Ward 7 is a collection of many great communities in the NW inner city plus the U of C and SAIT. It has a real need to redevelop around the schools in such a way that reflects the need for student accommodation (I don't think it does at all in many communities near the U of C in particular). Of all the likely places that new home buyers would like to be, the most prized locations in all of the NW tend to be found in Ward 7. Some of the communities (such as Hillhurst/Sunnyside) have experienced considerable condo development pressure. This ward is the home of the north hill area redevelopment plan for Banff Trail and Capitol Hill (the two communities immediately north of SAIT), a plan many years in the making and a big change from 1980's urban design ideas in Calgary. This new ARP is bringing a lot of investment into those communities, and a lot of objection from longtime residents that want to prevent such growth as the ARP allows.
The area has been represented by Councillor Druh Farrell for many years (16 and counting, making her a poster child for Council term limits). She's been a strong advocate for urban redevelopment and opposed to sprawl subsidies and also receives a lot of vitriol in the media.
She is running again for re-election, along with many other challengers in the election next week. Despite the ugly name calling, I think her record on redevelopment is sound. She does not suffer from the political hypocrisy of her opponents on redevelopment strategies such as row house construction (the inner city bogeyman of 2017).
Ward 7 political fiction - aspiring politicians cry wolf about the need to cut taxes and disallow densification in 'our' communities. The existing community residents (including highly anti-development biased Mount Pleasant) should control redevelopment - which largely means redevelopment should not be driven by market conditions, instead it should be based on the intangible concepts of character and quaintness and exercising control over others' property rights.
Ward 7 political fact - the easiest tax base growth option is row house or multifamily residential redevelopment in the Ward 7 communities (tax per lot could grow from $4000 annually to $16000 annually with very limited expense to the City in infrastructure or amenities), this is a net tax base increase of $12000 every year per project, permanently. Given the City is desperate for money, significant redevelopment needs to take place or tax rates will only continue to rise.
