Live in Rosscarrock
A 1954 community between Calgary's first underground CTrain station and the Shaganappi Point golf course, where apartments now outnumber the original bungalows.
Rosscarrock was established in 1954 between 33 Street and 45 Street SW, with the Shaganappi Point golf course bordering it on the east: 1.1 km², 3,490 residents in 1,540 private households at the 2021 census, and 65 per cent of those households renting. Westbrook Mall and Westbrook station sit in the northeast corner, the station underground since December 2012 and the first of its kind in Calgary. About six in ten occupied dwellings are apartments or flats in a duplex rather than the postwar bungalow the founding date suggests, and only 16 per cent are single-detached houses. Median household income was $68,500 in 2020, well under the city's $98,000, and 31 per cent of households spend 30 per cent or more of income on shelter.
A 1954 community that went from bungalow to majority-rental
Bounded by Bow Trail to the north, 33 Street SW to the east, 17 Avenue SW to the south, and 45 Street SW to the west. Ward 8, in the City's West sector.
Rosscarrock was established in 1954 between 33 Street and 45 Street SW, a narrow strip with the Shaganappi Point golf course on the east and Westgate on the west. At 1.1 km² it held 3,490 residents in 1,540 private households at the 2021 census, and 65% of those households rent.
The apartment tells the real story. The bungalow the 1954 founding date suggests is a small minority: only 16% of occupied dwellings are single-detached houses. Apartments in buildings under five storeys run 36%, flats in a duplex another 25%, and 41% of the stock dates from 1961 to 1980. Median household income sat at $68,500 in 2020, against $98,000 across Calgary, and 31% of households spend 30% or more of income on shelter, against 23% citywide.
The school question is open. Wikipedia and the Federation of Calgary Communities both still list Rosscarrock Elementary as serving the community, but the Calgary Board of Education publishes no school site under that name, and nothing this audit could open carries a closure notice or a date. Do not assume either way: search the address on the board's own school finder.
What is not in doubt is the location. Westbrook Mall and Westbrook station sit in the community's northeast corner, the station underground since 10 December 2012 and the first of its kind in Calgary, and Shaganappi Point's 27 holes border the eastern edge. It shows in the commute: 23% take public transit to work, against 9% citywide.
- 65% of households rent, and only 35% own: the reverse of the city's 69% owner share
- Rosscarrock Elementary's status is unresolved. Two publishers still list it; the board publishes no site for it and no closure notice this audit could find
- Bow Trail brings real traffic to the northern blocks, though Westbrook station itself is underground
- Original 1950s stock is a small minority. Only 16% of occupied dwellings are single-detached houses
- 31% of households spend 30% or more of income on shelter, against 23% citywide
How Rosscarrock got here
- 1951The Rosscarrock Community Association is registered as an Alberta society on 30 March, three years before the community it serves. Its hall at 4411 10 Avenue SW has a main hall for 224, meeting rooms, a gym, a stage and a kitchen.
- 1954Rosscarrock is established between 33 Street and 45 Street SW, developed through the mid-1950s under R-2 low-density zoning.
- 1964Westbrook Mall opens at 1200 37 Street SW, at Bow Trail and 37 Street. It runs to about 399,000 square feet and 50 stores on a single floor, with Safeway and Walmart among four anchors.
- 2002The mall is renovated.
- 2012Westbrook station opens on 10 December, beside 33 Street SW between Bow Trail and 17 Avenue SW. It is the first operational underground CTrain station in Calgary, on the Blue Line's west leg.
- 2019The City's last civic census counts 3,621 residents in 1,715 dwellings, 1,553 of them occupied and only 439 owner-occupied.
- 2021The federal census counts 3,490 residents in 1,540 private households, 65 per cent of them renting, with a median household income of $68,500 in 2020 against $98,000 across Calgary.
27 holes on the border, Edworthy Park a short drive north
Shaganappi Point is a City course at 1200 26 Street SW that Wikipedia describes as bordering Rosscarrock: an 18-hole par 68 of 5,181 yards and a separate 9-hole par 32, with a practice green and a 44-stall irons-only driving range. That is 27 holes, not the 36 this guide used to claim. Edworthy Park's Bow River valley and the Douglas Fir Trail sit a short drive north across Bow Trail, and the community association names both as the neighbourhood's park access.
What the map does not show: the golf course is a border, not a backyard. Its clubhouse address is on 26 Street SW, several blocks east of the community's own 33 Street edge, so most of Rosscarrock is a walk or a short drive from either green space rather than adjacent to it.
Elsewhere in Calgary, not Rosscarrock
13 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 13 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from the centre of the community to each destination using Calgary's road grid, and are rounded to honest ranges rather than presented as precise figures. Westbrook Mall and the LRT stop are close enough to walk; most of the rest of the list assumes a car.
Every gym within reach
No large recreation centre sits inside Rosscarrock. Killarney Aquatic & Recreation Centre is the closest full facility, with the golf course and Edworthy Park's pathways as the free options.
- 1919 29 St. S.W.: pool, teaching pool, dive tank, hot tub, steam room, weights and cardio, fitness studio
- The City's list carries no gymnasium here, whatever this guide said before
- Shaganappi Point's 27 holes border the community on the east
- Edworthy Park's Bow River valley pathways are the free option north across Bow Trail
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Killarney Aquatic & Recreation Centre open | City-run at 1919 29 St. S.W.: pool, teaching pool, dive tank, hot tub, steam room, weights and cardio, and a fitness studio. The City's list carries no gymnasium here. | 4–5 min |
| Shaganappi Point Golf Course open | The City course bordering the community on the east: an 18-hole par 68 and a separate 9-hole par 32, with a 44-stall irons-only driving range. | 5–8 min |
| Edworthy Park pathways open | Free option: the Bow River valley trail network and the Douglas Fir Trail, north across Bow Trail. | 4–6 min |
| Westbrook Mall district clubs open | Commercial gyms in and around the mall. Nothing this audit could open lists them, so check before you count on one. | 1–3 min |
The community association's own hall is the other indoor option: 4411 10 Avenue SW, with a gym, a stage, a kitchen and a main room for 224. Nothing this audit could open lists the commercial gyms around Westbrook Mall, so check before you count on one.
One school confirmed inside the community, and one unresolved
St. Michael Elementary & Junior High, K–9 with French immersion and an International Baccalaureate programme, is the school Wikipedia and the Federation of Calgary Communities both place inside Rosscarrock. Rosscarrock Elementary is the unresolved one: both publishers still list it, the board publishes no site under that name, and nothing this audit could open says when or whether it closed.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| St. Michael Elementary & Junior High | Calgary Catholic School District | K to 9 inside the community, which Wikipedia says runs French immersion and an International Baccalaureate programme. The district's own site refuses automated clients, so nothing here was read from it. |
| Rosscarrock School | Calgary Board of Education | Wikipedia and the Federation of Calgary Communities both still list Rosscarrock Elementary as serving the community, but the board publishes no school site under that name and no page this audit could open carries a closure notice or a date. Treat its status as unresolved and check the board's address lookup. |
| Central Memorial High School | Calgary Board of Education | Grades 10 to 12 at 5111 21 Street SW, 1,575 students in 2021. Wikipedia lists Rosscarrock among the communities it serves; the Federation of Calgary Communities still lists Ernest Manning High School instead. Confirm the designation for a specific address. |
Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. Confirm the designation for a specific address on the board's own school finder, which is the only place a designation is published. On the senior high side the publishers disagree: Wikipedia lists Rosscarrock among the communities Central Memorial serves, while the Federation of Calgary Communities still names Ernest Manning. The Calgary Catholic School District's site refuses automated clients, so nothing on the Catholic side here was read from the district itself.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Westbrook station is underground, so the wait is out of the wind funnelling down Bow Trail
- Shaganappi Point's 27 holes along the eastern border sit buried and silent
- Rental turnover doesn't pause for the cold: a mid-lease move is a normal January sight here
- Westbrook Mall's food court is the warmest gathering spot for blocks around
- A chinook can clear the walk to Westbrook Station down to bare pavement in an afternoon
- The community association's hall on 10 Avenue SW carries the indoor season: a gym, a stage and a main room for 224
- St. Michael's International Baccalaureate cohort pushes through midterm assessments
- The year's coldest snap more often lands in February than January here
- Meltwater pools in the apartment-block parking courts before the storm drains catch up
- Greenskeepers walk Shaganappi Point's back nine assessing winterkill along the border
- Cleats are the right footwear on the walk to Westbrook Station
- May 1 lease notices start appearing on bulletin boards around the mall
- Shaganappi Point reopens for the season along the community's eastern edge
- Westbrook Mall's parking lot fills for the seasonal retail reset
- Garden centres open along Bow Trail
- Last hard frosts near Westbrook mean planting waits for the May long weekend
- The first of the month brings the year's biggest wave of new leases into the apartment blocks
- Tee times at bordering Shaganappi Point book out fast on the first warm weekends
- Westbrook station's underground platform holds the same temperature in May as it did in January
- Sunset holds past 9pm over the golf course by month's end
- School lets out at St. Michael, the one school still confirmed inside the community
- Shaganappi Point's tee sheet runs solid from dawn past the solstice
- Westbrook Mall's outdoor patio seating fills for the season
- Thunderstorms building over the foothills are visible from the golf course's open ground
- Stampede crowds board the West LRT at Westbrook rather than fight Bow Trail traffic
- Shaganappi Point's back nine plays into nine o'clock light along the eastern border
- Bow Trail backs up hardest on Stampede parade morning
- Hottest month, with the apartment blocks' upper floors noticeably warmer than the street
- Rental listings for the September term start appearing before the long weekend
- Round counts at bordering Shaganappi Point peak before the school-return rush
- Wildfire haze from the west can settle low along Bow Trail
- Westbrook Station's platform stays busy through the last weeks of summer commuting
- September 1 brings the community's second big lease-turnover wave of the year
- St. Michael's IB programme starts its new cohort
- Morning riders crowd the Westbrook Station platform again after summer's lull
- Late-season twilight rates at the bordering course start once school is back
- Peak colour runs along Shaganappi Point's fairways on the eastern edge
- The bordering course shuts its gates for the season on the first hard frost
- The walk to Westbrook station gets its first genuinely cold mornings, though the platform itself is underground
- Westbrook Mall's holiday displays start going up early in the month
- The bordering fairways sit closed and quiet under the season's first real snow
- Dark commutes start and end underground at Westbrook station
- Rental listings start advertising heat-included as the freeze sets in
- Westbrook Mall's holiday retail season is in full swing
- A chinook arch over the bordering fairways can turn a −20 morning into a +5 afternoon
- Westbrook Mall stays the community's warm indoor gathering place through the holidays
- West LRT ridership at Westbrook drops through the holiday break
- Quiet residential streets under the season's first real snow
7 more photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed, via Wikimedia Commons. Filter by category.
Showing 1–7 of 7 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Rosscarrock, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. Inline photos elsewhere on the page may still come from the site's shared Calgary library.