Calgary: Council's Weary Hamlet Act With Plan-It Vote

Despite being cited by urbanists near and far as how not to plan a city, or what happens when a city is not planned properly, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about whether or not the council will approve Plan-It, which calls for actions to be made to create greater mixed use throughout the city and reducing the development of sprawl, which has been Calgary's primary response to the population growth which has taken place over the last 20 years.

The most vocal opposition to the program has come from developers, who argue that the plan to reduce sprawl will drive up real estate prices by restricting the supply of land.  Such an argument overlooks the underused land that is available for redevelopment and development in the downtown area.  Another matter that the developers are likely overlooking is that new suburban developments on the edge of the city may reduce the quality of life and the property values of the older suburbs. 

For instance, Dalhousie and Hawkwood, suburban developments in the Northwest Calgary, have not aged well for a variety of reasons.  Most self-evident is that suburbs are built to be on the edge of the city.  With further development beyond these areas, the increased traffic that passes through or near these areas via Country Hills Boulevard, Crowchild Trail and Shaganappi Trail, have made commutes more difficult and placed stresses on the limited retail, recreational and social resources in the area.  Building more suburbs beyond this area and beyond the more recent suburbs of Tuscany, Rocky Ridge and Royal Oak, will put more stress on city coffers by demanding new infrastructure to be built further and further away.  Layering suburbs in this manner will likely induce a fall in property values as the quality of the community declines while the city favours developing newer, sexier infrastructure projects further afield.

There is great potential for the city's business district and a need to bring about greater mixed use in the downtown core.  Everyone in Calgary knows how the area empties quickly after the work day is done.  There remain, however, two spines of activity that frame the downtown area.  The Bow River Trail that runs north of the area is often busy with pedestrian commuters and recreational activity.  Joggers, cyclists, and others crowd both sides of the river and bring activity to the cultural active, natural area of Prince's Park Island.  Stephen Avenue, continues to sustain a reasonable level of pedestrian traffic outside of business hours, but there is still potential to expand on the traffic that on that street from Olympic Plaza west to 4th Avenue West.

The challenge is to expand beyond those two pockets of off-hours activity.  Apart from Barclay Walk, which connects 8th Avenue to Eau Claire Market, the YMCA and Prince's Park, there is little to invite people to cross the abyss between Stephen Avenue and the Bow River.  There is abundant parking, which could and ought to be developed to provide uses other than office space.  More recreational and residential use of this area will revitalize the area and make it into a true downtown area.

The opportunities in the downtown area and the problems that will be exacerbated by continuing to expand the city's footprint with further suburbanization will not contribute to the development of a sustainable or united city.  At a time when municipal tax rates are rising and the cost of gasoline has breached $1 a litre for a second summer in a row, Plan-It offers an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the city to progress in the years ahead.  If the plan is rejected by City Hall on June 23rd, the only thing that will be sustained is the illusion that Calgary is wealthy enough to fend off the economic and ecological changes that it must acknowledge and adapt to.