Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary
"Over the last few months, we've learned so much about Calgary neighbourhoods—what works and what could work better—as a result of the Project Calgary series.
My hope is that, a generation from now, Calgary will be a city of sustainable, walkable, livable, lovable, complete communities. When we speak with Calgarians about the kind of neighbourhoods that they want to live in, the answers are very similar. It doesn't matter whether they live in the inner-city or the suburbs or if they are young or old—people want to live in neighbourhoods where they can walk to the store, where kids can walk to school, where young families and seniors can both be comfortable, where that second or third car is really a choice for families and not an absolute necessity.
Neighbourhoods will have great recreational facilities nearby where people can play soccer or hockey without being up at the crack of dawn or driving all over the city. Arts and cultural activities will flourish, and people will know their neighbours, meeting in libraries and community centres.
Sound utopian? Maybe. But we have to try. Building neighbourhoods like this is the best way for our city to survive—for us to be socially, financially, and ecologically sustainable.
Focusing on the three Ds of great cities—density, diversity, and a sense of discovery—as we build new neighbourhoods and revitalize old ones gives us the roadmap we need to get to that better Calgary we're all dreaming of."
Bev Sandalack, Professor and Urban Lab Research Director, Faculty of Environmental Design, University of Calgary
“My hope for Calgary is that in 30 years, all neighbourhood will have a healthy urban forest, including tree-lined streets. William Pearce, Calgary’s first Parks Superintendent, envisioned a city of trees, and he devoted a lot of time and effort to develop the early boulevard plantings and parks that make the inner city neighbourhoods great places to walk. William Reader, another early Parks Superintendent, was also responsible for planting hundreds of trees, despite some difficult economic times during the early 1900s, a lack of water, harsh winters, and dessicating Chinook winds. Their visionary effort hasn’t been consistently carried forward since then, and unless we focus time, energy and money on a strong planting and replanting strategy, we may revert back to a prairie landscape. Calgary is much more livable with trees, and my hope is that the urban forest jumps ahead on the budget priorities.”
Click here for the full article in the Calgary Herald.