Calgary - Planning Neighbourhoods For the Future

As our culture moves away from the auto-centricin the new neighbourhoods.
style of living that influenced the way our cities wereFor residents living in established neighbourhoods or
previously designed, we see more and more townsprospective buyers looking to buy into older
and cities being created with an emphasis on thecharacter homes in Calgary, rest assured that the
people who live in them. Areas that were designedolder neighbourhoods will experience little change. The
with cars in mind tend to be sprawling, with widemajority of the plans pertain to new developments in
streets for lots of cars, no easy pedestrian access,the city so that the likelihood of urban sprawl is
and shopping areas far from residential areas.minimized; urban sprawl can be detrimental to the
More and more with city and town planning, we areecosystem surrounding the city, especially in a natural
seeing a shift away from auto-centric planningwonderland like Calgary.
towards a more resident focused plan. Calgary hasThe Plan It Calgary project makes a lot of sense for
adopted a long term plan for the city to make futureour needs and concerns in modern day housing. With
development greener and more user friendly. Plan Itthe growing trend in North America of obesity in
Calgary is a project with both the city of Calgary andboth adults and children, it is vital for neighbourhoods
thousands of its residents to better expand on theto be more pedestrian-friendly and have nearby
city's neighbourhoods and transportation networksamenities so that residents are more likely to walk
over the next 50 years.the short distances to use them. With the cost of
The Plan takes into account many of the samefuel, it is also important to focus on making it easy
principles that you find in New Urbanismfor residents to not have to use their cars; mixed
developments such as mixed-use neighbourhoodsuse spaces can help people work closer to home and
that incorporate different types of housing andbetter public transit can help people save money by
businesses that allow residents with a variety ofallowing them to leave their cars at home when they
housing needs to live in areas that also havedo need to travel farther afield.
amenities within walkable distances. Plan It CalgaryKeep an eye on the exciting new neighbourhood
also incorporates nearby usable green spaces anddevelopments in the works for the already-amazing
improved public transit to downscale the use of carscity of Calgary.