Ward 7 what's new

  Over the past several years, Brentwood residents have been involved in planning for the Transit Oriented Development adjacent to the Brentwood LRT station. The first two buildings (University City by Knightsbridge Homes) are under construction with the remaining three buildings currently in the development permit process. I brought together a team over the last few months, made up of...

Hankering for a good read? Ever wish there was a library right on your corner? Do you have some books you’d like to share? Well, Ward 7’s latest initiative - the Little Free Library Project - was designed just for you!A Little Free Library is pretty much as it sounds.  It’s free.  It’s a library.  And it’s little.  Very little.  Think of a big birdhouse posted on a street corner or in a...

A fun night out takes some planning – the right outfit, good friends, and a great location. You don’t want to be ready for a night on the town, and end up with slow service, ghastly washrooms, or out-of-control patrons. Best Bar None is a voluntary accreditation and awards program facilitated by the Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission, and is in its second year in Calgary. The BBN 2013...

  The ground-breaking ceremony for the new National Music Centre (NMC) was music to many ears on February 22, 2013. Currently, the National Music Centre reaches more than 75,000 people every year. Imagine how many more people will visit after 2015, when the new NMC is expected to open! The new NMC will be over 160,000 square feet, allowing for lots of room for the 2,000 plus artefacts in...

  An idea that sprang from a concern about the reputation of Calgary’s Chinatown has garnered positive results. In 2008, in the face of increased vandalism and issues of safety, a group of community conscious people formed the Chinatown Safety Council. With the goal of safety and cleanliness by increasing pride in one’s community, the Council began working to change long held stereotypes...

In 2012, the Alberta Provincial government changed the election legislation. Beginning with the election in October 2013, municipal elections will be held every four years on the third Monday in October, rather than the current three-year terms for the Mayor and Aldermen (soon to be called Councillors). The same bill also made some changes to campaign financing and reporting, and now...

New this property tax season, the Seniors Property Tax Deferral Program allows eligible senior homeowners to defer all or part of their property taxes through a low-interest home equity loan with the Alberta government. The Seniors Property Tax Deferral program and the Alberta government will pay all or part of your property taxes on your behalf.  It works by giving you a low-interest loan...

  Consisting of  49 acres in the heart of downtown Calgary, East Village has evolved over the past 10 years from a community that was known for its vacant lots and abandoned plans, to a community with a bright future.  Since 2007, I have championed the Rivers District Community Revitalization Plan and Calgary Municipal Land Corporation so that this evolution could take place. On 5 February...

  If you took a stroll in Nose Hill Park this winter, you may have noticed something new. In the fall of 2012, almost eighty interpretive and orientation signs were installed.  Landscaping around the bases of the signs, including seeding and landscape repairs, will be completed Spring 2013.As conditions allow, work will also begin this spring on trail rehabilitation, and the closure of...

The past year has been a busy one for the Calgary Homeless Foundation. The January 2012 “point-in-time” count showed the first reduction in homelessness in 20 years, and another count done in August 2012 showed a further decline. Since the 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness began in January 2008, more than 4000 men, women, and children have received housing and support.The Calgary Homeless...

    Get a behind the scenes look at what Calgary Transit employees do every day to keep your CTrains and buses running! On Saturday April 20 and Sunday April 21, you can get a free tour of the Anderson Garage and ride on the CTrain as it goes through the train-wash (a supersized car-wash!). There will be lots of giveaways and more. The only way to get to and from the tour is a shuttle bus...

  RouteAhead, Calgary Transit’s long-term strategy for public transit over the next 30 years was approved by City Council on March 4.  It is a comprehensive plan that includes ways to improve the customer experience, expand Calgary Transit’s network, finance construction and operating costs, and how to best invest our limited resources.  All the recommendations in the plan are based on the...

SummaryCity Council has directed that the Crowchild Trail Corridor Study be put on hold until mid-2014, and as a result all work related to the draft plans presented at the fall 2012 open houses has stopped. The public response to the Crowchild Trail Study encouraged the Transportation Department to take a step back and review the policy for transportation corridors, city-wide.  The review...

    In 2012 a small group of dedicated volunteers created Century Homes Calgary, an event that celebrated the history of the first building boom in Calgary, which started in 1904 and peaked in 1912. Many of the houses that were built during this time helped create the vibrant and diverse inner city communities that thrive today. The volunteer organizers worked with hundreds of homeowners to...

​​The MyParking app from the Calgary Parking Authority is now available as a free download for iPhone users. This app is designed to make parking in Calgary easier with several handy features. With a ParkPlus cell phone account, users can pay for their parking with the click of a button. Just log in with your account information and enter the zone number you’ve parked in. It will also tell you...

    Many Ward 7 communities are undergoing redevelopment, whether it is an infill house or a larger multi-use building. As a result, many residents have questions and concerns regarding the construction sites in their neighbourhoods. The Safety Response Unit has been working on a number of initiatives to improve the safety of construction sites within Calgary. They developed the Practical...

Over the past year and a half, the number of burnt-out streetlights and the length of time that it took to repair them frustrated many Calgarians. In March 2012 the number of streetlight outages reached an all-time high of 1,933 at one time. While this number fluctuated from day to day, Council understood that this was not acceptable. As a result, Council worked with Enmax to implement an...

    ​​The community of Hounsfield Heights Briar Hill was established in August of 1953. Prior to becoming a community, the land that many homes are currently built on was once part of the Riley Family homestead, settled in 1888. The homestead was annexed by The City of Calgary in 1906, the same year that it was first subdivided. Over the years the community has developed a rich history that...

    Created from humble beginnings in 1963, the Brentwood Community Association will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. The Brentwood Community Association has grown and evolved over a half century, expanding their community hall from a small house-like structure to a large Sportsplex that is used by Calgarians from across the city. Over the years volunteers and neighbours have joined...

In the winter of 2011 the outdoor ice rinks in Rosemont were voted as the Best Outdoor Skating Rink by readers of The Calgary Herald. The two Rosemont ice rinks are located in Confederation Park and have been around since 1966. There have been several volunteers over the years that have maintained the ice on these rinks, and since 2008 the Rosemont Ice Guys have been recording their adventures in...

In December 2012 I had the honour of nominating five community leaders for a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal: Lily Kwok of Chinatown, Louise French of Dalhousie, Cheri Macaulay of Brentwood, Kris Olsen of Rosemont, and Ned Shillington of East Village.  The Ward 7 office arranged a surprise event for the recipients and their families and presented the medals in City Hall’s historic Grant MacEwan...

​​March 2013 will mark the first year of the Green Cart pilot program. Residents in the four pilot communities, including the Ward 7 community of Brentwood, have reduced their garbage year-round by 42 per cent. The City of Calgary’s Waste & Recycling Services continue to hear positive feedback from pilot participants.  A December survey by Ipsos Reid showed us that participants have...

Winter is almost over and The City wants to know what you think about our Snow and Ice Control program. We're asking Calgarians to participate in an online survey regarding our winter road conditions. The survey is approximately 15 minutes long and consists of questions ranging from residential road conditions to Snow Route Parking Bans.  The City is also conducting a random selection...

  Walkability matters!  More and more, studies show us that walkability is critical for health, wealth, and community growth. Organisations like the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as health boards across North America, are demonstrating a strong link between community design and total physical activity.  This link is especially important as rates of obesity, in...

In December 2012, Alderman John Mar and I, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office, brought forward a motion to City Council regarding the Crowchild Trail Corridor Study in response to the concerns raised at the November open houses.  Council supported the motion unanimously to put the Crowchild Trail Corridor Study on hold and direct further study. Council directed City Administration to...

At the direction of City Council, there are a number of initiatives underway at City Hall to improve efficiency and effectiveness.  The Transforming Government strategy includes business planning, budgeting, performance benchmarking, measurement, and reporting. It also includes zero-based and service improvement reviews for several departments. The zero-based review is a significant new...

 The Transportation Department held open houses in November on the Crowchild Trail Corridor Study, where reaction to the plan ranged from dismay and outrage to unqualified support.  While chatting with people at the open houses, I heard from many adjacent residents who felt that the transportation planners were focused on maximizing traffic flow with little consideration for neighbourhood...

  The Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre has been an important part of Calgary’s cultural and physical landscape for the past 20 years, inspiring social inclusion and providing a focal point for community activities. The Centre’s ornate pagoda-style roof is a replica of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, originally constructed around 1420 AD and listed as one of the World Cultural Relics by...

I have been a fan of container art spaces for some time having seen some fascinating installations in other cities. So when organizers approached our office about bringing containR to Calgary, I was thrilled to help.  Their vision, to connect communities through public installations of “pop-up art”, fits beautifully with work already happening in Calgary.  I went to RiverWalk Plaza to watch...

Close on the heels of last spring’s inaugural poet laureate program, the Calgary Heritage Authority and the City of Calgary announced Calgary’s first Historian Laureate, Harry Sanders.  The position was made official in June, when Harry was presented a laurel crown by Heritage Authority chair, Scott Jolliffe, in a hilarious history/poetry faceoff between poet laureate Kris Demeanor and Harry...

​   Now that Calgary has piloted its first pop-up patio outside the busy Vendome in Sunnyside, we’re expanding the concept to pop-up parks and gardens.  Built to be temporary and transportable, these affordable little public spaces are perfect for communities that have high residential densities and yet are severely deficient in green space.  The first pop-up park will be located in West...

It’s your transit. Tell us where you want to go! City Council is embarking on an exciting new plan for Calgary Transit. RouteAhead, a long-term strategy for public transit over the next 30 years, will focus on making transit safe, convenient, comfortable, and efficient.Last May, the RouteAhead team started talking to Calgarians at community events and on the engagement bus, a travelling...

    This summer marked the middle of City Council’s current term, and over the past month, Carol, Erika and I compiled a report on some of what I’ve been up to since 2010.  Please see attached, The City of Calgary Ward 7 Mid-Term Report. ​Over the next year we look forward to working with you on the many exciting activities taking place in your neighbourhood.   ​​ This content represents...

During the winter of 2011/2012 the ice chiller at Brentwood Sportsplex stopped working properly, almost cutting the season short for many sports that relied on the Brentwood Sportsplex. The communities of Triwood and West Hillhurst stepped up and found ice time for the teams that were displaced as a result of the ice chiller failing. Alderman Druh Farrell speaks with Steve (Brentwood), Jim...

   ​​The City of Calgary welcomes Rollin Stanley as our new General Manager of Planning, Development, and Assessment.  Rollin comes to us with 30 years of planning experience in the US and Canada, most recently with Washington DC’s Montgomery County, where he developed a reputation for inspiring innovation and ensuring high quality design and development.  Rollin brings a fresh perspective on...

   I thought I would share a little story about Bylaw Bill Bruce on the eve of his retirement. Years ago I worked at the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association in senior's outreach and urban planning, where I met Bill in his capacity as head of Bylaw and before that, as a traffic technician. A common fixture in the community was a long-time resident who we all knew just as Elizabeth....

Update as of September 2012:    Since rolling out green carts more than six months ago, Waste and Recycling have tested the carts through two seasons and continue to collect important information from residents and their collectors to help shape their recommendations for a city-wide program. Here are some program highlights from the summer. One million kilograms collected and growing In...

   Update as of August 2012: City Council approved another phase of the Framework for Growth and Change at its meeting on 7 May 2012. The next step in this critical and complicated process is for City Administration to return in October with a prioritized list of near-term growth candidate areas, strategies for financing, funding, and land supply principles, and a service delivery...

In the spring of 2012, the Dalhousie Community Association met with The City of Calgary and the Parks Foundation to discuss the process of replacing the existing playground equipment located in front of the Dalhousie Community Centre. Two years later, and after hundreds of volunteer hours, the new playground equipment was installed in September 2011 and is now used daily by neighbourhood...

Over the course of several months, the Ward 7 office worked with the Highwood Community Association and Transportation Department to address concerns regarding traffic at the intersection of 40 Avenue and Hudson Road N.W. By working together, a solution was developed to stop cars from driving through the intersection and allowing cyclists and pedestrians to use the crosswalk...

  In July of last year, City Council approved the motion to establish the honorary position of Poet Laureate. A citizen-led initiative, sponsored by the Calgary Foundation and several corporations, Calgary Arts Development Authority organized a poetry showcase with six of the final candidates.   The performances were riveting, with a wide range of style from hip-hop, to slam, to visual...

Over several months last fall the Bow to Bluff team asked Calgarians to contribute ideas on how to revitalize the public corridor along the Sunnyside LRT line from the Bow River to McHugh Bluff. The Bow to Bluff project, spearheaded by a city-wide group of Calgarians interested in improving public spaces, garnered funding through Council's Innovation Fund. The fund was set up to encourage new...

   For the past five years, the Centre City team has been working diligently to make our downtown core a friendly, safe and vibrant place. Through the graffiti abatement program, Clean to the Core and enhanced streetscapes, they have achieved great success in changing what the downtown looks like. If you have taken a walk late at night you may have seen members of the Centre City Safety...

The Calgary Homeless Foundation moves from TAKING best practices from other places to BECOMING the best practice. The concept of "Collective Impact" was first raised in Stanford Social Innovation Review's Winter 2011 issue, resulting in an overwhelming response from organizations and individuals interested in guidance on implementing these principles. In their follow up article,...

    Cities across North America are transforming some of their on-street parking spaces into restaurant patios and tiny parks. Alderman Druh Farrell first discovered these types of pop-up cafes and parklets while visiting Halifax for a conference, but soon learned that they are becoming commonplace in cities across Canada. Depending on the location, the low-cost seating areas can be...

    To ensure a fun, safe night out on the town, Best Bar None, a program promoting higher public safety and customer service standards for bars and nightclubs, was launched in January. Based on a successful program out of the UK and introduced in Edmonton in 2010, Best Bar None is an accreditation and awards program that promotes responsible management and operations of licensed premises....

    Council approved the 2012-2014 Business Plan and Budget Cycle in late November 2011. Here are The City of Calgary department highlights. ​​ This content represents the personal views and opinions of the Ward Alderman and should not be taken as a statement of policy of The City of Calgary. The inclusion of any external content does not imply endorsement by The City of

    The Calgary Parking Authority plans to pilot a new, automated parking enforcement tool in the Ward 7 communities of Hillhurst Sunnyside and Briar Hill, in an effort to boost enforcement while improving convenience for residents. The Autochalk system will use on-board cameras that register license plates automatically, replacing chalking tires and writing tickets by hand. Parking permits...

    As a member of the Calgary Homeless Foundation Board, Druh Farrell is very proud of the progress being made toward the 10 year plan to end homelessness. Congratulations to Tim Richter, President & CEO, the staff and board for all their 2011 successes, of which a few are highlighted here: The Provincial and Federal governments invested $39 million in 39 programs, and the Province...

In November 2008, City Council approved my motion on the "prevention of social disorder and community impacts in and around licensed premises." The motion directed the Police Service, Fire Department, Licensing and other City departments to work with their provincial counterparts to reduce the disruption caused by bars and nightclubs on the surrounding neighbours and ensure a safe...

    The new 4 Street S.E. underpass is now open, providing an important connection between Victoria Park and East Village. The project started out with a standard underpass design that included the demolition of the King Eddy and dark, narrow sidewalks typically seen in underpasses downtown. Wanting to set a new standard, we held a number of workshops and embarked on a new way of...

    The urban laneway movement is sweeping many cities around the world, converting some of the most gritty and neglected places into charming spaces. Calgary has its own secret gems rich with history just waiting for a bit of spit and polish. Rather than treating laneways as places for refuse and dumpsters, a network of laneways can be an important amenity. Shops and galleries that are off...

It's not often that people celebrate the closure of a business, but the residents and businesses in Banff Trail are thrilled to see the end of Savoury Lodge. The Savoury has long been a hotbed for criminal activity that often spilled over to neighbouring businesses and the CTrain station. The owners of the Savoury decided not to appeal a closure order by The City's Licensing Department after the...

    The momentum created by the Chinatown Centenary continues to build wit​h a number of new community initiatives. The Calgary Chinese Community Services Association added several beautiful murals this fall, some highly visible and others tucked away in back lanes and rear courtyards. These murals started out as a simple graffiti abatement program by The City and have been elevated to...

The 10 Street N.W. bike lane pilot has generated a lot of attention and discussion over the past few months. Although 10 Street N.W. was adopted by City Council in 2001 as a major cycle route, it took over 10 years for policy to be implemented with physical changes to the road way. The response from cyclists is generally very positive, however many citizens are wondering about the timing and...

  Alderman Druh Farrell's notice of motion in 2010 resulted in a proposed Cycling Strategy and Pathway Safety Review that were both approved at Council on July 5, 2011. It was encouraging to see the number of Calgarians who participated in the engagement process while the strategy was being developed. This strategy is the first step in creating a more bicycle friendly Calgary, so that all...

    At the July 4 City Council Meeting, Druh Farrell proposed a plain language policy that will help promote clear communication by The City with Calgarians. As best said by Tony Seskes at the Calgary Herald, "the weird language and strange acronyms used at City Hall can be as clear as mud in a muddy mud puddle with a pile of mud added for good measure." But this is about more...

    Druh Farrell initiated a study for curbside recycling in 2002, which resulted in the highly successful Blue Cart program and more recently the residential Black Carts. Next steps in this recycling initiative are: Design a food and yard waste pilot program for 2012. Work with the private sector to increase opportunities for multi-family residences, as 22% of recycled material from...

  Legalized secondary suites provide benefits to both home owners and renters, if done properly. Other Canadian cities have successfully implemented a similar policy on secondary suites with no sharp increase in the number of applications for a secondary suite. Legalizing secondary suites offers the following benefits to homeowners: Provides some mortgage assistance to new home...

  After 60 years of water fluoridation, it remains an emotional and divisive issue around the world. In May 2011, Council voted to remove fluoride from Calgary's water system. Druh Farrell's motion to remove fluoride, which was signed by nine of her Council colleagues, included a resolution to redirect funds currently spent on fluoride to provide a more targeted approach to improve dental...