Downtown Calgary is a dense urban district in central Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. It contains the second largest concentration of head offices in Canada, despite only being the country's fourth largest city in terms of population. The downtown is divided into several residential, commercial, corporate, and mixed-use neighbourhoods, including the Financial District (CBD), Eau Claire, Chinatown, East Village,

Beltline The Atlanta BeltLine (also Beltline or Belt Line) is a open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit system on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta BeltLine is designed to reconnect nei ...

, and the West End. Downtown Calgary is bordered by 14th Street W. on the west, the

Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...

and Prince's Island Park on the north, the

Elbow River The Elbow River is a river in southern Alberta, Canada. It flows from the Canadian Rockies to the city of Calgary, where it merges into the Bow River. Course The Elbow River originates at Elbow Lake in the Front Range of the Canadian Rocky ...

on the east and the

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...

mainline tracks on the south. The neighbourhoods of the

and

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

to the immediate south are often considered part of downtown, due to the high concentrations of businesses, high population densities, and occurrence of retail and nightlife opportunities, but strictly speaking they are not technically part of downtown. The population of Calgary's downtown has grown substantially in recent years, growing by several thousand between 2011 and 2016. With the population of the five combined downtown neighbourhoods surpassing 18,000 , Downtown Calgary now has a significantly larger population than that of other Canadian cities of similar size, such as Ottawa and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. While downtown Calgary continues to grow, the Beltline neighbourhood to the immediate south, with a population of 21,958 , is taking up the majority of residential development in inner city Calgary.

Calgary Transit Calgary Transit is the public transit agency which is owned and operated by the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 2019, an estimated 106.5 million passengers boarded approximately 1,155 Calgary Transit vehicles. It operates light metro (LRT), u ...

CTrain CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail rapid transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Most of the network functions as a light metro, though in the free-fare zone that runs through the downtown core the Red and Blue lines oper ...

light rail system runs down 7th Avenue S. through the middle of downtown in an east–west direction, and the ride is free on this section. The future Green Line will run underground through downtown under 2nd Street, in a north–south direction.

Neighbourhoods

Commercial core

Calgary's dense business area comprises the bulk of the downtown community. It is a core of skyscrapers. , eight of the ten tallest buildings in western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and a few of the tallest in the country, are in Calgary. It is arguably the densest downtown area of any city of its size in North America. Many of the buildings are connected via an long network of elevated walkways and bridges. The system, known as the " +15" is the largest of its kind in the world. The area surrounding the Stephen Avenue Walk is Downtown Calgary's primary retail area. Stephen Avenue (8th Avenue SW) is a pedestrian mall lined with historic buildings containing stores, restaurants, cinemas, and drinking establishments. Immediately adjacent to the outdoor portion of Stephen Avenue is an indoor complex of two shopping malls. The malls,

The Core Shopping Centre The Core (stylized The CORE), which consists of TD Square, the Holt Renfrew building, and the former Calgary Eaton Centre, is the dominant shopping complex located in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It spans three city blocks and c ...

(formerly TD Square/Calgary Eaton Centre) and the Scotia Centre are bordered at either end by the historic

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

store and Holt Renfrew's upscale department store. The street is also home to a number of galleries, restaurants, pubs, off-beat cinemas, and nightclubs. Other attractions in the commercial core include the Devonian Gardens in The Core, the

Calgary Tower The Calgary Tower is a free standing observation tower in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an ...

, the Art Gallery of Calgary, The

Glenbow Museum The Glenbow Museum is an art and history regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was established as a private non-profi ...

, Olympic Plaza,

Arts Commons Arts Commons (Formerly EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts) is a multi-venue arts centre in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada, located in the Olympic Plaza Cultural District. Occupying a full city block, Arts Commons is a multi-level complex m ...

, and the Telus Convention Centre. The commercial core is also divided into a number of districts. They include the Entertainment District/Stephen Avenue, The Olympic Plaza and Cultural District, and the Government District.

Government district

The government district is an informal subdivision of the downtown core, and is centered along

Macleod Trail Macleod Trail is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. It is a six- to eight-lane principal arterial road extending from downtown Calgary to the south of the city, where it merges into Highway 2. South of Anderson Road, Macleod Trail is an express ...

, between the commercial core, Chinatown and

Downtown East Village Downtown East Village more commonly known as simply East Village, is a mixed-use neighbourhood within the eastern portions of downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is contained within the city's Rivers District. Containing the earliest-settled l ...

. It contains the City Hall, the

Calgary Public Library The Calgary Public Library (CPL) is a distributed library system featuring 21 branch locations including the Central Library. It is the second most used system in Canada (after the Toronto Public Library) and the sixth most used library system in ...

, the

Calgary Police Calgary Police Service (CPS) is the municipal police service of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Alberta and third largest municipal force in Canada behind the Toronto Police Service and the Mo ...

headquarters, the ''

Harry Hays Harry William Hays, (December 25, 1909 – May 4, 1982) was a Canadian politician, 27th Mayor of Calgary, Cabinet minister in the government of Lester Pearson, and Senator from Alberta. Personal life Born in Carstairs, Alberta, Hays ha ...

building'' (federal government),

Bow Valley College Bow Valley College is a public, board-governed college operating as a comprehensive community institution under the Post-Secondary Learning Act of Alberta. The branch campuses are: Airdrie, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, High River, Okotoks, and S ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

consulate and the Calgary Board of Education among other buildings.

Cultural district

The cultural district is centered on the

Burns Building The Burns Building is a historic six-story building located in downtown Calgary, Alberta. It sits at 237-8th Ave. S.E. on the end of Stephen Avenue overlooking Olympic Plaza and City Hall. History The building was commissioned by meat baron Pat B ...

and Olympic Plaza, and contains educational and cultural venues such as

and

, including ''The Big Secret Theatre'' (home of

One Yellow Rabbit One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre (OYR) is based in the Big Secret Theatre in Calgary’s Arts Commons. With its Resident Performing Ensemble, OYR creates original theatrical works each year for its home audiences and also hosts The High Per ...

theatre company), ''Jack Singer Concert Hall'' (home of

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The orchestra gives the majority of its performances in the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Arts Commons. It is also the resident orchestra for the Calgary Opera, ...

), ''Max Bell Theatre'' (home of

Theatre Calgary Theatre Calgary, is a theatre company in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, established as a professional company in 1968. It was preceded by Workshop 14, a theatre study group founded in 1944 by Betty Mitchell. Calgary's ''Betty Mitchell'' awards are ...

), ''Martha Cohen Theatre'' (home of Alberta Theatre Projects), and ''Engineered Air Theatre''. A statue of

The Famous Five ''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's Adventure fiction, adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures ...

stands between

Stephen Avenue Stephen Avenue is a major pedestrian mall in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The mall is the portion of 8 Avenue SW between 4 Street SW and 1 Street SE. It is open to vehicles only from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The street is known for some of C ...

and Olympic Plaza.

Entertainment district

The entertainment district is located along 8th Avenue South. It contains the pedestrian mall of

, lined with restaurants and shops, enclosed shopping centres (including

The Core ''The Core'' is a 2003 American science fiction disaster film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D. J. Qualls, Richard Jenkins, Tcheky Karyo, Bruce Greenwood, and Alfre Woodard. The f ...

, Scotia Centre,

Bankers Hall Bankers Hall is a building complex located in downtown Calgary, Alberta, which includes twin 52-storey office towers (197 metres high), designed by the architectural firm Cohos Evamy in postmodern architectural style. The first building, known a ...

and The Bay), as well as Calgary's only art house movie theater (the ''Globe Cinema'') and recreation areas such as the Devonian Gardens. Landmark buildings found in this district include the

Hyatt Regency Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...

Hotel, which incorporates several historic buildings into its facade, the Calgary Marriott and

Fairmont Palliser Hotel The Fairmont Palliser, formerly known as the Palliser Hotel, is a hotel of the Canada-based Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain. The historic hotel (1914) is located in downtown Calgary, Alberta at 133 9th Avenue SW adjacent to the Calgary Tower ...

. Landmark skyscrapers in this district are Scotia Centre,

, and

Eighth Avenue Place Eighth Avenue Place is a twin-tower building complex located in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The complex includes a 49-storey East tower, 40-storey West office tower, and a three-storey indoor urban park. The complex is housed on th ...

. The "Udderly Art Legacy Pasture", a collection of decorated fiberglass cows built in 2000, is hosted mainly in the Centennial Parkade, while other particular exponates are spread throughout the city.

East Village

The East Village is an area to the east of the Downtown Commercial Core. This area was plagued by crime and homelessness for a long time. However, the area has seen a great amount of redevelopment since the late 2000s. In 2007, the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation began construction on $357 million worth of infrastructure upgrades to the neighbourhood, bringing all streets above flood plain levels, upgrading sewers and storm drains, and building plazas. The neighbourhood has since become a new hot-spot for the downtown area, playing host to the award-winning RiverWalk, several restaurants in the historic Simmons Mattress Factory building, and several new condo towers, with several more under construction. The neighbourhood is host to the $191 million National Music Centre of Canada, and will be host to the $245 million New Central Library of the

system. Since the redevelopment has started, the neighbourhood has seen $2.7 billion worth of investment.

West End

The West End is a high-rise, high-density residential neighbourhood to the west of the Downtown Commercial Core. The neighbourhood is home to

Millennium Park Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center nea ...

, which plays host to a large skate park, and is the home of the

Calgary Pride Calgary Pride is an LGBT pride festival, held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The event is organized by Pride Calgary, a non-profit organization, and is currently held in the final week of August, with the closing parade falling on the fi ...

celebration every September. The Downtown West - Kerby

C-Train CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail rapid transit system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Most of the network functions as a light metro, though in the free-fare zone that runs through the downtown core the Red and Blue lines opera ...

station serves the community. Downtown West End is also well connected into the

Plus 15 The Plus 15 or +15 is a Skyway network in Calgary, Alberta. It is the world's most extensive pedestrian skywalk system, with a total length of 16 kilometres (10 miles) and 86 bridges connecting 130 buildings as of 2022. Calgary often has seve ...

skywalk system.

Chinatown

Chinatown is located directly north of the Downtown Commercial Core and northwest of the East Village. The neighbourhood is characterized by high-density living and a high density of East Asian retail and restaurants. Calgary's Chinatown is home to the largest Chinese Cultural Centre in North America. Designed in a traditional style, the cultural centre's roof is modelled after the

Temple of Heaven The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. Chinatown Calgary has an

area redevelopment plan Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open s ...

in place with work continuing towards revitalizing the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood also contains Dragon City Mall, the only traditional Chinese-inspired shopping mall in Alberta.

Eau Claire

Eau Claire is a neighbourhood located directly north of the Downtown Commercial Core. The area, which was developed from reclaimed industrial land, fronts the

and sits immediately north of 3rd Avenue South. North of Eau Claire is Prince's Island Park, a large urban park on an island in the Bow River and the site of many summer festivals, including the Calgary Folk Music Festival, Carifest,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

in the Park and various busking happenings. Within Eau Claire is Eau Claire Market and a variety of pubs and restaurants. It is also located on the city's large network of pedestrian pathways and trails, along

Demographics

As of the 2016 Canadian Census, the population of Downtown was about 38,663 people living on approximately of land. Also as of 2016, there were approximately 137,030 jobs in Downtown Calgary. Residents in this community had a

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways o ...

of $30,126 in 2005 with 41.4% of the population reported as low income residents. , 44.3% of the residents in the commercial core were immigrants. A proportion of 99.7% of the buildings were condominiums or apartments, and 95.9% of the housing was used for

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for a ...

References

External links

Downtown Calgary Community Association
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