Live in Westgate
A 1957 bungalow community pinned between Edworthy Park's ravine and Sarcee Trail, where 58% of the housing predates 1961 and almost nobody rents.
Westgate was annexed to the city in 1956 and established the following year: 1.2 km², 3,225 residents in 1,370 private households at the 2021 census, with 28 per cent of those households renting. Edworthy Park, bought by the City in 1962, lies immediately north across Bow Trail with its Douglas Fir Trail and 169 hectares of river valley, and Sarcee Trail, the community's western boundary, runs straight up to the Trans-Canada Highway interchange. Fifty-eight per cent of the occupied housing was built in 1960 or earlier, and with 72 per cent of households owning rather than renting, turnover here is slow and the inventory is thin.
A 1957 bungalow community that has barely turned over since
Bounded by Bow Trail to the north, 45 Street SW to the east, 17 Avenue SW to the south, and Sarcee Trail to the west. Ward 6.
Westgate was annexed to the city in 1956 and established the following year: 1.2 km², 3,225 residents in 1,370 private households at the 2021 census. Only 28% of those households rent: most of the community is owner-occupied, and it shows in how little the streets have changed.
The two edges. Edworthy Park lies immediately north across Bow Trail, 169 hectares of Bow River valley the City bought in 1962, with the Douglas Fir Trail climbing an escarpment where some of the firs are more than four hundred years old. Sarcee Trail, the western boundary, runs straight up to the Trans-Canada Highway interchange, which makes the mountains genuinely close but also puts a busy arterial along one whole side of the community.
What that ownership rate buys. Fifty-eight per cent of the occupied housing was built in 1960 or earlier, ten dwellings went up between 2011 and 2015, and nothing since: the original 1950s bungalow, largely intact rather than redeveloped. Median household income was $90,000 in 2020, under the city's $98,000. The tradeoff is turnover: with 72% of households owning, a specific street can go years without a listing.
Westgate School, which offers Early French Immersion, and Vincent Massey School both sit inside the community, and Central Memorial takes senior high for Westgate among twenty communities. 45 Street station, on the Blue Line, opened on 10 December 2012 on the southern boundary Westgate shares with Glendale. It is walk-on only, with no parking.
- 58% of occupied homes were built in 1960 or earlier. Budget for original wiring, plumbing and roofs
- Only 28% of households rent, and thin turnover means a long wait for a specific street
- Bow Trail and Sarcee Trail both carry real arterial traffic along two of the four boundaries
- No publisher this guide could open names a Catholic school inside Westgate or next door in Glendale
How Westgate got here
- 1956The land is annexed to the City of Calgary.
- 1957Westgate is established.
- 1962The City buys the land north across Bow Trail, once part of the Cochrane Ranch and later Thomas Edworthy's market garden and sandstone quarries, and develops it as Edworthy Park.
- 201245 Street station opens for revenue service on 10 December, one of the first two trenched stations built in Calgary, straddling the Glendale and Westgate border on the community's southern edge.
- 2019The City's last civic census counts 3,202 residents in 1,343 dwellings, 1,305 of them occupied and 874 owner-occupied.
- 2021The federal census counts 3,225 residents in 1,370 private households, with a median household income of $90,000 in 2020 against $98,000 across Calgary, and 28 per cent of households renting.
- 2020sFifty-eight per cent of the occupied stock still dates from 1960 or before. Ten dwellings were built between 2011 and 2015 and none since.
Old-growth forest and a ravine on the doorstep
Edworthy Park sits in the Bow River valley immediately north of Westgate, across Bow Trail: 169 hectares at 5050 Spruce Dr. S.W., open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., with over 5 km of hiking and biking trail including the Douglas Fir Trail. The escarpment carries an isolated stand of Douglas firs, some more than four hundred years old.
What the map does not show: the park is a five-to-ten-minute walk from most of the community rather than a shared backyard, and Bow Trail (a real arterial) sits between the two. The City has water infrastructure and habitat restoration work under way there, with parking delays expected.
Elsewhere in Calgary, not Westgate
14 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 14 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. Sarcee Trail's link to the Trans-Canada Highway makes the day trips genuinely shorter from here than from communities further east.
Every gym within reach
No large recreation centre sits inside Westgate. Edworthy Park's trail network is the free option, with Killarney Aquatic & Recreation Centre and the Signal Hill Centre clubs the closest paid facilities.
- The City's Killarney pool at 1919 29 St. S.W.
- Edworthy Park's Douglas Fir Trail is the free option, immediately north across Bow Trail
- Signal Hill Centre, over 50 stores and services, sits west of Sarcee Trail
- Optimist Arena at 5020 26 Ave. S.W. adds ice just south of the community
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Edworthy Park & Douglas Fir Trail open | Free option: 169 hectares and over 5 km of hiking and biking trail in the Bow River valley immediately north. | 1–3 min |
| Killarney Aquatic & Recreation Centre open | The City's Killarney indoor pool at 1919 29 St. S.W., east in Killarney. | 5–8 min |
| Signal Hill Centre district clubs open | Signal Hill Centre carries over 50 stores and services. It publishes no tenant list, so this guide has not confirmed which clubs are open. | 4–6 min |
| Optimist Arena open | A City arena at 5020 26 Ave. S.W., just south of the community. | 3–5 min |
The ravine is the daily default. The paid options are mainly for pools and weights.
Two Calgary Board of Education schools inside the community
Westgate School offers Early French Immersion, and Wikipedia calls it Westgate Bilingual Elementary. Vincent Massey School, which Wikipedia calls a junior high, sits inside the community too. Neither school's own page prints a grade range. Central Memorial, at 5111 21 Street SW with an enrolment of 1,575 in 2021, is the senior high that lists Westgate among the communities it serves.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Westgate School | Calgary Board of Education | Inside the community, offering Early French Immersion. Wikipedia calls it Westgate Bilingual Elementary; neither the school's page nor the article prints a grade range. |
| Vincent Massey School | Calgary Board of Education | Inside the community. Wikipedia calls it Vincent Massey Junior High. The school's own page carries no grade range, address or opening year. |
| Central Memorial High School | Calgary Board of Education | Grades 10 to 12 at 5111 21 Street SW, enrolment 1,575 in 2021. Its Wikipedia article lists Westgate among the twenty communities it serves. |
| Catholic designation | Calgary Catholic School District | No publisher this guide could open names a Catholic school inside Westgate or in neighbouring Glendale. The district's own site refuses automated clients, so ask the district directly. |
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: no publisher prints an attendance area, and nothing this guide could open names a Catholic school inside Westgate or next door in Glendale. The district's own site refuses automated clients.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Edworthy Park's Douglas Fir Trail holds snow in its shaded switchbacks long after the streets are bare
- 45 Street Station's trench platform catches the cold funnelling off Sarcee Trail
- Original 1950s furnaces get their hardest test of the year in the coldest snaps
- Vincent Massey's hallways stay busy at lunch since the walk outside is short but bitter
- A chinook can strip Edworthy Park's ravine slopes back to bare ground in an afternoon
- The coldest week of winter more often lands in February than January along this ridge
- Sarcee Trail's northbound ramp toward the Trans-Canada carries the week's ski traffic
- Westgate School's French Immersion cohort pushes through midwinter assessments
- Meltwater off the Douglas Fir Trail runs down toward the Bow River by mid-month
- Driveways on the community's oldest crescents heave with the freeze-thaw cycle
- Cleats are the right footwear on Edworthy Park's icy switchbacks
- Sarcee Trail's shoulder snowbanks are the last to clear each spring
- Edworthy Park's trail network reopens properly once the ice clears
- Garden centres along Sarcee Trail open for the season
- Vincent Massey's field sports move outdoors for the term
- Deer move down off the ravine into the community's mature yards
- The 1950s spruce canopy along Westgate's original crescents fills back in
- Sunset holds past 9pm over Edworthy Park's ravine by month's end
- Signal Hill Centre's parking lot fills for the spring shopping reset
- Westgate School's playground stays busy into the long evenings
- School lets out and Edworthy Park's trailheads see the year's first real crowds
- Thunderstorms building over the foothills are visible from the ravine's edge
- Vincent Massey's year wraps with the neighbourhood's usual quiet turnover around it
- 45 Street Station's platform trades ice for shade as riders wait
- Stampede traffic backs up on Sarcee Trail's Bow Trail interchange
- Edworthy Park's valley floor runs several degrees cooler than the streets above it
- Hottest month, with the original bungalows' small windows keeping interiors dim and cool
- Signal Hill Centre's lot is at its fullest of the year
- Edworthy Park's cottonwoods start shedding seed fluff along the Douglas Fir Trail
- Wildfire haze from the west can settle low in the ravine on windless days
- Signal Hill Centre's back-to-school traffic spills onto Sarcee Trail
- Quietest weeks in the community before the school routine returns
- Vincent Massey and Westgate School's morning drop-off traffic returns to the crescents
- Edworthy Park's aspens turn first, visible from the ravine's rim
- Morning riders return to the 45 Street Station platform once summer's lull ends
- The ravine typically holds off its first frost until late in the month
- Peak colour runs through Edworthy Park down to the Bow River valley floor
- Original walks and driveways along the oldest crescents get their fall check before freeze-up
- Snow tires go on before Sarcee Trail's first icy commute
- Signal Hill Centre's holiday displays go up over the parking court
- Edworthy Park's trail gets its first ice on the shaded switchbacks
- Dark commutes home mean Sarcee Trail's headlights are the main light source by five
- 45 Street Station's platform lighting comes on well before the evening commute
- Vincent Massey's holiday concert fills the gym for one of the year's few crowded nights
- A chinook arch over Edworthy Park's ravine can turn a −20 morning into a +5 afternoon
- Skating moves indoors to the Optimist Arena at 5020 26 Ave. S.W. once the season sets in
- Sarcee Trail stays quiet over the holiday break compared to its usual commuter traffic
- Edworthy Park stays open for walkers who bundle up through the season
2 more photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed, via Wikimedia Commons. Filter by category.
Showing 1–2 of 2 photographs.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images geotagged in or near Westgate, 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.