Hooked on a Feeling
We teamed up with the Calgary Climate Hub on Neighbour Day for a Bike Bus - and to turn our emotions into action.
From the Downtown Neighbourhood Association to Bike Calgary's celebration of the new 15th Avenue Cycle Track, the Climate Hub's Art Block Party, East Village High Tea, and the Sunnyside Neighbour Day Parade - we hit all the central Neighbour Day celebrations! Many thanks to Steve, Ambre and so many others for putting this delightul ride together.
Our contribution? Data.
New bike lanes, high tea and art events sparked joy.
We invited people to map how they felt at each stop along the ride (an exercise developed by Sustainable Calgary co-founder Noel Keough). They used coloured dots to indicate how they felt on a spectrum, from very good to very bad. The output was an instant heat map of how our route made people feel. We also asked what bike busers would change at each location to make it feel better.
We've seen emotional mapping lead to real change. In Bridgeland, older residents living in the neighbourhood's southeast told us they felt isolated because pathways and nearby amenities weren't easy to access. We led a series of Emotional Walk Audits with residents of all ages. They weighed in on their emotions through coloured dots, and by choosing from a list of 36 emotions. A clear pattern emerged: people weren't feeling good in the southeast corner of the neighbourhood. The most common emotion? “Desolation".
That map inspired new design ideas at the 2015 Urban Design Invitational that ultimately contributed to the community-led East Riverside Master Plan. Today, the area is evolving with more walkable streets, mixed-use development, and age-friendly public spaces.
Celia facilitates Mood Map, guards pizza.
Reimagining Erlton / Stampede Station access
We stopped for pizza and art activities at the Climate Hub's Art Block Party, right beside Deerfoot Trail and across from Erlton/Stampede Station.
Participants worried about skewing our data at this location - because the event vibes were great, even if the place itself left something to be desired. "On a normal day, this place would feel completely different," one of them said.
Participants pointed out that, despite being beside the Stampede Grounds and directly across from Erlton/Stampede Station, there's no direct crossing across McLeod Trail to the station. Instead, people are funnelled to distant intersections, where the long blocks create long detours and long waits.
Ideas to fix it came quickly: bury McLeod, build a bike bridge/ bicycle highway, or even a green bridge for people. As it happens, our Urban Design Invitationals have already imagined a few of those possibilities. The proposed Anderson Station cycle knot, imagined by Spectacle Bureau of Architecture and Urbanism for Sustainable Calgary, is pictured above.
Scenes from the ART BLOCK PARTY
We ended the day soaked to the bone in the Sunnyside Neighbour Day Parade, alongside fantastic costumes, cheerful neighbours, and representatives from all three orders of government.
We made sure to tell them how much we like bikes.
Thanks to the Calgary Climate Hub, our fellow riders, volunteers, artists, organizers, and everyone who stopped to share their thoughts - and feelings.
