Great cities have signature streets that capture the imagination of tourists from around the world. Austin's signature street is South Congress in Calgary it is still up for grabs. This blog compares Calgary's 17th Avenue with Austin's South Congress as a tourist attraction.

**Calgary's 17th Avenue 10 blocks south of downtown is a quirky mix of restaurants, cafes and shops.**

To some, the 17th Ave SW shopping and dining corridor (2nd to 14th St. SW) is still Uptown 17, while to others it is the Red Mile and yet others (specifically the 17th Avenue BRZ), it is RED (Retail Entertainment District). For many Calgarians, the heyday of 17th Avenue was during the 2004 Calgary Flames Stanley Cup playoff run when tens of thousands of Calgarians took over the street after every game. The impromptu street festivals captured national and international media attention, creating an image of Calgary as a fun city.

**Austin's South Congress Avenue looking north to downtown is a major highway.**

But after the Flames lost in the Stanley Cup finals, 17th Avenue has never really been able to capitalize on the opportunity of becoming one of the great urban streets of North America. Melrose Sports Bar, the epicenter of the Red Mile, closed in January 2014 after 23 years of operation. It has recently opened with much fanfare as Trolley 5 Restaurant & Brewery.

Today, 17th Avenue struggles with its branding. Is it a restaurant row? Absolutely. It is home to Pigeon Hole, #1 in enRoute Magazine’s Canada’s Best New Restaurants (2015) and Model Milk #2 (2012). It has also become a very popular destination for pizza lovers with restaurants like Una and Cibo.

**Calgary's 17th Avenue has a vibrant cafe culture.**

Is it a shopping street? Indeed. Some long-standing destination retailers include Rubiayat, gravitypope (love the new space), Reid’s Stationary and Purr, as well as two of Calgary’s best optical boutiques - Eye Candy and Brass Monocle. Newer additions include West Elm, Modern Duke, Structube, Steelng Home and Kit and Ace.

**17th Avenue's gravitypope shop is dazzling.**

**Both 17th Ave and South Congress have fun candy stores....this is 17th Ave's!**

**Both streets have quirky retail shops...this is one of the Rubiayat's many display cabinets with unique curiosities, home decor and collectables.**

Entertainment a key element for tourists

Is it an entertainment district? In my opinion, a resounding, “No!” There are no cinemas, no theatres and no performing arts centres. The only live music venue of any renown is the Ship & Anchor Pub.

When I think of “entertainment,” I think of more than shopping, drinking and dining, I also think of sidewalks full of people, buskers, lots of street vendors and food trucks. This is exactly what we experienced along South Congress Avenue in Austin earlier this year with its Stampede-like atmosphere on weekends as well as Thursday and Friday evenings, despite there being nothing special happening.

**Calgary's 17th Avenue has vibrant patio culture.**

Physically, South Congress Ave and 17th Ave are very similar. Both area about a 10-minute walk from downtown. Both are a mix of retail and restaurants about 10 blocks long with lots of patios. However, this is where the similarities end.

Shortly after I got back from Austin, I made a point of visiting 17th Avenue on a nice spring Saturday to check out the action. Yes, there were people on the sidewalk but it was hardly the lively impromptu street festival atmosphere experienced on South Congress.

**South Congress Avenue's sidewalks on Saturday afternoon have a festival-like atmosphere.**

**South Congress has numerous outdoor live music spots that open out to the sidewalk.**

**South Congress' corners are animated on Saturday afternoon. On the opposite corner is a lively food truck hub.**

We loved this busker on South Congress who would create a poem on the spot based on the subject of your choice.  We had him create a poem about thrifting...we loved it. — **We loved this busker on South Congress who would create a poem on the spot based on the subject of your choice. We had him create a poem about thrifting...we loved it.**

**17th Avenue's Tomkins Park on Saturday afternoon is too often devoid of any vitality.**

Creating Vitality

Firstly, there is a greater sense of spontaneity about South Congress, with buskers performing day and night. What would be surface parking lots in Calgary were Food Truck lots in Austin. There is even an artisan market on a parking lot one night a week. And the patios are more animated, several offering live outdoor music.

Speaking of music, the biggest difference between the two streets is that South Congress has several live music venues (indoor and outdoor) that add an additional element of entertainment. Live music is everywhere in Austin, including the airport lobby. Branding the city as the “Live Music Capital of the World” is very appropriate.

**The Continental Club one of Austin's iconic live music venues is located on South Congress.**

A third difference is there are few financial institutions on South Congress, while 17th Avenue seems to have one on every corner. Banks on corners are urban vitality killers – they do nothing to add to the street vitality. I realize they are prepared to pay the high rent for the corner visibility so landlords are quick to lease to them. Perhaps we need a bylaw that prevents (or limits) banks from leasing corners on pedestrian-oriented streets as part of Calgary’s new Main Streets program.

**Too many of 17th Avenue's corners are taken up by financial institutions which create no sidewalk vitality.**

Who needs density?

Something else struck me as unusual on South Congress – there were no highrise condos anywhere nearby. No mid-rise condos either for that matter.

We are lead to believe by urban planners that density is the key to creating 18/7 urban vitality, yet South Congress is thriving without any significant infill projects.

17th Avenue on the other hand has numerous highrise and midrise infill condos completed over the past few years with more to come. It has also seen numerous new and renovated retail spaces open up, attracting new retailers like West Elm and Best Buy. It will be interesting to see what impact Embassy BOSA’s new 34-storey Royal tower (223 upscale condos) with an Urban Fare grocery store at street level and second floor Canadian Tire when it opens in 2018.

FYI: I was hoping for a cinema complex as part of the Royal development.

**Calgary's 17th Avenue has several highrise condo towers, while Austin's South Congress has none.**

Streetscape Improvements

What I also found interesting is that South Congress has no significant streetscape improvements or beautification initiatives. There were no street banners, no fancy benches and few bike racks. The sidewalks were adequate but nothing special and it certainly isn’t a tree-lined boulevard. In fact, it is an old fashioned, much maligned six-lane highway. Yet, at the same time, it remains a vibrant pedestrian street.

Neither is there a park or plaza space on South Congress for people to gather or events to take place. It has nothing to match 17th Ave’s Tomkins Park and certainly nothing like 17th Ave’s high-tech public washroom installed in the park in 2008 that attracts over 40,000 “visitors” a year.

Calgary’s 17th Avenue is currently receiving a major upgrade - new sidewalks, buried power lines, new LED streetlights, more trees and crosswalks. While these changes will enhance the 17th Avenue experience I am not convinced they will add significantly to its vitality. What is really needed is more entertainment – music, theatre, comedy club and cinema venues.

Last Word

Whatever you call it - Uptown 17, Red Mile or RED – Calgary’s 17th Avenue has many of the ingredients needed to become one of North America’s BoBo (bohemian and bourgeois) streets. It has the “rich and famous” living near by in Mount Royal and the “young and restless” living in the Beltline. It has a good mix of retail and restaurants too. But what it lacks is the 18/7 street animation and entertainment venues to become a tourist attraction like South Congress in Austin.

Note: An edited version of this blog was published in the Calgary Herald, titled "17th Avenue Needs An Entertainment Scene" on September 24, 2016.