Live in Taradale
A 1984 northeast community whose own western boundary carries Saddletowne Station and the Genesis Centre.
Taradale's land was annexed by the City of Calgary in 1961, but the community itself was not established until 1984. Well into the northeast's main build-out wave, and it shows: 68 per cent of the current dwelling stock was built in a single decade, 2001 to 2010. At the 2021 census it held 17,630 residents in 4,465 private households across 2.8 km², at an average household size of 3.9 persons against the city's 2.6, and 58 per cent of residents were immigrants against 33 per cent city-wide.
A dense, young community with two major NE anchors on its own doorstep
Wikipedia gives the boundaries as Taradale Drive to the north, 68 Street E to the east, 64 Avenue N to the south and Falconridge Boulevard to the west. The Federation of Calgary Communities gives 80 Avenue NE to the north and the Transportation Utility Corridor to the east instead, and the two are not reconciled anywhere published. Ward 5, in the City's Northeast sector.
Taradale's land was annexed by the City of Calgary in 1961, but the community itself was not established until 1984: well into the northeast's main build-out wave. It shows in the dwelling data: 68% of today's occupied dwellings were built in a single decade, 2001 to 2010, per the 2021 census profile.
The boundaries are tight and rectilinear, and the two publishers disagree on half of them. Wikipedia gives Taradale Drive north and 68 Street E east; the Federation of Calgary Communities gives 80 Avenue NE north and the Transportation Utility Corridor east. Both agree on 64 Avenue south and Falconridge Boulevard west, the street that carries the Genesis Centre and Saddletowne station.
Housing mix. At the 2021 census the community held 17,630 residents in 4,465 private households on 2.8 km²: one of the denser communities on this site. Two thirds of dwellings (66%) are single-detached, average household size runs to 3.9 persons against the city's 2.6, and a third of households hold five or more people against a tenth city-wide. Renters are 25%.
Who lives here. 58% of residents were immigrants at the 2021 count, against a citywide 33%, and only 37% speak English most often at home against 75% across Calgary, with 47% speaking a non-official language against 19% city-wide. Punjabi alone accounts for 25% against 3%, then Urdu at 7% and Tagalog at 4%. Median household income was $100,000 in 2020, essentially in line with the city's $98,000. The profile gives low income by age group rather than a single figure: 13% of those under 18 and 11% of those 65 and over, against 11% and 7% for Calgary.
Transit and roads. Saddletowne station, the terminus of the Blue Line's northeast leg, opened 27 August 2012 in the northwest corner of Saddletowne Circle NE with 141 park and ride stalls. The Genesis Centre sits at 7555 Falconridge Blvd. NE on the community's own western edge, though neither it nor Wikipedia publishes an opening year for it. Even so, 76% of employed residents drive to work and 13% take transit, and only 12% are at work in under fifteen minutes against 21% city-wide.
- 68% of the occupied stock was built between 2001 and 2010, against 20% for Calgary. Past the newest-build stage, short of the wiring and roofing concerns of the 1970s and 1980s
- Average household size is 3.9 against the city's 2.6, and 34% of households hold five or more people: worth factoring into how a specific floor plan will actually live
- The City's own civic census counted 19,022 here in 2019 and the federal census found 17,630 two years later. The two are measuring different things; do not read either as a trend on its own
- Only 12% of employed residents are at work in under fifteen minutes, against 21% across Calgary
- Wikipedia and the Federation disagree about the north and east boundaries. Check which side of the line a specific address falls on
- No publisher names the designated public senior high. Look it up by address before you buy
How Taradale got here
- 1961The land is annexed to the City of Calgary, decades before the community itself takes shape.
- 1984Taradale is established, reportedly named after one of the community's developers' children, Martin and Tara.
- 2001 to 2010The bulk of the community goes up in a single decade: 68 per cent of the occupied dwellings standing in 2021 date from this window, against 20 per cent for Calgary.
- 2012Saddletowne station opens on 27 August as the terminus of the Blue Line's northeast leg, in the northwest corner of Saddletowne Circle NE, with 141 park and ride stalls. Wikipedia's own census figures for that year give 16,841 residents in 4,559 dwellings on 2.9 km².
- 2019The City's last civic census counts 19,022 residents in 5,272 dwellings, 4,930 of them occupied and 3,135 owner-occupied: more people than the federal census would find two years later.
- 2021The federal census counts 17,630 residents in 4,465 private households, 75 per cent of them owner households, with a median household income of $100,000 in 2020 against $98,000 across Calgary. Fifty-eight per cent of residents are immigrants and 37 per cent speak English most often at home, against 33 and 75 per cent city-wide.
- 2026Village Square Leisure Centre, the City facility south of here, closes on 31 August for upgrades and repairs until the end of 2027. Its two arenas stay open until March 2027.
No river valley here: Prairie Winds and the community's own green space carry the load
Taradale has no river valley or provincial park of its own. The nearest sits well south along the Bow. What it has instead is Prairie Winds Park, 16 hectares at 223 Castleridge Blvd. N.E. with tennis courts, playgrounds, a basketball court, a winter sledding hill, and a spray park, lazy river and wading pool in the warm months. The City's page names no zip line, cricket pitch or soccer fields, so this guide no longer claims them.
What the map does not show: Chestermere Lake sits further out than it does from the eastern-edge communities that border Stoney Trail directly. What Taradale trades for that distance is proximity to Saddletowne station and the Genesis Centre: the busier, more everyday kind of amenity.
Elsewhere in Calgary, not Taradale
20 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 20 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. Saddletowne Station and the Genesis Centre sit right on the community's own boundary; the mountains and Chestermere Lake are both a longer haul than from communities that border Stoney Trail directly.
Every gym within reach
Genesis Centre, on the community's own western boundary, is the anchor. Village Square, the City facility further south, is closed for upgrades from 31 August 2026 until the end of 2027, so do not plan around it. Confirm hours before you count on any of these.
- A feature gymnasium, a community gymnasium, an indoor turf field house, an indoor plastic flooring field house, multi-purpose rooms and outdoor turf. The centre states no square footage and no opening year
- The Saddletowne YMCA shares the address at 180-7555 Falconridge Blvd NE: weekdays 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., weekends 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Village Square Leisure Centre is closed for upgrades from 31 August 2026 to the end of 2027. Its two arenas stay open until March 2027
- Prairie Winds Park is the free option: tennis, basketball, playgrounds and a sledding hill
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Genesis Centre open | 7555 Falconridge Blvd. NE: a feature gymnasium, a community gymnasium, an indoor turf field house, an indoor plastic flooring field house, multi-purpose rooms and outdoor turf. The Saddletowne YMCA in the same building is at 180-7555 Falconridge Blvd NE, weekdays 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. | 5–8 min |
| Saddletowne-area fitness studios open | Commercial gyms in the retail node around Saddletowne station. No publisher lists them by name. | 4–6 min |
| Village Square Leisure Centre open | Indoor water park, wave pool, waterslides, ice rinks, weight room, jungle gym and gymnasium. Closed for upgrades and repairs from 31 August 2026 until the end of 2027; the two arenas stay open until March 2027. | 8–12 min |
| Sunridge-area commercial gyms open | Chain fitness clubs clustered around Sunridge Mall. No publisher lists them by name. | 11–15 min |
| Prairie Winds Park open | Not a gym, but the free option: 16 hectares at 223 Castleridge Blvd. N.E. with tennis courts, a basketball court, playgrounds and a winter sledding hill. | 6–9 min |
| Taradale community pathways open | Free option: the community's own internal green space and pathway network. | 1–3 min |
Confirm terms before you rely on any of them. The Genesis Centre is not a City facility and does not appear on the City's list of pools and leisure centres, and none of the commercial clubs further south near Sunridge is named by any publisher.
Two schools inside the boundaries, a Catholic elementary next door
Taradale School and Ted Harrison School, which the board calls a middle school, both sit inside the community. Neither page publishes a grade range, an address or an attendance area, so this guide no longer says kindergarten to grade 4. On the Catholic side, Our Lady of Fatima and Bishop McNally can be named but not confirmed here.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Taradale School | Calgary Board of Education | A Calgary Board of Education school inside the community. Its page publishes no grade range and no attendance area, so this guide no longer says kindergarten to grade 4. |
| Ted Harrison School | Calgary Board of Education | The board's own site describes it as a middle school inside the community. It publishes no grade range and no attendance area. |
| Our Lady of Fatima School | Calgary Catholic School District | A Catholic elementary this guide can name but not confirm: the district's site refuses automated clients, and Wikipedia does not name it. |
| Bishop McNally High School | Calgary Catholic School District | A Catholic senior high on Falconridge Boulevard, unconfirmed for the same reason. |
| Designated public senior high | Calgary Board of Education | Nothing published names the designated public senior high for this community. The board gives it only through the address search on its own site. |
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 current designation for a specific address with the board before you buy: the board assigns a designated school from the home address and publishes that only through the address search on its own site. 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.
- Chinooks reach this far northeast late and weak, same as the rest of the quadrant
- Genesis Centre's field houses and gymnasiums carry the indoor season
- Falconridge Boulevard and Métis Trail get priority plowing ahead of interior streets
- Saddletowne Station's park-and-ride fills earlier in the dark morning commute
- A chinook can clear the community's side streets within an afternoon
- Family Day programming fills up at Genesis Centre and the Y
- Prairie Winds Park's open ground stays windswept but walkable most days
- Coldest stretches usually break before the month is out
- Melt and refreeze on side streets around Taravista and Taracove
- Spring break fills the Genesis Centre's field houses and gymnasiums
- Community pathways reopen as the last snow clears
- Magpies are already active along the boulevard's tree lines
- Prairie Winds Park's playing fields dry out for the coming season
- Last hard frosts: planting waits until the long weekend
- Goslings appear along the retention ponds and green space
- Longer light stretches the evening commute out of downtown noticeably
- Community league and school sport seasons start at Taradale and Ted Harrison
- Long evenings: sunset past 9pm by month end
- Hail season begins: the northeast gets more than its share
- Prairie Winds Park's spray park and wading pool open for the year
- Peak daylight at the solstice: over 16 hours
- School year ends at Taradale, Ted Harrison and Our Lady of Fatima
- Thunderstorm season is fully under way
- Genesis Centre's outdoor fields see their heaviest bookings of the year
- Calgary Stampede: ten days, a Blue Line ride from Saddletowne Station
- Evening thunderstorms roll in from the west
- Hottest month, with little shade cover on the community's newer streets
- Hail season peaks: the northeast takes more than its share
- Quietest weeks before school returns
- Chestermere Lake, further east, is at its warmest for a bigger day trip
- Genesis Centre's summer day camps run through the month
- Back-to-school traffic starts building at the neighbourhood retail strip
- School year restarts at Taradale, Ted Harrison and Our Lady of Fatima
- First frost typically arrives late in the month
- Diwali and Eid observances are visible across the community, reflecting a largely South Asian and Filipino resident base
- Saddletowne Station's evening ridership shifts back to a school-and-work pattern
- First snow is normal, and normally melts within days
- Snow tires go on ahead of the first real cold snap
- Prairie Winds Park quiets down for the season
- Shorter evenings noticeable by mid-month
- Dark by 5pm
- Genesis Centre's indoor recreation season restarts in earnest
- Holiday retail season begins at CrossIron Mills, north up Highway 2
- Falconridge Boulevard's evening rush gets noticeably longer in the dark
- Zoolights at the Calgary Zoo, reached via the Blue Line from Saddletowne
- Holiday quiet across the community's residential streets
- Chinooks, when they come, arrive late and weak this far northeast
- Genesis Centre runs holiday-week programming for the school break
29 more photographs of Calgary and the region
Drawn from the site's shared, freely licensed Calgary photo library, not photographs of Taradale itself. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 29 photographs.
Honesty note. This page uses only the general Calgary, seasonal, Alberta-wildlife and day-trip photography from the site's shared library: the Fish Creek and Midnapore-specific images used on the southeast pages are deliberately excluded, because this community is in the far northeast and those are not its surroundings. Nothing here is presented as a photograph of Taradale itself.