Big Idea 2011: Sharing the Stories of What Calgary is Now

Each year Avenue picks one Big Idea — a city changing concept or problem — to think about, write about and talk about with our Top 40 Under 40 alumni and our readers.

This year’s Big Idea is sharing the stories of what Calgary is now.

Calgary is a changing and growing city but too often the perception of this city from both outside and sometimes from within, is outdated.

Working at a city magazine gives me and the rest of the staff at Avenue a wonderful view of the city.

Big Idea 2012: Get Engaged in Your City

Something seems to be happening in this city and we at Avenue want to be part of it and encourage it. Maybe you’ve noticed it yourself: people are becoming Calgarians.

We don’t mean lots of people are moving to Calgary — that’s been happening for a long time now. We mean people who have moved here are describing themselves as Calgarians. They are taking part in the city and believing that involvement here is part of who they are.

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Nenshi Bolsters Toronto's Love for Calgary

Since the beginning of the week, Mayor Nenshi has been touring eastern Canada as part of the Be Part of the Energy campaign to help bolster the nation’s love for our city and entice businesses and workers to set up shop here.

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Calgary Makes Top 5 in The Economist's Livability Rankings, So What?

It's that time of year.

When there is no hockey, school hasn't started and we no longer have summer vacation to look forward to, The Economist's livability survey is updated so journalists can squeeze an easy story out of a no news environment.

Living here is so good we have time to weight the opinions of the world's number one economic publication.

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Calgary Economic Development invites us to “Be part of the energy”

We’ve heard about the labour shortage looming on Calgary’s horizon for months now. This morning, Calgarians found out that the best way to rejuvenate the city’s work force is to look beyond the city limits.

Calgary Economic Development, Mayor Naheed Nenshi and partners in the private sector (including Avenue’s parent company, Redpoint Media Group Inc.) are launching a new campaign this morning: “Be a part of the energy.”

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The Arts in Calgary and The Walrus

On June 17 The Walrus published Calgary-based freelance journalist Nancy Black’s Dalton Camp Award-winning essay Dismantling the Scarecrow: An exploration into Calgary’s cultural coming of age.

The essay begins by describing Alberta as isolated – more of its own country, rather than a province – but notes change may be on the horizon.

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Hip-Hop Artist Transit's New Video Pokes Holes in Cowpoke Image

The first time he got our attention, local rapper Daniel Bennett, a.k.a. Transit, was trying to change how we view popular music, now he’s trying to change how outsiders view Calgary.

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“Calgary”: First Single Released From Bon Iver’s New Album

Bon Iver doesn’t paint a bad picture of Calgary’s winters (or any other season for that matter) in its latest single, “Calgary.” If the song is a portrait of the city at all, it’s an abstract one.

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Moving From Suburbanism Towards New Urbanism

Gian-Carlo Carra, Alderman for Ward 9, was elected to Calgary’s City Council in 2010.  Alderman Carra grew up in New York City, spent his summers in Inglewood, and moved to Calgary permanently in 1990, where he received a BA in History and a Masters of Environmental Design from the University of Calgary. Here, Alderman Carra talks about the failure of our inherited suburban development model and how we can change it to make the city a more walkable, sustainable, and livable place.

Another Affordable Housing Solution: Shared Living

Shared living has long been recognized as a very vital vehicle for providing a supportive environment and has far reaching benefits including a higher quality of life at a more affordable price tag in a rich social environment.

MoneySense Magazine September 2010 quotes Statistics Canada numbers that 52% of Canadian households are headed by a single person. The article was written for these types of households because readers of this profile were concerned about their prospects at retirement.