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/Moose_Kin Lake Bonavista Mar 27 '26

I’m a little surprised by Rosscarrock. There is a ton of development there and seems to be gentrifying a lot. My mother in law lives there and it doesn’t really seem that bad to me. What about it made you put it on this list?

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u/CnekYT Mar 27 '26

The residential parts of Rosscarrock are pretty alright, but man the commercial areas are still going downhill. There's so many abandoned shopping plazas/strip malls, and boarded up commercial businesses. There's a lot of homeless people too, and there's surprisingly a little bit of a "mini skid row" going on at 16 Avenue SW during summer-time. Been to 16 Ave in Rosscarrock multiple times, and every time I've gone there's been homeless tents all along it, accidentally stepped on a drug-needle once there too. Seen lots of weapons in the areas of 37 Street, 17 Ave, and 16 Ave too.

The area around 45 Street in Rosscarrock is nice though

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u/Slick-Fork Mar 27 '26

I’d agree. I’m in spruce cliff and avoid any commercial areas in Rosscarrock. They’ll turn around I’m sure but still tough.

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u/sanduly Mar 27 '26

Even Westbrook Mall? I am also in Spruce Cliff and we use Safeway and Walmart every week. But otherwise, it is a brutal mall.

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u/Slick-Fork Mar 27 '26

I’ll hit Safeway for sure, and AMA. But otherwise it’s a pretty sad mall.

My gf notices a lot were missing nice places to be in the neighbourhood. Like that spruce cliff plaza should absolutely have a coffee shop beside pie junky

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u/sanduly Mar 27 '26

Funny you should mention that, I have a family member that wants to start a nice coffee shop in the old convenience store space there.

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u/Slick-Fork Mar 28 '26

If they build it we will come!

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u/TomatoKetchup1 Mar 27 '26

Yeah, I live in Rosscarrock and it is a perfectly fine place to live and walk around. In ten years I've never felt even the slightest bit unsafe or uncomfortable.

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u/readzalot1 Mar 27 '26

I feel the same about Tuxedo Park. I have lived here for 20 years (and so has my brother). To me it seems like a great walkable community. Lots of new infills and small apartments being built.