Urban Villages: Calgary defeats Nashville
Nashville is one of the fastest growing cities in North America today - construction cranes are everywhere. Yet Calgary, even in a recession, could easily give it a run for its money when it comes to creating urban villages. Calgary's East Village blows Nashville's Gulch away as a model 21st century urban community.
In fact, Calgary's diversity of urban villages surpass anything Nashville, Austin, Portland or Denver has to offer.
Public art a critical and fun part of the revitalization of both Nashville's Gulch and Calgary's East Village. I loved this piece in the Gulch. Every time I passed by someone interacting with it - a sure sign of a successful public artwork.
The Gulch's Main Street.
Calgary's East Village is a multi-billion dollar master-planned development just to the east of the downtown core has a vibrant river walk plaza.
The Gulch vs East Village
The Gulch, a LEED Certified community just southwest of Nashville’s downtown, is their most developed urban village with hotels, numerous condos (1,500 homes to date), office buildings, restaurants, clubs and a small urban grocery store. However, it pales in comparison to Calgary’s East Village. It lacks the parks, public spaces, natural setting along a river, transit links and the density of development that makes East Village so special.
The Blue Grass Jam at the Gulch's iconic Station Inn live music venue is packed every Sunday night - standing room only. Unfortunately, Calgary's King Eddy Hotel in East Village has been renovated, gentrified and sits empty most nights.
Fortunately, East Village's historic Simmons Building along the East Village Riverwalk, has been renovated to accommodate an upscale restaurant, coffee shop and bakery while retaining its historical character.
Nashville's Gulch District has several street patios creating an attractive pedestrian experience.
Nashville's Gulch has nothing to match the amazing public realm of Calgary's East Village.
Calgary's East Village is a multi-billion dollar development that will eventually be home to 12,000 residents immediately east of the downtown core.
Nashville has nothing to match Calgary's riverside living be it in East Village, Eau Claire or Mission.
East Nashville vs Inglewood
Many consider East Nashville to be the City’s coolest neighbourhood with its bohemian vibe, including numerous old houses converted to record stores, pizza parlours, guitar and vintage shops. However, the restaurants, shops and clubs are chaotically – there is no real Main Street. Also East Nashville is cut off from downtown - not only by the river but by the huge NISSAN Stadium surrounded by surface parking lots.
Calgary’s Inglewood with its historic Main Street, various music venues, Esker Foundation Art Gallery, Recordland, Crown Surplus store and indie shops, is every bit as is cool as East Nashville.
East Nashville is dotted with interesting new and old commercial and condo buildings but they are not located in a contiguous manner or with any connectivity.
Calgary's Inglewood district is a mix of old and new buildings that are mostly located along 9th Ave SE. to create an inviting 5-block pedestrian street with a mix of retail, restaurants, cafes and live music venues. This building combines retail, restaurant, cafe, offices and contemporary art gallery.
Many of East Nashville's corners are waiting to be developed.
Inglewood's Main Street aka 9th Avenue aka Atlantic Avenue, Calgary's first commercial street has retained its historical character with major new developments at its east and west entrances.
Other Urban Villages
Sandwiched between Vanderbilt and Belmont University is the three-block long 21st Ave S Village. This community has much the same feel as Calgary’s Kensington Village. It even has a historic arthouse cinema - the two-screen Belcourt Theatre. What it lacks though is Kensington’s grocery store, drug store, walkability to downtown and transit connections.
Nashville's 12th Ave South district is a lovely 7-block pedestrian zone with a few new condo buildings and high-end retailers and restaurants, but lacks grocery, drug or convenience store.
12 South is Nashville’s upscale pedestrian area that is perhaps best known for being home to Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James shop. Indeed it is bustling street with lots of restaurants, cafes and women’s fashion boutiques.
But look a little closer and you’ll see it doesn’t provide the necessities of urban living - grocery store, drug store and professional offices.
Calgary’s equivalent would be Britannia with its lovely plaza street that does have a grocery store and other everyday amenities that are required to create a walkable community or Mission/Roxboro.
We lived in an Airbnb for 7 days in the 12 South District and our biggest frustration was that it was a 20-minute walk (often without sidewalks) in the other direction to a grocery store. There was no bakery where we could buy bread, bagels or buns (we were disappointed to find out the Five Daughters Bakery was just a donut shop). While I could buy some craft beer, there was no liquor store. Not even a convenience store where you could get some milk, beer and wine. We were very surprised to find there was no live music venue along 12 South, although there was a guitar and drum shop.
We found nothing in Nashville has nothing to match the urban lifestyle that Calgary’s Beltline and Mission communities offer, nor did we find any budding new urban villages like Bridgeland/Riverside or Marda Loop.
All Calgary urban villages have grocery, drug stores, banks and other everyday services essential to urban living like Marda Loop.
The Sutler is part of a cluster of restaurants that a buzzing on weekends at brunch. It is part of an emerging vintage/antique district along 8th Ave South. Several new low-rise condos have recently been built or are under construction along 8th Ave South.
Unfortunately 8th Ave South is not pedestrian friendly with poor or no sidewalks to encourage pedestrian traffic.
This is the Nashville infill project just off of Charolette Ave at 16th Ave. North with downtown in the background.
The Calgary equivalent would be Garrison Woods/Marda Loop with its mix of housing types and commercial development.
Nashville has nothing like Calgary's University City with its link to the Brentwood LRT station and University of Calgary.
Nashville has nothing like Calgary's Beltline community with its mix of old houses and small apartments, as well as older and modern highrises with several pedestrian streets.
Nashville has nothing like Calgary's master planned Bridge's project in Bridgeland/Riverside just northeast of the downtown.
Nashville had nothing comparable to Calgary's Kensington Village's mix of retail, restaurants, cafes, condos and single family homes all located near an LRT station.
Calgary's 17th Avenue is the equivalent of Nashville's Lower Broadway.
Calgary's Urban Villages
If you haven't guessed already, an urban village has a mix of uses - retail, restaurants, recreation, cafes, pubs, live music venues, galleries, theatres, cinemas, bookstores, grocers, drug stores, financial and medical services all within a few blocks. It also includes a mix of housing types - single family, duplex/triplex, row housing and multi-family (mid and hi-rises). They often have one or more employment centres - office, government, school and hospital. Urban Villages are pedestrian oriented often with a Main Street as the meeting place for residents.
Calgary boasts the following urban villages in various stages of evolution:
Calgary has numerous local urban grocers that are key to a vibrant urban village.
City Center
- Beltline
- Mission
- Chinatown
- East Village
- Kensington
- Bridgeland/Riverside
- Eau Claire/West End
Inner City
Calgary has a vibrant independent cafe culture.
- Marda Loop
- Britannia
- Currie (under construction)
- University District (under construction)
- University City/Brentwood
Suburbs
- Quarry Park
- West District
- SETON
Lessons Learned:
I left Nashville with a much better appreciation of the importance of creating long contiguous pedestrian streets like 17th Avenue SW or 4th Street SW as part of urban villages.
I think Calgary is on the right path with its Main Street program which is looking at ways to foster more pedestrian oriented everyday shopping/services streets throughout the city.
My Nashville experience also gave me a better appreciation of the importance of providing the "necessities" of everyday living rather than “just the niceties” when it comes to fostering urban villages.
Thirdly, I have a better appreciation for just how well Calgary is doing in fostering the development of new and existing urban villages.
Yes, Calgary's collection of urban villages at various stages of development surpass anything Nashville, Austin, Portland or Denver has.
Currie is new 195-acre mixed-use urban village (7 kilometres from downtown) under construction that will become home to 12,000 Calgary residents. Photo Credit: Currie Life website.
University District a master planned urban community located at the western edge of the University of Calgary campus is currently under construction and will take 15 years to build out. It includes a 9 block Main Street with a Save-On-Foods grocery store and hotel. It will be a mix of multi-family buildings that will become home for 7,0000+ Calgarians (families, seniors, empty nesters and young professional).
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