The Sprawl
@sprawlcalgary.bsky.social
Slow news for curious Calgarians. Subscribe to Sprawlcast, Calgary’s in-depth municipal podcast, wherever you listen to podcasts! sprawlcalgary.com
"There's a big public hearing on blanket rezoning happening at Calgary city hall this week..." Again! Here's what we're up to this week. #yyccc
A summer update from Calgary city hall | The Sprawl
And a pop-up at the Calgary Folk Music Festival.
sprawlcalgary.com
Did you know? The Canada flag was designed by a Calgarian! You can read my new comic about George Stanley at @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social, along with @klaszus.bsky.social's deep dive into this little-known historical story. Happy Canada Day! www.sprawlcalgary.com/canadian-fla...
I love this piece, thanks @klaszus.bsky.social & @calgaryhester.bsky.social! I'm going to bet Dr. George Stanley attended St. Stephen's Anglican Church on 14 Ave SW (by Connaught School, Calgary Collegiate & his former home). Tories at prayer, Anglicans are called. Checking the plaques on Sunday.
The Sprawl@sprawlcalgary.bsky.social · last mo.Happy Canada Day! Today we bring you the story of how a Calgarian, George Stanley, designed the Canadian flag—and how his design was picked. Shenanigans! Political intrigue! Read all about it in The Sprawl!
Happy Canada Day! A great article from the @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social. We owe a lot to this Calgary-born gentleman who designed our beautiful and universally recognized flag. www.sprawlcalgary.com/canadian-fla...
How a Calgarian created Canada’s flag | The Sprawl
George Stanley proposed ‘a simple red and white’ design.
sprawlcalgary.com
Happy Canada Day! Today we bring you the story of how a Calgarian, George Stanley, designed the Canadian flag—and how his design was picked. Shenanigans! Political intrigue! Read all about it in The Sprawl!
How a Calgarian created Canada’s flag | The Sprawl
George Stanley proposed ‘a simple red and white’ design.
sprawlcalgary.com
NEW IN THE SPRAWL! The story of how a born-and-raised Calgarian, George Stanley, designed the Canadian flag—at a time when it looked like the nation might break apart. Giddyup folks. We dug deep for this one. Enjoy!
The forgotten Calgary roots of the Canadian flag | The Sprawl
How an Albertan created a new national symbol.
sprawlcalgary.com
Doing a fundraising blitz for @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social. Sign up as a monthly member for $12/mo and I'll mail you a copy of my book! You're welcome to sign up for less than that too, we'll send you some cool transit stickers. SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM! sprawlcalgary.fundjournalism.org/donate/
Good news! The Sprawl is nominated for 7 Alberta Magazine Awards. For our municipal election coverage, our tree canopy coverage (ha!) and our Pop-Up Press. www.sprawlcalgary.com/alberta-maga...
The Sprawl nominated for 7 Alberta Magazine Awards | The Sprawl
Plus—get the book version of a hit Sprawlcast!
sprawlcalgary.com
HUGE bike bus turnout this morning for our Year-end Coffee & Conversation and Bike Bus at KGS. I'm still trying to get a final count, but it was close to 100! WAY TO GO, #yycbike & thank you to @mykeatkinson.bsky.social @jeromyyyc.bsky.social and @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social for joining us!
Putting a new Curious Calgary zine into my neighbourhood zine box! This one is about the @ucalgary.bsky.social arch, which did not start life as an arch! Take a look at the comic at @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social to learn the arch's origin story.
It is perhaps for the best that the Rainbow Bridge for pedestrians and presumably their pets was retired in the 80s but I also had no idea it is what is now the U of C arch! Thanks @klaszus.bsky.social for another great @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social CTrain story!
A CTrain milestone—and a repurposed pedestrian bridge | The Sprawl
How the University of Calgary got its arch.
sprawlcalgary.com
CJF Dr. Eric Jackman Award (Small) Finalist Spotlight: The @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social was shortlisted for “Calgary 2025 Election Edition”. The team livestreamed candidate forums, organized debates, built an online candidate tracker w/ independently-written bios & created printed election guides. /1
"Drawing the city, or places in the city, just made me love it more somehow." A Q&A with Calgary cartoonist and author Teresa Wong, who has created a new piece of artwork specifically for The Sprawl's Pop-Up Press. Join us on June 14!
In Calgary's Chinatown, Teresa Wong revisits a family history | The Sprawl
Come print with us on June 14!
sprawlcalgary.com
In the 1940s, Calgary’s streetcar equipment languished while auto companies lobbied city hall to scrap it and replace streetcars with motor buses. #yyccc
The story behind Bowness Park and its streetcar | The Sprawl
'It was the ultimate leveller—a club where no one was excluded.'
sprawlcalgary.com
Hey, #yyc's Refinery Park is in the news! www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO3w... I learned about Refinery Park when I wrote a comic strip about it for @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social in 2024. You can read the comic here: www.sprawlcalgary.com/calgary-zine...
Imperial makes plan for vacant land 25 years after refinery contamination scare
YouTube video by CBC News Alberta
youtube.com
the CTrain free fare zone is one of the nicest things we have in Calgary. The numbers from the recent survey are pretty clear: people use it, they like it, and they want it to be expanded. City Hall should just listen to what people want.📣
The Sprawl@sprawlcalgary.bsky.social · 3mo agoCalgary Transit is coming out strong against the CTrain free fare zone to improve "overall perceptions of safety on transit"—but is obscuring why we got it in the first place. We dug into it. #yyccc
I love that @calgarytransit.com reads @sprawlcalgary.bsky.social! Subscribe, too! That tells me CT have the capability & capacity to produce a better evaluation & report on the free fare zone than they did. To omit the environmental impact of eliminating the free fare zone was shoddy analysis. 2/
Perhaps they should find a way to actually make it safer, not just improve the perception of safety? 🙄 Removing the free fare zone will impact downtown businesses. Shopping downtown at lunch? Take the train. Meeting someone at the other end of downtown for lunch? Take the train.
Very insightful. Funniest para: “I am glad to hear they are reading The Sprawl over at Calgary Transit—but make sure to support our journalism! This ain't some journalistic free fare zone! But I digress.” 🤣
The Sprawl@sprawlcalgary.bsky.social · 3mo agoCalgary Transit is coming out strong against the CTrain free fare zone to improve "overall perceptions of safety on transit"—but is obscuring why we got it in the first place. We dug into it. #yyccc
Calgary Transit is coming out strong against the CTrain free fare zone to improve "overall perceptions of safety on transit"—but is obscuring why we got it in the first place. We dug into it. #yyccc
On the CTrain free fare zone, Calgary city hall is having a memory failure | The Sprawl
It’s not a half-century ‘pilot project.’
sprawlcalgary.com
A weekend of walks! Yesterday we led Calgarians on a trip into Calgary's transit history. Take a look.
A weekend of Jane's Walks in Calgary | The Sprawl
We took a trip into Calgary's transit past.
sprawlcalgary.com
Great interview piece in The Sprawl that includes former Calgarian Don Stewart, owner of MacLeod’s Books in Vancouver, who once upon a time worked at Hillhurst Book Store as well as David Sidjak, owner of Sigla Books, who used to work with Tom Williams.
The Sprawl@sprawlcalgary.bsky.social · 3mo ago"I think people are actually really hungry for analog, ad-free forms of reading." These 4 booksellers all grew up in Calgary. We talked to them to find out more about where they came from—and what bookstores mean to a city today.
Some good news! The Sprawl has been shortlisted for the Canadian Journalism Foundation's excellence in journalism prize, the Eric Jackman Award, for our 2025 municipal election coverage.
Some good news about The Sprawl—and a few library letters | The Sprawl
A grab bag of April miscellany.
sprawlcalgary.com
"I think people are actually really hungry for analog, ad-free forms of reading." These 4 booksellers all grew up in Calgary. We talked to them to find out more about where they came from—and what bookstores mean to a city today.
The paper chase: How 4 Calgarians made their cities better with bookstores | The Sprawl
A trip into Western Canadian book culture.
sprawlcalgary.com
This would have been my local library branch. Walkable and bikeable. And while I am sad about its disappearance, I had fun digging into this bit of local Calgary history! #yycbike #yyccc
The missing Calgary Public Library branch in Crescent Heights | The Sprawl
It was more than ‘a mere book repository.’
sprawlcalgary.com
This week, the Alberta government announced that charter schools will have access to reserve and municipal land in new communities, the same as public and separate (i.e. Catholic) school boards do. #ableg #yyccc
UCP to make public land available to charter schools with Bill 28 | The Sprawl
Developers will also pay less in off-site levies.
sprawlcalgary.com
I just finished this Sprawlcast episode and it was awesome! If you live in Calgary, it’s a must listen-to episode. Oh and help fund The Sprawl! I do and it’s well worth it. 😀 #Calgary #yyccc #yyc
The Sprawl@sprawlcalgary.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew Sprawlcast! As Calgary tries to catch up on infrastructure, city councillors look to tap the brakes on sprawl after decades of costly outer growth. Listen and/or read! #yyccc
New Sprawlcast! As Calgary tries to catch up on infrastructure, city councillors look to tap the brakes on sprawl after decades of costly outer growth. Listen and/or read! #yyccc
Paying for it: Calgary suburban developers face new scrutiny from councillors | The Sprawl
After decades of sprawl, the costs are staggering.
sprawlcalgary.com
Amid all the debate about Calgary's CTrain free fare zone, one question has remained murky. Not many cities offer free LRT downtown. Why do we? The Sprawl dug into it... #yyccc
The forgotten story behind Calgary's CTrain free fare zone | The Sprawl
Why do we have it in the first place?
sprawlcalgary.com