Archive for February 2012

Housing policymakers have long lamented the trend of home-buyers who "drive to qualify." If they can't find anything affordable in the city, house hunters wander farther and father out in search of a mortgage or a rent payment that matches their pocketbook. But of course, there's a serious flaw in this thinking: The farther you go in search of cheaper housing, the more expensive your transportation costs become.

Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology calls this "the hidden cost of housing location," and CNT has for several years been trying to illustrate the tradeoff for homeowners and government officials who may not realize gallons of gas add up almost as fast as mortgage payments do. The Chicago-based organization maintains a massive, geo-coded database of location-specific information on average housing costs, driving rates, transportation costs, and transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. The online, interactive index is both highly useful in allowing comparisons of typical household costs in different locations and highly revealing as it illuminates the benefits of close-in, walkable neighborhoods in bringing those costs down.

City lawyers are looking at options to deal with new urban oil and gas wells, after northwest residents railed against plans to drill near homes.

Royal Oak residents expressed safety concerns over the exploration of wells a few hundred meters from jails, a strip mall, water reservoirs and homes, a project the proponents ultimately agreed to shelve, for now.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has launched a review of Kaiser Exploration’s project in the area upon the request of the Rocky Ridge Royal Oak Community Association.

This week, we bring you the second part of our Ward 7 profile. Read Ward 7 Part 1 to get up to speed.

What’s Happening in Ward 7?

Peace Bridge Construction: Like the Airport Tunnel, the Peace Bridge is one of the most politically polarizing construction projects in Calgary’s recent history. A 130-meter, helical-design pedestrian bridge crossing the Bow River, the Peace Bridge is unusual in both design and construction, and promises to become a Calgary icon. The project was controversial from its inception due to its proximity to existing pedestrian bridges and a lack of transparency in the project bidding process. The Peace Bridge is now 15 months overdue and well above the initial budget, but is on its way to meeting the scheduled March 24 opening.

East Village Revival: For years, Downtown’s East Village has been undergoing a major revitalization as it is redeveloped by the City-owned Calgary Municipal Land Corporation. When finished, the area will see many new residential and commercial developments. Much of the work to date has been at the surface level, such as the River Walk and the recently opened 4 St. SE underpass. Now, as surface development wraps up, the CMLC will shift their focus to building upwards, with two new condo developments beginning this summer. The East Village is expected to welcome its first residents in early 2014.

The Bow to Bluff Initiative: The public corridor running along the Sunnyside LRT (from the Bow to McHugh Bluff) has been in need of revitalization for years. In order to make the area more pedestrian friendly, an independent group of citizens started the Bow to Bluff Initiative, designed to “re-imagine the Bow to Bluff corridor as a collection of connected great public spaces”. Citizens, city planners, developers and businesses are encouraged to participate. The initiative seems to be going well, with the first public presentation of an Urban Design Guide occurring on Thursday March 22 from 7-9pm at the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association.

Green Bin Program: Following on the heels of the city’s blue- and black-bin curbside recycling programs, the green bin program will collect compostable food and yard waste. Four Calgary communities, including Ward 7’s Brentwood, will begin a year-long pilot program in March to determine feasibility and work out any bugs before green bins go city-wide.

Pop-up Patios: Popular with restaurants and cafes throughout North America, these seasonal “temporary patios” replace a few on-street parking spaces to allow more room for outdoor dining. Calgary’s permit system isn’t particularly patio friendly, so a pilot program for Pop-up Patios is underway, with the first one being set up soon in Ward 7’s Sunnyside, at Vendome Cafe.

To find out more about Calgary’s Ward 7, check out VoteCalgary’s Ward 7 Profile Page. Feel free to make a request for the next Ward Profile, or continue the discussion in the comments. Thanks for reading!

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Calgary city council has put the brakes on any further spending on a plan for Mission Road southwest.

The inner-city road is now lined with houses dating back to the 1950s.

But the city has spent more than $400,000 in recent years on public meetings and planning documents for what the street should look like.

The plan included drawings and rezoning of the area to make it a revitalized “high street” community that focuses on shops and offices with apartments and condos above.

The federal government has updated the R-2000 standard for energy efficiencies in new homes, aiming to lower Canadians’ energy costs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Our Government is committed to new standards that promote energy efficiency, save Canadians money, create jobs and strengthen the economy,” said Minister of State Gordon O’Connor at the announcement last week.

“Today’s announcement is the result of our successful collaboration with industry to continually improve residential building standards.”

The best way to support a crackdown on construction site crime is for the housing industry to report all incidents to the police, says an officer.

“If we don’t know that it’s going on, then there is obviously nothing that we can do,” says Const. Glenn Rowley of the Calgary Police Service’s Crime Prevention team.

He recently spoke about the problem to members of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association-Calgary Region.

Theft, graffiti and vandalism are among crimes seen on housing construction sites, he says.

This week’s ward profile brings us to Calgary’s Ward 7 and Alderman Druh Farrell.

Ward 7 stretches all the way from Downtown Calgary to the Northwest community of Dalhousie. With such a far reach, the population, issues and statistics of Ward 7 are a mix of inner city and suburb life – and everything in between. The inner city areas of Ward 7 are undergoing major redevelopments, while the outer areas are settling down as established communities.

The release of the Federal Census numbers showed that recent growth across Canada has largely occurred in the suburbs and bedroom communities. There is a renewed interest in the media on why that might be, especially considering the ongoing policy push for less outward growth and urban renewal.

The Calgary Herald is currently asking readers to share their reasons for living in Calgary’s suburbs. What is clear from the comments even at this early stage is that just as Calgarians are a diverse group of people, so too are the reasons that have led them to settle in one area over another. Perhaps as this conversation continues, it will help debunk a few of the myths regarding suburban life. The kind of stuff that those living in these communities already know; not everyone works and commutes to downtown, open front attached garage doors actually function like front porches inviting casual conversations with the neighbours and the ethnic diversity of those neighbours can put many ‘urban’ areas to shame.

Calgary-based Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust announced Thursday what it called ‘solid financial results” for its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011.

Funds From Operations for the fourth quarter, ending December 31, 2011, totalled $34.2 million, or 65 cents per unit on a diluted basis, compared with FFO of $32.4 million or 62 cents per unit for the same period last year, an increase of 5.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.

FFO for the 12-month period totalled $131.8 million or $2.52 per unit on a diluted basis, compared with FFO of $129.7 million or $2.47 per unit for the same period last year, an increase of 1.6 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively.

The short and long-term expectations for Calgary’s homebuilding industry are on a positive trend, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

In releasing its monthly housing starts data on Friday, the board said the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of starts was 13,152 in January for the Calgary census metropolitan area which was up from 8,771 a year ago.