How Calgary fits into parties' promises

As part of the build-up to the upcoming federal election, the City of Calgary has published a new edition of its Cities Matter survey.

Since 2011, Mayor Naheed Nenshi (on behalf of Council and the City) has surveyed candidates and parties during provincial elections to better understand their positions on municipal issues.

CREB®Now delves into some of the issues surrounding Calgary and the responses provided by Canada's major political parties.

'Net-positive' home provides more energy than it uses

When talking about giving back, many people think of volunteer work or assisting in the community. For one Calgary household, however, it means something entirely different.

Situated in the southeast community of Ramsay, Cornelis Koster's home is giving back in the form of energy. Billed as Canada's first net-positive home, it uses several forms of green-friendly technology to not only provide its own heat and power, but also creates a slight excess of electricity.

"We have a 5.5-kilowatt system powering the suite, garage and the house plus we have a surplus," said Koster, who also serves as president of Ironcor Solar.
According to Koster, construction on the project took 17 weeks and came in at a cost of $220,000.

The Calgary Foundation has released its annual Vital Signs report. The yearly check-up measures Calgarians' quality of life across six categories, with this year's report revealing the 1,819 Calgarians polled for the report were on average less happy than they were in 2014.

Along with Calgarians being a tad more melancholy, CREB®Now explores some of the other findings in this year's report.

Living Standards: Receiving an overall grade of C+ in this year's report, the top housing concern listed by Calgarians was improving the affordability of rental housing, with 26 per cent of respondents citing it as their primary worry.

Lobby Box addresses condo obstacles

Condominium corporation rules surrounding key-storage systems that provide real estate professionals and their buyers with access to properties for sale are often creating unsafe conditions, say industry officials.

"The condominium corporation prescribes where the lockbox may be placed according to condo bylaws, and it's not always in the most ideal location in terms of safety," said Lisa Roberts, manager of Member Programs at CREB®.

"In this situation, safety can be viewed through two aspects – in cold weather, having to walk down an alleyway where the pavement is icy, or through an area that is not well lit or well trafficked in order to retrieve the keys and show the property that is listed for sale."

With the unveiling of CalgaryNEXT, the storied stadium's days may be numbered, in turn creating a rare opportunity for high-density inner-city development

CalgaryNEXT, the proposed $890-million home of the Calgary Flames and Calgary Stampeders, may mark a new chapter for the city's pro and amateur sports community.

Yet it could also spell the end of McMahon Stadium, one of Calgary's most hallowed landmarks, and create a development opportunity that many experts say is rare in a city this size.

"It's an interesting situation because it doesn't happen often that you have a large piece of land in the inner city ready to be developed," said Bryan Romanesky, a former city planner and CEO of City Trend, a planning and permit firm.

Analysis shows inner-city real estate prices uneffected by LRT

Since 1981, the CTrain has transformed how Calgarians get around town.

Yet what impact has the city's light-rail transit system had on property values?

And do they truly become selling features when buying or selling homes?

An analysis of inner-city communities along the West LRT line, which opened in December 2012, show average benchmark home prices reported by CREB® in neighbourhoods such as Spruce Cliff and Killarney saw increases on par with communities not immediately adjacent to the line such as Altadore and South Calgary.

Conditions shift in September, according to CREB®

Housing statistics from September confirm that unbalanced conditions in some areas of Calgary's resale residential market are starting to push the entire sector into buyers' territory, according to CREB®.

Driven by excess inventory in the apartment sector, the overall market's sales-to-new-listings ratio — a key indicator of a buyer's market — declined further in September to 47 per cent, according to the board. That means less than five out of every 10 new listings sold during the month.

In August, the ratio hovered around 60 per cent, which was firmly in balanced conditions, according to CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

A look at the evolution of Calgary's playgrounds 

These aren't your parents' playgrounds.

Calgary's outdoor play areas are pushing the boundaries on safety, interactivity and, most importantly, fun, say local experts.

"The best ones for this are ones that are unique, so kids can ask for them by name," said Dana Wheatley, an experiential playground expert and mom of three young children. "A great example of this is Parkdale's Helicopter playground."

Wheatley runs the popular website CalgaryPlaygroundReview.com, which highlights many of the city's best playgrounds.

Exploring the less-than-wonderful world of divorce and property division

Though a divorce or separation can be a painful period of time for a couple, the question of who gets what once a marriage dissolves can often be the great unknown.

Uncertainty about assets and individual financial security play a significant role in making a potentially difficult time even harder, says Lindsay Ewens-Jones, a family law lawyer, mediator, and arbitrator with McGurk LLP Family Law Lawyers.

"When people are separating or going through a divorce, they are anxious about their future, both financial and otherwise," said Ewen-Jones. "So what [each party] will receive in the ultimate division of property is of great concern."

Small-town experiment pays off for McKenzie Towne residents

Clifford Koss and Janice Conley have called the southeast community of McKenzie Towne home for 15 years. They moved there in 2000, after renting in McKenzie Lake across Deerfoot Trail.

"We like the area so much we named our business after it," says Koss, referring to the couple's home-based distribution company, Prestwick Resources. (Prestwick is one of four areas that make up McKenzie Towne, the other three being Inverness, Elgin and High Street, a 120,000 square-foot commercial strip.)

In fact, these days Conley and Koss say they rarely have occasion to venture outside of the community.