| Re: "New beltline ARP historically sensitive", News, July 27 - August 02, 2006.
FFWD inaccurately states in the headline that the Beltline area now has an ARP, whereas the adjacent Mission area is actually referred to in the article. The Beltline is, in fact, a distinct and separate area, on the other side of 17th Avenue, and typically considered as being west of 4th Street and east of 14th Avenue. East of 4th Street is considered to be West Victoria Park, although with the now-complete clearance of the East Victoria Park and the lack of homeowners there, the rest of that general neighbourhood is in limbo; and is in an effectively stalled process of integration with the adjacent Beltline – they have issued no joint newsletters for some time now. In fact, many small inner-city community associations, with their transient populations, are having difficulty organizing.
The Mission district is also a unique historical area; and this was finally realized by Ward 8 Alderman Madeline King, after the original St. Mary's School was demolished. In fact, the community association there – in order to preserve what is one of Calgary's last intact original, inner-city neighbourhoods – has been instrumental in initiating the process whereby it would be recognized as a national heritage area. As Fast Forward has already detailed, Mission has experienced the same problems with developers, as has the area farther down 17th Avenue in the adjacent Lower Mount Royal neighbourhood. However, the historical designation process with older buildings unfortunately remains largely unchanged, to the detriment of potential heritage properties and their sensitive redevelopment.
It might be tempting to consider the whole area south of downtown between the CPR railway line and the Elbow River generally as being part of the Beltline, particularly when one ignores the inherent density of the area, but it is also still residential as well, and this needs to be taken into consideration when it is considered a community and not just as an area.
I am disappointed that Fast Forward hasn't evidenced fact-checking in this case. Readers should expect more than Calgary's other daily newspapers which regularly hire reporters from out of town, and who are apparently not counselled as to Calgary's address layout by quadrants, leading to vague addresses. Fast Forward has been around a decade, always in the inner city, and has increasingly followed urban development issues. It should keep track of its facts – or errors – better.
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