Live in Southview
A 1.6 km² community established in 1950, the last to develop inside the Greater Forest Lawn area, with the Bow River as its own western boundary.
Southview was established in 1950, the last community built inside what is now called the Greater Forest Lawn area, and the Town of Forest Lawn — Southview included — was annexed by the City of Calgary on December 30, 1961. At 1.6 km², it is one of the smallest and oldest communities in the inner southeast, bounded by 17 Avenue SE, 36 Street SE, 26 Avenue SE and the Bow River. Unlike most of its neighbours, Southview has been shrinking rather than growing: 2,098 residents in 2006 fell to 1,550 by the 2021 census. This is what living here is actually like.
The last community inside the Greater Forest Lawn area, and the smallest
Bounded north by 17 Avenue SE, east by 36 Street SE, south by 26 Avenue SE and west by the Bow River. Ward 9.
Southview was established in 1950, the last community built inside what is now called the Greater Forest Lawn area, and the Town of Forest Lawn — Southview included — was annexed by the City of Calgary on December 30, 1961.
It is small: 1.6 km², bounded by 17 Avenue SE to the north, 36 Street SE to the east, 26 Avenue SE to the south, and the Bow River to the west — the community's own edge, not shared with any neighbour.
Housing mix. At the 2000 census, 18.5% of housing was condominium or apartment and 33.9% was rental, with a median household income of $44,908 and 23.7% low income. Those figures are dated — the most recent published for a community this small — and should be read as historical context rather than current fact.
Who lives here, and how many. Southview is unusual on this site in that it has been shrinking: 2,098 residents in 2006 fell to 2,063 in 2011, 1,900 in 2012, and 1,550 by the 2021 federal census — one of the few Calgary communities genuinely smaller today than two decades ago.
- Homes here are around seventy-five years old — original roofs, windows, furnaces and electrical panels are well past design life
- Income and low-income figures are from the 2000 census, the most recent published for a community this size — treat as dated context, not current fact
- Population has fallen for two decades running, which is unusual in Calgary and worth understanding before buying
- No CTrain station inside the community; Marlborough's Blue Line station is the nearest
- Junior high and Catholic elementary designations sit in neighbouring Forest Lawn — confirm before you buy
- Genuinely walkable to the Bow River pathway and International Avenue's restaurant strip, a real amenity most southeast communities lack
How Southview got here
- 1950Southview is established as the last community to develop inside the Greater Forest Lawn area.
- 1961The Town of Forest Lawn, including Southview, is annexed by the City of Calgary on December 30.
- 2000Census records median household income at $44,908, with 23.7% low income and 33.9% rental housing.
- 2006Civic census counts 2,098 residents.
- 2011Federal census counts 2,063 residents.
- 2012Civic census records 1,900 residents in 936 dwellings.
- 2021Federal census counts 1,550 residents, continuing a decline that makes Southview one of the few Calgary communities smaller today than two decades ago.
A river on one side, and Forest Lawn's parks on the other
Southview has no park of its own inside its boundaries — what it has instead is the Bow River pathway at its own western edge, with Pearce Estate Park & Bow Habitat Station and Inglewood Bird Sanctuary reachable along it, and Elliston Park, home of the Globalfest fireworks, a few minutes east along 17 Avenue SE.
The resident's angle: almost all of Southview's recreation is borrowed from its neighbours rather than built inside its own 1.6 km². The genuine exception is the river itself — no other community on this site has the Bow as a literal, unshared boundary.
22 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 22 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. Southview's numbers are lopsided by size: almost everything nearby actually sits across a boundary in Forest Lawn, Ogden or Inglewood, because the community itself is only 1.6 km².
Every gym within reach
Nothing sits inside Southview's own boundaries — the nearest facilities are all a few minutes east in Forest Lawn, plus the free option at the community's own front door.
- Genesis Centre is the quadrant's larger hub, eleven to sixteen minutes northeast
- Planet Fitness Forest Lawn is the closest paid commercial gym
- Max Bell Centre adds twin arenas eight to twelve minutes away
- The Bow River pathway at the community's own edge is the free option
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Bahan Aquatic & Fitness Centre open | City-run pool, weight room and group fitness classes in neighbouring Forest Lawn, open since 1974 — the nearest full facility to Southview. | 3–5 min |
| Bow River pathway open | Free option: the community's own riverside pathway, right at its western boundary. | 1–2 min |
| Planet Fitness Forest Lawn open | 24-hour commercial gym on 17 Avenue SE. | 4–7 min |
| Max Bell Centre open | Twin arenas and community recreation space along Memorial Drive. | 8–12 min |
| Repsol Sport Centre open | Fifty-metre pool, indoor track, climbing wall and a large fitness floor at Stampede Park. | 10–15 min |
| Genesis Centre open | The northeast's anchor recreation facility: gymnasiums, fitness centre, indoor courts and community programming. | 11–16 min |
Nothing is inside Southview itself. Every facility on this list sits in a neighbouring community — a fact of the community's small size rather than an oversight, so budget the short drive east as routine.
One public elementary inside the community, and the rest next door
Mount View School serves the community for public elementary. Catholic elementary and the designated public senior high — Forest Lawn High School — both sit just across the boundary in neighbouring Forest Lawn.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mount View School | Calgary Board of Education | Public elementary inside the community. |
| Holy Trinity Elementary School | Calgary Catholic | Catholic elementary in neighbouring Forest Lawn. |
| Forest Lawn High School | Calgary Board of Education | Designated public senior high, in neighbouring Forest Lawn. Confirm the current junior high designation for a specific address with the board before you buy. |
| Calgary Catholic School District | Calgary Catholic | Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. |
| Bow Valley College and SAIT | Post-secondary | Nearest post-secondary options, both reached via Blackfoot Trail and Deerfoot Trail toward downtown. |
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 current junior high and Catholic elementary designation for a specific address with the board before you buy — inner-southeast boundaries have shifted before as enrolment has changed.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- International Avenue's restaurants and grocers stay open through the cold, just across the community's northern boundary
- The Bow River pathway ices over on the shaded stretches first
- Bob Bahan's indoor pool carries the season, three to five minutes east
- Chinooks reach the inner southeast later and weaker than the rest of the city
- Family Day programming runs at Bob Bahan Aquatic & Fitness Centre
- Coldest stretches usually break with a chinook by month's end
- Marlborough Mall sees more traffic during the cold snaps
- Longer light is noticeable by the last week of the month
- Melt and refreeze on Southview's older side streets
- The Bow River pathway starts to reopen along the community's western edge
- Mount View School and Forest Lawn High head into spring break
- International Avenue patios reopen early on mild days
- Elliston Park's lake and pathways come back into use, east along 17 Avenue SE
- Last hard frosts — planting waits for the long weekend
- The Bow River runs high with early melt below Pearce Estate Park
- Migratory birds return to Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, upstream on the pathway
- Long evenings on the Bow River pathway
- Community league and school field sport seasons start
- Hail season begins across the city's eastern half
- Sunset past 9pm by month's end
- Peak daylight at the solstice — over 16 hours
- School year ends at Mount View School and Forest Lawn High
- Thunderstorm season is fully under way
- International Avenue's outdoor dining is at its busiest of the year
- Calgary Stampede — ten days, roughly ten minutes northwest via Blackfoot Trail
- Globalfest fireworks at Elliston Park run through July and August
- Evening thunderstorms roll in from the west
- Hottest month, with little shade on the community's older paved streets
- Globalfest continues at Elliston Park
- International Avenue's restaurant and grocery mix is the genuine summer draw
- Quietest weeks before school returns
- The Bow River runs low and clear past the community's western edge
- School year restarts at Mount View School and Forest Lawn High
- First frost typically arrives late in the month
- International Avenue is busiest with back-to-school shopping
- Migrating geese pass over the Bow River corridor
- First snow is normal, and normally melts
- Snow tires go on
- Peak colour along the Bow River pathway
- Shorter evenings noticeable by mid-month
- Dark by 5pm
- Indoor recreation season restarts at Bob Bahan Aquatic & Fitness Centre
- International Avenue's holiday retail season begins
- First hard freeze locks up standing water on the community's older streets
- Holiday lights along International Avenue's storefronts
- Bob Bahan's pool and fitness programming runs through the break
- Chinooks, when they come, still arrive late and weak here
- A quiet stretch on Southview's residential streets, away from the corridor
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 — the Fish Creek and Midnapore-specific images used on the far-south pages are deliberately excluded, because they are not this community's surroundings. Nothing here is presented as a photograph of Southview itself.