living in calgary

Just Listed in Mount Pleasant – Executive Home!

807 26th Avenue NW – $1,575,000

Live in the sought after inner city community of Mount Pleasant- just steps from Confederation Park. Numerous custom features throughout: Hydronic heat system, AC on upper level, walnut hardwood, crown moldings, coffered ceiling in foyer, Hubbardton Forge & Murray Feiss lighting, Global custom blinds, open concept kitchen w/ inviting family room (including fireplace & built-in wall unit) the perfect area for entertaining (as well as a separate formal dining rm), all appliances are superior models, large patio doors leading to your SOUTH facing private yard, deck & lovely landscaped yard, main floor den, practical mudroom, upper level laundry, master bedroom includes a cozy sitting area with a fireplace- step out to your balcony enjoy the park & Nose Hill, fabulous 5pc ensuite/ separate dressing rm , the 2 additional upper bedrooms share Jack+Jill bathroom. You will appreciate the media/rec room,guest suite w/Thermasol steam shower on lower level. Spacious triple garage .This could be your dream home! CLICK HERE to view a virtual tour!


 

Planted: A Horticultural Expo April 24, 2016

Designed for long-time gardening enthusiasts and green weekend warriors, your ticket to Planted will give you access to cutting edge practitioners, industry experts and the dedicated members of the zoo’s horticultural team. We’ve blended a mixture of talks, tours, workshops, a mini trade show, and a Q&A open house so you’ll leave armed for the summer gardening tasks ahead.
This year, there will be a focus on sustainable gardening with a stream fully dedicated to edible gardening. You may mix and match programs as you choose on April 24th. Please check back mid-April for the detailed timetable and more information about the speakers.
All Planted day passes include:

  • admission to the zoo
  • unlimited* entry to talks, tours, and the mini trade show
  • 10% discount at Penguin Plunge and Kitamba Café on food and beverage purchases
  • optional Q & A session with speakers from a variety of sessions

*participants can join any seminar or tour they are interested in with the exception of the additional workshops, however, there may be multiple programs happening at the same time such that the participant would need to choose their preference. 
* Early bird pricing available until March 31, 2016! *
Click here for full details.
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Buy one adult BTS ticket and get 50% off a child ticket on select behind the scenes. One coupon discount per transaction.  Valid for select programs up until April 1, 2016. Quote code 1092 to receive your discount today.  Click here for a list of BTS opportunities.

Parklets – next big idea!

Sometimes big ideas come in small, parking space-sized packages. One such idea is the parklet, a concept of that bubbled up from the need for more public spaces where there is very little space to create it in.
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Parklets reclaim unused parking spaces and turn them into gathering places by putting up simple barriers or paint, a few planters and seating. Parklets are meant to be temporary, which means they can be removed when the weather turns and lounging outside becomes less desirable.
San Francisco, which leads the concept in North America with its Pavement to Parks initiative, treats each parklet as a pilot project or way to see if more permanent park space and investment is in order. – Avenue Calgary
Experts debate whether mini meeting spaces will replace traditional parks
You may have never heard of a parklet, but chances are good you’ve walked or driven past one. Maybe you’ve even sat in one, enjoying a coffee or a chat with a friend on a warm afternoon.
“You’re taking a space that would normally not be a public space, maybe part of a road, and you’re converting it,” said Byron Miller, an associate professor of geography at the University of Calgary and co-ordinator of school’s Urban Studies program.
“It’s about expanding the public realm to create new spaces where people can interact.”
Talk of parklets — a sidewalk extension or parking spot takeover that creates a new place for people to relax and be outdoors — is relatively new in Calgary. Yet they are increasingly popping up, primarily in the inner-city core, notes Richard White, a Calgary-based columnist who has been writing on urban development for more than three decades.
Parklets work best “where there isn’t sufficient green space, such as in the Beltline,” he said, pointing to The Village Ice Cream’s patio on 10th Avenue S.E., which has overtaken part of the parking lot out front of the shop.
“I love small urban places like that because it doesn’t take very many people for it to feel animated. They’re a good idea in certain situations.”
Another favourite among many Calgarians is the small cement plaza outside the Roasterie coffee shop on 10th Street N.W., which has naturally attracted people for decades, said White.
“It faces west so it captures the sun and retains the heat,” he said. “People can sit out there even in January or February. You put six or seven people in that space and it immediately feels animated.
“We live in one of the sunniest cities in Canada, and if we design our spaces properly, we can create attractive, warm, desirable places to be on all but the most extremely cold days.”
Miller notes that parklets have both pros and cons to them – the most notable pro being they are easier to establish than larger versions.
“People often get overwhelmed by really huge spaces,” he said. “And small- to medium-sized ones have a cosy feel to them.”
Environmentally, however, parklets can’t replace the role that large parks play in a city, argues authors of an article in September 2015 edition of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment magazine.
“’Land sparing’ – an approach that combines dense urban areas with large parks or nature reserves – is crucial for … improved temperature regulation and pollination,” according to the article written by Iain Stott, Richard Inger and Kevin J Gaston from the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the U.K.-based University of Exeter, as well as Masashi Soga from Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.
In other words, the bigger a park’s green space, the better it is for the environment.
“However, distributing green space throughout cities, or ‘land sharing,’ may still be necessary to maintain services such as human well-being,” the article continues.
While parklets may have their place in urban centres such as Calgary, they are never going to replace the role fulfilled by larger parks, argues Miller.
“Different spaces serve different needs,” he said. “Smaller spaces cater to people’s everyday activities and routines, and larger spaces tend to be more suited to big public events and specialized types of activity — anything from festivals to going canoeing to playing cricket.
“A good city will have a good mix of both.”
– See more at: http://www.crebnow.com/piquing-interest-in-parklets/#more-10048