As Calgary’s oldest neighbourhood, Inglewood has endured many identity changes in its 150-year history. Located east of downtown at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, over the past 30 years, Inglewood has become known as one of Calgary’s pre-eminent arts and shopping districts, particularly attractive to shoppers in the warmer months.

Inglewood’s main street, 9th Avenue S.E., is lined with brick heritage buildings and single-level shops, some that date back more than a century to when the area was known as Brewery Flats.

Inglewood marks the east end of Music Mile, with the headquarters of Calgary Folk Fest and live music staple Ironwood Stage and Grill here. Hipster hotspots, vintage shops and brewpubs juxtapose with the grit of Inglewood’s past in the form of the Blackfoot Truckstop Diner and Proline Shooters, a gun shop located next to a florist. This mix of new and old creates a weird charm celebrated by residents and makes it an urban experience unlike any other in Calgary.

Inglewood’s proximity to the Bow River and its many green spaces — including Pearce Estate Park and the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary — makes it a haven for outdoor excursions, whether it be walking, cycling or water-sport activities at the Harvie Passage.

Unique Challenge

Many locals would like to stick to the KISS principle — Keep Inglewood Slightly Sleezy — as the neighbourhood continues to densify and decaying bungalows get replaced with shiny new infills. Character is a hard thing to quantify, but part of the creative heart of Inglewood lies in its old buildings and mix of retail, industrial and residential spaces, and many locals try to protect that from erasure. — S.Y.

What the Neighbours Say

“My wife and I really love Inglewood. We’ve got two dogs, so we spend a lot of time on the pathways and along the rivers. What’s made it more attractive as well are all the great dining options and breweries that have opened since I moved here from the Beltline. And I just love all the brick and just the rundown vibe of it here.” — Michael Magnan, a landscape architect who moved to Inglewood 10 years ago.

Neighbourhood Highlights

Esker Foundation

This dynamic, 15,000-square-foot gallery has a mission to break down the traditional barriers between contemporary art and everyday life. Throughout the year, Esker orchestrates three seasonal exhibitions: fall, winter and spring/summer. Its street-level Project Space serves as an artistic laboratory where emerging and established creators breathe new life into the neighbourhood’s cultural fabric.

Everyone’s invited free of charge to explore, engage and be inspired through thought-provoking exhibitions, illuminating publications and interactive programs that make contemporary art accessible.

espy

Since 2009, espy has transformed how Calgarians and clients worldwide approach fashion. The designer clothing boutique specializes in helping clients discover their unique style through professional styling services, an extensive collection of quality clothing and footwear (including work by Canadian designers), and expert denim fittings.

Recognized as one of Canada’s top independent fashion retailers, espy’s mission remains clear: making self-confidence through fashion accessible to everyone, regardless of age, gender or style, all while maintaining a range of price points that keep quality fashion within reach.

And beyond retail, espy has raised more than $350,000 for Calgary charities through innovative events like #nakedespy, an annual fundraiser for the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre.

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary

The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary has been Calgary’s secret nature preserve since 1929. This 36-hectare slice of wilderness is a testament to urban wildlife at its finest, where curious visitors can wander two kilometres of serene trails and perhaps catch a deer peeking through the trees, spy a beaver in the lagoon, or spot one of the sanctuary’s feathered celebrities (think Mourning Warblers and Hairy Woodpeckers) among the 270 bird species that call the sanctuary home.

Bikes and four-legged friends (with the exception of service animals) need to sit this adventure out. The sanctuary’s Nature Centre stands ready to help you unlock the mysteries of its wild residents. This urban oasis proves you don’t need to leave the city to find yourself in the heart of the wild. — L.K.

By the Numbers

Population: 4,130

Median Household Income: $87,000

Housing Types: 28% single-detached; 27% apartments less than 5 storeys

Percentage of owners: 56%

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Established in 2001, this southwest neighbourhood is a convenient home base for families and singles, alike, thanks to its proximity to a wide range of amenities and attractions. While there’s plenty of appeal right on its doorstep, other handy destinations like Aspen Landing Shopping Centre, WestHills Towne Centre and CF Market Mall are all just a short drive away.

While access to major roadways like Bow Trail S.W. makes it easy to head downtown for a bite, foodies can also find plenty of local dining options close to home with restaurants like Brekkie, Vin Room West, Mercato West, Una Pizza + Wine, and Blanco Cantina. The neighbourhood also offers amenities like grocery stores, fitness studios and salons. Even more local produce, products and bites are just 10 minutes away at the Calgary Farmers’ Market West.

West Springs is also a great community for those who enjoy outdoor recreation — the neighbourhood is also a 10-minute drive from Canada Olympic Park’s beloved ski hills and outdoor activities, plus there’s easy highway access to hit the slopes in Canmore and Banff. — A.W.

Unique Challenge

The neighbourhood caters to families, with a quarter of the population under 14 and another quarter in their 40s (a.k.a., those kids’ parents). Over 60 per cent of households are couples with children. With only seven per cent of homes in apartments, there aren’t currently many opportunities for aging in place.

What the Neighbours Say

“West Springs offers the perfect balance of convenience and community. It’s close to downtown and it’s incredibly easy to access key areas of the city. With the recent opening of Stoney Trail, you can really zip in and out of the area in no time. It’s also really family friendly, with lots of parks to enjoy and walkable to grocery stores and restaurants.” — Cher Kotulski, a West Springs resident for the past six years.

Neighbourhood Highlights

Brekkie

Brekkie brings a fresh take on breakfast culture to Calgary’s west end, where chef-driven creativity meets cozy neighbourhood vibes in a thoughtfully designed space. Don’t let the potential wait deter you (pro tip: join the waitlist ahead of time online); this 85th Street S.W. gem delivers equally impressive sweet and savoury options that are worth the wait.

From the “famous” eggs Benedict selections to seasonally rotating delights like sugar plum French toast and pumpkin cranberry pancakes, each dish showcases locally sourced ingredients with flair. The menu hits all the right notes.

More than just a restaurant, Brekkie has mastered the balance of feeling both sophisticated and homey.

Mercato West – Pizzevino Bar

Mercato West is a lively one-stop shop Italian culinary destination. The philosophy is simple: share everything, with generous portions perfect for family-style dining. While the ristorante crafts modern takes on traditional classics, the casual Pizzevino Bar serves up perfect pizzas and other casual fare, and the market beckons with treasures like three flavours of tiramisu and fresh pasta in every shape imaginable. It’s a dream for busy families.

Mercato’s ready-to-heat meals showcase homemade classics from cannelloni to lasagna, paired with an array of house sauces.

Whether you’re shopping for ingredients, grabbing dinner to go or letting them cater your next party, Mercato West brings a taste of Italy to Calgary’s west end.

West Springs Playground & Park

West Springs offers a perfect blend of recreational amenities for families of all ages. The community’s interconnected walking and cycling paths wind around a peaceful pond, linking together its thoughtfully designed play spaces. Active families can choose between two playgrounds: a toddler-friendly area in Westpark and the West Springs School playground, which include an impressive rope web climber. In the summer, The City sets up a mobile Skate & Scoot skatepark at West Ridge School. The City-managed tennis court adds to the recreational mix, while abundant green spaces and pathways provide peaceful spots for nature walks and afternoon picnics. — L.K.

By the Numbers

Population: 11,560

Median Household Income: $172,000

Housing Types: 70% single-detached; 15% row house

Percentage of owners: 88%

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On a summer weekend night in the Beltline, there’s a palpable buzz as Calgarians pop in and out of local bars; head to reservations at one of the 100-plus restaurants, lounges and cafés on the bustling 17th Avenue S.W. strip; or simply explore the area with an ice cream cone in hand. This energy, not to mention the neighbourhood’s walkability (it has a walk score of 91) and access to countless restaurants, shops and amenities, are all key draws for many residents, as well as the visitors.

The Beltine came to be when the Connaught and Victoria Park neighbourhoods merged in 2003, and the area takes its name from an early 1900s trolley streetcar route. Peppered with historical architecture dating back more than 100 years, the inner-city community begs to be explored with attractions like its many parks (for both humans and dogs), the first public library in Alberta (Central Memorial Library), and event hot spots like the Scotiabank Saddledome and BMO Centre. If that weren’t enough, active business improvement areas like the 17th Ave BIA, the Victoria Park BIA and The Blox ensure plenty of events and activations to enjoy throughout the year. — A.W.

Unique Challenge

It’s hard to build community in a neighbourhood with high turnover — neighbours just don’t have the time to get involved. According to the City, three quarters of current Beltline residents moved into the neighbourhood in the past five years. Compared to some of our other Best Neighbourhoods, that’s very high. In Saddle Ridge, more than half of residents have been in the community longer than five years and, in Elbow Park, two thirds have been in the community for more than five years.

What the Neighbours Say

“When I moved to the Beltline from the suburbs in 2020, I didn’t expect to make many connections. Surprisingly, I’ve made quite a few — the baristas at my favourite coffee shop, my neighbours on my floor, the folks at the run club that meets in Lindsay Park. There’s no shortage of things to do, people to meet and places to go in the Beltline.” — Tsering Asha, Avenue’s senior editor, who has lived in the Beltline since 2020.

Neighbourhood Highlights

BUMP Festival

Every August, the streets buzz with creative electricity as artists from around the globe scale buildings and make their mark on the city through giant painted murals, while alley parties pulse with music. BUMP leaves in its wake a living gallery.

Since 2017, this public art movement has painted life into every corner of the neighbourhood. Today, more than 360 installations cover the city’s buildings, each telling its own visual story.

“[We] foster a sense of community, encouraging residents and visitors to engage with their surroundings in new ways,” says Anna MacLaren, BUMP’s director of visual programming.

“BUMP has helped position Calgary as a leader in urban art, providing opportunities for both emerging and established artists to contribute to the city’s cultural fabric.”

Central Memorial Park

On the eastern edge of Central Memorial Park, the historic Memorial Park Library, Alberta’s first public library, adds a touch of architectural grandeur to this urban oasis. The western side of the park is dominated by the cenotaph that gives the park its name. On the southern edge lies the lovely Park by Sidewalk Citizen restaurant. And between them all is a delightful pocket of tranquility amidst the Beltline’s bustling streetscapes complete with manicured gardens, open lawns and two water fountains. In a neighbourhood where green spaces are rare, this park provides precious breathing room, lovingly tended by The City to become a summer showstopper that is a riot of floral colour.

First Street Market

With its converted warehouse feeling, soaring ceilings, exposed brick and bright modern finishes, this vibrant destination brings together an impressive collection of local culinary talent serving their most exciting concepts.

There’s something here to satisfy every craving, from Pure Viet’s authentic street food and K Town’s fried chicken, to La Mano’s handcrafted pasta and Moose & Poncho’s Mexican cuisine. Start your day with Friends with Benedicts’ breakfast classics, grab lunch from Hi-5 Burgers or Saffron Street’s Indian kitchen, or unwind with drinks in the evening.

With Alforno Bakery, Actually Pretty Good Pizza and Raw by Robyn’s fresh juices rounding out the offerings, the hard part is choosing what to eat, but that’s just another reason to keep coming back. — L.K.

By the Numbers

Population: 25,880

Median Household Income: $71,000

Housing Types: 86% apartments more than 5 storeys; 12% apartments less than 5 storeys

Percentage of owners: 25%

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Calgary, at its heart, is a river city. We work and play on the waters of the Bow and Elbow, and The City of Calgary relies on their glacial flows to provide us with a constant and clean water supply.

But, despite being a born-and-bred Calgarian, I didn’t truly appreciate how special Calgary’s rivers are as I was growing up. At first glance, it seemed to me that Calgary didn’t have a river culture at all. I travelled to other cities, including Brisbane, London and Paris, where the riverbanks are fully urbanized with roads and bike paths, restaurants, markets and public transportation up and down the waterways. It seemed to me these cities provided a life oriented towards their rivers in a way that Calgary didn’t. Brisbane, in particular, has an amazing “boat bus” (a moniker that I use affectionately) called the CityCat, which I love to bring up in just about any conversation that I can.

Through my travels, I often marvelled at how other cities had absorbed their rivers into their identity and culture, and I wondered why Calgary hadn’t done the same.

From the Beginning

The settlement of Calgary began where the Bow and Elbow meet, in 1875, when the North-West Mounted Police established Fort Calgary at their confluence of the two rivers. For generations before that, the Indigenous people of the region used this area as a gathering place with both practical and sacred purposes.

In the 1800s, Calgary settlers used the Bow River to transport lumber from the Rockies, floating it downstream until it was picked up at Prince’s Island and used to build some of the first homes here.

The rivers have always been an important part of Calgary’s history, and the city probably wouldn’t be here without them.

Calgary has always relied on the Bow River for many of its resources, from industrial transportation to water power, says Frank Frigo, manager of environmental management in The City of Calgary’s Climate & Environment business unit.

“The river is very much integrated with [Calgary’s history], and the city has grown radially around the river,” says Frigo. And, while we haven’t urbanized our waterways the way many cities have, especially in Europe, that’s actually the source of our unique river culture. In Calgary, there is life — people, plants and animals — in the actual river, not just alongside it.

Throughout the year, the flows of the Bow and Elbow can range from slow trickles to rushing torrents, and that volatility makes it risky to build any infrastructure nearby. Building up the banks with concrete and guiding the river, like Paris has done with much of the Seine, isn’t a good option either. Much of the area along the rivers is designated as a flood plain, and seasonal excess water needs this broad expanse of flat bank to expand into — if it doesn’t have space, flooding becomes an even higher risk.

“Some wonderful turns of fate, historically, have allowed us to maintain a more naturalized environment adjacent to the river than other urban centres of comparable size,” says Frigo. Specifically, he notes the significant plots of land repurchased by The City through the 1960s and ’70s and turned into the riparian parks (ecological areas along the banks of a river) that we know today. That philosophy continues in The City of Calgary’s drought and flood-management program, which takes a natural approach to controlling the rivers’ ebbs and flows.

“The Riparian Management Strategy looks specifically at ensuring that we’re maintaining room for the river,” says Frigo. That means accounting for the ups and downs of our rivers by providing space for their natural movements rather than by trying to control the banks.

“[The rivers] are influenced by the steep alpine terrain and high elevation that produces rapid runoff when there’s rainfall and then drops to almost nothing,” says Frigo, and so The City’s drought and flood management has to account for that. Fish in the rivers also rely on areas of high and low flow — to swim and spawn, respectively.

Calgary’s relationship to its rivers is special. We fish in their cold waters, spend our afternoons floating leisurely down them with our friends, picnic on their banks, and bike and hike along miles of riverside pathways. We are also terribly aware of the damage rivers can bring.

Overall, we respect the rivers. Whether we walk alongside and admire them, float down them, or simply drink their waters, the rivers connect us all. That is what makes Calgary’s river culture undeniably unique and beautiful.

Surf’s Up, Cowtown!

When Calgarians think of their rivers, recreation is top of mind for most. It’s hard not to feel connected to the city when you’re floating down the Bow through downtown on a blow-up raft, along with hundreds of others doing the same. Calgarians love to float, fish and frolic along the banks, but surfing is probably the last form of recreation you think of in landlocked Calgary.

The 2013 flood brought an immense flow of sediment with it. Some of that sediment piled up underneath the Louise Bridge that crosses from Kensington into the downtown core, and, as the river returned to normal flow, a surfable wave formed.

“That wave changed everything for Calgary,” says David Rousseau, a board member for the Alberta River Surfing Association (ARSA) and wave consultant for Surf Anywhere, a Calgary-based company that consults on river wave building around the world.

“We went from a bunch of river surfers going into the mountains [to Lower Kananaskis River], to having an opportunity right here,” Rousseau says.

But sediment doesn’t tend to stay in place. The wave slowly declined, and it hasn’t been usable for surfing for the past two to three years. To replace it, ARSA and Surf Anywhere have proposed a major project — the Calgary River Wave Park.

The project would include an adjustable wave (which could even be fully eliminated, if needed), and possibly an urban beach for viewing and a deep slow pool for swimmers and waders. Surf Anywhere estimates the park will cost just under $10 million, and could generate up to $6 million a year in economic impact. A similar project that Surf Anywhere completed in Bend, Ore., generated $4.8 million in economic impact in 2017.

Economic impact is great, but this project could also help with flood mitigation. The gravel bar that formed the natural wave in 2013 is considered one of the highest risk zones for future flooding, and ARSA is in talks with The City of Calgary to combine the Calgary River Wave Park project with lowering the gravel bar.

The City’s 10th Street Gravel Bar Flood Mitigation Project website notes: “There did not appear to be any technical, environmental, regulatory or other reasons to exclude a recreational wave from the project’s design. As a result, the recreational wave’s feasibility will continue to be reviewed as part of Detailed Design for the 10 Street Gravel Bar project.”

The project aligns with The City’s Downtown Strategy. If all goes to plan, construction of the Calgary River Wave Park could be finished by 2028. “Imagine having a world-class, adjustable wave in Calgary’s downtown,” says Rousseau. “You’ve got the city background, with the turquoise blue waters, and boom! A wave. The cultural impact, the economic impact, the safety impact, not just for surfers but for the tens of thousands of people that use the river every year. And the marketing impact? All of a sudden, Calgary is a surfing city. Now we’re talking.”

Both Sides Now

Living by the river comes with its benefits, of course, but it also comes with plenty of challenges.

There is no more obvious example than flooding. Visually, we can see the destruction that flooding rivers can cause in a matter of days.

During the 2013 flood, the Bow’s flow peaked at eight times its regular rate and the Elbow’s at more than 12 times. The floods caused $6 billion in damage across Southern Alberta. But the rivers’ volatilities affect Calgarians in many more unseen ways.

The City’s Flood Resilience Plan strikes a delicate balance between natural strategies — using bioengineering like plants and rock structures — to restore riparian areas and stabilize the bank erosion, and larger mitigation strategies like upstream dams to control flow on a larger scale.

Throw in recreational activities and biological sustainability on top of that, and the problem of managing the rivers only gets more complex.

“We’re very conscious of the recreational activities because we want people to love the river, but there’s a point of loving the river to death,” says Frigo. “The [Calgary River Wave Park] project is a great example [of finding that balance] because one of the things that’s good for the biology of the river is having a wide range of depths and velocities.”

Frigo and his department aim to strike a balance where fish still exist peacefully, plants can still grow and people can enjoy the river responsibly.

Calgary’s water systems are a masterclass in maintaining that balance.

According to Frigo, Calgarians use an average of 200 litres of water per capita per day for personal use, down from around 750 litres in the mid 1970s. As a result, we are affecting the natural flows of the river less, showing that maintaining balance in the river is important to Calgarians.

River Developments

Calgary’s rivers and their banks may be unusually natural for a large urban centre, but that’s not to say that we haven’t tried to build up our riverside infrastructure.

One of the most recognizable examples of this is Eau Claire Market. Opened in 1993, the shopping centre was billed as a riverside shopping destination, akin to Vancouver’s Granville Island.

Ultimately, a lack of use sent the shopping centre into a years-long decline, culminating in its demolition earlier this year.

But a shining example of a successful riverside business is located close to where the Market was — River Café. Owner Sal Howell opened the restaurant in 1991, and it has grown to become one of Calgary’s best restaurants, gaining national and international recognition.

Howell took over the building when it was just a small concession stand in Prince’s Island Park, and rebuilt it into the restaurant with fishing lodge decor to reflect the story of the Bow River. “If you look at the walls, it’s a collection of fly-fishing artifacts and cabin treasures, of sorts,” says Howell. “It’s a 100-per cent direct response to the opportunity of the location and the proximity to the river.”

If River Café is any indication of the city’s river culture, it demonstrates that Calgarians don’t want shiny new infrastructure that is near, but separate from the river — they want something that reflects the river’s natural character.

“Many a pitch has landed on my desk saying, ‘Why don’t you build a River Café in my development over here?’ but it wouldn’t belong there — just here,” Howell affirms.

Having a business so close to the river comes with challenges, though. The restaurant’s location on an island that doesn’t allow cars makes it difficult to maintain a steady stream of customers, especially during the colder months. And so, River Café closes during the month of January.

During the 2013 floods, the high water level made it into the lower floor of the restaurant, forcing Howell to shut down River Café for a period. The water levels rose so quickly that much of the restaurant’s equipment and a large portion of its wine cellar could not be saved.

Now Howell monitors the river’s flow rates almost daily during flood season, trying to be prepared for a sudden change of pace. “The restaurant has a rhythm, and the river has a rhythm,” she says. “With the seasons of the year, that all plays together, and we’re more in tune with the river because of it.

“Despite the devastation, that was a bonding experience for the people here at that time. We’ll never forget those moments.”

A River Culture of Our Own

A 2018 survey said that 88 per cent of Calgarians value and use our riparian parks and appreciate our rivers — in part, according to Frigo, because of their biodiversity and ecological functions and the aesthetics that come along with them.

Calgary has grown around these natural areas, and our river culture has grown around that. In a 2024 TEDx Talk given by Frigo titled The Bow River: Friend and Teacher, he describes the river as a connector — not only physically, flowing from the Rocky Mountain glaciers through Canada until it reaches Hudson Bay — but philosophically, as well.

During floods, Calgarians come together and work to protect our city. During drought, Calgarians work together to reduce their water usage.

Calgarians feel a sense of pride in our waters, and we’re lucky that our rivers are natural and crystal clear so we can enjoy activities like rafting, surfing, swimming and fishing.

Frigo takes his kids rafting every year, making sure to point out the interconnectedness of it all. “I tell [my daughter], ‘When you turn on the tap, this is where it comes from. And when it rains and water comes off our lot, this where it eventually goes.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Howell took the River Café team on a canoe trip down the Bow River, arriving at Prince’s Island. “We took this trip and celebrated the location we have, it was a great little reminder of what we fell in love with,” he says. ” You don’t get to experience the city from the water very often and after what we went through during the pandemic, you start to think about what really matters.”

Rousseau visits the river weekly, winter included. “It’s a very important part of my life. Both through surfing and giving back to the community by teaching people who want to get into the sport [of river surfing].”

And, as for myself, I’ve also come to appreciate how Calgary’s river culture is unique to our city — reflecting us, but also changing us.

In a way, Calgary’s relationship with its rivers is one of “live and let live.” The rivers teach us to go with the flow, so to speak — to choose our battles, and to work with nature, rather than push back against it. That’s a lesson we can all stand to learn.

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The town of Bowness was amalgamated into Calgary in 1964 and most of the small-town allure and timeless community spirit remains in this west-Calgary pillar.

Bordered by the Bow River to the north and east, and the Trans-Canada Highway to the south, and home to the iconic Bowness Park, the neighbourhood sees visits from nature-loving Calgarians, outdoor sports enthusiasts and families every season of the year.

Bowness is a socioeconomically diverse neighbourhood, with many of the former military houses (after the Second World War, the Canadian government offered one-acre plots to veterans in an area called “Soldiers’ Settlements”) sharing the community with large luxury homes lining the Bow River.

This diversity is also seen in the variety of commercial offerings. The community has a quirky vibe with restaurants such as Angel’s Drive In, a 1950s-style burger spot, and Cadence Coffee, a throwback diner space where locals gather for brunch. The Mainstreet Bowness Business Improvement Area features more than 60 businesses, including indie artisan shops like Light Cellar Super Foods and Grasby Art Studio, and enduring outdoor-recreation spots like Bow Cycle & Sports.

Unique Challenge

While Bowness boasts a strong sense of community and beautiful river access, its ongoing transformation brings challenges. Residents and civic leaders have urged The City to halt densification until aging infrastructure is updated. Last year’s Bearspaw South Feeder Main break occurred in nearby Montgomery, shutting down businesses and water service in both neighbourhoods. — S.Y.

What the Neighbours Say

“We originally moved to Bowness in 2021 because it was close enough to downtown and right on the river. But we immediately discovered that the real magic of this neighbourhood is the people. Folks will say hello to you on the street and some of my neighbours have become close friends. When the water crisis happened last year, we all found ways to take care of each other. I can’t imagine living anywhere else now.” — Gideon Mentie, volunteer board member at the Bowness Community Association.

Neighbourhood Highlights

Brewsmith Brewing

Located on Bowness’s main street, Brewsmith Brewing opened last November and quickly established itself as a community-oriented, family-friendly space. “We’re really the only brewery in northwest Calgary, and we’ve got really strong ties to the neighbourhood,” says taproom manager Brian Cardwell. Visitors can enjoy board games, live music on Thursdays and rotating art exhibitions featuring two Calgary artists at a time.

The venue also offers local artisanal products including cards, art and soap. The establishment’s commitment to local partnerships extends to featuring Eau Claire Distillery cocktails and Tuesday Brewing non-alcoholic beer.

Bowness Park

This year-round park is where childhood memories are made: climbing trees, roasting s’mores, skipping rocks, paddle boating across the lagoon and skating under twinkling lights.

Before the First World War, local developer John Hextall designed the park as a weekend retreat for Calgarians in what was then the town of Bowness. Today, the park continues to offer year-round activities centred around the Seasons of Bowness Park restaurant and market where visitors can warm up with hot cocoa, or sit down for a meal. They also make a takeaway Picnic in the Park complete with a basket, blanket and Frisbee!

Park amenities include boat rentals, a children’s train ride, a wading pool, playgrounds and many picnic sites with shelters. Winter activities include cross-country skiing, rentable ice bikes and Crokicurl.

Bow Cycle & Sports

Located across from the historic streetcar on Bowness’s main street, Bow Cycle is a cyclist’s paradise stocked with everything from fat bikes and cargo carriers to mountain bikes and e-bikes, all available for purchase or rent. The iconic shop is a one-stop cycling haven, featuring a full-service repair department, walls adorned with race jerseys and mountain biking maps, and every accessory imaginable from garage storage solutions to car carriers, shoes and kids’ gear.

“Bow Cycle, this is where the fun begins” isn’t just a slogan — it’s the spirit that keeps this cycling hub rolling, welcoming everyone from training-wheel novices to seasoned road warriors through its doors. — L.K.

By the Numbers

Population: 10,770

Median Household Income: $72,000

Housing Types: 42% single-detached; 26% apartments less than 5 storeys

Percentage of owners: 52%

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A proud alum of the former Olds High School who married his high-school sweetheart, Bertrand Bickersteth is a poet, playwright, essayist and scholar of Alberta Black history. These days, he lives in Calgary and teaches communications at Olds College. Recently, he also served as writer-in-residence at Athabasca University. In short, he’s a deeply entrenched Albertan.

Still, Bickersteth, whose family emigrated to Edmonton from Sierra Leone when he was an infant, is regularly asked where he’s really from.

“People aren’t always satisfied with my answer when I say, ‘I’m from here,’” says Bickersteth. “I got asked that question so often growing up that I felt I couldn’t be Albertan.”

Though he felt alienated, he used that feeling of not belonging to seek connection to his home province through the lens of Black identity. The rich history he discovered of Black Albertan fur traders, pioneers, homesteaders and cowboys roots him and informs his formidable creative work. Bickersteth’s multiple-award-winning poetry collection, The Response of Weeds, explores the question of what it means to be both Black and from the Prairies. In 2020, he also had a role in acclaimed author Cheryl Foggo’s documentary, John Ware Reclaimed, about Alberta’s legendary cowboy.

Lately, Bickersteth has tasked himself with bringing forgotten Black cowboys into the digital present by creating visual poetry and a unique typeface, or font, using the symbols from their cattle brands.

“Branding marks are a form of expression, a language,” he says. So far, Bickersteth has uncovered at least eight brands registered by early Black Alberta cowboys. Many untold stories remain in the province’s Black history; who better to tell them than one of our own literary mavericks?

Bertrand Bickersteth’s High Five

These five things, reflecting intersections between history and race, move and shake this poet and educator.

“The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks is a brilliant anthology of the history of Black cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin. I enjoy cooking, but I am also very much a person who reads cookbooks more than one who cooks from them. This one ticks all the boxes for me and, most importantly, is a moving example of how Black history can be carefully sieved from the ephemera of what’s been ignored in the past.”

“The poet Langston Hughes is a massive influence on me, and I regularly go back to his poem, ‘The Negro Speaks of Rivers.’ I love its reconfiguring of landscape into historical perspectives. I also love that Hughes was a founding contributor to the Harlem Renaissance — the Black literary and arts movement of the 1920s and ’30s — and that, like me, he was a prairie boy, born in Missouri, raised in Kansas.”

“The song ‘Hipnosis’ by Archie Shepp from his 1975 album, A Sea of Faces. It’s avant-garde jazz, so not for everyone. For me, though, Shepp is intentionally trying to give voice to the unvoiced growing pains of Black America. When you listen to it with that perspective, it’s nothing short of spine-chilling. I seek to inspire at that level in my own work.”

“I inherited my piano from my wife’s family, who only managed to get one of their six kids to make it through enough lessons to play. It’s a very plain upright with no brand name anywhere. It has so many problems and, I won’t lie, has become something of a landing spot for household ‘things without a home.’ I had planned to fix it as a [COVID-19] pandemic project, but, ahem, haven’t managed to get to it yet. Still, I love it and squeeze whatever music I can out of it.”

“Grass. It defines us here. We live in grasslands. Historically, the cattle industry grew out of the growing patterns of grasses. Is there anything more Albertan than wheat and cattle? Many successful grasses that grow on this continent originate from Africa, haphazardly brought over on slave ships as bedding, as seeds that were collected or on the bodies of Africans. Some of these grasses, like Bermudagrass and Kikuyu, are today used on golf courses. There you have it: grass.”

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From the outside, it looked like Karen and George Gosbee lived the perfect Calgary life for most of their 23-year marriage.

The couple stood cheek-to-cheek and smiling in photos that ran in the society pages of the Calgary Herald. Karen was a tall, blonde philanthropist who volunteered for local institutions like the Edge School and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; George built two successful investment firms and co-owned the now-inactive NHL team, the Arizona Coyotes. The family’s three children excelled at school, hockey and ballet.

In 2017, a different picture emerged about what life had been like inside the Gosbee home. George died by suicide that November. He had kept his diagnoses of bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression hidden from the world, and had abused human growth hormone, prescription medication and alcohol.

He’d also abused his wife. At first, she hesitated to admit that fact publicly — the stories of things that happened inside their home would change the reputation of a man who’d been a titan in Calgary’s business community. And what happened in their marriage didn’t always fit with what Karen thought intimate-partner violence looked like. For years, Karen had downplayed the danger in their marriage. “I didn’t realize I was in an abusive relationship,” she says.

In Karen’s own words, George had physically hurt her “less than a handful of times” over two decades. Once he tried to strangle her in their bathroom, leaving a neck injury that still causes her pain. Another time, he’d pounded her face in an Argentina hotel room.

But George also used spyware to track Karen’s text messages and emails. He belittled her, telling her she had early onset dementia. He sent her torrents of rage-filled texts and calls. He withheld information about the family finances — her financial requests had to be approved by George or his assistant. He once secretly cancelled her credit cards before she was hosting a fundraising lunch.

After George’s death, Karen started reading the growing literature around intimate-partner violence and saw her marriage in the pages.

Coercive control is a pattern of behaviour where an abuser works to humiliate, manipulate and diminish their partner’s sense of self-empowerment, with the goal of dominating and controlling them. It takes different forms, such as limiting a person’s access to their own finances, isolating them from family and friends, selecting their clothes, coercing them into sex, or tracking their whereabouts.

Coercive control is part of the epidemic of gender-based violence happening in secret across the country. Psychological abuse — the hallmark of coercive control — is the most common form of intimate-partner violence in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Most people never report it to police, but with devastating consequences — coercive control is a strong predictor of femicide* in intimate-partner relationships. Studies show that coercive control in an abusive relationship escalates the risk of fatality by nine times, and cases involving coercive control are more likely to result in serious harm than cases involving discrete acts of physical violence.

Karen says she might have left their marriage earlier had she understood the risks. She’d always felt that she needed to stay until her children came of age. “If I had understood the danger that I seriously was in, maybe I could have made more of an informed decision as to how I needed to get out,” she says.

She has since become an advocate for survivors of intimate-partner violence, and for better mental health and addictions services. In 2019, then-Mayor Naheed Nenshi asked her to join The City of Calgary’s Community Action on Mental Health and Addiction Stewardship Group. In 2020, she wrote a book called A Perfect Nightmare about her marriage.

Women who are struggling to break out of abusive relationships reach out to Karen privately to ask what they do. “A lot of times, they don’t know the actual danger they’re in. The first thing I’ll ask them is: ‘Has he ever tried to strangle you? Are there guns in the house?’ A lot of times they’ll be like, ‘Oh, it’s not that bad, you know?”

Women underplay the risks when they are in abusive relationships, especially when the perpetrator primarily relies on psychological means of torture, she points out.

People who work with and for survivors of intimate-partner violence are pushing for better awareness of coercive control. They argue that, if we’re to stop intimate-partner violence, we need to understand coercive control in order to recognize it. Many advocates believed that major change was finally at hand after NDP MP Laurel Collins introduced a private member’s bill to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to create an offence of exercising coercive control over an intimate partner in 2023. The bill, C-332, made it past all three readings in the House of Commons (backed by the rare support of all parties) and past second reading in the Senate. But, when Justin Trudeau resigned as prime minister, Parliament was prorogued in January 2025, and the bill died.

“It was a tragic setback,” says Leslie Hill, executive director of Discovery House, which runs shelter and support groups for families affected by domestic violence.

The week before Parliament progrogued, four women were killed by intimate-partner violence in Canada — including one in Calgary and another in Edmonton. More have been killed since: statistics for the first six months of 2025 are not yet available, but, on average, a woman is killed by a former or current intimate partner every six days in Canada.

The concept of “coercive control” grew out of research done on prisoners of war during the 1950s.

Sociologist Albert D. Biderman studied American men who’d been captured by Communist forces during the Korean War, and wrote false confessions in captivity.

Biderman learned that the men had been subjected to a regimen of psychological techniques to undermine their moral strength. Their captors used eight methods: isolation, monopolization of perception, degradation, exhaustion, threats, occasional indulgences, demonstrations of omnipotence and omniscience, and the enforcement of trivial demands.

Taken together, these techniques were a teaching method for POWs. Through fear and stress, they taught the prisoners how to comply with their captors’ demands. Biderman put these techniques together in a tool explaining coercive methods of control, now known as Biderman’s Chart of Coercion. American military trainers at Guantánamo Bay following the 9/11 attacks used this chart verbatim to conduct interrogation training.

Physical violence is not listed anywhere on Biderman’s chart — only the threat of it is. Physical pain “is not a necessary nor particularly effective method of inducing compliance,” Biderman wrote. The threat of violence was often more successful for the captors than violence itself.

In the decades following Biderman’s work, people noticed a similar pattern of coercion used on survivors of intimate-partner violence. Physical violence was common (and cruel), but not the worst part of the abuse for women, writes Jess Hill, an investigative journalist whose 2019 book, See What You Made Me Do, includes a history of coercive control. Some women weren’t subjected to physical violence at all, but they endured a kind of psychological and emotional torture that robbed them of their autonomy and ability to make decisions.

People working with domestic-violence survivors adopted Biderman’s chart of coercion to describe the techniques used by perpetrators of domestic abuse. In 2007, Evan Stark, a forensic social worker who researched domestic violence for 30 years with his physician wife, Dr. Anne Flitcraft, gave the pattern revealed in Biderman’s work a name — coercive control.

The idea that an abused woman is a “battered woman” (a term that’s rarely used anymore), or that only physical abuse counts as “real abuse,” remains the prevailing view of many in the public and the legal system, and of many abused women themselves, says Andrea Silverstone, CEO of Sagesse, an Alberta non-profit that works to prevent domestic violence. This restrictive definition of abuse hurts women. If coercive control was widely recognized as abuse, more people would recognize dangerous situations and fewer people would ask why women don’t just walk away, Silverstone explains.

“It helps to understand that [coercive control] is a removal or a colonization of a person’s identity to the point that they’re no longer able to express their personal agency or make decisions in their own best interest,” she says.

After years of lobbying from advocates, governments are beginning to recognize that coercive control is an often-deadly form of abuse and should be viewed as a crime. In 2013, the U.K.’s Home Office officially changed its definition of domestic violence to include coercive control. Two years later, England and Wales became the first jurisdiction to criminalize coercive control. Since then, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Australia have followed.

In Canada, Silverstone and other advocates have been calling for a similar law for almost a decade. They say legislation will help survivors recognize when they are living in danger and will help police respond in cases of coercive control. “What we hear from the police and our clients is that, when this pattern exists, there aren’t tools in the justice system to support intervention,” says Hill. There are laws for physical assault and stalking, she points out. “But, when it’s this kind of insidious pattern of abuse that the police are able to see, they don’t have legislative tools to intervene.”

Says Silverstone: “It’s sort of shameful that Canada doesn’t have this legislation when so many other jurisdictions that are equivalent Commonwealth jurisdictions do. I feel like it’s a no-brainer, and it shouldn’t be taking as long a journey as it’s taking.”

This belief isn’t universal among people who’ve dedicated their careers to studying and preventing domestic violence. Some worry that criminalizing coercive control may have unintended consequences. Jennifer Koshan, professor of law at the University of Calgary, argued to Parliament and Justice Canada against criminalization of coercive control. She says that a criminal law of coercive control could be used against victims — a pattern that she sees in the family law system.

Since March 2021, Canada’s Divorce Act has recognized “coercive and controlling behaviour” as a form of family violence. Koshan and her colleagues’ research shows that fathers often respond to allegations of family violence by claiming that they are the real victims of coercive control because mothers sought to restrict their access to their kids. “Now women are sometimes being found to be coercive and controlling, simply when they’re trying to protect their children from violence — that’s seen as controlling their child’s relationship with the other parent,” Koshan says.

Koshan has other concerns, too. A coercive control law could disproportionately hurt marginalized groups, particularly Indigenous and racialized people who are already over-represented in the criminal justice system. Although Indigenous peoples account for approximately five per cent of the adult population in Canada, they make up 28 per cent of all people receiving federal sentences in Canada; Black people, at four per cent of the adult population of Canada, account for nine per cent of sentenced offenders under federal jurisdiction. Koshan questions whether a specific law would meaningfully improve the lives of women targeted by coercive control. In the U.K., when the definition of domestic violence was changed to include coercive control, calls to police for domestic violence increased 31 per cent over the next three years. But it’s not clear that more calls led to positive change for survivors.

“For me, until we do a much better job of understanding how criminalizing this particular form of violence could end up being used against the most marginalized members of society, I just don’t think it’s something we should adopt,” says Koshan. Criminalizing coercive control would require a fundamental shift in the way that judges and prosecutors think about the law, she explains. The legal system takes an incident-based approach to violence: one act of violence is a crime. But coercive control is a pattern, often made up of smaller acts that could, in the hands of a powerful storyteller, be presented as harmless or even romantic.

“The best analogy I’ve heard, but it’s not a legal analogy, is that understanding the difference between incidents of violence and coercive control is like the difference between looking at a photograph and looking at a film,” says Koshan. “If you look at a photograph, it captures a moment in time but if you really want to know what is going on in a particular relationship, you have to see the whole film.”

Advocates who work with domestic violence survivors say they share concerns about unintended consequences of criminalizing coercive control. But any potential downsides could be prevented by careful monitoring and studying of the effects, they argue. One essential component that critics and advocates agree on is that Canada needs an expert advisory panel on domestic violence. The panel could be on watch to ensure the law is used as intended. But so far, Canada has failed to act on this idea. The Mass Casualty Commission, the public inquiry into a 2020 two-day killing spree in Nova Scotia that started as an act of domestic violence, called for such an expert advisory group. Nothing has come of it.

Everyone who spoke with Avenue for this story called for more training of police and judges, and for more resources and funding. Most also called for additional shelter spaces. They want action that demonstrates that the epidemic of domestic violence is not binary — only victims and the perpetrators — but a long-standing societal problem that requires widespread change.

Glenn Andruschuk, a staff sergeant in the Calgary Police Service’s Domestic Conflict Unit, is among those who support changing the Criminal Code to include coercive control. Doing so would help the police with intervening in domestic violence cases, he says.

But a legal change is not at the top of his wish list for preventing domestic violence. His top priority is more funding for things like shelter beds, counselling and other supports for shelters, along with ads and awareness campaigns. And he wants an education program for kids in schools across Alberta that has a singular message about domestic violence: “It’s not okay, but it is okay to speak up.”

Karen Gosbee grew up in a home affected by mental illness and substance abuse. She learned to stay quiet in times of crisis. She carried those childhood habits into adulthood, and didn’t speak out about the horrors going on behind the scenes in what looked like an Instagram-perfect life.

After George died, she wanted to change the narrative around domestic violence — helping people understand that it’s not only happening in homes where women have bruises. Sometimes, the wounds are invisible.

*The predominance of women as victims is significant, which is not to undermine the importance or significance of men who also face intimate-partner violence.

Reported domestic violence occurrences in Calgary in 2024: 4,502 (4.4 per cent increase from 2023)

Reported domestic conflict calls (no violence): 18,964 (1.7 per cent decrease from 2023)

This story was created with the support of the Avenue Community Story Development Fund. The Fund supports the creation of local reporting on issues such as intimate-partner violence, mental health and addiction, the housing crisis and more. Thank you to our partners, including The Calgary Foundation. To find out more, or contribute, visit AvenueCalgary.com/StoryFund

The post A Silent Violence appeared first on Avenue Calgary.

Avenue magazine’s mission is to engage audiences and create connected communities through trusted storytelling. We’re experts in the city, and it is our privilege to highlight the diverse and exciting stories that make Calgary unique. Championing Calgary is part of everything we do.

Beyond best restaurants, fashion, Top 40 and innovative thinkers, we’re also deeply interested in the many issues facing Calgary and its citizens today, such as mental health, intimate partner violence, addiction, the housing crisis, the environment and other social issues.

We explore these issues thoughtfully, critically and through a solutions-focused lens, highlighting the Calgarians who work to improve life here and build the city of the future.

We know that our readers are deeply interested in this content. But, these are not always the stories that traditional advertisers want their marketing messages to appear next to. And because our primary revenue stream currently is from advertisers, we can’t tackle this content as much or as regularly as we’d like to. And reporting on topics like these require more work from our writers, editors and fact checkers to ensure that complex stories are told well.

We need community engagement to cover these stories more often and more thoroughly.

What is the Community Story Development Fund?

Avenue’s Community Story Development Fund provides a way for local organizations and community members to directly support the creation of coverage in the magazine on important issues. The fund pays writers, editors and fact-checkers to tackle these issues in depth with care and sensitivity, while reflecting a diversity of voices and including rigorous research and engaging design.

The full editorial cost for a feature-length story of approximately 2,500 words is approximately $12,000 depending on the complexity of the reporting. This does not include the costs of printing and distribution, which RedPoint Media covers as part of our regular business practice.

The Community Story Development Fund ensures ongoing coverage of these important issues.

What Does My Support Get Me?

First and foremost, those who give to the Community Story Development Fund help ensure that these more challenging stories about the future of our city are covered in a popular and widely read local publication. Your support helps us connect Calgarians to important stories and raise awareness of critical issues. The outcome is a community that is better connected and a citizenship that focuses on the local solutions as well as being aware of local concerns.

Direction on Topics:

You can choose to direct your support to a specific issue of importance to you or your organization. This year we will focus Community Story coverage on mental health, intimate partner violence and the housing crisis. While the editorial team will have independence on choosing the final direction on the coverage within these topics, we welcome supporters’ feedback and thoughts.

We’ll Acknowledge Your Support:

Every story that is funded by the Community Story Development Fund will include a specific mention of that support. For example, “This story was funded through the Community Story Development Fund. Our partners include…”

For corporate supporters, depending on your level of support, your organization’s logo may be included in promotion of the fund as well.

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Your contribution ensures that Avenue will be able to keep reporting on social, political and environmental issues in the city.

Help Contribute to Local Reporting Today

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Summer is busy for bees — and for the growing ranks of Calgary’s backyard beekeepers for whom these tiny livestock provide delicious honey and a meaningful hobby. Alberta is a terrific place to learn this ancient craft: our province is home to the largest beekeeping industry in Canada, representing approximately 40 per cent of the country’s honeybees.

Even for hobbyists, approved training is required to keep bees in Calgary. That’s where groups like the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association come in. The now-95-year-old club’s active membership sits near 300, and it’s led by a small, but mighty colony of volunteer educators and mentors, like Liz Goldie.

If you had a bee-related question for The City of Calgary between 2012 and 2022, you likely encountered Goldie, who keeps two hives in Scenic Acres. She reassured residents with guidance like, “If you plug the crack in your hot-tub lid, honeybees won’t drown in there looking for a drink of water.”

During her decade-long tenure on the association’s board, she also helped The City develop its beekeeping bylaws. (Calgary approved its beekeeping licence via the urban livestock licensing program in 2022.)

Like many urban beekeepers, Goldie enjoys the often hundreds of pounds of honey her bees produce annually, but that isn’t the only attraction. Beekeepers do good by helping grow honeybee populations, which contributes to urban ecology and sustainability and, ultimately, to the global reliance on bees to pollinate agricultural harvests and maintain food security.

Goldie also sees beekeeping as a powerful path to self-confidence. The club is exceptionally social, and bee-mentors talk new beekeepers through animal-husbandry tasks with encouraging conviction. Goldie’s advice goes like this: “‘Are you zipped up? Okay, job number one today is to open your hive! You can do this!’” It’s a sweet gig.

The Calgary and District Beekeepers Association is a non-profit organization that promotes awareness and education of its members and the public about honeybees and good beekeeping practices. To learn more, find approved courses or volunteer, visit calgarybeekeepers.com.

For more about beekeeping in the city, visit calgary.ca/pets/licences/urban-beekeeping.html.

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