Building Blatchford: Assessing progress on Edmonton's ambitious sustainable community

Things are happening at Blatchford, the community being built on the site of Edmonton's old municipal airport. But some are wondering if they're happening fast enough. 

Tim Cartmell, a city councillor for Ward pihêsiwin, plans to introduce a motion later this month asking for a report on the status of the sustainable community being developed on the former City Centre Airport lands near downtown.

"I'm not suggesting the city get out of this, not at all," says Cartmell. "I'm just suggesting that we find and examine all options to accelerate the pace of development."

Cartmell says the Blatchford community has produced just a few dozen homes, instead of the 2,700 residences that were originally projected in 2014.

He doesn't think they should compromise on the vision of a densely populated neighbourhood, which will be home to 30,000 people, and fully powered by renewable energy. But he is floating the idea of selling the land to builders at a lower cost to speed things up. 

"Whether it's the city parcels that are currently under development or it's new parcels that are dormant right now and we put them in the hands of third parties, let's get development faster," says Cartmell.

You can see more from Blatchford on Our Edmonton Saturday at 10 a.m., Sunday at noon and 11 a.m. Monday on CBC TV and CBC Gem. 

Tim Lumsden, the city's development manager for the project, points to signs of real progress on what he calls a unique project — energy infrastructure, a playground, community garden and historical features tied to the area's aviation history.

"It takes time to build a community," says Lumsden. "We're at the beginning stages."

"We have to work through making things differently and the city regulations are part of that so those are the challenges we face."

One of those key differences is developing the geoexchange heating system, he says. Another is making sidewalks wider and roads narrower to encourage walking and biking.

Finally, there is an enforced green building code, to ensure the homes are as energy efficient as possible. 

"There's more insulation in the walls, there's low-flow everything," Lumsden says.

The first homes went up for sale in 2019 and now there are approximately 500 total units planned —  including townhomes, condos and apartments — in the first two stages of the community.