Onward: To Calgary

A visit to Alberta's largest city

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a conference on ‘Quality of a Built Environment’, happening in Calgary. I absolutely love visiting other cities as it gets me thinking more deeply about city-building. (I mean, I’m almost always thinking a little bit about city-building, but I love the opportunity to dig in a bit deeper!)

As a bit of a transit nerd, I always jump at a chance to try out a city’s transit system. I’m very much a planner when I travel, so I did a little research into Calgary Transit before arriving. I didn’t find the webpage overly intuitive and only happened across a page that mentioned that regular transit fares don’t cover the cost of the rapid bus from the airport into town. However, I eventually found the information I needed, and found taking the bus from the airport to my hotel near downtown was a great way to see some of the city.

The hotel I stayed at was about a 20 minute walk from the University of Calgary campus, where much of the conference was held. An easy walking distance for me, add to that temperatures in the mid 20s, and I was excited to be able to walk to and from my hotel to the conference. Until I began the walk…

Sidewalks in this section were intermittent, even though it’s clear by those desire lines that people are walking along here (or on the road). There are a number of businesses, retail spaces, and hotels along here. It is also just a two minute walk from an LRT station - yet there are very few sidewalks. “Because (desire lines) often form in areas where there are no pavements, they can be seen to “indicate [the] yearning” of those wishing to walk, a way for “city dwellers to ‘write back’ to city planners, giving feedback with their feet”.

I then had to cross the street - which is a two-lane sideroad (to access the businesses) beside a 6 lane road. In order to cross the street, there was a pedestrian bridge. As I was making the hike up the ramp, I wondered about the time, cost, and environmental impact of such structures - which are often referred to as ‘pedestrian infrastructure’. But let’s be clear, nothing about this felt like it was for the benefit of pedestrians, rather it was created to ensure vehicles were not slowed down by people trying to cross the street. This Strong Towns article notes, “Pedestrian friendly places don’t need elaborate infrastructure.” The author continues, “When we build a sidewalk along a busy arterial, or put in a traffic signal or build a pedestrian overpass, we may call it “pedestrian” infrastructure, but the only reason it’s actually needed is because of the presence and primacy of cars.”

To top it all off, both sides of this bridge are in large parking lots that must be crossed in order to access a sidewalk. Also, while there were both ramp and stair accesses, the ramp felt rather steep. I’d be curious how those who use wheelchairs feel about this bridge - my guess is they simply don’t use it.

After crossing the parking lot, pedestrians and cyclists have a shared space along this 80km/hour road. At least it has concrete barriers, I suppose! I noticed most people, including myself, and the person pictured here, tend to hug the pathway farthest away from the road. Even with the concrete barriers, trail users wanted to be as far away as possible from those fast moving vehicles.

It’s not all bad news though! I made it safely to campus which has a much more walkable and welcoming environment. There was greenery, pathways, sitting areas, shade, and even some urban wildlife. There were also a lot less vehicles resulting in a quieter and safer space. This article from Strong Towns reminds us that “because of their scale and walkability, college campuses meet human social needs in a way that is (seemingly) impossible for many of our nation’s towns and cities.”

While these types of containers are found in many cities, I appreciated the term ‘Landfill’ here instead of ‘Waste’ as it felt like a subtle reminder of where our waste actually ends up. The large X on that bin also suggests we want to limit what goes in there.

I guess this means I’m actually in Calgary. I always find these types of buildings intriguing. Do they have any purpose outside of trying to create some identity marker for their community?

Conference participants toured the Calgary Public Library - Downtown branch, which was built in 2018. Due to the constrained space of this lot, the LRT actually runs through/under the library. It truly is a beautiful space. Of course, that beauty comes with a cost - $245 million to be exact. While I struggle with the costs of such projects, I also think public spaces that are open, inclusive, and welcoming to everyone should also be allowed to be beautiful and of high quality. Finding that balance between smart investments and quality environments can be a challenge.

“There is nothing more democratic than a public library,” Michael Brown said. “It is free. There is nothing like it. And it is open to everyone — everyone is welcome.”

Unfortunately, due to a full conference schedule, I was unable to explore more of Calgary on my own. However, I will be returning this summer and hope to have more time to walk around downtown. If you have spent time in Calgary, I’d love to hear about what you valued and things you think could be improved - share in the comments!

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*Today’s title comes from Calgary’s official city motto.

Did you see this bird in the University of Calgary photo above? I don’t know what it is. If you do, comment below.