgary that I came to love and haunt, which are as uniquely different as Victoria's special spots, have retained their essences, even with in-fill housing, new mixed residential-commercial buildings and highrises popping up all over the place.

Lorne Peasland,

Victoria.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2005

The best thing that Calgary can do from a planning perspective is to start densifying around its established LRT stations/transit corridors. As it stands now, Calgary has a relatively dense core but densities drop sharply as you leave the innercity.

Toronto and Vancouver are the two Canadian cities that have been very progressive and successful in creating dense transit corridors/nodes.

I love Calgary and it works right now. Anybody who knows anything about urban planning can tell you the city is headed for disaster if certain things don't change though.

For one thing, all the industrial is in the East. That means that you get the "rush in, rush out" pattern clogging the roads every day. Still that's livable.

The big problem is Calgary's infrastructure. If Calgary doesn't do something in the very near future to start building far, FAR denser you are going to have infrastructure you just can't afford some day. And that some day is not that far away either. The Beltline is about the only decent example of what needs to be done and frankly, I'm amazed it took so long to put that together as a plan.

For a city of 1.1 million (incl all satellite cities/towns) it has a density and central living that cities 2-3 times it's size in NA envy (okay, excluding Vancouver)...ever been to Phoenix??? There are closing in on 150k people living within 5km of downtown, and over 140k people working downtown. The C-train has one of the highest riderships for an LRT (higher than Skytrain currently). And these numbers are growing - there is a lot to offer those wanting the low-maintanence condo lifestyle, with quick walking to work, shopping, arts, festivals, etc.

Is Calgary sprawling? Yes. But I think the worries people have are slightly blown out of proportion. A city will naturally hit a size where people just say "that's too far out", and would rather live centrally. This is already happening - look at new home starts today versus 20 years ago. Back then, 99% of new housing starts in Calgary were houses, today that has dropped to around 60%.

As an example, keep this in mind when thinking about Calgary's infrastructure and sprawl problems:

I live in one of the furthest south communities in Calgary proper - about 19kms from downtown (which also happens to be one of the furthest points from downtown). It takes me 10 minutes to walk to a C-train station, which takes about 25 minutes to get to downtown. If I drive, it takes between 35-45 minutes to downtown (which I rarely do). However, I typically drive to the airport Mondays in the exact opposite corner of the city...average time (in rush hour) is 30 minutes, and the longest ever has been 45 minutes.

I do agree though that McKenzie Towne is a great example of what needs to be built.

As Calgary grows, neighbourhoods around downtown will grow - Garrison Woods was not there 5 years ago, look at it (and Marda Loop) now. And there will always be those looking for cheaper alternatives (Garrison Woods is NOT cheap), not any different than Vancouver (Greater), or GTA.

Haha, you live way down here in the deep south with me eh?

A city will naturally hit a size where people just say "that's too far out", and would rather live centrally.

I agree. What I have seen so far is NOT a major shift in attitudes about inner city living (most people I talk to still don't see it as hip or cool yet -- I had one guy that told me that "downtown is for idiots") but rather that we are reaching a point where the commute makes suburban living impractical for a lot of people.

I know a lot of people that would love to move to innercity neighborhoods (because of commutes mostly), but don't because there are still beliefs about rampant crime, poverty and innadequate schools; true or not. If the city made it an issue to advertise trendy innercity neighborhoods and put some money into public works, I'm pretty sure we would see a massive inward migration.

Haha, you live way down here in the deep south with me eh?



I agree. What I have seen so far is NOT a major shift in attitudes about inner city living (most people I talk to still don't see it as hip or cool yet -- I had one guy that told me that "downtown is for idiots") but rather that we are reaching a point where the commute makes suburban living impractical for a lot of people.

I know a lot of people that would love to move to innercity neighborhoods (because of commutes mostly), but don't because there are still beliefs about rampant crime, poverty and innadequate schools; true or not. If the city made it an issue to advertise trendy innercity neighborhoods and put some money into public works, I'm pretty sure we would see a massive inward migration.

Well, I do live "deep" south, and I do like the neighbourhoods. Despite the cynics and pundits that believe suburbs don't have "community", and things like "You can see people walking. You can chat to neighbors and it's a really neighborly community." not existing is overblown. On any given (nice) day, you WILL see people walking, in the central parks, and talking to neighbours...no different than aimlessly hanging out on 17th...usually just with more kids :-). But, I still do agree that a lot of communities could be better, and the city should help lay the foundation and framework for how any new areas should be developed - just as they do for redeveloping areas.

However, when i first moved to Calgary, I lived in 2 locations downtown. I think downtown Calgary is excellent - for the most part, very clean, quiet, and good shopping all around...I was able to walk to groceries, work, 17th, 8th, and Flames games. It is only getting better.

I currently work in other locations in Canada - so my commute is a little different. This has also allowed me to "live" in other cities downtowns/central areas (albeit, usually in hotels, and usually just during the week) to compare. For the most part, Calgary compares favourably - and is far cheaper than other cities, which is why it continues to attract young professionals.

But, for the vast majority raising families (lets say in the 30-50 year old range), many NA downtowns are deemed not worthy or - perhaps more importantly, and often overlooked - affordable living.

In Calgary for example, where you can buy a 1300 sq ft house (plus another 600 sq ft basement) for $200k in a nice community which is close to 90% of shopping that you need, versus a 700-800 sq ft condo downtown (don't forget the "you don't have to shovel" $200 condo fees) and you can see why.

^ That's the kind of thinking that promotes urban sprawl. Calgary is in a position to stop this right now before it gets to the extent of the GTA. Of course, once amenities and services improve in downtown, I'm sure your mind will change (although 700 sq. ft. REALLY sucks).

A city will naturally hit a size where people just say "that's too far out", and would rather live centrally.


That's wishful thinking. As mentioned above, Greater Toronto, for one, is beyond anything that makes common sense. People commute for hours every morning in that metro and are quite content to live away from urbanity. Same for New York, where a family friend commutes three hours every morning by car and train. He and his family live over 200 miles from Manhattan where his office is located.

Even in Vancouver people are now commuting from Abbotsford into Vancouver every morning which can easily amount to a two-hour commute. Ditto for those living along the peripheries of the northern Lower Mainland.

Calgary will not reach a "point," it will continue to sprawl indefinitely and eat up nearby communities unless decisive action is taken. People there love their suburban neighbourhoods and as long as there's demand and as long as small towns near Calgary can realize new investments from sprawl-type development it will all but continue unabated.

The key here, is creating walkable, livable suburban communities with a mix of housing types with grid street networks.

200 miles?!? Holy shit!

You do have some valid points. Keep in mind though that Vancouver, Toronto, and New York city propers are much more expensive than Calgary. Some action will have to be taken, but I don't think we'll need as much of a push to drive people downtown.

Are you serious? Content to live far from urbanity?! Crazy talk. The trend for young people is to move downtown. I for one can't stand living in the suburbs. Once my brother was out of university, he purchased a condo downtown. My graduating friends who have a choice between UofT St. George, scarborough, and mississauga, are all applying to the St. george campus, even though there is much more competition there. Some have even gotten their parents to buy condo units downtown, even though they have not even applied yet.

(Psst - it takes 40 minutes for me to get from central mississauga to downtown toronto, on the highway). My chem teacher takes about 2 hours from burlington. Of course, transit is the way to go.

But you're right, it's almost entirely cost and lack of square footage that's preventing people from moving downtown.

That's wishful thinking. As mentioned above, Greater Toronto, for one, is beyond anything that makes common sense. People commute for hours every morning in that metro and are quite content to live away from urbanity. Same for New York, where a family friend commutes three hours every morning by car and train. He and his family live over 200 miles from Manhattan where his office is located.

Even in Vancouver people are now commuting from Abbotsford into Vancouver every morning which can easily amount to a two-hour commute. Ditto for those living along the peripheries of the northern Lower Mainland.

Calgary will not reach a "point," it will continue to sprawl indefinitely and eat up nearby communities unless decisive action is taken. People there love their suburban neighbourhoods and as long as there's demand and as long as small towns near Calgary can realize new investments from sprawl-type development it will all but continue unabated.

The key here, is creating walkable, livable suburban communities with a mix of housing types with grid street networks.

Different strokes my friend...I've lived extensively in both environments, and I see pros/cons to both. To think that family-oriented folks - lets face it, that's who continue to want that space at the best prices - will move to downtown as ammenities get better is wishful thinking. Places like Calgary have lotsa space, and not a big population...I agree I hope it doesn't lead to looking like Phoenix over time, but I also don't think it will as Calgary has one of the highest (if not the highest) per capita day-time workforce in a downtown...this continues to be the catalyst that leads more young folks into the core.

I also agree that a few years ago, I couldn't imagine not living in a vibrant downtown area like Calgary. But things change as do priorities, and cities like Calgary - as most of Canada/US cities - have options. The thought that people in suburbs don't "walk and talk" the way people in inner-city communities do is garbage - and obviously coming from people who have either never a) lived in a suburb, or b) lived in a bad suburb. How do you think cities grow? Zone and build a bunch of tall condos right away, and demand that everyone lives there??? No, typically it starts with a lower pop-density and build overtime...unless its Hong Kong.

As for raising a family, for less than $270k, I have a house across the street from a 10 acre park/school, and another 5 acre park just a 5 minute walk away...which is a meeting ground for a lot of families in the area. And though I also believe "big box" store areas are poorly designed (and I predict will be trashed for better designs within 10-20 years), it does have 95% of my day-to-day shopping needs, 10 minute walk in good weather (plus the C-train, which is only a 25 minutes ride to DT).

People do commute from Maple Ridge - and even Abottsford - in the Greater Van Area. People commute from Hamilton to TO, and Canmore to Calgary - but these are more the exceptions. Vancouver still does an awesome job at keeping the balance - and it shows if you've been downtown lately...or even neighbourhoods like South Granville, or Kits. You can say the same about any well-planned city in NA - NY, San Fran, Chicago, etc.

Calgary's biggest problem lately is the overly-bloated resale prices of the older suburbs (which are only 20-30 years old) - about 8-15 kms out of downtown. As the populations in those areas take a dive (kids grow up, move out...parents now looking to sell at a premium and move), the more affordable areas are only a couple more kms away. But I imagine Vancouver proper has also gone through this (or is going through this), as the area just south of Granville Rise quickly becomes big old houses on massive plots of land...and the area has one of the oldest populations I've seen in Canada.

But to think we will start building our cities like Hong Kong just because its a urban-planners wet-dream is crazy-talk...we have space, and people here will always be split on wanting some extra elbow-room.

But to think we will start building our cities like Hong Kong just because its a urban-planners wet-dream is crazy-talk...we have space, and people here will always be split on wanting some extra elbow-room.
/\ Exactly, the one key thing we must all remember is that the consumer market for housing is very diverse. Not all want to live in the suburbs, inner-city, in a condo, or in the city (acreage/ranch dwellers). Everyone chooses an area to live that best fits their lifestyle.

The thing with Calgary is that it is so spread out as a city. You need at least one hour to go to downtown. Where i come from one hour i can travel through 3 cities. We need more paved roads making the other parts of Calgary not so isolated and linked together.

It's not as though there's limited land to build on though.

The thing with Calgary is that it is so spread out as a city. You need at least one hour to go to downtown. Where i come from one hour i can travel through 3 cities. We need more paved roads making the other parts of Calgary not so isolated and linked together.


Are you talking about the same Calgary the rest of us are? Travel thru 3 cities in an hour - where are you from???

As I mentioned in my first post - 25 minutes to downtown by C-train...and I live at the furthest city (proper) point to downtown. 25 minutes by car/40 minutes in rush hour. And I can get to the airport in rush hour in 30-35 minutes...about 35 kms away. The city stretches about 35 kms north-south, and only about 16 kms east-west at its thickest.

Despite what some Calgarians gripe about, getting around is not hard - nor does it take long.

It's not as though there's limited land to build on though.

Generally no. But there is a large reserve that the SW of the city is built up against...only option is to build around, and in other directions. It also happens to be one of the most desirable locations around the city to live (west and SW).

It definitely makes it easier to get further out with talks of the ring road in the south-west, and the extension of Deerfoot 2 years ago...the signs for the new hospital are sitting 1km south of the existing new homes at about 196th and Deerfoot SW.