'Sign of the times': Bowness residents watch as rezoning, construction changes community around them
In the northwest Calgary community of Bowness, single-family homes are making way for multi-family apartments and row houses.
Dee Allen lives on Bowwood Road, where rezoning and construction are visible from blocks away in either direction.
Allen has witnessed the changes from her front porch, observing the demolition of houses across from her on Bowwood Drive to accommodate new developments.
"It's like losing a good friend," Allen said about the loss of her community's original charm.
The redevelopment has sparked mixed reactions among Bowness residents.
Some, like Jesse Murphy, who resides in a new row house, welcome the change, as it provides much-needed housing.
"These big, multi-family units, as soon as it's done, it's full," Murphy said.
"I don't know where all these people were living before, but ... this is necessary."
Others like Allen fear the loss of the community's identity.
"This isn't progress. It's going backwards," Allen said.
"This is going backwards. We're going to lose our community, and it's so precious."
Alkarim Devani, co-founder of Calgary-based Round Square, the developer behind some of the new construction, encourages locals to embrace the evolution.
"The things that make our communities vibrant, that are the communities that we all want to live in, is that change," Devani said.
"It comes with the coffee shop, it comes with the amenities, it comes with the investment and walkability."
Jim Angevine, another resident, sees the redevelopment as inevitable.
"It's a sign of the times. Always, things change. It's one thing in life you can count on," Angevine said.
"I think, in the long run, it'll work. Things usually work out in the long run. That's what I always find."
As Bowness continues to evolve, the debate over the pace and scale of rezoning reflects the broader challenges Calgary faces in balancing growth with community preservation.
Public hearings on a plan to allow so-called "blanket rezoning" will continue at city council throughout the week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Here's what every key witness said at Donald Trump's hush money trial. Closing arguments are coming
After 22 witnesses, including a porn actor, tabloid publisher and White House insiders, testimony is over at Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York.
More seniors are using homeless shelters. Here's why, according to experts
One of the country’s homeless shelters has seen an uptick in the number of people through its doors, including more older adults over 50.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Norway hands over papers for diplomatic recognition to the Palestinian prime minister
Norway on Sunday handed over diplomatic papers to the Palestinian prime minister in the latest step toward recognizing a Palestinian state, a largely symbolic move that has infuriated Israel.
Man or machine? Toronto company finds a way to determine how real audio clips are
The Toronto-based research arm of life sciences technology firm Klick Health has found a way to analyze voices in a manner that’s so granular, it can tell whether it's a person or an artificial intelligence-powered machine.
J.H. Tabaret statue at uOttawa vandalized
The statue of J.H. Tabaret at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) has been vandalized, as a picture taken by CTV News shows red paint sprayed all over it.