Live in Oakridge
A 1968 escarpment community on the Glenmore Reservoir's south shore, built around its own Co-op and a public school running two city-wide programmes.
Oakridge was annexed to Calgary in 1956 and established as a neighbourhood in 1968, with construction starting the following year: 2.4 km², 5,620 residents in 2,255 dwellings at the 2021 census, with 13% rental. Glenmore Reservoir and the Weaselhead Natural Area sit hard against the community's own escarpment to the north, and the Oakridge Co-op has anchored the community's shopping since 1976. The stock is overwhelmingly 1960s and 1970s, with a distinctly high share of row housing for a community this age. This is what living here is actually like.
A 1968 escarpment community built around its own Co-op
Bounded by 90 Avenue S to the north, 24 Street W to the east, and Southland Drive to the south and west. Ward 11.
Oakridge was annexed to the city in 1956 and established as a neighbourhood in 1968, with construction starting the following year. At the 2021 census it held 5,620 residents in 2,255 dwellings, only 13% of them rented. It sits on 2.4 km² of escarpment running down to the Glenmore Reservoir and the Weaselhead Natural Area along its entire northern boundary — genuinely rare access for a community this size.
The Co-op is the anchor. Calgary Co-op has run a food store here since 1976, rebuilt in 2025, and it functions as the community's actual town centre in a way a strip mall does not. Southland Leisure Centre, opened in 1983, sits on the community's southern doorstep.
The housing mix is unusual for its age. Occupied dwellings run 75% single-detached and 23% row housing — a far higher row-house share than most 1960s communities carry, concentrated in a few pockets built later in the neighbourhood's rollout. Rental sits at 13%, low enough that the row-house blocks are the main source of turnover.
Louis Riel School sits inside the community and runs Calgary's Science Alternative Programme and the South Calgary GATE programme — city-wide draws, not simply the catchment school, which matters if you are counting on a specific designation.
- 1960s and 1970s originals carry the era's full inspection list — furnaces, wiring and roofs especially
- 88% of dwellings were built between 1961 and 1980, so simultaneous ageing is a real neighbourhood-wide risk
- Louis Riel's programme seats are city-wide draws, not guaranteed catchment places for local families
- Southland Drive and 90 Avenue carry real commuter volume along the community's own edges
How Oakridge got here
- 1956The land is annexed by the City of Calgary from the Municipal District of Rocky View.
- 1968Oakridge is established as a neighbourhood.
- 1969Home and business construction begins.
- 1976Calgary Co-op opens a food store serving the new community.
- 1983Southland Leisure Centre opens on the community's southern doorstep.
- 2021Federal census records 5,620 residents in 2,255 dwellings.
The escarpment and the reservoir below it
Oakridge's northern boundary runs the length of the Glenmore Reservoir escarpment, with the Weaselhead Natural Area below — sailing and rowing on the water in summer, and a pathway network that connects straight into the regional system.
The resident's angle: the escarpment trail is a two-minute walk from most of the community, not a drive — one of the closer reservoir accesses on this site.
13 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 13 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. The Co-op and Louis Riel School are close enough to walk from most of the community.
Every gym within reach
Southland Leisure Centre carries the load for the whole area. The escarpment and reservoir pathways are the free option most residents actually use daily.
- Glenmore Reservoir and Weaselhead trails are the free option, off the community's own escarpment
- Glenmore Landing's plaza carries a handful of commercial studios
- Southcentre Mall's district clubs are the larger commercial cluster, seven to ten minutes east
- Louis Riel's own gymnasium runs community programmes some evenings
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Southland Leisure Centre open | Wave pool, water slides, two ice rinks, climbing wall, gymnasium and squash and racquetball courts. | 3–5 min |
| Glenmore Reservoir & Weaselhead trails open | Free option: reservoir and escarpment pathway network. | 2–3 min |
| Glenmore Landing area clubs open | Commercial gyms in the Glenmore Landing plaza. | 5–7 min |
| Southcentre Mall district clubs open | Commercial options around the mall. | 7–10 min |
The escarpment does the daily work — Southland Leisure Centre is for water, weights and winter.
One school inside the community, running two city-wide programmes
Louis Riel School sits inside Oakridge and carries both a K–9 Science Alternative stream and the South Calgary GATE programme. Junior high and Catholic families designate to schools in the surrounding communities.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Louis Riel School | Calgary Board of Education | K–9 public school inside the community; also runs the Science Alternative and South Calgary GATE programmes alongside catchment classes. |
| Harold Panabaker School | Calgary Board of Education | Public junior high in neighbouring Southwood, with a Mandarin Bilingual programme. |
| St. Cyril Elementary & Junior High | Calgary Catholic School District | Catholic elementary and junior high in neighbouring Cedarbrae; confirm the designation for a specific address. |
| Henry Wise Wood High School | Calgary Board of Education | Public senior high serving the area. |
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 — Louis Riel's programme seats are drawn city-wide and are not the same thing as the local catchment assignment.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- The escarpment path down to Weaselhead below Oakridge turns to sheet ice on its shaded switchbacks
- Oakridge Co-op's lot gets cleared ahead of the surrounding residential streets
- Louis Riel's Science Alternative classes shift outdoor units indoors for the coldest stretch
- Row housing along the community's 1970s streets holds heat noticeably better than the detached stock beside it
- A chinook off the reservoir can bare Oakridge Co-op's parking lot in a single afternoon
- Southland Leisure Centre's squash and racquetball courts fill with weekday regulars
- Weaselhead's dam-side trail below the escarpment stays firmer underfoot than the open reservoir path
- Harold Panabaker's Mandarin Bilingual students cross into Southwood on the coldest mornings of the year
- Meltwater off Oakridge's own escarpment cuts straight down toward Weaselhead and the reservoir
- Row-house driveways on the older blocks heave visibly with the freeze-thaw cycle
- Cleats are the right footwear on the escarpment switchbacks below the community
- Louis Riel's GATE cohort runs its spring science fair before the term ends
- Glenmore Reservoir's pathway network reopens along Oakridge's own northern boundary
- Oakridge Co-op's seasonal garden centre sets up in the parking court
- Weaselhead's cottonwoods below the escarpment leaf out well before the community's own ash and spruce
- Louis Riel's Science Alternative students take their outdoor units onto the escarpment trail
- The 1970s ash and spruce canopy along Oakridge's original crescents fills back in
- Sailboats reappear on Glenmore Reservoir, visible from the escarpment above the community
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor deck reopens for the season
- Row housing along 90 Avenue turns over with the community's spring lease cycle
- School lets out and Louis Riel's GATE programme closes its year with an outdoor showcase
- Weaselhead's trails see their heaviest cyclist traffic of the year, just below the escarpment
- Southland Leisure Centre's gymnasium runs full day camps through the month
- Paddlers on Glenmore Reservoir are a regular weekday-evening sight from the escarpment
- Southland Drive carries steady Stampede-week traffic toward the reservoir
- Glenmore Reservoir's sailing club races most Wednesday evenings below the community
- Weaselhead's valley floor runs several degrees cooler than Oakridge's own streets above it
- Oakridge Co-op's lot is at its busiest ahead of the long weekend grocery run
- Southland Leisure Centre's outdoor programmes wind down before the school-return rush
- Weaselhead's cottonwoods shed seed fluff along the trail below the escarpment
- Row-house lease turnover picks up ahead of the September rental cycle
- Glenmore Reservoir's water level begins its late-summer drop
- Louis Riel's fall GATE intake fills within days of registration opening
- Morning traffic on 90 Avenue thickens with the Harold Panabaker school run into Southwood
- Weaselhead's aspens turn first, visible from the escarpment above Oakridge
- Oakridge Co-op's back-to-school rush fills the parking court by mid-month
- Peak colour runs down the escarpment into Weaselhead's valley floor
- Southland Leisure Centre packs its outdoor deck away for the winter
- Glenmore Reservoir empties for its annual winter drawdown
- Row-house roofs on the community's older blocks carry the season's first frost
- Southcentre Mall's holiday displays appear on Macleod Trail before Oakridge's own streets get their first hard frost
- The escarpment trail down to Weaselhead gets its first ice on the shaded turns
- Oakridge Co-op's holiday window displays go up over the parking court
- Dark commutes mean the Southland Drive corridor's streetlights come on before five
- A sudden chinook can clear the escarpment trail's snow while the reservoir below stays frozen solid
- Southland Leisure Centre's gymnasium and courts are the busiest indoor space in the community after dinner
- Weaselhead stays open through the holidays for walkers who bundle up for it
- Louis Riel's winter break follows the same calendar as the rest of the CBE, but the escarpment trail stays open
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 Oakridge itself.