Rooftop Plaza located at Fire Station 1

The City of Calgary officially reopened the Rooftop Plaza on Fire Station 1, located at 450 First St. S.E., providing a rejuvenated green space for Calgarians who live and work in the downtown core, and for visitors to the city.

The Rooftop Plaza renovation was undertaken to make much needed repairs to the Fire Station 1 roof and to breathe new life into the Plaza that had fallen into disrepair.

Seniors officials praise program designed to promote aging in place

Local seniors' housing officials are praising a new provincial government program designed to assist seniors who want to "age in place" in their homes rather than having to move.

The Seniors Home Adaptation and Repair Program (SHARP), approved earlier this month, offers low-interest, home-equity-based loans to seniors, which can be used for renovations or repairs to make a home more suitable for their needs.

Housing officials cite increasing rates of overcrowding in Calgary's housing market

Housing experts say a soft labour pool brought upon by weak economic conditions is partly to blame for increasing rates of overcrowding, or "underhousing" in Calgary homes.

RESOLVE executive director Sheryl Barlage – whose organization is made up of nine partner agencies aimed at building affordable and supported rental homes for 3,000 homeless and vulnerable Calgarians by March 31, 2018 – says about 3,500 Calgarians were considered homeless in a recent Homeless Foundation survey, with about 14,000 at risk of homelessness – and that doesn't include people "couch-surfing."

With the economic downturn, "we know fundamentally that number is up. It's hard to get a handle; people are one paycheque away (from homelessness) or aren't in appropriate housing. And the current economic climate (as well as) social issues are impacting the need. But the need has always been urgent."

Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators recognizes online tool

The City of Calgary's residential ePermit service captured top honours recently with a national award of excellence from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA).

The online permitting tool, which launched last fall, won the 2016 CAMA Willis Award for Innovation in the Over 100,000 Population category.

Other winners in the category included Kindersley, Sask's, waste water project (Under 20,000 Population category) and Saint John, N.B.'s "one-stop development shop" initiative (20,001 to 100,000 Population category).

Condo developers using downturn as opportunity to build

The downturn in Calgary's economy is creating a much-needed opportunity for developers to reset and plan for the long-term, say experts, who also believe the apartment-style condominium sector stands to benefit the most.

Susan Veres, senior vice-president of strategy and business development for Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC), admits sales "have slowed" in the popular East Village community on the banks of the Bow River, but also said the timing of the current downturn is "almost fortuitous" for the up-and-coming area.

"It's serendipitous that we're actually focusing on construction this year," she said, whose company, CMLC, is wholly owned subsidiary of the City of Calgary that is currently revitalizing East Village.

Film centre represents just one example of efforts to transform local economy, say officials

Film production may be the world's glamour industry, but in Calgary it is shooting to become a new driver of Alberta's diversified economy.

Last week, the $28.2-million Calgary Film Centre opened in a Calgary southeast industrial park, about 20 minutes from downtown. The new facility includes three new sound stages spread across a total of 50,000 square feet and three multi-purpose workshop spaces offering an additional 15,000 square feet.

Calgary Economic Development president and CEO Mary Moran said the film and television industry is just one sector being focused on in attempt to diversify the local economy. CED predicts it could provide an annual $500-million injection into the economy in as little as five years, compared to its $175-million share today.

Startup aims to improve accessibility for all Calgarians

A new company founded by a familiar face is developing a game plan on how to improve accessibility of all city-owned buildings.

Darby Lee Young sat on the City of Calgary's advisory committee on accessibility for nearly five years – more than two of those years as the chair – before launching, earlier this year, the universal design consulting company Level Playing Field.

The Calgary-based firm will be auditing about 1,000 city-owned structures, including the Municipal Building, to determine improvements that need to be made to make the facilities accessible to people of all abilities.

Calgary to look at popular alternative to street parking

Nobody likes paying for street parking, but imagine if the money collected went directly into improvements for the community where you parked.

That's the idea behind Parking Benefit Districts (PBD), a concept gaining traction in a number of U.S. cities and may be on its way to Calgary.

"Parking Benefit Districts provide a solution to that political problem (of charging for street parking) as it creates a mechanism where the revenue generated stays in that local area," explains Greg Morrow, who sits on the CalgaryPlanning Commission and holds the Parker Professorship in Metropolitan Growth and Change with the faculty of environmental design and Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. "You can direct parking revenue into local improvements like sidewalks, or installing new themed street lights."

City's new pedestrian strategy heads for city council

With Calgary's push to increase the number of cyclists on city pathways and roadways garnering media attention, City Hall has now turned its attention toward those that get around on two feet rather than two wheels.

Set to go before council on May 2, the City's new pedestrian strategy is aimed at making Calgary a "safer, more enjoyable, and easier" for pedestrians, and could see major changes to the way all Calgarians get around the city.

"We have a very strong program around transit (and) vehicles. Then we had a cycling strategy. So a similar approach is now being levelled toward pedestrians," said project manager Andrew King. "So now we have a pedestrian strategy which really is going to focus on bringing improvements to make walking better and making conditions better for pedestrians."

How social media is bringing Calgarians together

When the Green Line is complete, it will add 40 kilometres of track to the city's 59-kilometre LRT system and link North Pointe and Seton to downtown. Eventually, it will serve 41 million passengers annually and link Calgary's neighbourhoods like never before.

As with any large development project, the City of Calgary has been consulting with the community during the design process. And to that end, they've been relying heavily on social media to get the word out.

"We've been using a number of social media channels, primarily Facebook and Twitter," said Julie Yepishina-Geller, Green Line communications co-ordinator for the City.