White: Where is Calgary's best main street?

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Recently, I had some time before an appointment to explore University District’s main street (University Drive N.W.) and began to wonder, where is Calgary’s best main street?

What are the criteria for a good main street? The following are key components.

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Stephen Avenue (8th Avenue S.W.) downtown, Atlantic Avenue (9th Avenue S.E.) in Inglewood and 10th Avenue N.W. and Kensington Road in Kensington are Calgary’s oldest main streets. Each has a unique sense of place due to their heritage buildings — Stephen Avenue with its sandstone buildings, and Atlantic Avenue and Kensington with their brick buildings.

As a pedestrian mall, Stephen Avenue is pedestrian-friendly, especially during the day. But it suffers from a safety issues. The tall buildings nearby shade the street most of the time, dwarf pedestrians and create wind tunnels creating a negative experience.

On the plus side, it has the greatest diversity and density of things to see and do of any of Calgary’s main streets — theatre, concerts, museum, fine dining, patios and shopping.

Atlantic Avenue (9th Avenue’s original name) is also pedestrian-friendly due to its human scale buildings and diversity of unique shops — bookstores to boutiques. It has a mix of dining spots and café options and even a fun plant store. It is also home to one of Calgary’s iconic live music venues (Ironwood Stage & Grill), Canada’s largest used record store (Recordland) and one of Canada’s best privately owned public art galleries (Esker Foundation Gallery).

There is a fun bohemian feel to Atlantic Avenue. Its biggest negative is its sidewalks, which are not only narrow, but uneven and have too many obstacles, from trees to large flower pots to sandwich boards.

Kensington Village is unique in that it combines two main streets — 10th Street N.W. and Kensington Road, both with some heritage buildings. It is home to the Plaza Theatre, some great dining spots and traditional pubs. It is the home of Calgary’s original café culture with Higher Ground and the Roasterie being two of the city’s oldest coffee shops. It has two funky little plazas, which are great for people watching, one in front of the Plaza Theatre and one next to the Roasterie. Jane Jacobs (guru of urban planning) said “great neighbourhoods are a third new, a third middle-age and a third old.” Kensington Village fits those criteria.

I was once told by a major international developer that most main streets are only two or three blocks long. Calgary’s 17th Avenue S.W. and 4th Street S.W. both defy that law.

17th Avenue (sometimes known as the Red Mile and Uptown 17th) extends from 1st Street S.W. to just past 14th Street S.W., combining an eclectic mix of boutiques, restaurants and cafes. It best known for being the home of the Ship and Anchor, Calgary’s iconic pub and Café Beano, one of the city’s signature cafes.