Varsity is an established neighbourhood in the Northwest quadrant of

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

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 T ...

. It was developed in the 1960s and early 1970s on a plateau to the north of 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 ...

valley, and is primarily composed of Single-detached dwellings on wide lots. The neighbourhood comprises three major areas: ''Varsity Acres'', ''Varsity Village'', and ''Varsity Estates''. Varsity is bounded on the north and east by

Crowchild Trail Crowchild Trail is a major expressway in western Calgary, Alberta. The segment from the 12 Mile Coulee Road at the edge of the city to 16 Avenue NW (Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 1) is designated as Highway 1A by Alberta Transportation ...

, on the west by the Bow River, and on the south by 32nd Avenue NW. It borders the neighbourhoods of Silver Springs and Bowness on the west side, and both Montgomery and the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

campus on the south side. The easternmost portion of Varsity contains the University of Calgary Research Park.

Developments

Varsity Acres

Varsity Acres is the oldest part of Varsity. It was developed in the 1960s with a street pattern of folded grids, rear lanes, and the occasional cul-de-sac. The original access from the east was via Varsity Drive where it intersected at Crowchild Trail at Brisebois Drive. This access was closed in the early 1970s in favour of a connection to 40th Avenue NW at the same intersection.

Varsity Village

Varsity Village was developed by

Carma Developers LP Carma Developers, founded in 1958, is a Canadian residential land developer with master-planned communities throughout Canada and the United States. Its head offices are located in Calgary, Alberta where it is the largest residential land develop ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unique in Calgary, the planning of Varsity Village was based on the

Radburn Plan Radburn design housing (also called Radburn housing, Radburn design'', ''Radburn principle, or Radburn concept) is a concept for planned housing estates, based on a design that was originally used in Radburn, New Jersey, United States. Histo ...

Clarence Stein Clarence Samuel Stein (June 19, 1882 – February 7, 1975) was an American urban planner, architect, and writer, a major proponent of the garden city movement in the United States. Biography Stein was born in Rochester, New York into an upwardl ...

and Henry Wright. The Radburn Plan adapted the ideas of the English Garden City to the increasingly motorised American context, developing a street hierarchy that segregated through traffic from local traffic and automotive traffic from pedestrian traffic. Like at Radburn, the developers of Varsity Village used as many

culs-de-sac A dead end, also known as a cul-de-sac (, from French for 'bag-bottom'), no through road or no exit road, is a street with only one inlet or outlet. The term "dead end" is understood in all varieties of English, but the official terminology ...

as possible, and forwent rear lanes in favour of pedestrian pathways that connected to parks behind the houses (and not adjacent to streets). The developers' intent was to create a park-like setting for users of the rear walkways, and in many places in the neighbourhood where tall private fences have not been built, this intent has been maintained. This pattern of development was also used in Calgary in the neighbourhood of

Braeside Braeside, meaning ''hillside'' in the Scots language, may refer to: * Braeside, Aberdeen, Scotland * Braeside, Greenock, Scotland * Braeside, Victoria, Australia * Braeside, Ontario, Canada * Braeside Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona * Breaside, Chic ...

Market Mall CF Market Mall is one of the largest malls (by area) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (900,490 square feet/83,658.3 m²). It is located in Varsity, a suburban neighbourhood in the city's northwest quadrant on Shaganappi Trail. The mall is jointly ow ...

, one of Calgary's major regional interior malls is located in Varsity Village, along with most of the neighbourhood's multi-family dwellings.

Varsity Estates

Varsity Estates is Varsity's most upscale area. It is almost entirely made up of single-detached dwellings without rear lanes, and much of it lies adjacent to the Bowmont Natural Park or the

Silver Springs Golf and Country Club Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical cond ...

. Given that the

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 ...

has been extended to Varsity adjacent to Varsity Estates, the City has proposed a

transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between ...

in the area.Varsity Proposed Land Use Study (PDF)
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Demographics

In the City of Calgary's 2012 municipal census, Varsity had a population of living in dwellings, a 1.5% 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 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 ...

of $58,603 in 2000, and there were 15.1% low income residents living in the neighbourhood. As of 2000, 23% of the residents were

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

s. A proportion of 32.9% of the buildings were

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...

s or

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

s, and 31% 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 ...

Education

The community is served by F. E. Osborne Junior High School, Jerry Potts Elementary School, Marion Carson Elementary and Varsity Acres Bilingual Elementary public schools, as well a by St. Vincent de Paul Elementary & Junior High (Catholic).

References

External links

Federation of Calgary Communities: Varsity Community Association

{{Calgary neighbourhoods Neighbourhoods in Calgary