Calgary: Ideal place for entrepreneurs to thrive in post COVID world!
Over the past 100+ years Calgary has evolved from a frontier town to an agricultural centre, to an oil & gas powerhouse and a major inland port distribution centre.
The City is on the cusp of its next transformation. What that will be or what it will look like, is anyone’s guess. But given City’s pioneering roots and entrepreneurial culture, moving to Calgary now could easily allow you be part of the genesis of something very interesting.
Image Credit: Chris Ward, Three Men And A Truck, Moving to Canada
Calgary vs Pittsburg/Austin/Nashville/Portland etc
I speak from experience as I moved to Calgary 38 years ago and the city quickly became my home because the people were friendly and their were tons of great job opportunities, even though I didn’t work in the oil & gas sector. I think the same is true today.
Link: Jooble Canada Job Opportunities Calgary
Recently Richard Florida (Head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto) was interviewed by Donald Bonk for Pittsburgh Quarterly about why that city is well positioned to thrive over the next 30 years. I couldn’t help but think Calgary has many of the same attributes as Pittsburgh does.
Link: Richard Florida’s Three Game Changers for the Post-COVID World
In the interview, Florida points out how COVID has changed the way we think about work and how spending time with family has become more important. He notes how Pittsburgh is a city of neighbourhoods that are work and family friendly. Ironically back in Feb 2020, I said the same thing about Calgary, going as far as saying its moniker should be “Calgary: The Family Friendly City.”
Link: CBC / Calgary’s slogan should be “The Family Friendly City”
While the Calgary has a reputation of being a cowtown, in reality it is more cosmopolitan than many people give it credit for. It has as much to offer as cities like Atlanta, Austin, Denver, Portland or Nashville to the young creative entrepreneur, especially those thinking of starting a family or already have one.
Link: Calgary Equals Austin, Portland, Nashville, Denver or Seattle
So I decided to write a new blog highlighting 11 reasons Calgary is great place to “Work, Live, & Play” for entrepreneurs, start-ups and venture capitalist.
Calgary is a young, energetic, family-oriented city.
#1 Liveability
Calgary has ranked in the top five most liveable cities in the world for each of the past 10 years (The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index). And for the second straight year, it was named THE MOST liveable city in North America. Calgary ranks particularly strong when it comes to clean air, clean water, infrastructure, schools, parks and recreational opportunities.
Another great aspect are the many self storage in Calgary to keep possessions safe and sound until needed. Storage options are not always available in all cities, but the fact Calgary has many conveniently located units adds to its livability. Who wouldn’t want to pack their things and move as soon as possible with this option available?
Link: Is Calgary REALLY the 5th Most Liveable City In The World?
Calgary’s Bow River is one of the best fly fishing rivers in world.
#2 Diversity
Many Calgarians (Canadians) don’t realize Calgary is the 3rd most ethnically diverse city in Canada. With 30% of the population being a visible minority, the city is home to people with 240 different ethnic origins.
The annual Nagar Kirtan Parade attracts over 60,000 participants and spectators. Participation in the Calgary Pride Parade is growing and now attracts almost 100,000 spectators. And the annual Stampede Parade attracts over 300,000 spectators, with floats from various ethnic groups as well as a large contingent from the surrounding indigenous people.
Ethnic cultural centers are scattered around the city, including the lovely Chinese Culture Centre in the middle of our small downtown Chinatown. As well, there are churches of all denominations - from mosques to temples, cathedrals to the massive Centre Street Church.
#3 Parks & Pathways
The most obvious reason to move to Calgary is because of its amazing array of parks and pathways. Be it our huge urban parks like Nose Hill and Fish Creek (both larger than Vancouver’s Stanley Park) to intimate parks like Prince’s Island and Riley Park, which includes a cricket pitch. Calgarians also enjoy easy access to the Rocky Mountains, including Banff National Park and Kananaskis Provincial Park.
Calgary also has 1,000+ km of multi-use pathways, including the Rotary/Mattamy Greenway a 138 km pathway encircling the city. And in the downtown, over 100 buildings are connected by 60 +15 bridges (think skybridges) creating a 20km indoor pathway.
Calgary boasts over 5,000 parks, including over 100 dog parks. Everyone is within 5 minute walk of a green space.
Link: Calgary’s SOBOW Trail on of the best urban playgrounds in North America
The Bow River Promenade is just a small part of the 11 km SOBOW River Pathway that includes a river wave for surfers, rapids for kayakers and fun place to canoe, paddle board or float.
#4 Festivals
Calgary is home to major festivals year round. The newest festival, Chinook Blast, a six week celebration of Calgary’s multi-cultural, multi-arts scene is launching in Winter 2021.
The City is home to one of the world’s most iconic festivals – The Calgary Stampede – as well as numerous music, film and theatre festivals. The Calgary International Folk Festival on Prince’s Island is magical.
The Calgary International Folk Festival on Prince’s Island in middle of the Bow River in downtown Calgary is magical. There are annual outdoor festivals almost every weekend from May to September and several major indoor arts festivals from October to April.
#5 Arts & Culture
Calgary is home to one of North America’s largest performing arts centers – Arts Commons – with its five performance spaces totally 3,200 seats. It is home to the Calgary Philharmonic, Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects and One Yellow Rabbit and the hub of the Olympic Plaza Arts District, which includes several other performance spaces and the Glenbow Museum.
Nearby is Calgary’s newest architectural icon – the Central Library (designed by world renowned architectural firm, Snohetta), the National Music Centre and Decidedly Jazz Dance Centre.
Calgary is also home to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, The Military Museums and The Hangar Flight Museum.
Downtown Calgary boasts over 100 public artworks and there are dozens of commercial and public art galleries in the city. The Beltline Urban Mural Project has created 20+ murals over the past few years, with more added every year.
Calgary is home to the Alberta University of the Arts, while Mount Royal University is home to the Mount Royal Music Conservatory and the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts.
Inglewood is home two of Calgary’s best live music venues – The Blues Can and The Ironwood.
Film buffs will love the Globe and Plaza Theatre Calgary’s arthouse cinemas, as well as the many film festivals that take place each year.
Link: Calgary a Winter Arts Mecca
Calgary is home to numerous arts & cultural facilities. One of the newest is cSPACE King Edward, the conversion of a 100 year old school into an arts incubator with studios, galleries and theatre spaces.
#6 Recreation
Calgary has the largest and second largest YMCAs in the world – Brookfield Residential YMCA at SETON (in the south) and the Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge (in the north). You can sail or row in the Glenmore Reservoir, or float or paddle in both the Bow and Elbow Rivers.
There is downhill skiing at Canada Olympic Park (within the city), which also includes a major bike park. Downtown’s Shaw Millennium Park includes one of the largest public skateparks in North America. You can speed skate on the fastest ice in the world at the Olympic Oval.
Don’t forget those 1000 km of multi-use pathways.
Calgary is home to many unique recreational opportunities including several lawn bowling greens.
#7 Food & Beer & Café Culture
Ten Calgary restaurants made the list of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants in 2020. In Calgary you can dine in a revolving restaurant at the top of the Calgary Tower, in a century old house (Rouge), on a patio along Stephen Avenue Walk, a National Historic District, or on an island in the middle of the Bow River (River Café). You can also find a diversity of ethnic dining – Moroccan, African, Himalayan, Ethiopian, Hungarian, Malaysian, Indonesian or Singaporean – to name a few.
With Calgary’s climate perfect for growing barley, there are over 40 craft brewery-taprooms in Calgary – new ones opening every month. In fact, Calgary’s love affair with beer began over 100 years ago with The Calgary Brewing & Malting company founded in 1893. The area around the brewery was called Brewery Flats (today’s Inglewood) and today it is home to several craft breweries.
Calgary has a long history of independent cafes going back to The Roasterie and Higher Ground in Kensington Village dating back to the ‘80s. Today, there are numerous independent cafes in all of the inner-city’s cool communities – Analog Café, Gravity Café, Kwanzaa Coffee House, Monogram Coffee, Rosso Coffee Roasters, Calgary Heritage Roasting Co., Vendome Café, Alforno Bakery & Café, Lukes, Philosafy Coffee and Phil & Sebastian to name a few.
Calgarians love their coffee - there is even a Cat Café!
#8 Architecture & Urban Design
Over the past 20 years, Calgary has become an emerging design city with new buildings/structures and public art by some of the world’s most renowned architectural firms and artists.
Peace Bridge by Santiago Calatrava
The Bow (office tower) by Foster + Partners
Central Library by Snohetta
National Music Centre by Allied Works Architecture
Telus Sky by Bjarke Ingels Group
Wonderland sculpture by Jaume Plensa
Northern Lights (public art) by Douglas Coupland
Local architectural firms and artists have also contributed to Calgary’s enhance urban sense of place:
Alberta Children’s Hospital by Kasian Architecture
Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge by GEC Architecture
Calgary Saddledome by GEC Architecture
Do Re Me Fa Sol La Si Do sculpture by Joe Fafard
THESAMEWAYBETTER/READ (tile mural) by Ron Moppett
#9 Bike/Pedestrian Friendly City
Don’t be surprised when cars stop to let you cross the street at almost any corner when you are walking or cycling. It is a Calgary tradition that cars stop to let pedestrians and cyclist cross the road, except on major roadway. All you have to do is stand on the sidewalk and look out at the cars and wave and they will stop. If you wave they will usually wave back.
With over 1,000 km of pathways and 5,000+ parks Calgary is a walker’s and cyclist’s paradise – despite what some might say. Calgary continues to add to its cycle track network every year.
Calgary has 1000+ km of multi-use pathways across the city. This is along Mahogany Lake a southeast suburban lake community.
#10 Shopping
When it comes to retail therapy, Calgary has everything from the mega shopping center – Chinook Mall (one of top 10 in Canada) to the Calgary’s Farmers’ Market (will have two locations in 2021) to independent mom and pop shops. The City is home to several shopping streets – 17th Avenue SW, Inglewood, Kensington Village, Design District (11th Avenue SW) and Mission (4th St SW).
Downtown alone is home to three department stores – Hudson’s Bay (historic building), Simons, Holt Renfrew – in addition to Stephen Avenue Walk (pedestrian mall) and The CORE shopping centre.
Kensington Village is just one of several street oriented urban playgrounds in Calgary.
#11 Cool Neighbourhoods
Calgary offers a wide array of places to live from acreages to penthouses, from co-op housing to urban villages. Calgary pioneered the urban man-made lake communities, it now has 10+. With two rivers, there are lots of options to live on or near the Bow and Elbow Rivers. As well, with over 5,000 parks, there are also lots of opportunities to live on or near a park.
Calgary is comprised of four quadrants, each with a population of about 300,000 people and each with its own amenities (parks, shopping and recreation centre). Calgary is further divided into 200+ neighbourhoods each with its own name, identity and community association. So while Calgary is a city of 1.5 million, we live most of the time in our quadrant and our neighbourhood of 5,000 to 15,000 people.
Living in Calgary means the best of both worlds - big city living with small town charm.
Link: It takes a lot of different villages to create a healthy city.
Calgary’s newest village is ATCO Village, designed for Canadian Armed Forces veterans.
Florida’s Game Changers
In the interview, Florida identifies three “game changers” that Pittsburgh’s leaders need to do to make the city thrive in the post COVID world:
Create a grant to attract top 100 geniuses in the world to move to Pittsburgh
Make Pittsburg the High Tech / Arts & Culture capital of the world
Connect the city with others by high-speed rail
Unfortunately every city in the world is trying to do the first two. In fact, Over the next two years Calgary’s creative industries are set to spend $1 billion on digital transformations. There are dozens of organizations like the Creative Destruction Lab and District Ventures Capital working hard to not only attract talent to Calgary, but to foster the talent already living here.
Note: There is also the City of Calgary’s $100M Opportunity Fund to attract new businesses to the city - especially the downtown. Now if City Council could figure out how to reduce the tax burden on businesses, Calgary would indeed be a very attractive place to relocate or establish a new business.
Last Word
Only time will tell if Calgary can retain and attract enough talented individuals and venture capitalist to thrive in the post COVID World.