Calgary City Information

CALGARY CITY FACTS AND AREA PERSONALITIES

WHERE SHALL WE LIVE

Today more than 950,000 Calgarians enjoy a rich and fulfilled life. With the mountains at our doorstep, we have endless opportunity to hike or bike, use one of the 5 premier ski areas, or just enjoy the peace their majesty brings. You will note that Calgarians will often say "Aren't the mountains beautiful today!"
The city is set up in a 4 quadrant grid - N.W., N.E., S.W., & S.E. Each of these four quadrants has a distinct personality. In trying to decide where to live in Calgary, it would probably be a good idea to decide which quadrant you might choose before you decide on a specific district.
 

POPULATION

Population growth and construction activity are the two best barometers of the economic strength of a community. Calgary's population is growing at record rates and the rate is increasing. In the past 5 years, it has increased by 79,000 people. Putting this into perspective, this growth is only slightly less than the population of the city of Red Deer. Calgary is now the largest city in the prairie provinces and expanding faster than any other major centre in Canada.

SHOPPING

There is a wide variety of shopping centers in Calgary. They range from local community plazas to major shopping centers that house over 200 stores and services under one roof. Whatever you are looking for, you are sure to find it in one of Calgary's shopping malls.
For further information, consult your Yellow Pages under Shopping Centers & Malls. Below is a list of just some of our centers:

Bankers Hall
Phone: 403-269-0778
3158th Ave, SW

Bow Valley Square
Phone: 403-261-0621
2nd Street& 6th Ave., SW

Market Mall
Phone: 403-288-5466  3625
Shaganappi Trail, NW

Marlborough Mall
Phone: 403-272-9233
36 Street & Memorial Dr., NE

Chinook Centre
Phone: 403-255-0613
Macleod Trail & Glenmore
Trail SW

Eau Claire Market
Phone: 403-264-6450
200 Barclay Parade, SW

Southcentre Mall
Phone: 403-225-9100
100 Anderson Rd., SE

Deerfoot Mall
Phone: 403-274-7024
901 -64Ave., N

Sunridge Mall
Phone: 403-280-2525
2525-36 St., NE

Eaton Centre & TD Square
Phone: 403-221-1368
8th Ave. &3St, SW

Westbrook Mall
Phone: 403-249-0052
37 St & Bow Trail, SW

WEATHER

Like the old saying goes, "If you don't like the weather in Calgary, wait ten minutes and it will change." On some days, this is not an exaggeration. Calgary can go from rain in the morning to temperatures over 30° C in the afternoon, and frost overnight. In fact, one year it snowed in this city in every month of the year! Below is a chart showing the average weather and temperatures in Calgary.

Average Wind Speed
Chinook Average
Frost Free Days Average
Mean Rainfall Per Year
Mean Snowfall Per Year
Mean Number of Days With Precipitation 
Average Amount of Sunshine Per Year
Mean Daily Summer Temperature
Mean Daily Winter Temperature

16.9km/hr(10mph)
25 days
112 days
30cm (11.8 in.)
152.5cm (60 in.)
113 days
2314.4 hours
23.0 C (73.4 F)
-8.0 C (16.0 F)

AREA PERSONALITIES

NORTHWEST CALGARY: A mixture of the old established areas and the newer move- up market. There are a number of newer upper-end districts as well as. This area includes the Foothills Hospital, the University of Calgary and S.A.I.T. and affords easy access to Highway #1 and the mountains.

NORTHEAST CALGARY: This is one of the more affordable area of Calgary and is best suited to young families on lower incomes. Housing is less expensive than other areas of the city and there are plenty of schools, playgrounds and parks. This area includes the Peter Lougheed Centre, two huge golf courses, and three large shopping centres.

SOUTHEAST CALGARY: Close to the Bow River in Inglewood we find the original settlements surrounding Fort Calgary. Here you'll find a number of heritage homes that people have renovated. South about 20 minutes from downtown are the award winning Lake districts of Calgary. Fish Creek Park, a unique provincial park within our city's limits , runs 7 miles across the south end of Calgary with miles of walking, hiking and hiking trails, playgrounds and picnic areas, plus its own public Lake Sikome. Surrounding this are a number of new districts in the middle to high income range.

SOUTHWEST AND DOWNTOWN CALGARY: This area encompasses the downtown core, the prestigious Mount Royal and Elbow Park districts with stately homes dating from the late 1800's, to Signal Hill and Prominence Point, which boasts magnificent city and mountain views from new 2 and 3 storey homes. Along the River Park valley past the Elbow River to areas developed after the 1950's, you can add approximately 10 years per district going south, finally arriving at Fish Creek Park and to the areas still in the developmental stages. This part of the city also features the Glenmore Reservoir with its park system, the Rockyview Hospital and Heritage Park. The Calgary Zoo is located at the northeast corner of this quadrant and is classed as one of the finest zoos in Canada.

THE COUNTRY PROPERTIES: There are small acreage developments of generally 2-4 acre lots surrounding the city. If you're looking for property in the Calgary or surrounding area please fill out the form and we will get back to you ASAP!

Calgary communities are easily accessed by the excellent roadway and transportation systems. The largest of our roads are called "Trails", and these are generally 6 lane routes. The "C-Train", our light rapid transit system, takes you from the northwest, by the University, to downtown, up to the far northeast, and far south central to Somerset (Marquis of Lorne Trail).

The districts of Calgary, whether new or old, follow a similar pattern. If the area, for example, is named Oakridge, all the street names would start with "Oak"; i.e.: Oakmoor Dr. or Oakwood Place. It is important when looking for a specific address that you note that it is "Way", "Drive" or "Green", because there could be Oakmoor Drive, Oakmoor Place and Oakmoor Crescent, in the same district. Also note the quadrant VERY carefully, because there could be identical numerical addresses in all 4 quarters of the city. We start with 100 and move up by 100 each block from Centre Street running north and south, and the avenues starting with the Bow River running east and west. So if your address is 3604 -18 Street, S.W., you know that it is between 35th and 36 Avenues on 18th Street in the southwest quadrant. As with any city however, they do sometimes throw you a curve, but you can generally rely on our system.

CALGARY DISTRICT AND AREALMAPS

Map of Calgary

Calgary & Surrounding Area Map 154K image