Inner-city communities offering residents plenty to get excited about

From the historic streets of Inglewood to the shopping district along 17th Avenue, Calgary's inner city represents an eclectic and ever-changing mix of stories, style and substance. After all, these are areas where 100-year-old brick buildings seamlessly interchange with high-rise construction cranes.

Yet for those who live in Calgary`s inner city, it isn't just their surroundings and amenities that make it special. It's the people.

"Sure we have our night markets, Christmas celebrations and kitschy shops, but what makes Ramsay and Inglewood an exceptional place to live are the people," said local resident Natalia Jezierska.

Soil contamination a major hurdle for any West Village development

The Calgary Flames' season may be over, but that doesn't mean hockey talk in the city has come to a close.

In addition to fans' usual examination of how things could have gone differently, the question of where the team is going to play its home games in the not-too-distant future remains.

Part of that answer will come to light April 25 when Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC) reports findings to city council from its six-month environmental assessment of land in West Village where Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. (owner of the Flames, Calgary Stampeders and Calgary Roughnecks) is proposing to build the much-debated CalgaryNEXT project.

Several major projects in Calgary expected to capture headlines in 2016

Calgary is expected to look a lot different by the end of this year thanks to the opening of several highly anticipated developments that promise to reshape the local landscape, say officials.

"It was a good year in 2015, and the projects continue to come in for 2016," said Kevin Griffiths, director of inspections and permit service at the City of Calgary.

The National Music Centre, a new international terminal at the Calgary International Airport and the new central library are just a handful of the projects that could see their doors open in 2016.

While acknowledging downtown office construction projects have slowed, Griffiths said the pace for other commercial projects have increased. He singled out the Residence Inn by Marriott and SilverBirch Conference Centre, planned for the former site of the Alberta Boot Company on 10th Avenue S.W.

Will mega-project CalgaryNEXT be the anchor institution that breathes new life into the local landscape?

Urban planning enthusiasts call them anchor institutions – those landmark buildings in which cities are built around.

In Calgary, they dot our landscape: from the University of Calgary and Foothills Medical Centre in the northwest to Stampede Park and the Calgary Tower in the southwest — even the up-and-coming Seton mixed-use district in the southeast.

Calgary would be a very different — even lesser — place without them, says Colin Jackson, member of the senate at the University of Calgary and also chair of several arts and culture initiatives.

"A good way to think of them as anchor institutions is that they set the tone or give a feel to a neighbourhood," said Jackson, who has spoken on the subject in the past.

Could the CalgaryNEXT mega-project be next?

Calgary still the place to be for new developments

Despite a dip in the economy, Calgary is still a sought-after destination for developers, say industry experts.

"There's a western resiliency and an entrepreneurial spirit that [Calgary] rolls with it and looks for a brighter day in the future," said Christopher Wein, president of Toronto's Great Gulf Residential, which has submitted a development application to the City to develop a two-tower condo development in the East Village at 304 Macleod Trail S.E. across from the Harry Hayes Building.

The Calgary Herald reported this morning the Calgary Flames have plans of a new arena project, which would not only house the Calgary Flames hockey team but include a football stadium and amateur sports fieldhouse as well.

On March 13, the CREBNow print edition reported some of the particulars that would be involved in the construction of a new arena in Calgary.

5 Things about Calgary's new arena:

Where will the Calgary Flames play?

While those in the know are still very hush-hush about the plans for Calgary's new hockey arena, including where it will be located, there are a few things we can say with some certainty about a potential new home for the Calgary Flames.

West Village plans cast future of downtown core into spotlight

Construction cranes that dot the east downtown skyline are providing Calgarians a not-too distant
vision of what the city's core might soon look like.

Yet industry experts suggest future plans in the underdeveloped West Village will provide a better understanding of what's really in store in the heart of Calgary.

West Village redevelopment taking back seat to twin to the east

With its eastern counterpart the darling of Calgary's development scene, the West Village couldn't be blamed for feeling a bit like a forgotten sibling.

Bounded to the north by the Bow River, to the east by 11th Street SW, to the south by the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks and to the west by Crowchild Trail, the area was once envisioned to be a "transit-oriented, sustainable urban community," yet sits idle as "an auto-oriented brownfield site."