Ignoring Forest Lawn

About once a month or so, I head to the best place that I know of in the city to re-stock my pantry of ethnic cooking ingredients—International Avenue in Forest Lawn. I’ve taken their Around the World Tour in 35 Blocks and I know where I need to go to find injera bread and sumac and orange-blossom water and Sao Jorge Cheese. It’s not the community where I grew up but I know it because many Portuguese immigrants moved there when first coming to Calgary and I used to go there to visit my extended family.

So what has changed in the 40+ years since my childhood? Without a doubt, the area is more diverse. What used to be the mall known as Portugal Plaza is now called Little Saigon and with the Latin, Indian, German and African businesses, it is indisputably Calgary’s multicultural heart. I applaud the efforts of the International Avenue BRZ in commissioning artists to paint murals that not only celebrate this diversity but also highlight Forest Lawn’s history. There are half a dozen colourful murals scattered along the avenue including one lovely swirling fish mural on a school yard chain-link fence. To add to the visual landscape changes, there is signage upon entering the avenue, new boulevards and sidewalks and an attractive clock at the west end of 17th Avenue. And trees! I love the addition of trees and feel that the street could use even more. From Alison Karim-McSweeny, the executive director of the International Avenue BRZ, I’ve also learned about other design initiatives in conjunction with the U of C (co-authored by Civic Camper, Gian-Carlo Carra) and what changes are in store with the addition of road-level LRT along 17th Avenue. Many of our Civic Camp 1.0 and 2.0 topics for discussion have already been explored by the BRZ and they’ve developed a process of engagement which connects the various stakeholders: the surrounding community associations, the aldermen, social services, police and the diverse business interests.

But there is also decay and an overabundance of pawn shops and money lending stores which, if I’m honest, make me feel altogether uncomfortable about the potential for crime. The Safeway grocery store, the first major grocer along the strip, looks decrepit and in need of dire attention and other buildings could use maintenance and a little upkeep. And there are too many neglected parcels that need to be re-developed. And, by and large, Calgarians from other areas of the city still do not travel into Forest Lawn with any frequency. With an array of choice restaurants one street can boast, I was dismayed to see, one Saturday evening, how few of them had full houses of patrons. There is also the sinking feeling that Forest Lawn is simply being ignored by many Calgarians and by our City Hall. We’ve looked at East Village re-development and now there’s West Village re-development but not nearly as much investment east of Deerfoot Trail.

At Civic Camp 2.0, I sat with the break-out group that discussed Vibrant Urban Villages and what the composition of that looks like. As we shared which communities we represented, one woman in my group noted how few of us campers come from East Calgary and that generally Calgarians have woefully neglected Forest Lawn. I’m not sure but I’m guessing that she’s probably right about the low number of Civic Campers from Forest Lawn or communities further east. And while a future C-train corridor is an indicator of municipal change to come, I wonder if we’ll ever see a restoration/revitalization plan like those in other areas of the city. Again, this is my “outsider’s view” and I would welcome comments from Forest Lawn residents or even encourage recruiting more Civic Campers that reside in our more diverse communities. Call me idealistic, but I think that collectively we stand to benefit when we care about all of the communities where Calgarians live and work and play.