NEWS & UPDATES

August 6, 2024 - Citywide zoning changes are now in effect

On May 14, 2024 Council approved citywide rezoning to a base residential district with amendments. Visit calgary.ca/RezoningforHousing for more info.

We’re planning and building our city now to ensure we remain a place where home is sustainable, diverse, accessible, equitable and liveable for everyone. We need to act now as we are quickly approaching a population of two million Calgarians.

Current initiatives include:

  • Home is Here: The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy: This strategy aspires to ensure that everyone living in Calgary has an affordable place to call home.
  • City Building Program: This program of work, which includes the Calgary Plan, Zoning Bylaw, and Street Manual, will set the forward-looking direction, and provide clear and user-friendly policy and regulation for The City and our partners to guide growth, mobility, land-use and development citywide.
  • Rezoning for Housing: As part of the Home is Here: The City of Calgary’s Housing Strategy this work will present to Council a proposal to rezone low-density residential areas to a base residential district that supports more housing options and improves affordability in all communities.

Learn more and get involved in these current initiatives focused on supporting the ongoing planning and building of our city.



Communities change and evolve over time. Conversations about where, why and how revitalization and redevelopment should happen are essential to ensure our communities change in the right ways.

Working together, we'll create a local area plan to guide the evolution of the West Elbow Communities over the next 30 years. West Elbow Communities Local Area Planning project includes the communities of: Altadore, Bankview, Cliff Bungalow, Elbow Park, Erlton, Garrison Woods, Lower Mount Royal, Mission, North Glenmore Park (north of Glenmore Trail SW), Richmond (east of Crowchild Trail SW), Rideau Park, Roxboro, Scarboro (east of Crowchild Trail SW), South Calgary, Sunalta, and Upper Mount Royal.

A local area plan sets the vision for growth and change in a group of communities over the next 30+ years. A local area plan provides guidance and direction on development, investment and community improvements that residents, landowners, builders/developers, City Planners and Councillors can commonly refer to when new ideas are proposed for the area.

A local area plan will support your community as it changes by:

  • Increasing predictability about how the area could change in the future.
  • Responding to changing trends and demographics such as population decline, family composition, aging in place, housing preferences.
  • Expanding housing choice to welcome additional people and increase population.
  • Supporting local amenities and businesses through increased population.
  • Informing decisions about reinvestment such as improvements to public spaces.
  • Adding more homes, increasing bikeability, walkability and access to amenities and transit, as well as reducing the need to expand our city’s footprint all play a role in environmental sustainability.


Communities naturally change and evolve. Over time, trees and kids grow up, businesses change ownership and offerings, homes and buildings age. People choose to move, renovate or rebuild their homes or businesses to better suit their changing needs.

There is a stage in each community's life cycle when the choice to rebuild or redevelop homes and buildings becomes more and more frequent (generally as homes and buildings reach 50+ years). A lot of change within a short time can start to feel unpredictable or overwhelming. It's at this stage where it can be helpful to have a plan in place to guide decisions about how and where change, new development and community investment and improvements make sense in communities.

Creating a plan to help guide change within communities ensures that there's flexibility (for people looking to make changes), direction (to help guide new development when ideas are proposed), and certainty (for residents to know how their community may change in the future).

We're working together to create a local area plan to help ensure change happens in the right ways in the West Elbow Communities.


Life cycle of a community

New communities tend to draw many young families and typically reach their peak population within the first 20 years.

Population begins to decline as children begin to move away from home.

Homes and buildings age and the population continues to drop or flatline. Schools and businesses often struggle to stay open.

The community is revitalized through private redevelopment and public reinvestment, bringing increased population growth and enabling local businesses and amenities to thrive.

The West Elbow Communities Local Area Planning project includes the communities of: Altadore, Bankview, Cliff Bungalow, Elbow Park, Erlton, Garrison Woods, Lower Mount Royal, Mission, North Glenmore Park (north of Glenmore Trail SW), Richmond (east of Crowchild Trail SW), Rideau Park, Roxboro, Scarboro (east of Crowchild Trail SW), South Calgary, Sunalta, and Upper Mount Royal.


Why is the West Village no longer part of the West Elbow Communities Local Area Plan?

The West Village will be incorporated into the Greater Downtown as part of the revised Calgary Plan. This will allow the area to be better integrated with the Greater Downtown, as it relates to the river pathway and open space system, and other downtown related initiatives.

GET INVOLVED

Your voice matters. Your feedback and the feedback of your neighbours is needed to help shape how your community and the surrounding area evolves over the next 30 years.

There will be opportunities to get involved in each phase as the West Elbow Communities Local Area Plan is created and refined.

  • Phase 4: REALIZE

    Committee and Council review and decision.