Eau Claire - From SawMill to Skyline

This was the Eau Claire – from Sawmill to Skyline Jane’s Walk on May 2, 2026. Feel free to use it as a self-guided tour. Feel free to use it as a self-guided tour.

Jane’s Walk is a global festival that was started in Toronto in 2007 by friends of Jane Jacobs, to honour her legacy as a writer & activist who changed the way people think about cities. One of her greatest contributions was to highlight the role of ordinary citizens in the ongoing evolution of their cities.

Jane’s Walk is now a global phenomenon – with more than 200 cities around the world holding Jane’s Walks this weekend, from Istanbul, Turkey to Montevideo, Uruguay to Calgary, Alberta. We have 145 walks over these three days, and our festival is organized by the Federation of Calgary Communities, who do great work year-round assisting community associations and hosting events.

Before we begin, I’d like to acknowledge Robert Craig and William McLennon, who both grew up in the neighbourhood they used to call U Claire. William wrote a book called 711 Eau Claire Avenue, and Robert wrote an article for our Newsletter back in 2018, and all of the intimate, domestic details I’ll mention today come from those two sources. The Glenbow Archives and the Calgary Herald are the sources for most of the rest of the historical portion of this talk.

You are participating in this walk at your own risk. Please obey all traffic signs & regulations and keep yourself and each other safe. And please do not walk beyond your limits; you can leave the walk at any time. Just let us know. While we will be strolling and stopping throughout the neighbourhood, we will never be more than 10 minutes brisk walk from this location.