Valley Ridge shows leadership in engaging Calgary communities

Valley Ridge is a picturesque community in north west Calgary, built on the southern edge of the Bow River Valley.  It’s located south of the Trans Canada Highway west of Bowfort Road and Winsport Canada Olympic Park. Once the home of Happy Valley Ski Resort, Valley Ridge is built around the stunning Valley Ridge Golf Course with beautiful upscale homes situated around the greens.

The community is also a shining example to the rest of Calgary how communities can provide social and recreational amenities within the neighbourhood to keep residents engaged and connected to each other.

In a recent article posted by the Calgary Real Estate Board, Valley Ridge community volunteer Dave McCarrel was recognized for his contributions to his fellow residents as a long-serving board member on the community association.

McCarrel joined the board when he moved the Valley Ridge 20 years ago.  His goal was to meet people in his neighbourhood.  He certainly met new people, and he continues to meet new people.

He was instrumental in providing Valley Ridge with a brand new outdoor hockey rink in 2008 which is one of the finest outdoor ice rinks in the north west, if not in all of Calgary.  He was also very involved when Valley Ridge decided to get on the outdoor fitness park craze. Just a few months ago, the equipment was installed and now there are several exercise stations in the community so residents can get their workout done close to home, for free, in the fresh air.  His next project is to make sure that Valley Ridge gets tennis courts.

McCarrel was honoured recently by the Federation of Calgary Communities and was presented with a Community Builder Award.  He told a reporter that everything that he’s been involved with was to make Valley Ridge a better community and that he finds it satisfying to know that residents are making use of all the new amenities provided by the association.

There are 151 community associations that belong to the Federation of Calgary Communities with 1,800 board members and approximately 18,000 volunteers.  Associations do two things for residents:  they are a provider of programs and services and act as champions of the community at the municipal level.

As example of what community associations oversee or provide are community gardens, neighbourhood celebrations, after-school programming, exercise classes or sports programs for youth.  Also, when individuals or corporations submit development permits they are run by the board of the affected community association and often boards will take the interests of residents to city hall when there are huge changes planned for things like roadways or transit service.  If a fast food restaurant is proposed for a vacant corner lot or a 10-storey condo building is on the books for a specific area, these types of things will be brought to a community association’s attention.

The U of C’s School of Public Policy recently released a special report examining the role of these associations and published several recommendations to keep them viable in the future.

Some of the ideas included creating more formal roles so that associations could receive more consistent funding.  Communities that have both a community association and a recreation association are urged to merge and pool resources.

On the City of Calgary side, council has rubber stamped the creation of a Community Representation Framework Task Force so provide guidance on the future of community organizations in the city.   Because not all community associations are as vibrant as the one in Valley Ridge, the city feels it’s necessary to inject new life in some and keep grassroots leadership alive in Calgary communities

Crumbling infrastructure, aging buildings, membership apathy and a shrinking volunteer base are just some of the challenges facing communities.