Every time I visit Edmonton I am reminded at how Edmonton and Calgary’s downtown and inner-city neighbourhoods are evolving so similarly when it comes to urban thinking, planning and living.

Ice District vs East Village

For example, on my most recent visit, I saw firsthand how Edmonton’s Ice District is very similar to Calgary’s East Village. Both are anchored by major public buildings, with quirky contemporary architecture - in Edmonton’s case, it is Rogers Place (arena/event centre), while in Calgary it’s the new Central Library and National Music Centre. Both districts are dominated by tall towers, the 66-storey, Stantec Tower (bottom 30 floors are offices, upper 36 floors are residential) in Edmonton and the 58-storey Bow Tower (all office) in Calgary.

The Ice District is also home to the JW Marriott Edmonton with 356-hotel rooms on the first 22 floors and residential from the 23rd to 54th floors. Calgary’s East Village counters with two hotels - Alt Hotel and Hilton Garden Inn - with a total of 350 rooms. In addition, East Village has eight new residential towers, providing 1,600+ new homes. And, both districts have a large retail development anchored by a large format grocery store.

From a public space perspective, the Ice District has Ford Hall, a winter garden that spans 104 Avenue connecting to the JW Marriott complex and Edmonton’s pedway system. There is also a major outdoor public plaza designed to host markets, festivals, concerts and other events up to a maximum of 5,000 people.

East Village counters with a dog park, community garden, CSquare, 5th St Square, St. Patrick’s Island, George C. King Pedestrian Bridge over the Bow River, as well as the Jack & Jean Leslie RiverWalk. Fort Calgary Park on the eastern edge of East Village is home to numerous events including major concerts attracting up to 10,000 people.

Ice District is a multi-billion, multi-use, 25-acre development on the north side of Edmonton’s downtown while East Village is a multi-billion, multi-use, 49-acre development on the east side of the downtown. Both are critical to their respective city’s plans to revitalize their downtowns as attractive places to live, play and work.

The Quarters vs The Bridges

On the east side of Edmonton’s downtown is the Quarters District, a 100-acre site that currently houses about 2,500 residents. Its master plan calls for it to become home to 20,000 residents over the next 20 years. The City of Edmonton projects include: Iron Works Building rehabilitation, Kinistianaw Park and The Armature, a pedestrian-oriented street that in the future will be a shopping, eating and entertainment hub. The private sector projects include the Doubletree Hotel (255 rooms), Pendennis Hotel redevelopment, The Hat At Five Corners residential tower (24 floors, 199 homes) and Edmonton’s Downtown Farmers Market.

The Quarters Community Revitalization Levy, approved in 2011, has allowed Edmonton to invest $67M in infrastructure improvements, as the catalyst for private sector development (not unlike was happened in Calgary’s East Village). However, to date private development has been limited due in large part to the City’s and private sector’s focus on the Ice District.

Calgary’s equivalent to the Quarters, would be The Bridges (the redevelopment of the old Calgary General Hospital site) in Bridgeland, northeast of the downtown core. Albeit a much smaller site at 15 acres, it encompasses 16 sites for TOD (transit oriented development) private sector low and mid-rise multi-family residential development, all within walking distance to the Bridgeland/Riverside LRT station.

It also included the creation of Murdoch Park and General Ave Plaza, as well as a upgrades to the main street (aka 1st Ave NE) with a small plaza. The first building was completed in 2005, with the final one welcoming residents in 2022.

The Bridges development has been the catalyst for numerous other development in Bridgeland/Riverside community including several affordable housing developments for seniors east of The Bridges, as well as and residential development along Edmonton Trail to the west.

The Quarters’ masterplan identifies five character neighbourhoods.

The Bridges’ masterplan identified 16 residential development sites surrounding the Murdoch Park, all of which have been completed or are under construction.

Blatchford vs CFB Calgary

Edmonton has commenced the ambitious redevelopment of their old municipal airport site, 5 km north of downtown, into a new urban community called Blatchford. At 536 acres, it is the same size as the city’s entire downtown. The master plan calls for a carbon neutral community of 30,000 people living in a diversity of housing – everything from townhomes to low and mid-rise buildings.

It will include an LRT transit mall, as well as a networks of green corridors, pedestrian-only streets and parks. The design will retain some of the history of the site by keeping the air control tower and creating a replica of the runway as a linear park. It is expected to take 25+ years to complete.

FYI: I have fond memories of the Edmonton Municipal Airport as it was part of my first solo travel adventure. When I was 13 I flew from Hamilton, via Pearson Airport (now the Toronto International Airport) to the Edmonton International Airport, grabbed a cab to the Edmonton Municipal Airport and waited for a few hours for a flight to Fort Smith, NWT to spend a month with my Uncle Butch who was a teacher there.

Calgary’s equivalent would be Canada Lands Company’s (Federal Government Crown Corporation) redevelopment of the Canadian Forces Base Calgary, 5-km southwest of downtown. It would include Canada Land Corporations’ three residential based communities - Garrison Woods (175 acres), Garrison Green (75 acres) and Currie (200 acres), as well as the private sector’s ATCO Park (80 acres) and WestMount Corporate Campus (26 acres).

Over the past 20+ years, Canada lands has completed Garrison Woods and Garrison Green and is in the middle of the Currie redevelopment on the west side of Crowchild Trail. The master plans for these three communities included the retention and reuse of several historic buildings, trees and parade square. Today Garrison Woods is home to 2,745 Calgarians and has been the catalyst for the redevelopment of neighbouring Altadore’s 33nd and 34rd Avenues as mixed-use main streets with street retail and restaurants, with residential above.

Canada Lands Company’s residential-based communities are all within walking distance to the new 228,000 square foot ATCO corporate campus, as well as QuadReal’s WestMount Campus, (six class A office buildings totaling 780,000 square feet), as well as Mount Royal University. Calgary’s SW bus rapid transit route was designed to serve these new communities.

Phase 1 of Blatchford’s masterplan includes the creation of this fun playground.

Last Word

The current mantra for city politicians and planners across North America is to get as many people living in or near the downtown and inner-city as possible, as a means of curbing urban sprawl and fostering downtown and old neighbourhood revitalization.

Calgary and Edmonton both have ambitious plans to convert their downtowns from primarily places to work, to vibrant places to live and play.

In both cases, it will take 25+ years to see if these 21st century plans work, unlike the failed late 20th century downtown urban renewal plans in both cities.

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

CBC: Design Wars: It’s Edmonton vs Calgary for the architectural cup!

Edmonton vs Calgary: Urban Revival?

Calgary vs Edmonton: Best River Parks?

Calgary vs Edmonton: Urban Thinking, Planning & Living

Ice District vs East Village

The Quarters vs The Bridges

Blatchford vs CFB Calgary

Last Word

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

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