While Calgary's commercial office market saw its vacancy rate on the rise in 2013, a new report shows the city will remain one of the most important players in Canada this year.

Dubbed "the nation's largest development market" in Avison Young's 2014 Commercial Forecast, Calgary is expected to see vacancy rates escalate in 2014 thanks in part to developers bringing new supply to the downtown core.

East Village was a plan that started in 2009 by Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), now the vision is coming to life with a 3D animation depicting the neighbourhood actually taking shape.

Over the past five years the area has seen infrastructure upgrades, heritage building restorations, public art installations, the 4th Street Underpass and two of the RiverWalk's four kilometres.

Calgary's housing market continues to shine as one of the country's bright spots.

Along with posting the largest year-over-year price increase in Canada, Calgary was just one of three markets to continue the trend in the short term.

The city is advising Calgary residents to be on the lookout for vandalism and thefts from new homes. Vandals have broken into 239 newly built homes over the past year, just prior to homeowner possession.

These acts of vandalism have major costs to the builders, but can also push back the possession dates for the homeowners, leaving them scrambling for a place to live.

The City of Calgary has released a report that is the first monitoring report about the progress being made towards the 60 year goals in the Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan.

Progress is measured by 14 indicators; eight of the indicators are showing that Calgary is moving in the right direction, three have not changed and three have moved farther away from the goals.

Residents across Canada, including Alberta and in particular Calgary, saw a whirlwind of major weather events throughout 2013.

With many extreme weather catastrophes comes damage to homes, vehicles and businesses. And with Canadian insurance companies seeing record claims in 2013, Albertans could see their insurance costs on the rise.

Calgarians will now be shelling out a little more to use some city services.

With the arrival of the New Year, user fees for services like public transit and recreation facilities have increased.

Along with increased recreation and transit costs, which bring the price of an adult single ticket to $3 from $2.75 and a monthly pass from $94 to $96, Calgary residents will also pay slightly more for curbside recycling and waste management.