Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association

Check out the Bow to Bluff blog post “Celebrating a new model of public engagement” and stay tuned in the New Year for more Bow to Bluff news as we work on the design concept guide and the process guide.  In the meantime, stay warm and have a Merry Christmas!

Bow to Bluff is holding one last event to wrap up what has been a rather wildly successful experiment in citizen-led public engagement! Drop in from 7pm to 9pm at the Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association (HSCA) for a toast to civic engagement and to have a peek at the design concept in progress.

In October, over 2000 citizens shared 1400+ ideas to revitalize the Bow to Bluff corridor. In November, people participated in the DESIGN and REFINE the DESIGN workshops to brainstorm initial design concepts.  So, what’s next? We talked with urban designers Micheal Williamson from O2 Planning + Design, and John Lewis of Intelligent Futures about the next steps for Bow to Bluff.

What did you expect a month ago when the public engagement process started?

John: I expected that we would have high turnout and great discussions, but those numbers are really astounding to me. To put this into context, the Plan It Calgary initiative that set the direction for the future land use and mobility for the entire city engaged over 7000 citizens in about two years. In only four weeks, Bow To Bluff has engaged 2000 citizens! This is exciting for the Bow to Bluff Initiative itself, and is also encouraging as a model for future engagement in the city.

Micheal: I also expected a high turnout from the community, but what surprises me is the quality and range of comments and ideas that we have received from the public. While some do have a negative tone to them, I ?nd it reassuring to discover a great deal of positive re?ection on why residents live here, and why others visit the place on a regular basis.

What happened with all 1400 ideas?

John: We took all the amazing and thoughtful responses that we received and looked for both common trends and points of tension. While there is a wide range of responses, most of what we heard could [be called] “increased comfort.” Whether in mobility, safety, activity or beauty, citizens want the corridor to be more comfortable.

Micheal: After reading and recording all of the comments into a spreadsheet I categorized this information into ten categories, for example, quality of life, heritage, connectivity and so on. From here, design statements were formulated, and these statements helped to focus the November design sessions.

John: The design statements were problems for citizens to work with designers to solve through proposed design interventions. For example, how could we improve mobility for cyclists in the Bow to Bluff corridor while improving the pedestrian experience at the same time?

What did citizens do at the two public workshops on November 5th and November 19th?  How did they help to design the corridor?

Micheal: [People] worked in groups. Each team included one designer to graphically record ideas and concepts, one facilitator, and up to seven citizens. Their mission was to select design statements and [brainstorm] potential solutions.

John: Using the problem statements as a starting point, the teams co-designed solutions to the challenges of making Bow to Bluff the best public space it can be. November 5th was the initial exploration of these issues and November 19th was the re?nement of the designs. It was a really exciting and fun series of events!

When will we see the ?rst changes in the corridor?

Micheal: This is a very difficult question, as some areas of the corridor have funding attached to them, and others do not. We will all be very excited to see when the ?rst aspects of the project begin moving forward.

John: It is still early to say, but the City of Calgary has been extremely supportive in providing expertise across a number of departments. The City is encouraging [everyone] to explore how we can ?nd new [and innovative] ways to improve our public spaces. This has been the case so far with the engagement phase, but we will need to be just as focused on innovative approaches to implementation if this is to be a success.

One Month.  2000 Citizens.  1400 Ideas.

Over 60 people had so much fun at the first DESIGN Workshop that we’re hosting another one: the Bow to Bluff REFINE Workshop!

Sit down with our award-winning designers from O2 Planning + Design to refine the design concepts for the Bow to Bluff corridor, based on all those ideas collected during a solid month of citizen engagement.  The REFINE Workshop will be held at the Ant Hill building on November 19th.  Register online, email info@bowtobluff.org or call 403-402-7860.

Bow to Bluff REFINE Workshop
Saturday November 19th
9:00am to 12:00pm OR 1:30pm to 4:30pm
Doors open 1/2 hour before each session
Ant Hill building (148 10th Street NW)

One month.  2000 citizens engaged.  1400 big ideas.  It’s Time to DESIGN!

This is your opportunity to get creative.  Play with ideas and brainstorm design solutions.  Work with some of the city’s best designers.  Your ideas and enthusiasm will shape the initial design concepts.

Help us transform the Bow to Bluff corridor into great public space!

Bow to Bluff DESIGN workshop
Saturday November 5th
9:00am to 12:00pm.  Doors open at 8:30am.
1:30pm to 4:30pm.  Doors open at 1:00pm.
Ant Hill building, 148 10th Street NW

Please register for either morning or afternoon session: call 403-402-7680 or go to https://btobdesignworkshop.eventbrite.com

Chris Turner, well-known local author will be signing his new book, “The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy” at the Bow to Bluff storefront  in the Ant Hill building (148 10th St NW) on Friday, October 28th at 5:00pm to 7:00pm.  Chris is a long-time advocate of sustainable cities and great publIc spaces, and his first book, “The Geography of Hope” was a Globe and Mail Best Book.

Bow to Bluff is an independent citizen initiative to create great public spaces in Calgary.  We are inviting anyone who uses the pathway or pocket parks, lives or works in the area, or simply loves great public space to re-imagine the Bow to Bluff corridor.  We’re running an ‘engagement storefront’ and public events (like the Chris Turner book signing) in the Ant Hill building during October, as well as an ‘installation engagement’ project in the corridor itself.

We’ll host an open house on November 2nd and 3rd from 4:00pm-8:00pm to display the ideas and feedback gathered, and two design charrettes on November 5th and 19th to allow citizens and our urban designers to work together on initial design concepts.  Check bowtobluff.org or call 403-402-7860 for details.