Renfrew 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 northeast 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 ...

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. It is located south of the

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, and north of the

inner city The term inner city (also called the hood) has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Soc ...

community of Bridgeland. To the east it is bordered by the ''Nose Hill Creek'' and the

Deerfoot Trail Deerfoot Trail is a freeway segment of Alberta Highway 2, Highway 2 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It stretches the entire length of the city from south to north and links suburbs to Downtown Calgary, downtown via Memorial Drive (Cal ...

and is separated from Crescent Heights to the west by Edmonton Trail. It is represented in the

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by the Ward 9 councillor. The area consists mainly of residences with no major commercial or industrial facilities. There are some small businesses located along Edmonton Trail and 16th Avenue. There are no emergency health care facilities in the district, though several physicians' offices have been established, and the Alberta Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Commission does have a treatment facility established in the neighbourhood. In 2014 Renfrew was listed as #22 on Avenue Magazine's "50 Best Neighbourhoods" list, a ranking of desirability of Calgary's neighbourhoods.

History

Ukrainian Pioneer Park is located on the 600 block of 7th Avenue, and there are two Ukrainian churches (one Catholic and one Orthodox) in close proximity, a testament to early settlers of Slavic origin who settled in the area. Other visible signs of this heritage include a monument to victims of genocide in Ukraine, erected by the banks of the Bow River in the adjacent community of Bridgeland. The community itself was not developed until the 1940s. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the area was occupied by a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

training base and airfield which also served as the Calgary airport. Once the airport was relocated from its original site (on the corner of present-day 6th Street and Regal Crescent), the area was developed for residential use.

Demographics

In the City of Calgary's 2012 municipal census, Renfrew had a population of living in dwellings, a 3.1% 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 $47,692 in 2000, and there were 15.6% low income residents living in the neighbourhood. As of 2000, 18.4% 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 38.5% 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 40.9% of the housing was used for

renting Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the 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

Education

Several major schools are located in the district, including Colonel Macleod Junior High, St. Alphonsus Elementary/Junior High, Stanley Jones Elementary, and the former Renfrew Elementary.

Amenities

A full-sized football field is located at Renfrew Athletic Park. Parkland and greenspace are not abundant with the exception of the school grounds, and the area adjacent to Nose Hill creek, which includes the McInnis & Holloway Memorial Forest still in its infancy. Other athletic facilities in addition to the schools include the Boys & Girls Club, a swimming pool, indoor skating rink, an outdoor skating rink at the community association building, and soccer fields located by the creek. Renfrew has also become home to several notable dining establishments including Boogies Burgers (est. 1969), and the 2012 Where to Dine winner for Best Brunch, OEB Breakfast CO. Several convenience stores are clustered in the western portion of the neighbourhood, including the Stanley Jones grocery, occupying one of the oldest surviving structures in the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood is in direct proximity to several commercial zones, including shops along Edmonton Trail and Centre Street in adjacent Crescent Heights and Bridgeland, along 16th Avenue to the north and west, and across the bridge in Mayland Heights. The downtown core is only 3,000 metres from Renfrew and easily accessible by city transit, bike, private automobile, or foot.

References

External links

Renfrew Community Association
{{Calgary neighbourhoods Neighbourhoods in Calgary Ukrainian-Canadian culture in Alberta