Urban Living in Calgary: Westman Village vs Downtown Core

Recently I met up with friends living in Westman Village (yes I get out to the suburbs occasionally) and I was immediately struck by how comfortable and convenient it was to live there.  Westman Village is a 15-minute neighbourhood in the ‘burbs, that should be the Calgary model for new suburban communities in the future.

As we walked from one building to another across +15 bridges to get to the virtual golf room, I couldn’t help but think about how its +15 walkway functions like downtown’s i.e., a convenient way to get to everyday activities. 

What I loved about Westman Village’s +15 walkway were the many places to sit and enjoy the sun and views from the bridges, even sit and read a book (yes, some people still read books) Also as we walked along the corridors, there were large format photographs that made it feel like you were walking in an art gallery.

FYI: What I found very surreal was the photos were portraits of iconic downtown Calgary buildings and places – the Peace Bridge, Wonderland sculpture, The Bow office tower, Central Library, old City Hall etc.  I loved it.  I wonder if it this was intentional as many of the retirees who live there today, once worked downtown.

What I really enjoyed was the comradery as everyone said “Hi” as they walked by and almost everyone seemed to know each other. It had a friendly village vibe.

Westman Village 101

Westman Village is the equivalent of about 4 downtown blocks and consists of 20 buildings with 880 homes for about 1,500 people of all ages. I was surprised when my friends told me their neighbourhood has a mix of singles, couples, young families, empty nesters and assisted living options, I always thought of it as a retirement village.

Westman Village site plan.

It has its own one-block main street with shops like Analog Coffee, Diner deluxe, Marble Slab Creamery, Pie Junkie and Alvin’s Jazz Club and Chairman’s Steakhouse are just a block away. It has its own 40,000 square foot recreation centre, complete with pool, gym, community kitchen, shop room and library.

And it is just a short walk to Sobeys and Calgary Co-op grocery stores and other shops in the Mahogany power centre. 

My friends told me Westman Village’s +15 system is great in the winter and for everyday use of the amenities, but when the weather is nice, people love to go for walk along the Mahogany Lake Promenade or enjoy the outdoor public space within the village.

This immediately reminded me of downtown and how on nice days downtown workers love to walk or run along the Bow River promenade, stroll Stephen Avenue Walk or catch some sun at Hotchkiss or Century Gardens.

Westman Village +15 seating area.

Hallway Art Galleries at Westman Village

Westman Village main street. Below is the promenade around the lake, one of the outdoor spaces in the village and a summer patio.

If you convert them, will they come?

The City of Calgary’s Greater Downtown Plan is focused on how to make our downtown core an attractive place to live, not just a place to work.  FYI: The Downtown commercial core is already home to almost 9,000 residents making it already one of Calgary’s more populated communities. And the Greater Downtown is home to 45,000+ Calgarians.

The city of Calgary recently announced it is negotiating with 14 downtown office owners to convert their buildings to residential, potentially creating 1,800 new homes for about 2,500 people.  The ultimate goal is to convert 2 million square feet office space to other uses, which could mean up to 7,500 new residents in downtown core. This is a HUGE number, almost as large as the entire East Village mega makeover.

If the city wants to make downtown an attractive place to live they will need to not only add more homes but also more urban living amenities. The downtown office to residential conversions will have to compete with new residential buildings in East Village, Beltline, Bridgeland, Mission and Kensington that are full of amenities from state-of-the-art fitness centres to dog parks on site and even podcast studio space.

Downtown Calgary’s biggest and best urban living amenity is the +15 indoor walkway which was built for office workers but could help make the new office to residential conversions an attractive place to live.

Calgary’s downtown core has an amazing network of 86 +15 bridges connecting 100+ buildings across the downtown.

+15 Downtown Core’s Advantage

One of the downtown core’s advantages as a place to live could be the +15 system that would allow downtowners to walk to The Core for shopping (and then jump outside to Stephen Avenue Walk), or to Arts Commons in comfort year-round. Or comfortably walk to work, food halls, medical and financial services as needed. No other Calgary urban neighbourhood has a +15 walkway.

The west end of the downtown core where many of the office conversions will happen has lots of existing +15 gardens, cafes, bistros spaces which could be transformed into attractive unique year-round gathering spaces for downtown residents. 

For example, the AMEC building has a beautiful Mediterranean-like pocket park with a fountain and tropical plants.  The Nova building has a +15 level that looks out onto Century Gardens and cascades down to a street level tropical garden in a glass pavilion. The +15 could also offer those living in the conversions to walk to 7th Avenue transit corridor and then pop outside to catch a train or bus. 

Don’t underestimate the value of the +15 system as an amenity to attract more people to live downtown.   

Calgary’s downtown core is full of small indoor parks, plazas, and gardens that would make for great spaces for residents to hang out in the winter.

Nova tower garden is located in a two storey glass pavilion that faces an outdoor park and is accessible from the +15 system.

Just one example of the many under utilized outdoor plazas with public art on the +15 level of Calgary’s downtown core that could attract more people to live downtown.

Last Word

Getting more people to live in the downtown core is going to be a challenge. It is not as simple as “if you build it (convert them) they will come.” It will be more a case of “show me the amenities and maybe I will choose to live there.”

Learn more about urban living in Calgary:

Reshaping Downtown Calgary As A Place To Live
Is Calgary’s Downtown West the new East Village?
Downtown Living is cooler than you think?