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.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Filomina
the area has great potential and hopefully on July 5 Council will pass the Southeast 17 Corridor Plan (similar to our award winning ” Charrette One Envusioning International Avenue ” document but a City version). My concern is that we will then be put on the TIPS list and be waiting for 15 years till people can safely enjoy dedicated bike lanes,superior pedestrian realm, mixed use, LRT ( Portland style/ tram), green roofs, environmentally sustained development, neighbourhood, urban nodes, ethnic architectural featres , pocket parks etc. If you are supportive of this plan and making it happen now please let your Alderman know. This can be a showcase for Calgary and a place all of us can be proud of. I don’t live in the east but have dedicated many years to righting a wrong in this part of Calgary. Please help !
To be really honest, I think we visit Forest Lawn once a year for the week of Global Fest. And each time we visit, I’m surprised to ‘rediscover’ this area of Calgary that I don’t know at all. Does Global Fest engage the surrounding community at all or are all festivities confined to Elliston Park?
–Tamara
Filomena,
You are right on the money when you say the City has ignored Forest Lawn. I sometimes think the only time they don’t ignore us is when they have some undesireable use that they need a place for and don’t want to put on the west side. That’s exactly what they did after they annexed us in 1961 and surrounded us with massive amounts of public housing. I hope your Civic Campers have evolved enough to know that putting massive amount of low-cost housing in one area creates a downward spiral, which we here are still fighting against. The correct way to do low-cost or public housing is to mix it with mid and high-income housing, for the benefit of both the communities and the residents. We support a mix of housing types, but in our case that now means adding more mid to upper scale buildings, something that is necessary but hard to do when we are fighting a bad reputation which was caused by the City’s 50-years of neglect and bad planning. It would aslso help if the rich slumlords from west Calgary actually maintained their properties and gave a damn about who they rented to! There are lots of great people here and many who remember the nice, friendly town it once was (including myself). With a change of attitude and a change in City planning we can be as good as any neighbourhood in Calgary. I’ve seen how it was… I know how it can be.
Brenda