Sunnyside, who along with its neighbour Hillhurst form an area known to locals as Kensington, is arguably the trendiest of Calgary’s inner-city communities.

The community, northwest of the Bow River, has a blend of single-family homes, modern mid-rise high-density housing, neighbourhood corner stores, apartment buildings and restaurants.

The area running north-south on 10^th Street NW and east-west on Kensington Road is a quarter concentrated with ethnic restaurants, lively pubs, stylish lounges and great shopping.

There are nearly 4,000 people living the urbanist life in Sunnyside. If looking for a house, it won’t come cheap, but there are rental apartments and condominiums readily available.

History

Established in the 1900s, Hillhurst and Sunnyside are two of the older communities in Calgary. Originally residential in nature, most of the first inhabitants worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway and Eau Claire Sawmill. 

The communities’ fortunes changed in 1954 with the construction of the Mewata Bridge over the Bow River: a major link to Calgary’s downtown was created, initiating commercial redevelopment of the neighbourhood. The Kensington that Calgarians know and love today started to form.

Shopping and Restaurants

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better spot in the city for food, imbibing and fashionable commerce.

Let’s start with the food. 

There are two places where you can get great Ethiopian, a number of Indian restaurants, a plate-smashing Greek spot, an upscale Napoli pizza parlour, a cupcake shop with legions of addicted fans, and sit-on-pillows-on-the-floor spicy Moroccan, to name a few.

For pubs and lounges, there are many venues that are generally hopping on weeknights and weekends – there’s the popular salt-of-the-earth Irish variety of course, as well as ambient nooks for the well-heeled. 

In terms of shopping, there are chic fashions, specialty foods, trendy home décor, flower shops, and the city’s coolest toy store, amongst pretty much everything else you might expect of such a neighbourhood.

Arts and Culture

Artsy boutiques are prevalent: this is one of those places built for Saturday afternoon browsing. For cinephiles, the Plaza Theatre is the place for hard-to-find film showings and under-the-radar European fare. 

Every July, Sunnyside and Calgary residents hit the streets for the Sun and Salsa Festival, the community’s annual celebration of food, music and culture.

Recreation

The community is bordered to the south by the Bow River, so the city’s river pathway system is right on the doorstep. There are also a couple of lovely parks with numerous recreational activities available: Hillhurst Athletic Park and Riley Park.

Lawn bowlers take note, the Bow Valley Lawn Bowling Club rolls in Sunnyside.

Schools

There are several schools and post-secondary institutions in the community:

Hillhurst Community School

Queen Elizabeth Elementary School

Queen Elizabeth Junior and Senior High

St. John Fine Arts

SAIT – Polytechnic

Alberta College of Art and Design

Sunnyside Community School

Transportation

Sunnyside’s CTrain station is one of the city’s busiest, taking workers downtown and students to the university, while bringing in shoppers, diners and drinkers. 

Drivers will likely come in on Memorial Drive, 14^th Street NW or 10^th Street NW (off of 16^th Avenue – the Trans-Canada). Honestly, there are easier things than finding parking in the community on weekends.

Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association

1320 – 5^th Avenue NW

Phone: (403) 283-0554

Website: http://hillhurstsunnyside.org/