Calgary's business zones creating lively areas

Promoting pleasant environments to shop
David Parker, For The Calgary Herald

Business Revitalization Zones are doing wonderful work in Calgary, but I wonder if newcomers to our city know about them or what they do. Business Revitalization Zones (BRZs) are made up of businesses within nine Calgary areas, each with an executive director working under a volunteer board of directors.

Their job is to promote businesses within their specific zones while striving to enhance the attractiveness and livability of the area. A good example are design improvements to 1st Street S.W. by the Victoria Crossing Business Revitalization Zone, where the patterned sidewalks, lighting and furniture have made it a much more pleasant pedestrian street.

Most zones would classify themselves as being inner city -- Downtown, Fourth Street, Kensington, Marda Loop, Inglewood, Victoria Crossing and Uptown 17 -- but Bowness and International Avenue are just as vibrant.
International Avenue executive director Alison Karim-McSwiney and her board have worked hard to promote and create a more pleasant environment in which to shop and live. New benches and trash receptacles have been installed and trees planted, 300 of which are now in Unity Park under a scheme to "put the forest back in Forest Lawn." It's all being done to lend a new look to the street and encourage development.

And it's working, as developers have certainly discovered the avenue. Work is about to begin on a new mixed-use building by Prism Developments, a complex of 92 condominium units atop retail bays called Bella Casa --a $27-million investment. And the Sobeys grocery store across the street is also fairly new.

The street is a 35-block corridor with a huge variety of ethnic restaurants and shops where samosas, salsas and saris are readily available.

Karim-McSwiney is proud of a Financial Times of London article that says her area, which encompasses parts of Forest Lawn, Penbrooke and Radisson Heights along what is perhaps better known as 17th Avenue S.E., is one of the hottest places in the city where young families can buy a starter home.

As this article shows International Avenue is slowly transitioning into an area of business and reform. The city and neighbourhood have taken a stand to take back their community and to attract tourism into the area. With the creation of new condominiums the overall value of housing is increasing.This supports Oasis Properties’ investment strategies and is the reason why Forest Lawn continues to be a handpicked are to invest in for the future.