Calgary's Business Improvement Areas a huge success!
They used to be called Business Revitalization Zones (BRZ) today they are called Business Improvement Areas (BIA), but whatever you call them they have been a huge success. The BIA’s are like Community Associations in they attempt to engage everyone in the community to work together to make their neighbourhood a better place to “work, live and play” for everyone.
Not an easy task - I should know as I was the Executive Director of the Calgary Downtown Association for 10+ years.
Travel Tip: Whenever I visit a city I always research where are the BIAs as I know they will be interesting places to explore.
Note: An edited version of this blog was published by LiveWire Calgary on May 1, 2020.
Inglewood is home to Calgary’s oldest Main Street. It is a mix of live music venues, funky shops, restaurants and cafes located mostly in early 20th century buildings.
Chinatown’s annual street festival is a popular family event.
Festivals, Events & More
CDA’s 2020 Glow festival on Stephen Avenue.
The Calgary Downtown Association (CDA) was directly responsible for the revitalization of Stephen Avenue in the ‘90s and are currently championing plans for the renovation and revitalization of Calgary’s historic main street for the 21st century.
This year they produced the hugely successful Glow Festival on Stephen Avenue.
Creating annual events attracting Calgarians to come see what is new in the ‘hood has been a big part of Calgary’s BIA’s mandate in the past.
The biggest is 4th Street BIA’s Lilac Festival, with the most unique being International Avenue’s “Around the World Food Tours” that have been happening in various formats since 1997.
Today summer festivals and night markets produced by the Inglewood, Bowness and Marda Loop BIAs and Kensington’s Christmas events foster community engagement and pride.
In the past, many BIA’s have managed public art programs (murals and sculptures) along 17th Ave, 4thStreet and along Barclay Mall in downtown. Today they are activating alley’s, revitalizing underpasses as well as commissioning public art.
4th Streets annual Lilac Festival kicks off Calgary’s summer festival season.
The BIA’s have been instrumental in the success of main street redevelopment, in Marda Loop, Inglewood and Kensington.
International Avenue BIA lobbied successfully for their main street improvement to create a more mixed modal street for cars, transit, cyclists and pedestrians.
Perhaps the most visible evidence of the BIA’s work are the colourful banners and flowers that you find along Calgary’s various main streets – Stephen Avenue, 1st Street SW, 4th Street SW, 10th Street NW , 17thAvenue SW, 17th SE, Kensington Road and Bowness Road in Montgomery and Bowness.
The BIA’s work with the businesses within their boundaries to develop marketing and branding campaigns, improve the streetscape and pubic areas, lobby for accessibility improvements (parking, cycling and pedestrians) and lobby the City for improvements to services on behalf of the businesses. They work very closely with Police, Social Services, Parks, Roads and Bylaw to ensure their areas are clean, safe and attractive for people who are working, visiting and living in the area.
The work of the BIA’s is funded by a special tax levy based on the property assessment of each of the businesses in a given area.
Each BIA has an elected volunteer Board of Directors who establish an annual budget which is submitted to the City for approval. The City then determines the tax rate for each BIA based on their budget request and total assessment base of their businesses.
Most BIAs have at least a paid Executive Director who works with the Board to develop and execute the initiatives based on the approved budget.
Collectively Calgary’s BIA’s represent 6,000+ business along 220+ blocks across the city. They represent about 20% of all Calgary businesses and account for $670 million in assessed property and business value.
17th Ave SW’s Tomkins Park is a fun urban retreat for all ages.
Kensington Village is a charming mix of shops, restaurants and cafes.
The City of Calgary has 15 BIAs. Most Calgarians will be familiar with the older ones:
Bowness Main Street is one of Calgary’s oldest. It has the charm of a mid-century prairie village with a wide street and angle parking. It is home to one of Canada’s largest bike shops.
However in recent year several new ones have been established. It will be interesting to see how the new BIAs enhance the communities around them.
Crescent Heights Village
Link: City of Calgary BIA Map
The Crescent Heights BIA will transform Centre Street North into funky multi-cultural Main Street.
Businesses Needs Residents
The success of a BIA is not only measured by the health of its businesses, but by the new residential development they attract to support those businesses. The hundreds of new multi-family residential buildings and thousands of infill homes being built in the communities of East Village, Eau Claire, Downtown West, Hillhurst/Sunnyside, Inglewood, Marda Loop, Mission, Montgomery and Beltline over the past 25+ years are due to the success of their respective BIAs making the neighbourhoods are better place to “live and play.”
Last Word
In 2014, the Canadian Institute of Planners chose Inglewood as Canada’s greatest neighbourhood and Kensington was a runner-up. Today both communities are even more attractive places to live, work and play. The future for Calgary is positive in part because of the work of Calgary’s BIAs.
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