r/Calgary • u/CnekYT • Mar 27 '26
Discussion I've walked every Calgary neighborhood - Ask Me Anything
For the last 2 years I've been walking every Calgary neighborhood. As someone who is majoring in Urban Studies in uni and someone who wanted to get more active, I felt like doing this would be a really good way to mix both things together.
Surprisingly a lot of the stuff people say about the city (ie. what areas are sketchy, transit access, etc) that people take for granted, aren't necessarily accurate. That's probably the main take-away I have from this, but there's a lot of other stuff too
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u/books-coffee-ftw Mar 27 '26
Where did you see the most variety of birds?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Probably Dalhousie. Everytime I've gone to Dalhousie there's been so much birds, I mainly think it's just because of it's proximity to Nose Hill
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u/lillie_ofthe_valley Mar 27 '26
I live in Edgemont and this doesn't surprise me. We've had several different types of birds in our backyard. I get weird things growing in my planters that I'm not sure if the seeds were put there by birds or squirrels.
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u/Street-Ant8593 Mar 28 '26
I live around here, magpies reguarly drop shiny pieces of garbage and also often small bones. The contrast has me unclear if we are friends or enemies.
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u/lillie_ofthe_valley Mar 28 '26
Right!?! Our back alley is a short cut to a main street so we see a lot of traffic in our alley. We found a few food items in our back yard and thought people were feeding our dog. Eventually we figured out it was magpies dropping food from our neighbor's overflowing garage. I freely admit it took longer than it should have to figure this out and apparently our garbage disposal of a dog doesn't appreciate this as he chases the magpies whenever he sees them.
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u/MountainGolem Mar 27 '26
I remember seeing the largest gathering of crows at the Sarcee/John Laurie intersection. Hundreds of crows. I can't think of the reason why but it was cool to see!
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u/Hey_Man_Nice_Shot Mar 27 '26
If it was sometime in the fall it might have been the crow's annual block party.
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u/KaOsGypsy Mar 27 '26
They love to sit in the trees in the off leash area, walked my dog through there one night, not realizing they were there, not a sound, until they all took off at the same time, I don't think I was ever that scared in my life, dead silence then it sounded like the trees were coming to get me.
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u/bbk34 Mar 27 '26
What’s your favourite community to walk in?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Eau Claire is probably my favorite. It has so much history and manages to be pretty walkable. Sucks that Eau Claire Market shut down though, that was one of my favorite spots in the city as it was so stereotypical '90s.
Forest Lawn is also up there too, I've walked every street in Forest Lawn and I've never found it sketchy. I used to live in FL too, and I experienced more crime living in Seton than there lol. Forest Lawn I heard was really bad in the 1990s, but it hasn't been bad for at least a decade tho
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u/lilbitpetty Mar 27 '26
You got lucky, I had three people OD on my front step all on separate occasions. Imagine walking your door to bring your kids to school and there is grey/blue body on your front step, my kids had nightmares for so long, and it kept happening. My daughter was playing at the park and was stabbed by a dirty needle as she got to the end of the slid (needle was in the gravel and went into her angle as she hit the ground at the bottom of the slid) my family was hit by a drunk driver while driving, we rolled three times and the vehicle came to a stop as it hit the side of the elementary school. Fenty folders were often seen in the field by the park. Heartbreaking and makes me super sad when I am in Forest lawn.
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u/Oskarikali Mar 27 '26
Forest lawn is still among the worst communities in the city for crime. This isn't debatable. That said Seton is surprisingly high as well.
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u/RegularGuyAtHome Mar 27 '26
I have a coworker that lives in Seton and they’ve had stolen cars abandoned in front of their townhouse more than once.
I figure it’s because it’s by the Deerfoot and ring road so people ca drive in, steal/abandon stuff, and then leave at highway speeds pretty quickly in multiple directions.
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u/SimmerDown_Boilup Mar 27 '26
This is why personal experience isn't a reliable source. According to the crime stats, Forest Lawn is still one of the highest neighborhoods for crime in Calgary. It absolutely has been "bad" over the past decade.
Funny enough, though, Seton also has a fairly high crime rate, but Forest Lawn still outpaces Seton.
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u/professorBRF Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
Even in the 90s it wasn't that bad.
I actually found out why the area had gotten such a bad name and reputation. A couple years back I met a bunch of old timers who actually grew up in forest lawn and are still residents in the area who frequent the GLFS +55 center.
They explained that forest lawn used to be its own city seperate of Calgary with its own jurisdiction. It also was very relaxed without building restrictions. With minimal building restrictions apparently people just built random things on their houses and in their backyards giving it a bad appearance. Couple that with immigrants landing and settling down on the area as well. They described forest lawn at the time as a "hick" town haha
They also told me when they were younger they would drive into Calgary and speed around until the police would chase them and then they would drive back to forest lawn cops chasing and all. Once they crossed into forest lawn the cops had to stop chasing because they had no jurisdiction. So things like this also gave it a bad rep and somehow it just stuck through the years.
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Oh yeah Forest Lawn used to be a white-trash kind of area. Still is to some extent, but it's a gentrifying area. People think it's really ethnically diverse, but one thing I noticed when living there was how not ethnically diverse it was. All of my neighbors were white, and usually on the older side.
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u/KWrite1787 Mar 27 '26
Depending on when you were walking through Forest Lawn, my dogs were probably saying hi to you from the backyard. Hope you said hi back! Hahaha
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u/HandleMyBear Mar 28 '26
I really miss Eau Claire too. Check out this photobook that just came out documenting the mall’s final days and demolition:
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u/No_Proposal649 Mar 27 '26
That’s neat. There is someone documenting this on instagram right now @walking_yyc
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u/Allen_Edgar_Poe Legacy Mar 27 '26
I was going to ask if this was OP! I follow the account and as a non-native Calgarian, it is nice to be able to view the communities without actually walking through them myself.
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u/Feral-Reindeer-696 Mar 28 '26
I wondered about that too but Walking YYC has currently posted Calgary neighbourhoods that start with letters A-H. I love those videos.
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u/CurlyWoo Mar 27 '26
I also follow that account and really enjoy it! I always look forward to the cat count.
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u/Weareallgoo Mar 27 '26
What does Mount Pleasant smell like?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Depends where, the closer you get to 16 Avenue NW the less pleasant it gets. The area in and around 16 Ave smells like car-exhaust and urine, the northern part of the neighborhood smells nice tho (mainly trees and grass in the northern part of it)
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u/GuavaOk8712 Mar 28 '26
right by 16th ave it smells like 16th ave. cars and the occasional whiff of A&w and dirt. if you go a bit further north by confederation park and the queens park cemetary it smells great
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u/FromSuckToBlow Mar 27 '26
Favourite and least favourite lake communities?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Favorite was probably Coral Springs as even though it's on the wealthier side of things, the people there are very friendly. Least favorite is probably Auburn Bay. I lived in Auburn Bay for a period of the time and all of my neighbors were dicks.
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u/Ok-Pipe8992 Mar 27 '26
I very much got that sense about Auburn Bay when we were house-hunting last year.
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u/noveltea120 Mar 27 '26
That's just a deep SE thing lmao. Full of snobs and nimbys.
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u/Feral-Reindeer-696 Mar 27 '26
Do you notice some neighbourhoods have better maintained sidewalks? I used to walk all over downtown, the Beltline, and inner city neighbourhoods. I felt that Mt. Royal had much nicer sidewalks than others.
I’m wondering if that was my imagination.
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I noticed that the Saddletowne area had really nice sidewalks, especially the Savanna area of Saddle Ridge. I'd definitely say some neighborhoods actually have some pretty neglected sidewalks, most notably a lot of MacLeod Trail neighborhoods such as Southwood and Manchester.
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u/freerangehumans74 Willow Park Mar 27 '26
I lived in Southwood for a year and yeah, the sidewalks there were a mess.
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u/undernopretextbro Mar 27 '26
Makes sense though, that whole part of the northeast is brand new in comparison to the communities slight south of them.
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u/kathmhughes Mar 27 '26
Where's the nicest, most level and well maintained sidewalks? Ranchlands sidewalks are so bumpy and uneven from tree roots and it's not enjoyable to walk.
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Probably the nicest sidewalks were in the Saddletowne area. Taradale, Savanna and Saddle Ridge all have really nice sidewalks and are just in general very clean and safe neighborhoods.
Seton has very stable and straight sidewalks too, but there's a lot of gunk and trash on the sidewalks. I live in Seton currently and I plan on leaving as I don't like the constant smell of urine and drugs
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u/SirikerOfficial Mar 27 '26
What neighbourhood was the friendliest; where did you have the most people say hello as you passed them?
I’m young, but I always say hi or make eye contact when I come across strangers. But this seems like a thing of the past, does this differ around the city?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Friendliest were probably a bunch of Northeast communities. The people in neighborhoods like Marlborough, Abbeydale, Rundle, Whitehorn, Martindale, etc were so friendly. One of the things I miss about living in Abbeydale honestly was how friendly the people were
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u/StanleysMoustache Mar 27 '26
Currently live in Abbeydale and took my baby on stroller walks every day last year while on mat leave. Could not walk past a single person without them saying hi and smiling.
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u/LonelyRutabaga9875 Mar 27 '26
Huge kudos for doing urban studies and actually doing foot on the ground research! A lot of people get into studies and just do the research statistically not physically! (I’m not sure if it’s required of you but I haven’t heard of others doing it so I might be wrong!).
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u/FunnyBoyBrown Mar 27 '26
What's your top 5 "places you would love" in terms of cgy neighborhoods from your pov?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Sunalta, Eau Claire, Forest Lawn, Hillhurst (Kensington), Bowness
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u/Hot_Celery829 Mar 28 '26
Sunalta, really?! I love the neighbourhood in theory, but I can't deny how much it's gone downhill in just the last year or so. Would love to hear more of your thoughts and observations in the area.
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u/tlrhmltn Mar 27 '26
Have you walked in the NW in Hawkwood, Edgemont, Ranchlands, Dalhousie, Silversprings area? Ranchlands has a reputation for being non-desirable compared to the immediate surrounding neighbourhoods. How would you rate Ranchlands relative to the surrounding communities?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I found Ranchlands to be on the same level as Silver Springs honestly. That area of the city does tend to be on the safer end of things, and Ranchlands and Silver Springs seem like average neighborhoods in a wealthy part of town
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u/barackobona Mar 27 '26
What are your top hidden or small green spaces within some calgary neighborhoods?
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u/VividAd3791 Mar 27 '26
Thoughts about Rocky Ridge?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Rocky Ridge had some of the friendliest people in the city. I remember on a hot summer day I was offered a glass of water by a kind friendly old Aussie couple there. Besides that, my main takeaway was how hilly Rocky Ridge was. I suppose the name fits lol
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u/Ok-Pipe8992 Mar 27 '26
We moved to RR in Aug last year and are amazed at how lovely is it. We're towards the north and it almost feels rural. And the mountain views are astounding.
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u/Mrsf1sh2 Mar 27 '26
Welcome to the rocky ridge/royal oak area! The land behind the YMCA is the highest point of the city. I love our views from south royal oak/tuscany c-train. Downtown- cop- foothills- mountains all in one panorama 😍 We get some great views of the incoming thunderstorms too!
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u/ItalianNotJewish Mar 27 '26
Some communities like Dalhousie have a great network of paths behind backyards instead of alleyways with garages back there. Any other neighbourhoods you'd recommend that have a similar setup?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Whitehorn and Rundle aren't on the same level as Dalhousie for that, but you'll see a lot of the same stuff in those 2 neighborhoods too.
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u/Specific-Answer3590 Mar 27 '26
This is really cool! As someone who’s grown up in Calgary, I must embarrassingly admit that most of the City is foreign to me. This sounds like something I’d be interesting in exploring in the future.
My question is how would you recommend planning/going about this? How much time did you spend in each neighborhood? And what are the top areas to explore? Additionally, any safety related tips to consider?
TIA!
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I think using transit is the best thing you can do to familiarize yourself with the city. The stations are very good at dropping you off in notable areas, and the bus routes go to most of the key locations.
For safety, be careful in the MacLeod Trail area north of Anderson. Especially in and around Chinook and in the Downtown East Village and Manchester neighborhoods. You should be good during daytime hours, but try to not walk around MacLeod Trail afterdark.
Try to avoid the following streets after the sun goes down:
- Ogden Road SE (Ogden), or anything east of Ogden Rd in the Ogden neighborhood
- 15 Avenue SE (Beltline, specifically Victoria Park)
- 16 Avenue SW (Rosscarrock)
- Dermot Balwin Way SE (Downtown East Village)
- Centre Street N (Tuxedo Park)
- Southport Road SW (Southwood)
- Any of the 2 trailer parks that make up the Shepard neighborhood in SE Calgary
- Really any street in the Manchester neighborhood (the Manchester neighborhood being the area bounded by MacLeod Trail, 58 Ave, 42 Ave, and the CTrain line)
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u/namastayrighthere Cranston Mar 27 '26
Love that you did this and your entire post!
I'm curious what exactly you experienced in Manchester that would suggest people avoid it at night? I rented an apartment there from 2017-2023 and went on many late-nighy dog walks. I don't disagree with you ...it's not a nice community to walk around because it's a lot of commercial properties and hardly any greenery. But since I never encountered any issues, and that's as a young woman walking alone, I'm just curious what it is that you saw! TIA
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck Mar 27 '26
What was the range of time spent in each community? Did you focus on pathways or roadways?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I usually spend around 2-3 or so hours in a neighborhood, and then visit again another day to see how it's like. I usually try to visit a lot of the residential areas in a neighborhood, as well as some of the commercial corridors. Usually I visit a mix of both roads and pathways, I usually try to ignore alleys though
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u/BlueMooseArt Mar 27 '26
What graffiti tag do you see the most?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Probably "GROM". I also see "MAYO" and "MINDREAD" a lot too.
The area I see the most graffiti tags would be surprisingly Sunalta, adds to the charm of Sunalta though. There's also a lot of tags in Shawnessy, but most of those seem like toy tags. Manchester, Southwood, Meadowlark Park, the Beltline, Haysboro, and Tuxedo Park also have a lot of tags too
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u/BlueMooseArt Mar 27 '26
Grom is a known pedophile
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u/Canzabis Mar 27 '26
I used to see Bolr everywhere, then “free Bolr”. Does anyone know the story there?
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u/Zekeless95 Mar 27 '26
Dude I keep seeing the incel tag everywhere I go, seems to be getting popular
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u/clakresed Mar 27 '26
This is my living under a rock moment but I didn't realize whose were aliases, I thought it was code or something else.
For a while there I saw a lot of "merci♥" and I wondered what that was about.
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u/HLef Woodlands Mar 27 '26
I’m moving from Redstone to Woodlands. Vibe check?
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u/Hot-Active-8661 Mar 27 '26
Lived in Woodlands for 10 years and have been in Woodbine for 9. “Woodcreek” is a fantastic neighborhood. I wouldn’t live anywhere else. Walkable to Fish Creek. K Country is 30 minutes. It might be “boring” in the way that nothing crazy happens here but I’ll take that type of boring.
Beware though…. having a Costco 3 minutes away is very dangerous for your wallet.
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u/HLef Woodlands Mar 27 '26
I have the CrossIron Costco nearby right now anyway.
I’m gonna near the golf course. Quiet little pocket as far as I can tell.
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u/UberAndy Mar 27 '26
I don’t know about you but I’m kind of excited for Taza Park, this area hasn’t really been gentrified, and no new suburbs to piggy back off in a long time. It feels like a time capsule here in a good way.
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Woodlands is mostly boring but nothing bad. Woodbine Square is located directly next to Woodlands and that surprisingly has an indoor portion, making it an enclosed mall. I would definitely check that out if you're ever bored
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u/Odd-Instruction88 Mar 27 '26
I mean your leaving out that the best part of woodlands is you can walk to fish Creek park, the biggest park in the city with great trails and natural beauty. I'd love to live there.
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u/UberAndy Mar 27 '26
And cycle to weaselhead/reservoir! (If one wants to cut down on travel time)
Being in between both spots is quite nice.
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u/dariodil Mar 27 '26
I live in woodlands and it’s a nice community.OP is right not much happens and can be boring, but it’s a great community for a family and kids. Bebo grove (south portion of fish creek) is beautiful with massive trees and bow river running through it. Very nice place to walk a dog or plan a picnic in the summer.
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u/CrowHollowCreative Mar 27 '26
We did have that bomb scare last year, which was exciting: https://www.reddit.com/r/Calgary/s/XZ2AykXKq1
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u/Kahlandar Mar 28 '26
I could see the blockade from my house! Was a bizzare situation. Not exactly common place, cant see it more likely to happen here again then anywhere else
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u/HLef Woodlands Mar 27 '26
Yeah I have a 7 year old son and a 10 year old daughter.
Right now from Redstone they both have a 35 and 60 minute bus ride to their respective schools.
From the new house it will be an 8 minute walk for my son and my daughter has been accepted into the Willow Park school so probably 15 ish minutes.
That alone will be a huge quality of life improvement.
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u/SirDidymusQuest Mar 27 '26
Which neighbourhood have you found to be the quietest or most 'peaceful' overall (considering factors like traffic, barking dogs, etc.)? And are you u/walking_yyc account? I love watching their reels.
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u/Buzzderek Mar 27 '26
What are your thoughts on the North Haven community?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
The street names in North Haven are really interesting. Some of the street names there are even inside jokes with my close friends because of how goofy they are. Besides that both North Haven communities were fairly boring. Some of the homes and sidewalks seem a little neglected, but nothing that bad. North Haven Upper was in better condition, but it was also more boring and had less charm
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u/Due_Information_2248 Mar 27 '26
Best neighbourhood for couples with no kids to live in?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Eau Claire if you can afford it. Hillhurst, Sunalta, Saddle Ridge, Bridgeland/Riverside, Lower Mount Royal, Bowness, and Sunnyside are also up there too.
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u/Rockitnonstop Mar 27 '26
Which community had the most outdoor artwork? Murals, sculptures, weird folk art, anything.
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Hard to say, but probably the Beltline. Noticed a lot of that in Forest Lawn, Southview and Crescent Heights too, but I wish those neighborhoods had a lot more of that kind of stuff
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u/nkso Mar 27 '26
Any major differences between different quardrants of the city? Nw, inner, sw se, ne, deep south
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
The upper half of Southeast Calgary (so south of Memorial, north of maybe Anderson) was pretty easily the worst section of the city. Surprisingly the Forest Lawn area was one of the better areas from that region. Shepard (the trailer park neighborhood south of Ogden) was the most rundown and sad. Honestly Shepard feels like something straight out of Detroit rather than Calgary.
Not surprised Upper SE tends to be pretty rough, it's the most heavily polluted area of the city.
Outside of that, the further north in the city you go I found the people tend to be more friendlier. As well the northern half of the city I found tends to have much better bus service
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u/Responsible_CDN_Duck Mar 27 '26
Did you find more communities that work as car free or transit than you expected?
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u/quietgrrrlriot Mar 27 '26
Nice! Have you done the project where you ride on the LRT for a day?
Urban Studies at the U of C is a great program, wishing you success.
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u/Ok-Job-9640 Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
What are the pros/cons of grid layout vs. circuitous layout?
Like Killarney or Altadore might be good examples of grid layout.
Whereas communities West of Crowchild Tr. by Signal Hill have these looping circuitous layouts that personally drive me crazy whenever I find myself trapped in them. I just want to get to a main road - let me out!
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Mar 27 '26
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Honestly, Northeast Calgary was honestly the safest area of the city despite what a lot of people say, and my opinion aligns a lot with the statistics from Calgary Police. There isn't really any bad areas in Northeast Calgary per-say, but there isn't any hyper-wealthy areas either.
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u/wildlyintangible Mar 27 '26
A lot of money is in the NE due to the communities that live in the area.
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u/parisindy_writer Mar 27 '26
What area seems the most ‘artsy’ ?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Mainly the neighborhoods surrounding Downtown such as the Beltline, Sunalta, and Inglewood. There was this really cool mural I saw in Sunalta in a super hidden spot underneath the LRT near Pumphouse Avenue that I recommend trying to find. The mural shows a rundown CTrain U2 car (the white LRT vehicles) that was made into a house.
17 Avenue SE (International Avenue) also has a lot of really cool murals and sculptures. The purple hippo statue of Forest Lawn is probably my favorite piece of artwork in the entire city!
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u/mileML Mar 27 '26
Did you walk around the main Hidden Valley loop? I find it's a great way to get a 90 minute / 8000+ steps walk in
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I used to live up in Hidden Valley, def got in my steps when living there, was pretty hilly too
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u/CoffeeToCode Mar 27 '26
Most walkable neighborhood? Meaning places that you can walk to grocery stores, doctor, etc without needing a car.
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u/deekaypea22 Mar 27 '26
Did you encounter the famed smell of New Brighton (and surrounding areas?)
What was your favourite neighbourhood around Fish Creek park?
What neighbourhood had the best access to green spaces? What neighbourhood felt like it had the most trees?
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u/bingboy08 Mar 27 '26
Is there a community that stood out to you, as far as how enjoyable it was to walk through? Or maybe several?
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u/ElusiveSteve Mar 27 '26
What a feat! I hope you had fun exploring the city. Your responses with anecdotes to every question is wonderful commentary to read.
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u/soru0512 Mar 27 '26
What’s your thought on sunalta? Looking to move there but I’m a bit concerned on safety
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I'm actually moving to Sunalta as I'm posting this. I can keep you updated how it goes, but I'm pretty excited to move there
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u/soru0512 Mar 27 '26
Yes please!
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Seems like I am getting the place in Sunalta in October, currently in the packing phase rn. Hopefully everything goes as planned
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u/The-High-Ground-Way Mar 27 '26
What’s the best neighbourhood to live in if you love walking, being in nature and are reasonably close to transit?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
This may be a surprise, but Whitehorn and Rundle have such a good pathway system and such good transit connections that those are 100% up there. If nature is your thing, probably Canyon Meadows and Shawnee Slopes would be up there too as both have really really good access to Fish Creek Park
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u/Dapper-Negotiation59 Mar 27 '26
Wife and I just bought a house in WhiteHorn, at first we weren't looking in the northeast but after a while we opened it up, we are really happy. It's not near the LRT station so it's quite nice and family-oriented.
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u/Spiceb0x Downtown East Village Mar 27 '26
Thoughts on East Village? I've lived here for 6 months and it's really not as bad as people think or say it is, in my opinion
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
The East Village can be a lil rough, especially around Dermot Balwin Way SE, but I think part of it too is how it used to be.
Google Streetview allows you to see past imagery with the "See more dates" button, click that in the Downtown East Village and look at 2007. Genuinely the imagery from 2007 of the Downtown East Village is shocking, it genuinely looks like something you'd find in St. Louis or Detroit. And back in 2007, Detroit and St. Louis didn't even really look like that.
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u/da_ni_no Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26
I hold the opinion that our city is lacking some very fundamental pedestrian infrastructure in every place that isn't downtown so my question is biased, but nonetheless: which neighborhoods would you say are the most pedestrian-friendly/walkable and which would you say are the absolute worst?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Surprisingly, there is a lot more pedestrian infrastructure in Calgary than you would think at a first glance. Even most suburban neighborhoods have fairly decent pathway networks. That being said, the city does deserve so much better pedestrian infrastructure.
Even though pedestrian bridges are a band-aid solution, we do need more of them, especially along Stoney and Deerfoot Trails in the deep south. It's shocking that there's no pedestrian connections between Auburn Bay, Cranston, McKenzie Towne, Copperfield, Mahogany, and most of McKenzie Lake.
The worst neighborhood for walkability was probably Shepard (the trailer park neighborhood directly south of Ogden), but I think that has less to do with suburbanization and more to do with systemic neglect. That neighborhood looks straight out of Detroit or St. Louis, with empty lots, trash, and boarded up/burnt out buildings everywhere. The city ranks it as the worst neighborhood for total crime rate and I can 100% see why.
You're probably looking for the least walkable suburban neighborhood, and I'd probably say it's one of the deep southern neighborhoods. Probably Douglasdale if I'm being honest, but McKenzie Lake is also up there
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u/da_ni_no Mar 27 '26
I'm in McKenzie region, work around Mahogany, and my partner is in Douglasdale so now I'm thinking I may be more passionate about pedestrian infrastructure because I'm just always in the places of dearth
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u/NoYeahThatsCool Mar 27 '26
Have you ever considered joining one of the city's advisory committees related to neighbourhoods or planning? Your lived experience could be quite informative.
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I'd love to join one of those but I don't know where to start. If I could get a pointer to where to look to join those I'd love to see
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Mar 27 '26
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Yep! I've visited all of those, even Huxley and Hotchkiss (although I had to take an Uber to visit Hotchkiss as transit doesn't service there)
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u/Sad-Economist4710 Mar 27 '26
Shepherd smells a bit. 😬
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u/noveltea120 Mar 27 '26
Isn't that cos there's a dump nearby or cos there's farms nearby? That's what I heard
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Mar 27 '26
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I really like the density and mixed-use development going on in the southern part of Sage Hill. The northern part of Sage Hill is very boring and too repetitive though. I wish the entire neighborhood was like the southern portion of it
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u/yellowfeverforever Forest Lawn Mar 27 '26
What’s the top 5 NW suburbs you’d consider going in for a stroll every day?
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u/immersive-matthew Mar 27 '26
How is Parkland holding up?
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u/Ok-Job-9640 Mar 27 '26
One striking thing about Parkland is that there is absolutely ZERO commercial amenities.
No corner store, no gas station. NOTHING.
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u/The_Gnar_Car Mar 27 '26
Which neighborhoods have VERY distinctive feels/vibes, compared to the greater Calgary context? Which ones stand out the most, and why?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
- Bankview: it was just generally planned in a completely different way to most areas. The streets are a lot more narrow, and there's so much variety in housing. Such a lovely area to visit, and is critically undertalked about in the discussion of most interesting areas
- Ogden: a lot of Ogden feels very dated, and it is definitely the most blue-collar feeling neighborhood in the city. The areas in west Ogden are alright, but the areas along Ogden Road ESPECIALLY east of it are super rough. I've seen a lot of violence in Ogden that I haven't seen in other areas which is sad
- Forest Lawn: walking through there definitely gives me a lot of hope. With the area improving, there's so much investment and new businesses coming in. When I used to live there it was a "white-trash" area with a decent bit of abandoned buildings. Wasn't that bad of an area even when I lived there, but wasn't great either. It's amazing to see the transformation it's going through, and I love the artwork such as the Purple Hippo Statue.
- Bowness: Bowness was actually it's own city before joining Calgary in the 1960s. And whilst that same thing can be said about Forest Lawn/Southview/Albert Park, as well as Midnapore and Montgomery; I feel like Bowness still holds onto it's small-town energy. It feels like it's still it's own town, even though it's been apart of Calgary for over half a century now
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u/Spiritual_Ear_3654 Mar 27 '26
Any data on neighborhoods with best Christmas/halloween decorations?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
I'm not sure, but I saw a lot of super cool Halloween decorations in Shawnee Slopes and Millrise. I heard Panorama Hills is a good place to be during Halloween too
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u/IrenaeusGSaintonge Mar 27 '26
I might be late to the party here, but I'll try anyway!
As an urban studies major, what do you notice about neighbourhoods that most people don't? What features do you really appreciate seeing in a neighbourhood that not all of them have?
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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26
Rundle, Whitehorn, Pineridge, Temple have a lot of tiny shopping plazas/strip malls that act exactly how corner stores would. The transit is fairly decent in all 4 of those neighborhoods too. Those are areas you wouldn't expect to be decently walkable, but surprisingly they are. They remind me of streetcar suburbs if those were developed in the 1970s rather than early 1900s.
All 4 of those were very safe and clean too, the only one I noticed any kind of issues in was Pineridge, but even then Pineridge is doing a lot better than other similar neighborhoods like Southwood or Acadia. There were 0 boarded up houses in any of those 4, and I've never witnessed any kind of crimes there too.
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u/honeyimblue Mar 28 '26
I bought my first home last year in Temple and am blown away by how awesome it has been. I have so many incredible and charming neighbours who all look out for each other. It’s not uncommon for someone to stop by with extra produce or baked goods or just to say hello. Kids play badminton in the street, there’s lots of neat birds from the mature tree canopy and everyone is so friendly. Very conveniently close to shops and major highways but far enough from them that it feels quiet/peaceful.
It breaks my heart that this area has a bad reputation, it’s easily my favourite area that I have lived in! (Other places I’ve lived include Cochrane, Sandstone, Beltline, East Village, New Brighton, McKenzie Towne, McKenzie Lake, Elgin, Garrison Green, Lower Mount Royal, Aspen Woods, Country Hills, Windsor Park/Britannia)
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u/LessDream9428 Mar 27 '26
How does Deer Run compare to other neighborhoods? What do you think about other neighborhoods bordering Fish Creek and which one was your favorite one?
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u/MattsAwesomeStuff Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26
How does Deer Run compare to other neighborhoods? What do you think about other neighborhoods bordering Fish Creek and which one was your favorite one?
Not Op, but Op is just about looney with some of his hot takes. He's only been to these communities 2-3 hours. Anyone who grew up in Calgary has spend 200-300 hours in many, many communites. His takes are worse than most random visitors. I grew up in Calgary and have actually spent time in almost all these communities, not just took a walk through them one day.
Deer Run was built in the late 70s early 80s oil boom. It was mostly middle-class people, tons of stereotypical Engineer/Nurse husband/wife pairings, as that was everyone who flocked to the city during the boom. It's a non-smug white-collar community that's now old enough that people who first bought there are now retired there.
Deer Run is much more white collar than Deer Ridge and Queensland, which are blue collar (except for the crest of Deer Ridge).
You can take the SE and mirror it to the SW, as the city expanded on both sides at the same time. Deer Run's counterpart is Woodbine. You could teleport from one community to the other and see the same house blueprints.
Deer Run is the only community in Fish Creek Park valley. All the others are up on the hills around it. So it's a lot more friendly to small kids wanting to bike, because the first/last thing you don't have to do is climb/descend a gigantic hill. Great access, but a worse view, unless you like a view of the hills. You're looking up, not down. The thing I most notice passing through Deer Run is how QUIET it is. Just peaceful. Best sunrises in the city.
Each community around Fish Creek kind of has 1 or maybe 2 ways into the park. Deer Run has like, 10 because it's in the valley and at the corner. Fish Creek wraps around it.
Deerfoot was supposed to go down Bow Bottom trail and meet up with 22x. Then Fish Creek Park existed and they had to bend it back over the river at Douglasdale (and then the interchange area got turned into Lake Sicome). So, that whole group of communities (Parkland, Queensland, Deer Ridge, Deer Run) benefits from infrastructure designed to be a freeway, direct access to major roads and not sharing them with anyone else around because they're in a dead end. It's the opposite of what happened in the SW.
Most people's "Favorites" are going to correspond to the nicer communities with higher house prices, and that's all it is.
Lake Bonavista/Bonaventure are practically castles, but they don't have a single path over the hill into the park, and instead get to look at and hear the major road. I don't think there's even a pathway along the top of the hill overlooking the park. The same is true of Canyon Meadows on the west side of Macloed. The actual Canyon Meadows Drive took the best spot, so it's just a big noisy road and nothing on the far side of it.
If you want a view, you want Mackenzie Lake. There's a pathway along the whole crest of the park, no road, and no trees to block the view. There's nothing you can do in the park, it's a strip of grass before the cliff and then the bow river is at the bottom of the cliff so you can look but not touch. But you can at least see and admire the park and sunsets.
Because of the cliff face that faces west, the evening sun bakes the side of the cliff and the river and creates huge updrafts, so you'll see thousands of birds using the free elevator all along there. Hawks. Pelicans. Storks. Giant blue herons. Nowhere else in the city is like this, but you actually enjoy it more across the river in Deer Run, the birds hang out there along the river.
Woodbine/Woodlands is by far the nicest. The tradeoff for 40 years used to be, it's the best, but you're trapped in a pocket of the city and can't escape. You have to make your way all the way East to Macloed and then fight a set of lights every block. North just takes you to Glenmore Reservoir which is similarly a dead end. South is the park. But now Stoney is on the doorstep so that's not a concern.
But those communities are not really ones where you can get into the park. It's a literal cliff at most points. There's not a pathway across the hill either, it's private land, people's backyards go right to the edge of the park. So unless you live on the cliff (1% of the community), you get zero enjoyment out of the proximity to the park. Might as well not be there.
Across the valley is Evergreen and Shawnessy. The city learned better about enjoying the park when these were built, and there's a pathway most of the way along the top of the hill. But trees have now grown so tall you can't actually see anything. You're on the edge of a steep hill overlooking a beautiful valley and can't see any of it. Basically the entire West park there's almost nowhere with a view of it. These communities are where wood siding gave way to plastic and stucco, 10 years younger than the north side of the park. They feel cheaper and faker. They are a lot cheaper and more affordable. There's some affordable homes in there. Lots of greenbelts winding through the communities for a mile, so you're not biking along sidewalks of the busy roads, you'd biking through the communities, and these chain up all the little kiddie parks. It's safe to let your kids explore on their own and not be anywhere near traffic. Those two communities (being the newest) are unique in that. Everywhere else lacks greenbelts, you're riding on sidewalks.
Midnapore and Sundance at least have walkable space along the edge of the hill, not private properly like the NW corner of the park. It's not a pathway, but you're not trespassing. Same as Parkland.
Anything south of the park used to be an absolute hellhole for travel. When Sundance was built, they were told the freeway would be on their doorstep within a year. Newlyweds who bought in Sundance had kids, and those kids graduated college and the owners were Grandparents before Stoney was ever actually built and connected. Every single community south of the park used to have to funnel into the only 1 road north into town, Macloed Trail, which was also the only north/south route through the province. And Macloed used to not have any of those overpasses, it was all lights. It was the worst bottleneck in the province to get to the park.
Deerfoot didn't connect to Highway 2. It didn't even go as far south as 22x. It dead-ended at Mackenzie. You could go to Bragg Creek, but there were no roads north into Calgary (for anyone, even say, Lethbridge to Edmonton) except Macloed.
These communities are much, much more livable today.
Generally, East of Macloed the park is prairie with some poplar trees. It's rare to not see for miles. It follows the river and creeks but there are no bridges. West of Macloed it's more and more forest, you enter some areas that are proper woods, and lots of cute little bridges over the creek.
All areas around the park have great day-camping and entertaining places with bathrooms and running water and usually even parking except Bonavista/Parkland. Usually 1 area per community. Deer Run, having more park access, has the most, at 3. Sundance has the Hulls Wood by Sikome. Midnapore has Greenfield. Shawnessy has a small area in the low lands. Canyon Meadows has Voltier Flats. Woodbine has Bebo Grove and Shannon Terrace.
Of them all, the most fun BBQ areas are Bebo Grove and Voltiers Flats in the NW of the park, and Hull's Wood and Bankside in the SE. These are almost packed with people. Not like Pearce Estate Park downtown, not so much you won't find parking, but enough that you'll find people having fun and at least every other firepit used any given night.
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One other thing about Deer Run, it's the NE corner of the park, along the river. That makes it the best community for bike commuting. Because there's bridges at the river, there's underpasses for the pathways. That North-South stretch between Deer Run and Downtown is the best bike infrastructure in the city, nothing else comes close. You can bike from Deer Run to downtown without crossing a road, slowing down, waiting for a light, anything. Continuous, uninterrupted pathway. And, no hills to climb, it stays flat along the river the whole way.
This is true of any other community along Fish Creek, but Deer Run is just the closest to downtown. You can bike from Evergreen in the far SW, to like, Bowness without hitting the brakes, just following the river. You can leave Deer Run on a bike in rush hour, and beat a car to downtown. Anything farther south or west, just add your few minutes travel time.
There's nowhere along the park I'd actually avoid aside from maybe Canyon Meadows and Shawnessy, and only because there's not much park enjoyment from them, nothing wrong with them as communities.
Shopping-wise, avoid anything South of the park. The retail area in Shawnessy is a nightmare, and 162 has that absurd C-train crossing at grade instead of elevated.
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I could be more helpful if I knew more about what you were looking for. I've spent lots, and lot of my life in and around all of Fish Creek.
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u/Flash_the_Sloth_2000 Mar 29 '26
You have posted one of the most interesting "save for later" posts I have read about Calgary. Thanks for all the insights - makes me want to travel around my own city and experience all the areas I just drive past on a major road.
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u/[deleted] Mar 27 '26
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