Downtown Calgary: Where are we at in 2014?

[RyLucky]

Originally Posted by onanewday

I am trying to understand the characterization of urban decay in Calgary in the 70's and 80's. The 70's through the 80's saw a massive boom in the inner city. The parking lots you saw were as a result of the boom and not necessarily urban decay in the classic sense. Things went quiet after the boom of the 70's and 80's but not really for long. And honestly, people have been building infills in the inner city since at least the late 70's. So I not sure that I agree with this characterization.

I appreciate that we had specific areas had issues, but urban decay might go a little far. And maybe this compared to other cities and the urban decay they have experienced.

There was a huge office boom in the 70's-80's, but the thousands of residents and small businesses that exists in Downtown Calgary pre-1950 moved away, their buildings torn down, and paved over. I'm not trying to fear monger or anything, just speaking realistically about the communities I grew up in and love. Fortunately, Calgary never had the kind of drugs and violence that existed in other cities, but the loss of interest in inner-city culture is urban decay none the less. When a parking lot makes more revenue that a residential block, your city is deeply sick.

Today you see more pedestrian traffic, food culture, and live music that you probably have in 65 years (even per capita). Sure, there were many areas (Sunalta, Kensington, Mission, etc) that remained livable the whole century, but other areas (East Village, Victoria Park, even Eau Claire and Bridgeland) have become shadows of their former selves and only now have regained what was lost in the decay.