What part of Calgary Alberta is dog patch?

Answer 1

The famous actor/comedian Tommy Chong spent some time growing up in Calgary, Alberta and tells people he lived in a "conservative" neighborhood, which he referred to as Dog Patch. When he first moved to Calgary with his Chinese Canadian father and Caucasian mother, he lived in an illegal dwelling without running water or electricity.

Tommy Chong eventually moved to 1490-19th Avenue NW, which is a few blocks north of North Hill Shopping Center and SAIT.

Dog Patch was actually close to the down town core in Calgary, Alberta - many of the dwellings at that time had what some refer to as carriage houses no larger than 800 square feet at best. Many of the neighborhood homes had no running water, limited electricity, most often relying on outhouses. These small homes were somewhat reminiscent of a small garage nestled in the back yard of a main house on the property. Dog Patch was a rough neighborhood and many of the residence were blue collar workers where everyone looked out for each other. My parents started out in Dog Patch and Tommy Chong lived a few doors down. I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy Chong on 9th avenue in Calgary at Chelsea's Antique store back in the 80's and we had a chat about his old stomping grounds where my father and his family lived for a short time. I have a number of photos of the neighborhood and the people who lived there, it certainly was an interesting and simple way of life back then. (updated by Kelly Miller-Gerlach) Victoria, BC