Calgary Neighborhood Overview: East Village

Downtown East Village, commonly known as East Village, is a mixed-use neighbourhood in Calgary, Canada's Rivers District. The area has a rich history, including being home to Fort Calgary, the earliest-settled land in the Calgary area. However, it was cut off from the rest of downtown in the early 1980s due to the construction of the Calgary Municipal Building and suffered from rundown properties, vacant lots, and a severe crime problem.

To revitalize the area, Calgary City Council approved the East Village Area Redevelopment Plan in 2005, and a wholly owned subsidiary known as the Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) was formed to revitalize and redevelop the Rivers District, including East Village. The CMLC invested $357 million in infrastructure upgrades, including elevating the roads above the flood-plain, building the Jack and Jean Leslie RiverWalk, and constructing plazas. Since 2012, the East Village has seen the construction of several residential buildings, increasing the neighbourhood's population substantially.

East Village is also home to institutional buildings such as the National Music Centre and the New Central Library of the Calgary Public Library. The National Music Centre is the first national cultural institution dedicated to celebrating music in Canada, and the $191 million building houses the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and a museum of impressive musical artifacts, including the Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Studio. The New Central Library of the Calgary Public Library, which opened in 2018, houses children's books, performance venues, and activity rooms on its lower floors, along with an extensive fiction section and reading rooms.

The neighbourhood's demographics are diverse, with a median household income of $17,253 in 2005 and 53.1% low-income residents living in the neighbourhood. As of 2016, Downtown East Village had a population of 3,242 living in 1,897 dwellings, with a population density of 6,500/km2.

In summary, East Village has undergone significant redevelopment and revitalization since the early 2000s, attracting billions of dollars worth of investment. Today, the neighbourhood is a vibrant and diverse community in Calgary, Canada, home to cultural institutions, residential buildings, and public spaces that contribute to the city's livability.