Sunnyside, Calgary

Last updated
Sunnyside
Neighbourhood
Sunnyside Heartland Cafe.jpg
The Heartland Cafe (Now Vendome Cafe)
Calgary street map.png
Red pog.svg
Sunnyside
Location of Sunnyside in Calgary
Coordinates: 51°03′10″N114°05′09″W / 51.05278°N 114.08583°W / 51.05278; -114.08583
CountryFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Province Flag of Alberta.svg  Alberta
City Flag placeholder.svg  Calgary
QuadrantNW
Ward 7
Established1904 [1]
Government
[2]
  Mayor Jyoti Gondek
  Administrative body Calgary City Council
  CouncillorTerry Wong
Elevation
1,050 m (3,440 ft)
Population
 (2006) [3]
  Total3,598
   Average Income
$42,325
Website Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association

Sunnyside is an innercity community in Calgary, Alberta located on the north side of the Bow River immediately adjacent to Calgary's downtown. The community partners with the neighbouring community of Hillhurst to form the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association. The combined communities have an area redevelopment plan in place, revised in 2009. [4]

Contents

Kensington is a Business Revitalization Zone adjacent to the communities of Hillhurst and Sunnyside. It is an active family-friendly commercial area, abundant with amenities.

Sunnyside Grocery (demolished in 2018) Sunnyside Sunnyside Grocer.jpg
Sunnyside Grocery (demolished in 2018)
Sunnyside Community School Sunnyside Sunnyside School.jpg
Sunnyside Community School

History

Sunnyside is one of Calgary's oldest communities. Originally settled by homesteaders in the 1880s, the land was purchased by the City of Calgary and incorporated into the city proper in 1904. [1] Although the majority of the original residents of Sunnyside were Canadian Pacific Railway and Eau Claire Sawmill employees, [1] the community now mainly attracts urban professionals and their families due to its quiet neighbourhood atmosphere and close proximity to Calgary's active downtown.

Beginning in 1913, streetcars were the main means of transport within the city. One of the lines traveled east through Sunnyside on 2 Avenue to pick up workers for the CPR. It then went up the hill to the north end of the Centre Street Bridge. There, the workers caught another streetcar to downtown. The area where the streetcar went up the embankment is now part of Calgary's paved pathway system; it begins behind the Calgary Curling Club, passes underneath the McHugh Bluff stairs and onwards to the top of the bluff.

Sunnyside was one of numerous Calgary neighbourhoods that suffered major damage in the Bow River flood of June 2013, with the community completely evacuated for a number of days.

Geography

Sunnyside is bounded by Centre Street on the east and by 10th Street NW on the west. On the north Sunnyside is bounded by McHugh Bluff and on the south by the Bow River.

Major roads that pass through Sunnyside include 10th Street NW (North-South Traffic) and Memorial Drive (East-West Traffic). [5] Most of the traffic on these major roads is either entering or exiting the downtown and not generated by the community itself. Consequently, the City of Calgary has taken specific traffic measures such as banning left hand turns for southbound 10th Street traffic in the morning and banning right hand turns onto most streets for westbound Memorial Drive in the afternoon. The main artery within the neighbourhood is 2nd Avenue NW.

Sunnyside, like the communities of Eau Claire, Chinatown, East Village and Inglewood, sits on the flood plain of the Bow River. Infrastructure is in place to mitigate flooding in Sunnyside but the risk of flood damage remains. A berm along Memorial Drive and the Bearspaw Dam upstream provide some protection but proved not enough in June 2013. The berm was over topped in two areas and the Bearspaw Dam reservoir storage capacity was too small to prevent this large flood.

In 1932, Sunnyside experienced widespread flooding.

In June 2005 when exceptionally heavy rainfalls combined with the regular rise in the Bow River caused by snow melting in the mountains. Storm sewer outflows were closed off to prevent the Bow River from flooding the neighbourhood, leaving the heavy rainfall to collect in the neighbourhood. The result were some basement flooding and parts of Memorial Drive being closed to traffic.

In March 2009, a similar incident occurred when heavy wet snow that fell overnight melted quickly during the day. With the outflows once again closed off, this time to prevent flow in from the Bow River that could occur from winter ice dams, the water flowing down from upper plateau communities quickly accumulated in Sunnyside. Several homes on 1 Ave NW between 5A Street NW and 6 Street NW experienced basement flooding.

On June 20 to 24 2013, Sunnyside was impacted by the 2013 Alberta floods. Three factors contributed to the flooding: 1. High river flow of the Bow River, over topping the flood berm, increasing the water table level and the flowing into Outfalls that hadn't been closed in time or couldn't be closed. 2. Intense rain that fell in the neighbourhood in a short period of time 3. Storm Sewer that flowed from upper plateau neighbourhoods into Sunnyside.

On July 5, 2013, Sunnyside was impacted again by flooding. This time the cause was intense rain that fell in nearby upper plateau neighbourhoods and the fact that storm sewer outfall gates were closed and did not provide enough opening to release the water.

Architecture

Sunnyside's architecture is a mixed array of designs and styles each telling a story of the neighbourhood's history. Sunnyside has a blend of single-family dwellings, modern mid-rise high-density housing, neighbourhood corner stores and restaurants and walk-up apartment buildings.

In the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed “workers’ cottages" on 25-foot lots, which they rented to CPR employees. The cottages were wood framed and had cellars that were prone to flooding. Early residents describes the community's houses as good, ordinary homes for working-class people. The community had wooden sidewalks, dirt roads, water from wells and springs, milk straight from cows and flooding in the spring. There were no lights, gas, sewers or stores.

Over the years many of these cottages have been torn down and replaced with new buildings representative of the trends of the day. The cottages that remain have all been upgraded with modern conveniences and utilities.

The 1970s high oil prices brought a new wave of construction to Sunnyside. Many of the cottages and homes were torn down and replaced with one and two bedroom apartment buildings. Most of these concrete and brick buildings were upgraded and turned into condominiums.

Demographics

In the City of Calgary's 2012 municipal census, Sunnyside had a population of 3,704 living in 2,340 dwellings, a -1.3% increase from its 2011 population of 3,751. [6] With a land area of 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi), it had a population density of

Sunnyside is primarily a residential area with the majority of land used for single family homes, apartments and condominiums. The 2006 Calgary Census indicated Sunnyside had a population of 3,740 individuals of which slightly more than half were living in non-family situations. 48.7% of the population is between the ages of 20 and 34, and 43.2% of the population has some form of university degree. In 2006 Sunnyside residents had a mean income of $42,325 a year. [3]

Amenities

Sunnyside has an elementary school, [8] a station on the C-Train (Calgary's Light Rail Transit system), and a grocery store as well as many popular restaurants, coffee shops, and boutique stores.

Grocery stores include Safeway Inc. and the Sunnyside Market.

Sunnyside is home to the Calgary Curling Club. The club is located at the east end of the neighbourhood.

Sunnyside has a community centre that is located in neighbouring community of Hillhurst. It is located at 1320 – 5 Ave NW.

Community Association

Sunnyside's community association is known as the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association [9] and was reportedly established in 1942. Their mandate is to provide and organize sports, recreational and social activities, and act as an advocacy group for the community's interests on planning and other civic issues.

In the 1970s the integrity of neighbourhood was threatened by proposed high-speed transportation routes and by increasing land development. It was proposed that Memorial Drive become a major highway and an interchange be built where Memorial Drive and 10th Street NW intersect today. The Louise Bridge would be replaced by two new bridges; a southbound bridge aligning to 10th Street NW and a northbound bridge aligning to 9A Street. The association adopted an activist approach, and succeeded in blocking the interchange plans and retaining much of the traditional small-scale quality of the community.

In the 1980s a new transportation development was proposed. Calgary's light rail transportation line was proposed to replace 9A Street NW and many homes were to be demolished to make way. This proposal did go through and in 1987 the Sunnyside Station was completed but not before many changes and concessions were made by city planners. While not all the homes and buildings were torn down, many of them were left with no front access point, instead relying on the alleyway.

Today the association remains involved in the review of development plans through its Community Environment Committee.

Politics

Municipally, Sunnyside is in the Calgary City Council electoral division of Ward 7, represented by Councillor Druh Farrell. [2] Provincially, Sunnyside is in the electoral district of Calgary-Mountain View, [10] and its Member of the Legislative Assembly is Kathleen Ganley of the Alberta New Democratic Party. [11] Federally, Sunnyside is in the electoral district (or riding) of Calgary Confederation and its Member of Parliament is Len Webber of the Conservative Party of Canada. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowness, Calgary</span> Neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Bowness is a neighbourhood and former town in west Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The former town was amalgamated into the City of Calgary in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deerfoot Trail</span> Freeway in Calgary

Deerfoot Trail is a 46.4-kilometre (28.8 mi) freeway segment of Highway 2 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It stretches the entire length of the city from south to north and links suburbs to downtown via Memorial Drive and 17 Avenue SE. The freeway begins south of Calgary where it splits from Macleod Trail, crosses the Bow River into city limits, and reaches the Stoney Trail ring road. Crisscrossing twice more with the river, it intersects Glenmore Trail and Memorial Drive; the former is a major east–west expressway while the latter is a freeway spur into downtown. In north Calgary, it crosses Highway 1 and passes Calgary International Airport before ending at a second interchange with Stoney Trail. Highway 2 becomes the Queen Elizabeth II Highway as it continues north into Rocky View County towards Edmonton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calgary Public Library</span> Public library system in Calgary, Canada

The Calgary Public Library (CPL) is a distributed library system featuring 21 branch locations including the Central Library. As of 2012, it is the second most used system in Canada and the sixth most used library system in North America. This is despite the fact that the Calgary Public Library has one of the lowest per capita funding in the country, receiving as little as half the money of other Canadian public libraries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kensington, Calgary</span>

Kensington is a Business Revitalization Zone (BRZ) in Calgary, Alberta, focused around the intersection of Kensington Road and 10th St. NW, also known as the Kensington-Louise Crossing Business Association. It is located in the communities of Hillhurst and Sunnyside, immediately north of downtown and the Bow River, and is easily reached by most of the city's major access routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoney Trail</span> Freeway in Calgary, Alberta

Alberta Provincial Highway No. 201, officially named Stoney Trail and Tsuut'ina Trail, is an approximately 92-kilometre (57 mi) freeway in Calgary, Alberta. It forms part of the CANAMEX Corridor which connects Calgary to Edmonton and Interstate 15 in the United States via Highways 2, 3, and 4. Planned for a total length of 101 kilometres, the final segment of the ring road is currently under construction to be completed by 2024 at the latest, delayed from an original target of 2022. The freeway serves as a bypass for the congested routes of 16 Avenue N and Deerfoot Trail through Calgary. At its busiest point near Beddington Trail in north Calgary, the six-lane freeway carried nearly 79,000 vehicles per day in 2019.

Parkdale is a mature, inner city neighbourhood in the city of Calgary, Alberta along the north bank of the Bow River between the communities of West Hillhurst and Point McKay. It is bounded on the south by the Bow River, 28 St NW to the east, Shaganappi Trail NW to the west and on the north by 16th Avenue. Parkdale is in close proximity to both the Foothills Medical Centre and the Alberta Children's Hospital constructed in 2006, as well as the University of Calgary. Memorial Drive provides access to downtown Calgary and to Highway 1 which leads to the Rocky Mountains. Parkdale was annexed to the City of Calgary in 1910 when Calgary began to experience a "major economic and building boom." The boom ended in 1913 and further development of the Parkdale Addition as it was called, was halted because of World War I. Following World War II in the 1950s the dominant housing type that characterized Parkdale, was the bungalow. By 2014 Parkdale, like other inner city communities in Calgary, was experiencing gradual gentrification with small cottage-style bungalows being replaced by spacious flat roofed, Prairie School Frank Lloyd Wright inspired infills attracting young families with children away from the long commute suburbs to inner city ease of access to downtown, transit and work.

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 is designated as Highway 1A by Alberta Transportation. The road is a critical north-south link in West Calgary for both downtown bound traffic and travel between the two quadrants of the city it passes through. Although planned to be one single freeway from Glenmore Trail to the city limits, the route is currently divided by a section of slow moving arterial road with four signalized intersections between 24 Avenue and Memorial Drive. This causes the freeway in the northwest to separated from the freeway south of the Bow River. Filling the gap and making the whole route a minimum six lane freeway is currently planned for construction beyond 2027.

West Hillhurst is a northwest neighbourhood lying within the inner suburbs of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The community, which is located west of Hillhurst, is bisected by Crowchild Trail. On the north, West Hillhurst is bordered by the communities of Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill and St. Andrews Heights. Other boundaries are 18th Street W to the east, the Bow River to the south and 28th Street W to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillhurst, Calgary</span> Neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Hillhurst is a community located within the inner city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The boundaries of the community are 8th Avenue NW to the north, 10th Street NW to the east, the Bow River to the south, and 18th Street NW to the west. The communities of Hillhurst and the neighbouring Sunnyside together form the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association. The two communities have an area redevelopment plan in place, revised in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Drive (Calgary)</span> Road in Calgary

Memorial Drive is a major road in Calgary, Alberta. Aside from its important role in city infrastructure, the tree lined sides of Memorial Drive serve as a living testament to the many local soldiers who died during World War I and give it a parkway look on the western section. An active path system also runs along the south side of Memorial Drive, beside the banks of the Bow River. The Calgary Soldiers' Memorial forms part of an extensive renovation to Memorial Drive, which heightens the function of the road as a monument to the city's military. The Landscape of Memory Project began in 2004, in order to revitalize a nine kilometre stretch of the road. The design incorporated "Poppy Plaza" at the corner of Memorial Drive and 10th Street NW. The plaza used "weathered steel" to create large gateways, and the plaza and adjacent river walk were lined with the same rusted metal into which quotes about the Canadian experiences of war were cut. The Peace Bridge was incorporated into the remembrance theme of Memorial Drive, though there are no explanatory plaques at the site of the bridge.

Varsity is an established neighbourhood in the Northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It was developed in the 1960s and early 1970s on a plateau to the north of the Bow River 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, 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 campus on the south side. The easternmost portion of Varsity contains the University of Calgary Research Park.

Crescent Heights is a neighbourhood located in Calgary, Alberta. It is located in the inner city, immediately north from Downtown. It is bounded to the north by the Trans-Canada Highway, on the east by Edmonton Trail, on the west by 4th Street NW, and to the south by Memorial Drive and the Bow River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince's Island Park (Calgary)</span>

Prince's Island Park is an urban park in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is developed on an island on the Bow River, immediately north of downtown Calgary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaganappi Trail</span> Major super-4 expressway in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta

Shaganappi Trail is a major super-4 expressway in the northwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It extends to the south as Montgomery View, a small service road in the neighbourhood of Montgomery and that provides access to Edworthy Park, passes north past Market Mall and the western boundary of Nose Hill Park, and terminates in the neighbourhood of Nolan Hill in the north, with city planning maps indicating future northern extension beyond 144 Avenue NW. The name "Shaganappi" is of Cree origin, referring to the bison hide lacings that held Red River ox carts together. Despite the name, it is not located near the Shaganappi neighbourhood, which is located south of the Bow River.

Riley Park is an urban park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located in the neighbourhood of Hillhurst, bounded by 8th Ave. NW, 10th St. NW, 5th Ave. NW and 12th St. NW. The park plays is host to Calgary's Cricket Leagues and Calgary Concert Band holds free concerts in the park during summer. Amenities include a wading pool and playground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowness Park, Calgary</span>

Bowness Park is a 30-hectare (74-acre) urban park on the Bow River in Bowness, a neighbourhood in the northwest quadrant of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is popular in the summer for picnics and boating, and in winter for ice skating on the lagoon and the canal which feeds it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Alberta floods</span> Natural disaster in southern Alberta, Canada

In the days leading up to June 19, 2013, parts of southern and central Alberta, Canada experienced heavy rainfall that triggered catastrophic flooding described by the provincial government as the worst in Alberta's history. Areas along the Bow, Elbow, Highwood, Red Deer, Sheep, Little Bow, and South Saskatchewan rivers and their tributaries were particularly affected. A total of 32 states of local emergency were declared and 28 emergency operations centres were activated as water levels rose and numerous communities were placed under evacuation orders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Druh Farrell</span> Canadian politician

Druh Farrell is a municipal politician who formerly served as Councillor for Ward 7 in Calgary, Alberta. She was first elected in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16 Avenue N</span> Road in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

16 Avenue N is a major road in Calgary, Alberta, that forms a 26.5-kilometre (16.5 mi) segment of Highway 1 and connects Calgary to Banff and Medicine Hat. It is a four to six-lane principal arterial expressway at its extremities, but is an urban arterial road between the Bow River and Bowness Road, and also between Crowchild Trail and Deerfoot Trail. Due to Calgary's quadrant system, it is known as 16 Avenue NW west of Centre Street and 16 Avenue NE to the east.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association - History Archived 2010-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
  2. 1 2 "Calgary Elections". City of Calgary. 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  3. 1 2 City of Calgary. "Calgary Social Statistics - Sunnyside" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-01-11.
  4. City of Calgary Planning (2005). "Hillhurst Area Redevelopment Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  5. City of Calgary - Market Area Summary
  6. 1 2 "2012 Civic Census Results" (PDF). City of Calgary. 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  7. "Community Boundaries" (Esri shapefile). City of Calgary. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  8. Calgary Board of Education. "Sunnyside Community School" . Retrieved 2007-01-10.
  9. Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association. "Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association".
  10. Elections Alberta - Calgary Mountain View
  11. "Election Results". Elections Alberta. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  12. "Calgary Confederation". Elections Canada.