Less than 20 minutes away from Calgary's city limits, the town of Cochrane has managed to maintain its strong sense of western history and culture while growing into one of the most modern and bustling towns in the province.

According to building stats from December 2011, the town's current population sits at 18,646 — quite the jump considering the town was home to a mere 900 people as of 1969.

Report tags Uptown 17th Avenue with highest retail rents in Calgary

Colliers International has dubbed Calgary's Uptown 17th Avenue the city's most expensive street to rent on.

The commercial real estate company took a look at top retail corridors around the world including New York's Fifth Avenue, Hong Kong's Queen's Road Central, London's Old Bond Street and the Champs-Elysées in Paris in a Global Retail Streets survey.

A spurt in Calgary's population growth, plus a strong economy and rising home prices is starting to make its mark on the city's rental vacancy and in turn could mean changes for the housing market.

The average apartment vacancy rate in Alberta's urban centres decreased from 4.7 per cent to three per cent between April 2011 and April 2012, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).