More information can be found at: www.cbelearn.ca.

CBe-learn delivers full online programming for senior and junior high students as well as multiple levels of support for homeschooling students. Using the flexible and adaptive nature of online technologies, students are able to either attend CBe-learn part time while attending a traditional school or attend CBe-learn exclusively to complete their junior or senior high programs.

It looks like I missed a post earlier, so this week its a two for one!

Anne talks about integrating her green bin right into a backyard barbeque. Sounds like a great idea! Earlier, she talked about doggie bags and how the green bin fits into her back yard.

You can find Anne’s two most recent posts on the Calgary Herald’s Hall Monitor blog here and here.

Anne’s first three posts are here (1), here (2) and here (3).

Calgary’s 20-Minute Makeover is a call to Calgarians to be part of a city-wide spring cleaning. Calgarians are asked to take 20 minutes during their day anytime between June 6th and 9th to pick up litter in public spaces – a boulevard, back alley or park – any public space that would benefit from a few minutes of special attention.

If you’d like more information about the 20-Minute Makeover, please visit http://www.calgary.ca/20-minutemakeover. You’ll also be able to register yourself or, if you’d like, your group, so that the city can track where cleanups occur.

On Saturday June 9th, the 20 Minute Makeover will conclude with the first P.U.P.P.Y. (Pick Up Pooches Poo Yourself) event of 2012. Last year, the P.U.P.P.Y program, which is run by Parks and Animal & Bylaw Services focuses on education and the promotion of responsible pet ownership. A park has not yet been chosen for this event, but if you watch the city website, it will be announced there.

Finally, on April 15th the City started its annual street cleaning program. The city relies on your cooperation to observe street cleaning signs and remove your cars and garbage bins when cleaning is scheduled. The street cleaning schedule is available online at www.calgary.ca/sweep or by calling 3-1-1.

As always, if you would like to be kept up to date on what is happening in my ward, please email my office ( ward11@calgary.ca ) and ask to be added to our distribution list. We send out occasional updates on projects in the ward, opportunities to provide input into city programs and projects and events that are happening in the city. You can also check my website, www.ward11calgary.ca for updates.

As a part of this work, Transportation Planning is looking for input from Calgarians who use Macleod trail to identify the most significant issues and shape future transportation plans along the corridor.

You can access the online survey that Transportation Planning is asking Calgarians to fill out here, or you can visit calgary.ca/macleod for more information.

You may also be interested in a couple of news articles on the topic: this one from the Calgary Herald, and this one from the Calgary Sun.

You can read the full text of the article below, or link to the Calgary Herald’s website here.

The SPUR pilot project was passed at the Priorities and Finance Committee yesterday, and will be going to Council for final approval on Monday May 7th.

Innovation grant could restore shine to Kingsland’s crown, community says

Don’t be fooled by its name — Kingsland is feeling less than regal these days, with a tarnished image to boot, residents say.

But with a plan to rejuvenate and help from a city project that teams neighbourhoods with planners and funding, Kingsland’s crown may shine again.

Community members are hoping for a grant of $258,500 to spruce up its down-at-the-heel parks, an ailing wooden stairwell, unlit paths and to create a community garden.

“Kingsland is a community that is 50 years old that has not had much reinvestment over the years. It is a community that in a way is kind of forgotten,” Ald. Brian Pincott told the city’s priorities and finance committee Tuesday.

“In a way, Kingsland is a community that falls between the cracks.”

With an estimated 75 per cent of its residents being apartment dwellers, Kingsland is a neighbourhood unlike any other in Calgary, which typically see only 25 per cent renters.

The southwest community of more than 4,000 is feeling much like an urban island to residents, as it is bound by major transportation arteries — Glenmore Trail to the north, Macleod Trail to the east, Heritage Drive to the south, and Elbow Drive to the west.

Specifically, residents say the area is suffering from missing pedestrian links, unlit walkways and a broken public stairwell.

“They’ve tried to do things like repair the stairs on city property themselves or clear the pathways themselves, and the city, from a liability perspective, we don’t let them do that,” said Pincott.

Residents are hoping the city will sign off a grant from the city’s innovation fund, making it the first to benefit SPUR — a revitalization plan Supporting Partnerships for Urban Reinvestment.

With the public realm declining in the city’s older communities, the project aims to link city departments with neighbourhoods, as long as residents contribute by matching funds or volunteering.

“It is a partnership and the piece that is missing is quantifying what the community part of it is,” said Pincott.

“If this works, it will require us to reorganize city administration and how we deliver services. We have to bring people together who don’t normally work together.

Plans include opening up pedestrian paths with lighting, repaving lanes for cyclists and strollers, landscaping, playground equipment and a community garden.

While the plans were met with enthusiasm, some city leaders aren’t so sure what role residents will play in sharing costs and offering “sweat equity.”

Ald. Druh Farrell warned that most communities do their own fundraising for playgrounds, and attract private sponsors to work with them.

“The idea is intriguing, but we haven’t seen a plan. I think we need to concentrate on communities that are experiencing significant change.

“Is Kingsland the right community to test this out on? I don’t see them as a community that’s going to be undergoing significant change and densification.”

But according to city administration, changes are coming.

“It will be growing, there is developer interest. However, it’s one of these communities where developers are wondering, do they invest?” said community planner Thom Mahler.

“It’s one of these communities where you’re not sure which direction it’s going in. They want to make sure they’re heading in the right direction.”

They may not be experiencing the redevelopment other communities are bracing for, but Kingsland residents aren’t waiting.

“How can they improve walkability and connectivity today? They’re having difficultly walking to the things they need to use today, the Heritage LRT and the Kingsland Farmers Market. They’ve identified things that will take their reliance off cars,” said Mahler.

Neighbourhood volunteers are hoping their hard work will pay off.

“Kingsland is a true gem,” says resident Brandy MacInnis.

“A lot of people only see the commercial development when they think of Kingsland, but it has great potential.”

MacInnis, a planner who volunteers on the Kingsland Community Association’s planning committee, says much hard work has been done in the past five years to develop a solid community plan.

Among the items on the neighbourhood’s wish list was a farmers’ market.

By 2010, the Kingsland Farmers Market moved in.

“You have to ask, you never know who’s listening,” said MacInnis.

Two years ago, left over lands between 50th Avenue and 53rd Avenue behind the properties along the east side of 4th Street was redesignated as park space. This is all of the sloped area and odd shaped chunks of land that will never be developed. That 9 acres of forgotten leftover land is what we are calling Windsor Park Park (okay, I am calling it that).

About 20 people from Windsor Park, under the leadership of Diana Zinter, got together for a couple of weekends to talk about what the space could be, what people would like to see in the park and how we can go about getting it. This will be different from other parks that have been developed in the City. For the most part, we are going to be doing it ourselves. We are going to plan and create it ourselves. The Parks Department will help us where they can, but it will be Windsor Park’s project.

The first step in re-claiming the area for the community is going to be the Windsor Park Park Cleanup on April 28th and 29th. For those two days, we are going to go into the area and start cleaning up the garbage and junk that has accumulated in the space over the years. On April 28th, Windsor Park Park will become part of Windsor Park. And we will need your help!

Two of your neighbours are organizing the cleanup which will be from 12:30 until 5:00 PM each day. Breffney and Melanie have been getting all of the things that we will need for a great day of cleanup (and a bit of exploration and idea sharing). While they will have most everything we will need, I would encourage you to wear appropriate footwear (boots) and bring work gloves!

For more information you can contact Breffney and Melanie at: windsorparkpark@yahoo.ca

Or visit the Windsor Park Park Facebook group.

Windsor Park Park Cleanup
April 28th & 29th
12:30 – 5:00 PM
Meet at the park: 4th Street at 52nd Ave.

See you there!!

This year’s walk is going to be in a pair of community’s that are rapidly developing and changing, Rutland Park & the new community of Currie Barracks. The walk begins at 2PM on Sunday May 6th, leaving from the Rutland Park Community Hall ( 3130 40th Ave SW ).

A PDF poster is available here, and for more information please visit the Jane’s Walk website at www.janeswalk.net.

This week Anne talks about yard work and recycling paper plates from her family’s easter dinner.

You can find Anne’s post on the Calgary Herald’s blog here.

Her first three posts are here, here and here.

Phase 3 is about to begin, which will reconstruct the road between Sifton Blvd. and 4th St. Although the majority of the work will occur outside of Ward 11, I know a lot of Ward 11 residents use Elbow Dr. as a part of their daily commute, and I wanted to share a copy of a newsletter that is being distributed to the affected communities. A PDF copy of the newsletter is available here.

As with phases 1 & 2, updates will be available on an ongoing basis on the city’s website, at http://www.calgary.ca/elbowdrive.

This week Anne talks about how much space she has in her green bin, and looking forward to using it as an alternative to throwing yard-waste in the garbage.

You can find Anne’s post on the Calgary Herald’s blog here.

Her first two posts are here and here.