Ogden Green Line plans to bring big changes to neighbourhood

A city-run open house on transit and development featured a decided lack of threats, shoving or intimidation in southeast Calgary on Tuesday night. 

Area residents gathered in the Victory Manor in Ogden to learn more about the Green Line going through their neighbourhood, and more importantly, hear about the new area redevelopment plan that will accompany the LRT line. 

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While meetings on the southwest bus rapid transit line have been raucous, Ogden residents were there to listen, engage and, for many, get excited about plans for the area. 

"I really appreciate the efforts that the city has put in. It's good to see this level of commitment to the community," said Jeremy Filipenko. "I have to applaud them for that. I haven't honestly seen that until probably the last four or five years."

Dan MacNeill said these sorts of events are important because they provide an opportunity to ask questions of representatives from different city departments and actually receive an answer.

"And they get to listen as well as talk," he added. 

Two stations and TOD

The Ogden area is up for some major changes, with two Green Line stops, including a significant station on Ogden Road and 72nd Avenue. 

Along with the LRT line are plans for transit-oriented development that will likely bring increased density to the old neighbourhood that sprung up around the CP yards in Calgary's early days.

"A lot of times people in communities can be wary of redevelopment and change happening in their community," said Jill Sonego, with community planning for the City of Calgary.

"Certainly in Ogden people have maintained that they would like to keep the great things about their community, but are looking forward to redevelopment. And as a planner that's such a great thing to hear, because we think there's so much potential for redevelopment here that can actually benefit the community."

Some concerns with plans

Of course, not everyone is without concerns, something Sonego admits. 

Karen Scheer said she's about three blocks away from a planned station. 

"Far enough away that it's not going to affect me in any particular way, unless the people use my street to park on all the time to get to the station, because they're not really building any actual parking in the Ogden area for the customers," she said. 

And while Fillipenko is pleased with the engagement process, he is concerned about the amount of traffic that could cut through the neighbourhood, particularly with the completion of a new interchange on Glenmore Trail looming on the horizon. 

Trailer park

Owen Lindsay is worried about the fate of the trailer park he calls home, just on the other side of that Glenmore interchange in the South Hill area. 

"For the most part we're quite pleased with the project, but the big problem for us is a number of our residents are seniors and they're no longer able to generate incomes, except pensions," he said.

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"And now we're in a position where we may, in a very few short years, be looking at having to relocate."

The South Hill area is also due for big changes, with new housing and developments springing up in an area that is almost empty, save for the mobile home park. 

Lindsay said no one is able to give him an answer on when or whether the city-owned park will be closed, because nobody knows. 

"And that's part of the difficulty that we face," he said. 

Development

In Ogden, Sonego said the changes will come over many years, but hopefully there will be some redevelopment before the final rails are laid. 

"For the Millican-Ogden area redevelopment plan, we're looking at trying to facilitate redevelopment next to the LRT stations that are going to be in this area so more people can live next to the LRT and sort of enjoy the benefits of that type of development," she said. 

"It's up to property owners to come in to want to redevelop."