Calgary - A Walk Through the SW & Future West LRT Route

[srperrycgy]

Hey Folks,
This is the first time I've done a photo thread on SSP. Most of my photography usually deals with Calgary's LRT system for my website. But, now that the West LRT project will be approved this week, I thought I would go for a walk through my neighbourhood of Killarney and the some of the others that the West LRT line will run through. Today's weather was ok; about 5 C, but there was a steady wind that was biting at times. Here's the route:



1: My little apartment building. Like most older buildings in my 'hood, its from the 60s.



2: Public housing owned by the Calgary Housing Company.



3: This building has been under renovations for over a decade. Hell knows what it will end up being.



4: Never been crazy about these townhomes; crappy colour.



5: Park space. Was a school site in the past.



6: Speed Hump. Thanks for former Alderman King for these buggers.



7: Not usually a fan of brick, but these look decent.



8: Killarney Aquatic & Rec Centre. Doubled in size a few years ago.



9: Not a fan of tags or graffiti, but this one is kinda cool.



10: Salvation Army home for children.



11: Burger place, Second Cup and Pizza 73 on 17th Ave.



12: One of two 7-11s in the 'hood. I go to the other one.



13: These were posted on most of the utility poles on 17th. Nova Scotia wants their people back. Hey, a Donair sounds good....



14: Cleared lot on 17th near 26th St.



15: Condo tower built in the 1980s.



16: Phoenix Comics, Melodiya and Patti Falconer Modelling.



17: New Condos for sale



18: 17th Ave @ 24th Street SW. HMCS Tecumseh complex in background.



19: Looking North on 24th Street. Crowchild Trail NW and Nose Hill Park in background.



20: Newly cleared lot for a new infill.



21: Bow Trail looking towards downtown. Picture a Skytrain-esque LRT guideway running over Crowchild.



22: Former ramp from Bow Tr to 24th St. and Pedestrian Bridge.



23: Bridge approach way to narrow.



24: Another shot of Bow Trail and Downtown.



25: Westbound Bow Trail. Future LRT alignment at right (not 100% confirmed yet).



26: Seniors Housing. Likely to be purchased by the City.



27: CT Route 73 (Circle Route) stopping at 26th Street. Next #73 in 45 minutes. It's Sunday folks.



28: Golf Course



29: OK Calgarians, tell me what's wrong with this sign?



30: Bow Trail Westbound @ 26th Street



31: Approx. location of 26th Street SW LRT Station



32: Vacant Lot at 12th Ave @ 26A Street, likely owned by the City for LRT.



33: Condos U/C on the other side of the Golf Course.



34: First shot of Brava & Encore Condos.



35: 33rd Street SW South of Bow Trail. Major connector road between Bow Trail & 17th Ave SW.



36: Former Melville Scott Jr. High/Plains Indian Cultural Survival School site. Demolished in September.



37: Ernest Manning High School playing fields.



38: Former Radio Station building at 33rd St & 17th Ave SW.



39: Spiros Pizza.



40: Another new condo site. Not demolished yet, but is vacant.



41: The new Alderman for Ward 6. However, the sign is in Ward 8.



42: Car Wash. Nice if that site was redeveloped.



43: Ernest Manning High School. Likely Westbrook Station site. School is to be relocated to the west end of the LRT line @ 69th Street.



44: Colonnade Building & McD's



45: 17th Ave @ 37th Street SW



46: Scotiabank. Site likely needed for LRT.



47: Shoppers/Money Mart. Might be enough of a setback there so that it wouldn't have to be removed.



48: Calgary Police Service District 2 Office. Setback was put in when the building was built in the 1980s.



49: Strip Commercial. Would be required for LRT.



50: 17th Ave. near 45th Street looking west towards Sarcee Trail.



51: Alberta Motor Association (AMA) offices.



52: AMA building has the required setback for the 45th Street Station which would be located here.



53: Another setback along 17th Ave SW.



54: This Church will have to relocate.



55: And so will this one right beside it.



56: Looking East on 17th Avenue SW.



57: There is one of these places here too.



58: Hmmm....I wonder what this used to be?



59: Original Westbrook Station site in the 1980s plans.



60: Back side of Wally's.



61: BRT Route 301 stop.



62: Hideous colour that unfortunately, stands out.



63: Brava (left) and Encore (right)



64: And again....



65: North side of Ernest Manning.



66: Rogers Wireless (GSM) tower.



67: Base Stations beside the tower. I used to build Nortel's CDMA version of these.



68: Wal-Mart, Westbrook Mall and buddy fixing his Civic.



69: Last shot of the condo towers.



70: 33rd Street SW.



71: Recently cleared infill site.



72: Another $600K duplex.



73: And a couple more...



74: Under Construction and flapping in the wind!



75: Canada Post working on a Sunday? huh?



76: Kinda like the stonework on this one.



77: More Humping.



78: Not many of these left in the city.



79: Another decent one across from home.



80: Ok, home now and time for a late lunch from My Donair at Westbrook.



Thanks for watching!!

[flar]

Thanks, I enjoyed this tour. Always curious about Calgary.

[CTrainDude]

I guess I'm the first to take a stab at your question....and I'm pretty sure that Shaganappi Point isn't in the NW.

[arbeiter]

nice thread! that area looks so underdeveloped for LRT, I hope it gets denser.

[srperrycgy]

Originally Posted by CTrainDude

I guess I'm the first to take a stab at your question....and I'm pretty sure that Shaganappi Point isn't in the NW.

Yep....nice typo by the City. Easy to get confused though. Shag. Trail is in the NW, but the Golf Course and neighbourhood are in the SW.

[soleri]

Funny how new stuff looks the same almost anywhere.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

nice thread! that area looks so underdeveloped for LRT, I hope it gets denser.

I live in that area and I totally agree it's not suitable for LRT. The only density in the area are the condo towers near Westbrook Mall.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

I live in that area and I totally agree it's not suitable for LRT. The only density in the area are the condo towers near Westbrook Mall.

It's no less suitable for LRT than the south end of the Macleod Trail corridor was for LRT when it was built way back in 1981. Especially east of 37th, that part of SW Calgary is pretty dense.

[ScottFromCalgary]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

I live in that area and I totally agree it's not suitable for LRT. The only density in the area are the condo towers near Westbrook Mall.

Perhaps it makes sense to put in the infrastructure to support the density before you actually increase the density!? Seems logical to me.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

I live in that area and I totally agree it's not suitable for LRT. The only density in the area are the condo towers near Westbrook Mall.

By that logic no where in Calgary is suitable for LRT.

You have to remember, that the LRT is more like the Long Island Rail Road or Metro North Rail Road in New York. It is not the subway. Most LRT traffic comes off of collector buses (60-70% is the aim if my memory serves me and the recollection isn't from an obsolete report).

Good pictures, in ten years the area (at least from 33rd west) will hopefully be radically transformed. Wal-Mart's lease has to run out sometimes, and its corportate culture doesn't like being attachted to a mall. If the power centre on the reserve ever gets going, the Westbrook Wal-Mart's days will be numbered.

The Colonnade has one of the best restaurants in the city, the Bow Bul Go Gi House mmmm Korean!

[The Geographer]

Some of those older neighbourhoods are surprisingly dense. In fact, most of the communities that age don't even have greater than 50% single family homes. Any lack of actual population density (to be contrasted with dwelling density) has more to do with empty nests.

[entheosfog]

Originally Posted by ScottFromCalgary

Perhaps it makes sense to put in the infrastructure to support the density before you actually increase the density!? Seems logical to me.

Isn't that what they did in the old days with street car lines? Areas were built up around and along the lines?

It will be interesting to see the final route the alignment will take.

[unibrain]

wow, this is a GREAT thread. pretty good walkabout for those of us that dont frequent that part of the City much.

Lots of crazy things happening up there.. if anything, I hope the site with the Liquidation World gets redeveloped. As much as I like the Korean restaurant in that little blue building, I hope it gets redeveloped as well.. the buildings along this stretch of road seem tired and run down.. the Thai Club Restaurant building looks out of place as well.. The vacant strip mall across from Spiros is slated to be a 62 unit condo building with retail at grade. I believe the owner of Spiros is developing that one.

You are right about the Shoppers Drug Mart.. it's got underground parking... although the parking lot will be gone, it can still accomodate customer vehicles. The Scotiabank, both churches, the medical clinic and the automotive business will also be gone. The stripmall with the M&M meat shop in it will likely stay, from my understanding, it will only lose a portion of the parking lot. I believe the portion with the drycleaners in it is actually a portable like the ones they put on schools. So if need be, it can be removed.

The City owns a few houses along bow trail.. you'll notice one is slated for demolition (it's been boarded up) directly across the street from the golf course on 26th.

The City's My Property website will give you a good idea of the setback along 17th Avenue.

It's likley the station at westside wont actually be at Westside... rather across 69th, near Rundle College. The park and ride at Westside is just too small.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Looks good! And no doubt it'll get better when the LRT line is built.

[Kilgore Trout]

There is where I grew up. I lived just west of Sarcee Trail, went to elementary school at Westgate and have probably passed by everything in these photos thousands of time in my life. It's so weird to see this in a photothread.