While Calgary has always been a suburban city from a residential perspective, in the 21st century the suburbs have also risen in importance a place for Calgarians to work, play and be entertained. There is less and less need for Calgarians to go downtown.

You know the suburbs are on the rise when two of the city’s most recent controversial public art projects – Giant Blue Ring and Bowfort Towers - are at the edge of the city, not downtown. Public art was always the exclusive domain of the downtown in the 20th century.

Calgary’s suburbs also have iconic architecture, including their own signature library.

FYI: An edited version of this blog was published by LiveWire an only community new publication. Link: LiveWire

SETON’s gateway includes a futuristic white pavilion-like structure, with this tipi-like poles and opening to the sky.

It has special lighting that helps create a unique sense of place.

Bowfort Towers artwork along Trans Canada Highway at the westside of Calgary was very controversial.

The suburbs’ new mega recreation centres makes an architectural statement equal to anything that is downtown. It was designed by a Calgary architectural firm.

The Fish Creek Library is an architectural gem inside and out. It was designed by a Calgarian.

Inland Port City

While employment has declined downtown, it has increased the city’s northeast and southeast quadrants, as well as outside the city’s boundaries. Some of the big names that have mega regional warehouse and distribution centers in Calgary are – Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart, Whirlpool and Tim Hortons.

Indeed, Calgary has evolved into major North American inland port with both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways having major Intermodal Facilities and CN had created Canada’s only intermodal business park in the north east community of Conrich.

Over the past 10 years, The City’s Industrial Land Program has serviced and sold over 700 acres, which has supported the development of over six million square feet of space with a 2018 assessed value of over $1 billion. For the citizens of Calgary that has meant over $70 million in new cumulative tax revenue and over 8,000 jobs.

“What’s unique about the City’s Industrial Land Strategy,” explains Spencer McClurg, Manager, Real Estate Sales & Acquisitions, “is that we contribute five percent of our gross sales proceeds to support the development of new affordable housing in Calgary.” Since 2013, when the Industrial Land Strategy was approved, RE&DS has contributed over $10 million to affordable housing.

In 2019, almost 1.3 million square feet of industrial space has been leased that is almost the equivalent the Bow tower. (CBRE Q3 Industrial Report Calgary)

In the third quarter of 2019 the downtown office market experienced almost 200,000 square feet of negative absorption, while suburban office space has a 230,000 square feet of positive absorption. (CBRE Q3 2019 office report Calgary)

Indeed, the economic engine of Calgary has quietly shifted from downtown to east of Deerfoot Divide.

Link: Calgary Region: An Inland Port!

City of Calgary chart illustrating where job growth took place from 2011 to 2016. I expect job growth will be even more in favour of the NE and SE quadrants from 2016 to 2021.

Aerial view of intermodal site in Calgary (photo credit: Peak Aerials)

Recreation & Sports

The suburbs are the place for recreation and sporting activities in Calgary. The City of Calgary and YMCA recently partnered to open the two largest YMCA complexes in the world – Shane Homes YMCA at Rocky Ridge and Brookfield Residential YMCA at SETON.

The Tsuu T’ina Nation opened the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex & Chief Jim Starlight Centre a 228,000 square foot facility that includes two NHL size rinks and a huge field house. Strathmore also has a new field house and Cochrane has created the 325,000 square foot Spray Lake Sawmill Family Sports Centre through a series of expansions. The Crescent Point Regional Field House in Aldersyde has three indoor playing fields, one hardcourt that can accommodate 3 volleyball or 3 basketball courts, indoor pickleball and tennis courts, 800 foot elevated walk/running track.

In 2007 the Seaman Stadium opened in Okotoks and has quickly become a very popular family place for baseball fans. In 2019, the ATCO field (5,288-seat soccer stadium) opened at Spruce Meadows with future plans for 12,000 seat stadium. Spruce Meadow attracts over 500,000 visitors to its various year-round events including major international horse shows.

In 2015 the Century Downs Racetrack and Casino opened in the northeast, bringing back live horse racing which went dark in 2008, when horse racing was shuttered at Stampede Park.

The 138 km Rotary/Mattamy Greenway (think ring road for cyclists) which was completed in 2017 links 55 communities at the edge of the city. No longer do all pathways lead to downtown.

Spruce Meadows attracts millions to horse shows and other events like their Christmas Market each year.

Baseball fans from across the Calgary region love to hang out a Seaman Stadium in Okotoks.

Strathmore has its own Field House. (Field A)

Shopping

From a shopping perspective Fairfield Commercial’s Mike Kehoe ranks the CrossIron Mills as one of the top five regional shopping centres in Alberta based on sales per square foot. It has been the catalyst for the development of a mega retail/entertainment tourist attraction. “Over the past 10 years CrossIron Mills has become one of Alberta’s most successful malls attracting over one million visitors per month from as far away as British Columbia and Saskatchewan,” says Kehoe.

Recently Costco announced it will be anchoring the “Shoppes at Buffalo Run” in 2020 which is part of a huge 1,200 acre, 17 million square feet, $4.5 billion retail entertainment complex planned by the Tsuu T’ina Nation at the southeastern edge of the city. Costco is the 21st equivalent of the 20th century department store. As one of my colleagues likes to say “if Costco doesn’t have it, I don’t need it.”

Another example of the decline of downtown as a place to go is fact Mountain Equipment Coop no longer has just one downtown location - they opened a store in SETON in 2018 and a mega 27,000 square foot store will open in Trinity Hills in 2020.

CBRE’s Q3 2019 report documents that the lowest vacancy rates in the Calgary are in suburban Power Centers at .8% vacancy and Community Shopping Centres 3.4%, while the highest are Beltline street front at, 14.9% downtown street front at 13.9% and downtown shopping centres at 7.6%.

“Today, Chinook, Market Mall, Southcentre and CrossIron Mills all out perform downtown’s The Core,” noted Kehoe.

CrossIron Mills has quickly become one of Calgary’s most popular shopping centre.

Restaurants

“In the past, the burbs have largely been the domain of chain restaurants and pubs which look for a large footprint, lower rent and tax, easy access for suburban residents and ample parking says, John Gilchrist, long time Calgary restaurant reviewer. He notes “these attributes are becoming more popular with independent restaurants as well. Looks at Bro’Kin Yolk and its suburban breakfast/lunch locations. Or Purlieu run by Jason Armstrong, who used to own Bistro 2210 in Mission. He’s now in Bayview with his new, contemporary, French-inspired restaurant.”

In 2010, Calgary’s Farmers’ Market moved from its inner city location at Currie Barracks to its Barlow Trail location in Acadia and in 2020 it will be opening its second location in Greenwich at the western edge of the city. In 2018, Calgary’s first food hall, opened in the ‘burbs the with 40 vendors in Lake Bonavista’s Avenida Mall. It has been a huge success.

In April 2019, Avenue Magazine published its list of top 10 new restaurants and six of the ten were in the burbs – Allora (Aspen Woods), Café & Mi (Royal Vista), Diner Deluxe (Mahogany), La Diperie (Country Hills), Finesse Desserts (Kingsland) and Southland Yard (Willow Park).

Avenida Food Hall is just one example of foodie fun now available in the suburbs.

Culture

Even the arts are moving to the burbs. Mount Royal University’s 787-seat Bella Concert Hall opened in 2015. The concert hall is part of the Mount Royal Conservatory complex that is a music hub for 10,000 class registrations and 4,000 students annually.

cSpace in Marda Loop isn’t exactly the suburbs, but it isn’t downtown either. The $28 million dollar conversion of the iconic King Edward sandstone school into a mixed-use cultural space has been a huge success. It includes studio and meeting space, as well as a theatre even space and art gallery.

The Beddington Theatre Arts Center Community Centre (180 seat theatre) a converted community centre opened in 2013, with two resident theatre companies – Front Row Centre Players and Storybook Theatre. Today, it attracts over 75,000 visitors annually.

Airdrie boast the Bert Church Theatre and Okotoks has the Rotary Performing Arts Centre in the 1906 Methodist Church and Okotoks Art Gallery in their historic train station. Just east of Cross Iron Mills is the Polaris Centre for the Performing Arts that includes a theatre space, as well as, rehearsal, recording and dance studios. It is home to three resident companies - Torchlight Theatre, Aurora Dance Academy and Rocky Mountain Symphony.

The Leighton Art Centre located in the foothills southwest of the city limits offers regular art exhibitions, art classes and a well-stocked gift shop.

There are many music clubs offering live music in the suburbs.

There are also live music venues like International Avenue’s Country Line Saloon.

The Bella Concert Hall at Mount Royal University adds to the cultural offerings outside of downtown.

Last Word

It is no wonder Cochrane, Airdrie, Okotoks and Chestermere are always among Canada’s fastest growing cities. In August 2019, Macleans magazine listed Airdrie as Canada’s fastest growing city with a 5.7% increase in population, Chestermere was #3, Cochrane #23 and Okotoks #28, while Calgary was #53 with a population growth of 1.9%.

Calgary’s suburbs and edge cities are no longer just bedroom communities for downtown, but rather mixed-use communities where you can work, live, play, eat, workout and be entertained without ever going downtown.

If you like this blog, you will like these links:

Calgary: Not Your Parents’ Suburbs

What is “Urban Living” and does anybody really care?

80% of Calgarians must live in the suburbs!

Calgary: The Rise Of The Suburbs, The Decline of Downtown