Pedal Paradise: What makes East Village one of Calgary's most bikeable neighbourhoods?
Guest writer Brett Bergie has been a resident of East Village since 2017 along with her partner Beatrice and their young son. Brett works in communications, planning, government relations, and organizational governance and policy. She is passionate about safe streets, active mobility, and people-centric spaces. Within the context of a climate emergency, Brett moves through her city and region on zero- and low-emissions transport.
PEDAL PARADISE
By Brett Bergie
Recently, I facilitated a contractor’s access into my apartment building. He was there to look at the main water hookups.
“Let’s get below ground and go into the parkade,” he directed.
I love this assumption about my building, and I love to correct it.
“We don’t have a parkade. It’s just bicycles and storage lockers downstairs,” I replied eagerly.
“You don’t have any car parking?!”
“Nope! This is the only apartment-style building in Calgary built without any car infrastructure whatsoever, which required an exemption from the City of Calgary to escape parking minimum requirements.”
Our building, N3 Residential Condos, will soon be joined by another car-free development in East Village — EV606, which is under construction on the parcel immediately west of the Simmons Building.
Writer, and East Village resident, Brett Bergie outside N3.
Bike storage room in N3 Residential Condos.
Calgary is a car-oriented, car-dependent city, evidenced by unmitigated urban sprawl and predominance of R-1 development (i.e., low-density single-family residential), historic land-use separating where people live from workplaces and everyday services and amenities, and wide arterials that prioritize fast-moving automobile traffic and throughput.
When my family resided in the suburbs, we felt routinely that everyday tasks were made difficult without access to a private automobile. Most trips required more planning, logistics, and time than are reasonable for a major urban centre.
Getting our son to school, for instance, required three transfers on Calgary Transit each way. As parents, we made six transfers in the morning to get to school and return home and then repeated this at the end of the day, so 12 transfers in total each school day. No, thank you.
With my partner, Beatrice, and son, Sam, I moved into East Village in spring 2017. We came by many considerations, but our gaze on this neighbourhood was drawn initially by its master plan that seeks to offer a different kind of neighbourhood extending residents and visitors a different kind of experience — high density, mixed residential and commercial development, mixed socio-economic circumstances, built and natural environments, and real mobility choice.
These are the characteristics of a walkable neighbourhood — services and amenities knit into the building podiums, all made accessible by pleasant, tree-lined routes and wide, unobstructed sidewalks. Trips are also made pleasant by brightly lit corridors, welcoming storefronts, and sidewalks that see comparatively higher volume than most other neighbourhoods, fostering serendipitous encounters with neighbours and visitors alike.
While East Village is within the greater downtown boundary, the avenues and streets are not built to a highway spec. In other words, they are not overbuilt, not one way, not handed over wholesale to automobile commuters during peak traffic periods.
“There is a distinct sense of arrival in East Village — and arrival into a residential community.”
Brett Bergie, East Village resident and cycling advocate
There is a distinct sense of arrival in East Village — and arrival into a residential community. Drivers will encounter painted crosswalks, intersections that require drivers to come to a stop or interrupt free flow (e.g., 5th Street Square), beautifully narrowed and traffic-calmed corridors — Hello, Riverfront Lane! — and dedicated space on the carriageway for micro-mode traffic (e.g., people moving by bikes, scooters, mono-wheel devices, and mobility aids).
Calgary maintains about 1,100 kilometres of active-mode pathways, about 600 of which are maintained and cleared of snow over the winter months. The City of Calgary is expanding its on-street micro-mode network, comprised of a mix of painted lanes and protected unidirectional or bidirectional mobility tracks. The latter are protected from automobiles by a mix of permanent or prefabricated curbs and flexi-posts as well as painted conflict zones. Maintained pathways and on-street protected lanes work together to form the 5A network (i.e., always available for all ages, abilities).
From our base in East Village, my family and I enjoy direct and easy access to Calgary’s expansive micro-mobility network. We use our bicycles as a primary mode to access our city, both for destinations nearby and those further afield.
My son and I have a bi-annual tradition of doing an overnight 70-kilometre bike trip, which starts from our front door thanks to the 4th Street SE mobility track. From here, we enjoy direct connections to the Bow River Pathway and beyond. For all but the final two blocks at our destination, our route sees us over uninterrupted protected and separated bike infrastructure. We return home via a different route, yet we still enjoy uninterrupted bike infrastructure that keeps our ride generally side by side, social, and relaxed.
“Our pathway system is an amazing amenity and transport corridor. From East Village, we have direct connections to the downtown cycle track and both the Bow and Elbow River Pathways, including a new and important link along 9th Avenue SE that connects to the Elbow directly.”
This infrastructure is transformative in expected ways, such as changing the physical streetscape and inviting more people to replace car trips with bike trips or lending young residents greater independence and autonomy rather than relying on moms and dads to drive them everywhere.
According to City of Calgary downtown mobility statistics, the number of people biking in and out of downtown at peak periods increased 177% between 1996 and 2019. Over the same period, people driving in and out of downtown decreased by 8%. Considering population growth over that period (44%), this is an important indicator of transportation modal shift.
5A infrastructure is transformative in unexpected ways, too. When done right, it can transform mundane tasks into an enjoyable and social occasion. For example, I like to get our groceries farther afield so I can take my bike and avail myself of a key feature: placing the load of my groceries on my bike and trailer instead of my back and arms.
Here’s the thing: when I’m in motion, it feels like a leisurely bike ride. It’s something to which I look forward. I chose a route most often along the banks of the Bow River, enjoying the mode separation between walkers and people rolling as well as the soft shades of colour from the various lighting fixtures. I take in the active scenes along the riverbank, the sounds of buskers and the chatter of people gathering and walking in groups, and scenes of varied watercraft — even makeshift — lazily floating downstream.
Often, I bump into people I know. People on bikes tend to gravitate to the same routes because we seek out the refuge that comes from infrastructure separated from automobiles. On a bike, it’s easy to exchange a quick but meaningful greeting or even stop in place to have a satisfying conversation.
By the time I stop at the grocery store, I radiate a positive orientation, uplifted by social connection and a route that minimizes conflict with motorists. My disposition is safeguarded as well by the ease of parking a bicycle at the destination.
Even though there is a grocery store a few blocks from my home, I go a little further afoot as grocery shopping has become an opportunity for an 8- to 10-kilometre bike ride with a shopping experience attached.
When my family moved to East Village, we had not anticipated that its characteristics and mobility options would inspire a business venture. In 2018, my partner, Beatrice, launched a boutique cat-sitting business. She attends to her clients by an e-assist bicycle, so having multiple access points to 5A infrastructure leading to other high-density neighbourhoods enables this venture.
When we lived in the ‘burbs, she hardly rode her bicycle, feeling unsafe sharing space with cars. Now, she’s on her bike most every day through every season on 5A infrastructure. She reaches for her bicycle as a first-choice mobility option no matter her trip’s purpose. That’s the transformative power of good, networked bike infrastructure.
The most common critique lobbed my way about the public return on bicycling infrastructure is some variation of “but winter.” Yes, Calgary experiences a winter season, but winter cycling is more practical and convenient than many are willing to accept.
My family and I bike in all seasons, including winter, and we do so regularly. We still need groceries in winter. My son still needs to be in school in winter. We go by bike, yes, even in winter.
As an exemplar of winter bike volumes, consider Edmonton, Alberta. That city’s bike counters registered 413,000 bike trips between October 2020 and March of 2021 — even with all of the disruptions of public orders at the start of the pandemic. By winter 2021-22, the city saw 513,000 bike trips over the same six-month period. This is significant winter use in a city that sees colder winters than Calgary and lacks relief from Chinooks.
5A bicycle infrastructure enables comfortable winter rides. In the greater downtown and surrounding areas in Calgary, mobility tracks and pathways are cleared on a priority basis and achieve a high standard of snow and ice control. Much of the time, I am pedalling on bare asphalt or a thin, hardened snowpack that my tires bite into nicely. Protected and separated infrastructure also ensures users are not having to compete for space in slippery conditions with motorists.
These characteristics will contribute significantly toward ensuring Calgary’s winter cycling numbers continue to climb year over year.
The car is king in Calgary, and it will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Calgary is ready for a modal shift that raises the profile of micro-mode transportation. Enhancing and expanding 5A infrastructure is critical, such that it is efficient, safe, and pleasant.
Successful infrastructure connects residents to basic household services, schools, workplaces, cultural and recreational amenities, community and spiritual gathering places, and transit hubs.
East Village is showing the way.
We asked Brett a few questions about biking in and around East Village
How long does it take you to get to these locations by bike?
The other side of downtown? 15 minutes
The Calgary Zoo? 5 minutes
The Glenmore Reservoir? 30 minutes
Scotiabank Saddledome? 5 minutes
Arts Commons? 5 minutes
What are your top tips in transitioning away from car commuting?
Start with small sustainable goals. Replace one car trip a week. Do those grocery trips by bike when you just need a few things. Once you build a good routine and you find comfortable routes, you’ll be surprised by how often the bike enters your mind as a viable transport mode for other purposes, and you’ll be challenging yourself regularly to try something new by bike and enjoying every win.
Also, putting fenders on your bike and a rack to mount bags go a long way to unlocking the potential of a bicycle as a viable, desirable urban transport mode.
What are your top tips for someone wanting to join the bike community?
Follow the #yycbike hashtag on social media and participate in discussions or events. Bookmark https://coffeeoutside.bike for the location and commit to meet the folks who gather weekly all year in different Calgary parks in and around the core for coffee and conversation before the workday begins.
Other than being an all-season cycler, what surprises people most about your life commuting entirely by bike?
People take delight in learning that my folding bike comes with me when I travel for work. I get to and from airports, train stations, bus depots by bike with my luggage mounted on my bike. When I get to the destination city, I in turn take delight in by-passing the taxi-line, unfolding my bike, and completing my trip by bike. I can’t recall the last time I submitted a taxi receipt to the finance team at my workplace.
Where do you frequent most in East Village - retailer, park, cultural institution ?
During the early period of the pandemic, my family discovered the convenience of walk-up windows at restaurants or cafés; some of our favourite places remain part of our regular habits. Most often, then, you find my family and me at the walk-up window at Alley Burger or enjoying our fare on the bench seating along RiverWalk, adjacent the Simmons Building.
