Live in Braeside
1965 bungalows between two Red Line stations and the city's biggest leisure centre.
Braeside is 2 km² of 1965 bungalows between Anderson Road and Southland Drive: 5,700 residents in 2,480 dwellings at the 2021 census, with Southland Leisure Centre inside its own boundary and two CTrain stations — Southland and Anderson, Calgary's original 1981 LRT terminus — a short walk away. 24% of the housing is rented. This is what living here is actually like.
Bungalows bracketed by two CTrain stations
Bounded by Southland Drive SW to the north, Anderson Road SW to the south, 14 Street SW to the east, and 24 Street SW to the west. Ward 11.
Braeside was established in 1965 between Anderson Road and Southland Drive — 2 km², 5,700 residents in 2,480 dwellings at the 2021 census, 24% rental.
Southland Leisure Centre sits inside the community's own edge, and Southland and Anderson CTrain stations bracket it on the Red Line — Anderson was the original 1981 terminus of Calgary's first light rail line.
The stock is 1961-1980 bungalow, mostly original; 14 Street SW carries the real traffic on the eastern edge, and Southcentre Mall compresses the errand list.
- 89% of homes were built 1961-1980 — budget for original wiring and plumbing
- 14 Street SW carries heavy traffic on the eastern edge
- Southland Leisure Centre parking spills onto community streets on weekends
- Southcentre Mall traffic backs up Anderson Road at peak times
How Braeside got here
- 1965Braeside is established between Anderson Road and Southland Drive.
- 1981The CTrain's South Line opens, connecting Anderson Station to downtown — the city's first light rail line.
- 2021Census records 5,700 residents in 2,480 dwellings, 24% rental.
A city facility at the community's own edge
Southland Leisure Centre — wave pool, waterslides, gym — sits inside Braeside's own boundary, with Southland Park's pathway loop next door.
The resident's angle: the leisure centre is the community's real amenity — weekends bring its parking overflow onto the residential streets around it.
12 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 12 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. Two CTrain stations compress the transit numbers; everything else is a short drive.
Every gym within reach
Southland inside the boundary, Trico and Southcentre nearby. Confirm public swim times before you count on anything.
- Trico Centre in Haysboro covers the overflow
- GoodLife at Southcentre Mall is the commercial option
- Southland Park's pathway is the free option
- Confirm public swim times before you drive over
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Southland Leisure Centre open | City wave pool, waterslides, gym and fitness centre inside the community. | 2–3 min |
| Trico Centre for Family Wellness open | Large YMCA-run centre in Haysboro with pools, a track and courts. | 6–9 min |
| GoodLife Fitness Southcentre open | Commercial gym at the Southcentre Mall retail node. | 6–9 min |
| Southland Park pathway open | Free option: the paved pathway loop through the park. | 3–4 min |
The leisure centre does the daily work — everything else is backup.
Elementary, junior high and a senior high, all nearby
Braeside Elementary carries the youngest years inside the community; John Ware Junior High sits immediately north; Henry Wise Wood is the nearest public senior high.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Braeside Elementary | Calgary Board of Education | Public elementary inside the community. |
| John Ware Junior High | Calgary Board of Education | Public junior high, immediately north. |
| Henry Wise Wood High School | Calgary Board of Education | Nearest public senior high, with an IB program. |
| Ladder designations | Both boards | Catholic and French immersion designate to Chinook Park and Haysboro; confirm for a specific address. |
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 before you buy.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Anderson Station's platform is the community's coldest wait, exposed to the wind off Southland Drive with only a glass screen for shelter
- The Braeside Community Association floods its rink on Braeside Drive SW and posts family skate times once the freeze holds
- Southland Drive gets priority plowing while the bungalow crescents wait their turn
- Frost holds thick on the 1965 spruce along the older streets well past noon on the coldest days
- A chinook can strip the ice off Anderson Station's platform stairs within a few hours
- The community rink's surface softens first on its sun-facing corner, and the flood schedule shifts around it
- Anderson Road's rush-hour backup starts easing as the platform waits shorten with the returning light
- Southland Leisure Centre's pool deck is standing room only through the last real cold snap
- Meltwater off the bungalow roofs on the older streets refreezes into black ice by evening
- The Braeside rink closes for the season once the surface turns to slush
- Ice builds and refreezes under Anderson Station's platform overhang longer than on the streets around it
- Southland Drive's gutters run high with runoff before the storm drains keep pace
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor pool crew starts spring prep while the community waits on the season's first swim
- Weaselhead's trails along the Glenmore valley reopen to walkers as the snowpack clears
- Braeside Elementary's field turns to mud before the grass comes back
- Anderson Road's rush hour thickens again as the last cold snap breaks
- The 1965 canopy along Braeside's crescents fills back in, mature enough now to shade whole yards
- Weekend traffic to Glenmore Reservoir builds along 14 Street as the pathway season opens
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor pool opens for the season
- For-rent signs turn over fast on the quarter of Braeside's housing that's rental stock
- School lets out and John Ware's field fills with day-camp groups by mid-morning
- Southland Leisure Centre's wave pool hits its first real crowds of the season
- Anderson Station's platform trades ice for shade as commuters wait out the evening sun
- Weaselhead and the Glenmore pathway see their heaviest cyclist traffic of the year
- Anderson Station riders headed downtown for Stampede crowd the platform before eight
- Southland's outdoor wave pool runs at capacity most weekend afternoons
- Sailboats work Glenmore Reservoir most weekday evenings, visible from the reservoir pathway
- 1965 basements without air conditioning run warm through the hottest stretch of the year
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor pool crowds thin before the school-return rush
- Southcentre Mall's back-to-school traffic spills onto Southland Drive
- Weaselhead's cottonwoods start dropping seed fluff along the valley trail
- Rental turnover in Braeside picks up ahead of the September lease cycle
- Anderson and Southland platforms both see their morning crowds swell back by 7:30
- John Ware Junior High's lot fills for the first week of drop-offs
- The Braeside Community Association's fall program registration opens for the rink and hall
- Southland Drive's morning backup returns with the school run
- Peak colour runs through Weaselhead down to the Glenmore Reservoir shoreline
- The Braeside Community Association preps the rink boards ahead of the first hard freeze
- Anderson Station's morning wait turns genuinely cold for the first time since spring
- 1965 roofs along the older streets show frost first, ahead of the newer infill nearby
- Dark settles over Anderson Station's platform well before the five o'clock commute
- The Braeside Community Association floods the rink again once the ground freezes solid enough to hold ice
- Southcentre Mall's holiday displays go up along the Southland Drive frontage
- Weaselhead's switchbacks get their first ice of the season on the shaded stretches
- A chinook over Anderson Station's platform can turn a −20 wait into a +5 one within the hour
- The Braeside rink stays busiest over the school break, with family skates booked most afternoons
- Southland Leisure Centre's wave pool is the warmest place in the community on the coldest night
- 1965 driveways along the older crescents get their heaviest ice build of the year
36 photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed and served from this app — nothing loads from a third party. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 36 photographs.
Honesty note. This page uses only the general Calgary, seasonal, Alberta-wildlife and day-trip photography from the site's shared library. Nothing here is presented as a photograph of Braeside itself.