About

Details: Category: About; Published on Saturday, 17 January 2009 14:53; Written by cathedral; Hits: 3613

The Cathedral area is a 235 hectare residential area located immediately to the west of Regina's downtown. Boundaries of the neighbourhood include Albert Street on the east, Wascana Creek to the south and west, and the CPR mainline on the north. While the area is primarily residential, commercial businesses are found on the north and eastern boundaries, as well as along the 13th Avenue shopping district.

The Cathedral area was one of the earliest and most affluent residential neighbourhoods to be developed in the city. In 1912, Holy Rosary Cathedral was built on 13th Avenue, and this is where the area got its name. The city introduced its first zoning bylaw in 1927, and this set patterns for land use which continue in the area today.

As time passed, additions to zoning bylaws allowed for higher density housing to be built in certain areas of the neighbourhood. Apartments and parking lots began to replace the older housing stock throughout the area, particularly nearer to Albert Street.

By the 1970s, the area suffered from typical inner city neighbourhood problems such as declining population, decreasing quality and quantity of housing stock, increasing crime and social problems, more car traffic and less parking space.

A group of Cathedral Area neighbours got together in 1975, just planning to organize a few local recreation programs. Soon they began to realize the potential of people within the neighbourhood to effect change and help to improve conditions. In March 1976, at a public meeting in Westminster United Church, they officially incorporated as the Cathedral Area Community Association.

Founding members of the association foresaw the need for CACA to play a leadership role in planning and development issues, advocacy, information dissemination and the provision of high quality community and social services. The founders rolled up their sleeves and went to work building bridges between various government agencies and Cathedral residents.

It wasn't long before conditions began to improve. Joint municipal, provincial, and federal programs such as RRAP (Residential Rehabilitation Program), Infill Housing, and Neighbourhood Improvement Area helped to control the spread of non-residential and high-density housing into the Cathedral area. A large number of older homes received extensive renovations and the demographics of the area changed.

It's a rare day when a resident in our neighbourhood doesn't visit 13th Avenue. It's the hub of a lot of neighbourhood activity. We close 13th Avenue down during the Cathedral Village Arts Festival to hold our Craft Fair. People from all over the province come by the tens of thousands to walk the street and purchase the wares of over 200 craftspeople. Hundreds of volunteers from all over the neighbourhood have a lot of fun making it all happen. Businesses who have contributed to the community for many years and advertise in our community newsletter, the Village Voice, are situated on both sides of 13th Avenue.

Neighbourhood Profile - Boundaries, Income Statistics, Etc.