Southwood is a

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

neighbourhood in the southwest quadrant of

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. It is bounded by 98th Avenue (an alley north of Southland Drive) to the north,

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 Alberta Highway 2, Highway 2. South of Anderson Road, Macleod Tr ...

to the east, Anderson Road to the south and 14th Street SW to the west. Southland Drive passes through the northern part of the community. A major roadway, Elbow Drive, bisects the community. The community is served by the Southland and Anderson stations of the

C-Train CTrain (previously branded C-Train) is a light rail system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Much of the system functions as a high-capacity light metro, while in the downtown free-fare zone, trains run like a modern tram with a dedicated right-of ...

LRT Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system.

Southcentre Mall Southcentre is one of the largest (by area) shopping malls in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, , and contains approximately 190 stores and services over two floors. It is located in the city's southeast quadrant at the intersection of Macleod Trail a ...

is located east from the neighbourhood. Southwood was established in 1960. It is represented in the

Calgary City Council The Calgary City Council is the legislative governing body that represents the citizens of Calgary. The council consists of 15 members: the chief elected official, titled the mayor, and 14 councillors. Jyoti Gondek was elected mayor in October 202 ...

by the Ward 11 councillor.

Local Relevance

Southwood is home to Southland Block or known as S Block. Southland Block includes the area of and around Southland Station, including the Southland Drive Bridge, Southland Park, the abandoned Black Swan pub, and Haddon Road Park. It is famous in Calgary youth culture for the heavy amounts of graffiti, specifically around the Southland Drive Bridge. S Block of Calgary

It is also known for the large amount of homelessness, with homeless encampments popping up very frequently at different parts of S Block.

Demographics

In the City of Calgary's 2012 municipal census, Southwood had a population of living in dwellings, a 2% increase from its 2011 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2012. Residents in this community had a

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two 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 of und ...

of $51,409 in 2000, and there were 14% low income residents living in the neighbourhood. As of 2000, 18.8% of the residents were

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s. A proportion of 21% of the buildings were

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

s or

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

s, and 42.4% of the housing was used for

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the use of a good, service or property owned by another over a fixed period of time. To maintain such an agreement, a rental agreement (or lease) is sig ...

Crime

Southwood historically has had average or below-average crime rates; but has had rising crime rates over the years and has had worse crime than communities such as

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

in recent years.

Crime Rate by Year

Education

The community is served by the Ethel M. Johnson Elementary, Harold Panabaker Junior High and Foundations For the Future Elementary public schools, as well as St. Stephen Elementary & Junior High (Catholic). The Southwood branch of the

Calgary Public Library The Calgary Public Library (CPL) is a distributed library system featuring 22 branch locations including the Central Library. As of 2012, it is the second most used system in Canada (after the Toronto Public Library) and the sixth most used libr ...

is located near the intersection of Southland Drive and Elbow Drive.

Business

Commercial development in the neighbourhood includes the Southland Park complex along

and the Southwood Corner mini mall at the intersection of Southland Drive and Elbow Drive as well as several other areas. In the 1960s and 1970s Southwood was home to the Corral Drive-in movie theatre. The drive-in closed to make way for

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), ...

's Anderson Station shops and garage.

Transit

In addition to the C-train, several bus routes run through Southwood. Most run along Southland Drive from other communities with the purpose of allowing passengers to transfer from a bus to the C-train at Southland Station. Route 3 (Elbow Drive / Sandstone),"Calgary Transit: Route 3 Bus (Elbow Drive / Sandstone)" http://www.calgarytransit.com/route_maps/rte003.html which travels along Elbow Drive, in both North and South directions, does not stop at either C-train station in Southwood. Passengers wishing to transfer from Bus #3 to the C-train must do so at Heritage Station in the community of Haysboro.

References

External links

Southwood Community Association
{{Calgary neighbourhoods Neighbourhoods in Calgary