Welcome to Calgary

 

About Calgary

Calgary is a diverse and prosperous city in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet. Fresh air, open spaces, parks and pathways, and mountains and rivers frame this beautiful place.
With more days of sunshine than any other major Canadian city and less than an hour’s drive from the majestic Rockies, it’s easy to see why Calgarians enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle.
But Calgary is much more than its geography. It is a place where, for generations, people have chosen to follow their dreams, build new lives, and find their place in the world.

*FLOOD INFORMATION
Check out the City of Calgary website for details.
View the Calgary floodplains map or checkout the interactive map via city of Calgary.

Where’s Calgary?

Calgary sits in the sunny eastern foothills of Canada’s Rocky Mountains, where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet.
It is the major urban centre for the entire southern half of the province of Alberta, and is surrounded by an area of profound beauty with an unspoiled, resource-rich natural environment.
The city itself is ringed by 19 municipalities and jurisdictions, each with its own characteristics and unique appeal.
Calgary lies at the intersection of two major highway systems. The Trans-Canada Highway reaches across the vast country from ocean to ocean, while the CANAMEX Corridor extends north/south from Canada to Mexico.

Climate

The city is among the sunniest in Canada, with 2,405 hours of annual sunshine, on average. Calgary experiences a dry humid continental climate with long, cold, dry, but highly variable winters and short, moderately warm summers. The climate is greatly influenced by the city’s elevation and proximity to the Rocky Mountains. Calgary’s winters can be uncomfortably cold; but warm, dry Chinook winds routinely blow into the city from over the mountains during the winter months, giving Calgarians a break from the cold. These winds have been known to raise the winter temperature by 20 °C(36 °F) in just a few hours and may last several days.
Calgary is a city of extremes, and temperatures have ranged anywhere from a record low of −45 °C (−49.0 °F) in 1893 to a record high of 36.1 °C (97.0 °F) in 1919. According to Environment Canada, average daytime high temperatures in Calgary range from 24 °C (75 °F) in late July to −3 °C (27 °F) in mid-January.

Neighborhoods

The downtown region of the city consists of five neighbourhoods: Eau Claire (including the Festival District), the Downtown West End, the Downtown Commercial Core, Chinatown, and the Downtown East Village (also part of the Rivers District). The commercial core is itself divided into a number of districts including the Stephen Avenue Retail Core, the Entertainment District, the Arts District and the Government District. Distinct from downtown and south of 9th Avenue is Calgary’s densest neighbourhood, the Beltline. The area includes a number of communities such as Connaught, Victoria Crossing and a portion of the Rivers District. The Beltline is the focus of major planning and rejuvenation initiatives on the part of the municipal government to increase the density and liveliness of Calgary’s centre.

Adjacent to, or directly radiating from the downtown are the first of the inner-city communities. These include Crescent Heights, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill, Hillhurst/Sunnyside (including Kensington BRZ), Bridgeland, Renfrew, Mount Royal, Mission, Ramsay and Inglewood and Albert Park/Radisson Heights directly to the east. The inner city is, in turn, surrounded by relatively dense and established neighbourhoods such as Rosedale and Mount Pleasant to the north; Bowness, Parkdale and Glendale to the west; Park Hill, South Calgary (including Marda Loop), Bankview, Altadore, and Killarney to the south; and Forest Lawn/International Avenue to the east. Lying beyond these, and usually separated from one another by highways, are suburban communities including Somerset, Country Hills, Sundance, Riverbend, and McKenzie Towne. In all, there are over 180 distinct neighbourhoods within the city limits.
Several of Calgary’s neighbourhoods were initially separate municipalities that were annexed by the city as it grew. These include Bowness, Montgomery, and Forest Lawn.