Now and then, Calgarians going for a morning walk in their community are stunned to discover that a house on their street has disappeared overnight.

No, the house wasn't whisked away by a tornado like in The Wizard of Oz – it's all part of a a way to "recycle" homes that ends up benefiting landowners in two locations.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi is in his third term in office after winning the municipal election in October. Recently he spoke with CREB®Now about issues facing the city and what he sees moving forward in 2018. Here is an edited version of that conversation.

When it came time to purchase his first home, finding a neighbourhood with a pulse was at the top of the list for 31-year-old entrepreneur Tyrell Dasilva. Dasilva, who owns several businesses, leads a busy life and wanted to find a home in a walkable community with access to great music venues and quaint mom-and-pop stores. He found it at i.D. Inglewood, a 19-unit, four-storey condominium project located on Ninth Avenue S.E.

Two southeast communities conceptualized in the late '80s and early '90s are still turning heads 20 years later. McKenzie Lake and McKenzie Towne share a lineage and a location: they are both named after one of the first homesteaders in the area, James McKenzie, and they sit side by side on the east and west boundaries of Deerfoot Trail. But that is where the similarities end.

Fifteen years ago, Kari Strutt and her husband, Ken Bagan, came across the southeast community of Willow Park while on a weekend shopping excursion to Southcentre Mall.

"We headed home by way of Willingdon Boulevard and there was a rather homely house for sale," said Strutt. "It was a stucco affair with a partial flat roof, but at 1,300 square feet it felt palatial and affordable. So we bought it."

Perched at the junction of Highways 8 and 22X with a beautiful mountain backdrop, the townsite of Redwood Meadows is attracting young families who want to get away from it all, while staying close enough to the city for a quick commute.

Full of vibrancy and life, Richmond is a community in the throes of change.

With boundaries that stretch from 33rd Avenue S.W. north to 17th Avenue S.W., the community contains an eclectic mix of homes, from wartime bungalows to multi-million dollar infills. On the western edge, the community boundary jogs across Crowchild Trail, bumping up against Killarney and Currie Barracks, while the eastern perimeter extends to 19th Street S.W.

One of the most spectacular aspects of the northwest community of Mount Pleasant is the trees. "We live right by the park and it is just beautiful," said community resident Simone Carr-Smith. "We are surrounded by trees and at night, when the wind blows, you can hear the leaves rustling. It is just so calming."

Brimming with families, many of whom have been in the community for decades, Applewood Park extends to the north from International Avenue near Elliston Park in Calgary's southeast. Big houses, double-car garages perfect for home workshops, and large yards are a few of the defining characteristics of this community developed in the early 1980s.

Ask anyone who lives in the community of Scarboro what makes it so special and you will get a variety of answers.

"It's hard to put a pin in it," said resident Kate Morisset. "There is just this real sense of connectivity."