Lake Bonavista: Calgary's Best Neighbourhoods

Ranked 14th in Calgary's Best Neighbourhoods

Lake Bonavista is what happens when a developer’s recreational dream comes true.

The community has two man-made lakes, a 65,000-square-foot recreation complex and is bordered by Fish Creek Provincial Park, which encompasses 1,348 acres of protected grasslands, parkland and forest that residents can meander through.

The recreation wonderland began when developers dug a hole in 1968 and filled it with 250 million gallons of water to create Lake Bonavista. The dirt from the hole was piled into a hill that was planted with trees and adorned with a waterfall as a venue for hiking and tobogganing. Add picnic areas, a boat dock, a beach, playgrounds and ice-skating rinks and you have a recreational haven for residents of the community.

Lake Bonavista was the first man-made lake community in Canada, and is still used as the template for other communities interested in manufactured-lakeside living. Aside from the community’s two lakes, residents also have access to the Lake Bonavista Recreation Centre, a massive complex that features two hockey rinks, a fitness centre and a gymnasium. The centre acts as a venue for fitness and social programs including yoga, skating, soccer lessons and dances coordinated by the community association, which has spent more than $1 million over the past five years on maintenance upgrades on the facility.

Calgary’s top 15 communities

Using the data we collected in our city-wide survey we also created a number of Top 5 lists for categories that our readers deemed important to them.

Top 5 Pedestrian-Friendly Neighbourhoods

Top 5 Safest Neighbourhoods

Top 5 Friendliest Neighbourhoods

Top 5 Neighbourhoods with Curb Appeal

Top 5 Neighbourhoods for Parks and Recreation

Calgary's Best Neighbourhoods: The Data
Wonder how we determined the 15 top Calgary neighbourhoods? Here's how they ranked in each of our criteria categories. Plus: view the stats for 19 additional neighbourhoods in the city.