Promoting a learning culture by actively listening to our neighbours in Ward 12’s communities creates commonality where we can learn about and understand our unconscious biases and how to overcome them. Diversified communities encourage residents to interact respectfully and provide accessible and inclusive services to ensure quality of life is better for everyone who lives, plays, and works in them. For Ward 12 this includes, but is not limited to, our neighbours who are:

I am pleasantly surprised by how many people in Ward 12 have our trees or “urban canopy” as a priority. The comments range from the lack of care and watering to a strong desire to see more trees planted.

The City has been finding places to cut the budget and our trees have taken on some of that impact. For example, The City used to be more involved in paying for injections for our Elm trees that are fighting a common condition called European Elm scale. Elms can get a tiny parasite that feed on the sap of a tree and also rain down tiny droplets of the sap that can coat cars, sidewalks and even you when you are out for a walk. The treatments cost $150-200 dollars and that has some residents feeling abandoned if they are on a corner lot with 6-8 of these trees right around them.

As our young communities have grown up have our public spaces kept up? Once youth move past splash pads, swing sets and slides and that age where they take ownership over everything ("mine, mine, mine" is often the refrain), do all of our Ward 12 communities have enough of, and the correct, features and activities to keep them engaged in their spaces and take responsibility for them too?

Our parks and public spaces are such an important and valuable element of thriving neighbourhoods. They are where parents and kids make first friends in their communities. It is where families find deeper value in the places they live. It is where bonds of community are formed. Community bonds can help improve quality of life, attract a healthy housing market, keep people safe, and lower costs when citizen engagement is high.

Unfortunately, when spaces don't grow up with their population, sometimes a sense of ownership and responsibility for those spaces diminish.

While the southeast neighbourhoods of Calgary's Ward 12 have SO much to offer, there are some concerns residents and busiensses would like to address as well. One issue that intermittently drives us mad are the strong odours that can interrupt an otherwise perfect evening on your patio or force your t-shirt over your nose when you are out for a walk.

Yes that is right. The southeast has some unique smells.

Blamed most frequently is the Shepard Landfill but they have been operating under strict procedures for years. The actual problem is that there are likely multiple culprits.