How Livable are YYC Neighbourhoods? Older Adults Answer the Question in Words and Photos

July 26, 2023: Calgary seniors’ photovoice exhibit, led by UCalgary Faculty of Social Work researcher, captures the challenges and elements that make a livable neighbourhood.

Most people, especially younger and more mobile people, probably don’t notice a thing. It’s just a little bit of snow piled up in front of the crossing button at a typical Calgary intersection. However, to an older adult, trying to cross an icy road with a walking stick, that mound of snow could as well have been a mountain.

“They weren't cleaning off that area where you push the button… you'd have to be like climbing up a mountain of snow ... when you're a senior, and you're using a stick, it's not very good.”

This perspective is from a Calgary senior, one of 13 participants who will be sharing photos of their lived experience in a Calgary neighbourhood on Thursday, July 27 at Calgary’s Kerby Centre, 1133 7th Ave. S.W.

Through Their Lens: Older Adults’ Experiences of Accessibility and Aging in Community is a special photovoice research exhibition, led by University of Calgary Faculty of Social Work researcher Dr. Yeonjung Lee, PhD.

It follows her previous research that used civic census data to highlight that more than three-quarters of the Calgary’s 204 neighbourhoods are rapidly aging. From these neighbourhoods she identified eight communities of concern for older adults (CoCOA) based on their accessibility to necessary services by walking or transit.

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