Airdrie, Alberta

Airdrie (2007 city population 31,512) is a city in Alberta, Canada, located just north of Calgary within the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor. It is part of Calgary's Census Metropolitan Area (Pop. 1,107,200 in 2006) and a member community of the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). Due to its proximity to Calgary, Airdrie's population has been exploding in recent years. As of 2007, Airdrie's population is 31,512, and is thus Calgary's largest politically distinct suburb. The city's boundaries are completely within the rural Municipal District of Rocky View, No.44.

Airdrie was first established as a railway village in 1889 during the construction of the Calgary and Edmonton Railway, named for Airdrie, Scotland by William McKenzie, a contracting engineer for Calgary and Edmonton Railway. Today, Airdrie is a scenic bedroom community and industrial centre. Its primary body of water is Nose Creek, which is the focal point of a number of city parks and green spaces including Nose Creek Park. The park hosts the annual Airdrie Festival of Lights in the Christmas season. Other annual festivals include the Canada Day Parade and the Airdrie Pro Rodeo. Airdire's primary cultural venues include the Nose Creek Valley Museum and the Bert Church Theatre.

Airdrie is situated on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Alberta's busiest highway) which connects Calgary and Edmonton, thus making it a small transportation hub. Airdrie is also served by the small Airdrie Airport that does not provide regular scheduled flights. The closest major airport is Calgary International Airport.

Airdrie is home to several sporting franchises. Major teams include the Knights of Airdrie, a senior men's lacrosse team that plays in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League. The Airdrie Thunder, a Jr. B level hockey team that competes in the Heritage Junior B Hockey League. Team Airdrie is a Jr. C level hockey team that competes in the Calgary Jr. C Hockey League.

Recent annexation of land by Airdrie to the south, coupled with recent expansion of Calgary's city limits in July 2007, have placed the two cities' boundaries within only a few kilometres of each other.

Attractions

• Nose Creek Valley Museum
• Bert Church Live Theatre
• Iron Horse Park
• Airdrie Festival of Lights

Demographics

According to the 2008 City of Airdrie Census :

* Population:	34,116
* Land area:
* Population density:
* Median age:†	31.9 (males: N/A, females: N/A)
* Total private dwellings:	13,375
* Dwellings occupied by permanent residents:	13,080
* Mean household income:↑	$69,535

Footnotes: ^↑ The data has not yet been released and is based on 2001 Census.

N/A = Data not available

According to 2001 Census:

Religion

• Protestant: 46.3%
• Catholic: 22.7%
• Other Christian: 3.9%
• Other Non-Christian: 1.58%
• Muslim: .018%
• No religion: 24.2%

Media

Due to its proximity to Calgary, Airdrie receives radio and television broadcasts from the city (see Media of Calgary). It at present has no local television broadcasters but has a radio station, The Range 106.1 FM. The city has two local newspapers, the Airdrie Echo and the Airdrie City View as well as a weekly community newsletter Here's the Scoop, which is part of a larger flyer package, and a community internet portal Airdrie.ca. A quarterly magazine, AirdrieLIFE, is also published in the city. Airdrie is also in the local delivery area of the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun.

Neighbourhoods

Until a few years ago, Highway 2 more-or-less bisected the city evenly, but with the majority of new development occurring to the west side of the city, the split is now 2/3 west, 1/3 east. Airdrie addresses are divided into quadrants, with the majority of the city's established communities located in the southeast and northeast quadrants.

According to the City of Airdrie's official 2007-2008 city map, the communities of Airdrie are:

Northwest

• Williamstown (under construction)
• Reunion (under construction)
• Silver Creek (under construction)
• Fairways
• Woodside
• Willow Brook
• Sunridge
• Stonegate

Northeast

• Gateway Industrial Park (under construction)
• Jensen
• The Village
• Downtown (portion)
• East Lake Industrial Park
• unnamed northeast industrial park (proposed)

Southwest

• Sagewood (under construction)
• Canals (under construction)
• Bayside (under construction)
• Mackenzie Pointe (under construction)
• Luxstone (under construction)
• Prairie Springs (under construction)
• Coopers Crossing (under construction)
• Morningside (under construction)

Southeast

• Downtown (portion)
• Airdrie Meadows
• Edgewater
• Waterstone
• Summerhill
• Ridgegate
• Sierra Springs (commercial park; under construction)
• Big Springs
• Thorburn
• Maple Way
• Meadowbrook
• Kingsview Industrial Park (under construction)
• King's Heights (under construction)
• Ravenswood (under construction)

Roads and transportation

Airdrie's main access road is the Queen Elizabeth II Highway which for many years bisected the city (recent development has made the western half of the city significantly larger in area than the eastern side). The highway is a major north/south trade corridor providing direct access to Calgary to the south and to Red Deer, Edmonton and other major centres to the north. The city is also connected to other local towns and hamlets via several secondary highways that pass through the city.

In January 2008, Airdrie, as a member of the Calgary Regional Partnership, is scheduled to begin discussions with fellow CRP members regarding the establishment of a rail-transit system connecting Airdrie with downtown Calgary.

Local bus service is provided by Airdrie Transit.

Sister cities

Country	City	County/District/Region/State	Date
	Gwacheon	South Korea	1997

References

External links

• City of Airdrie - Official Website
• Airdrie Public Library