Valley Ridge Community History

Valley Ridge is situated in the NW quadrant of Calgary and is bounded by the Bow River to the north, Stoney Trail to the east, the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) to the south, and Calgary's city limits to the west. The Valley Ridge Community Association (VRCA) was first organized in approximately 1993. Valley Ridge has benefited enormously from the great number of community volunteers that have stepped forward in the years since the VRCA was formed.

The roots of Valley Ridge go back to 1961 when the Happy Valley Trailer Park and Campground first opened. At the time, Happy Valley was located approximately 6 miles west of the city limits. This was quickly followed by the addition of an amusement park and later on, a ski hill. This website contains some information on Happy Valley under the Miscellaneous tab. The image in the header above is a picture of Happy Valley's indoor swimming pool building and the adjacent outdoor pool dating from the 1960's. The pools were located near where the 10th tee box of the VR Golf Course is presently situated.

The Valley Ridge area was annexed to the City of Calgary in January 1981 in response to a petition led by Tri- Media Studios Ltd. In May 1982 Calgary City Council adopted the Valley Ridge Area Structure Plan (ASP) that allowed for Tri-Media Studios' development concept, plus a residential community, two golf courses, and extensive natural open space amenities. Due to the economic downturn in late 1982, this plan was never implemented. The Tri-Media lands subsequently reverted to receivers, and in 1989 were acquired by Barbican Developments Ltd. of Vancouver who later became Century Group.

Barbican’s Valley Ridge Concept Plan was submitted to the City in June 1990. The first homes were built in the early 1990's in Phase 1, Valley Ridge Green.

Valley Ridge Today

Valley Ridge is now fully built out. The City of Calgary's 2019 census shows Valley Ridge with a population of 5,585 residents living in 1,940 dwellings. VR is now ringed with numerous large developments in various stages of completion. Work on the West Calgary Ring Road (WCRR), the last link in the City's ring road, commenced in early 2019, The WCRR project includes the full reconstruction of the Valley Ridge Boulevard interchange.