Getting a head's up on HOA fees

When school let out this year, Suzanne Maynard and her two young daughters joined a cohort of neighbours at Lake Bonavista for a summer kick-off party.

Unlimited access to the private beach is worth every penny of the Homeowner Association (HOA) fee Maynard says she and her husband pay annually.

"We truly believe it's the best $288 we spend in a year," she says. "The money that goes towards the community is priceless – it provides endless entertainment for our kids and we have got to know our neighbours down at the lake."

After much speculation, the Calgary Flames have announced plans for a massive sports complex, including a new football stadium and field house. The plan would see replacements for the aging Scotiabank Saddledome and McMahon Stadium constructed on the west side of Calgary's downtown. Dubbed CalgaryNEXT, here's a breakdown of five things you need to know about the new Calgary arena project.

1. Location
Currently home to an assortment of car dealerships, empty lots and the GreyHound bus station, the proposed site for the project sits alongside the recently opened Sunalta LRT in Calgary's West Village. Once home to a creosote plant, construction on the site would likely necessitate a costly cleanup, with an estimated pricetag between $50 and $300 million.

Has "not in my backyard" become Calgary's unofficial slogan?

The cry "not in my backyard" has been heard in this city over many topics. From secondary suites to skateparks to special needs schools and even bottle depots, objections have arisen on projects both public and personal.

Having even spawned its own Twitter handle, Calgary's long-running history of NIMBYism has seen residents object to special needs schools on the basis that they would lower property values, social housing based on an increase in population density and skateboard parks based on the "racket" created by budding Tony Hawks.

For those tasked with moving projects forward in the face of such criticism, it can be a delicate balance.

"Obviously there is NIMBYism in Calgary, as there is in every city. Whether or not there's more, I don't know," said RESOLVE spokeswoman Amy Hurst.

Condo herb garden project sparks sense of community

If you want to know what's going on in your neighborhood, just lean over the fence and ask what's growing in the garden.

That's a British saying that's as true in a Kent country cottage as it is in a downtown Calgary condo.

But how do you find the space?

For Marion Tompkins, retired and living in an Eau Claire apartment tower, it meant re-imagining some under-utilized space right under her nose into a communal herb garden.

New museum provides perspective of just how far growing town has come

Gordon Davies's roots run deep in Cochrane.

His family moved to the area in the early part of the 20th century, while Davies himself is president of the Cochrane Historical & Archival Preservation Society (CHAPS).

The society, in fact, is behind the new Cochrane Historical Museum, which opened May 31 and was nearly two decades in the making, according to Davies.

"Unlike many towns, Cochrane has never had a museum dedicated to its local history," he said, noting CHAPS has been planning the museum since the society's inception in 1999.

We've all heard that Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was Calgary, which continues to undergo an urban renaissance. Over the next five days, CREB®Now will present a series where it has sat down with five influencers who have helped develop the city as we know it today.

CMLC boss follows his heart

Through several significant career changes, Michael Brown has always taken to heart his mother's advice growing up: "I don't care what you do; just make a difference."

As president and CEO of Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC) since 2011, Brown is doing just that as he leads the rejuvenation of the massive 20-hectare, mixed-use, inner city community of East Village, one of the largest urban re-developments in North America.

So how did this political science university graduate, who jumped into economic development and then helped build one of Calgary's iconic corporate headquarters, get involved in urban renewal?

We've all heard that Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was Calgary, which continues to undergo an urban renaissance. Over the next five days, CREB®Now will present a series where it has sat down with five influencers who have helped develop the city as we know it today

The man with the plan

In Grade 12, a university professor spoke to Jeff Fielding's class about cities and how they are planned.

"I had no idea what I wanted to be at the time," said the man appointed city manager just over a year ago to lead Calgary's 15,000 municipal employees.

"He (the university professor) was so passionate about what he was doing and what the future held for cities that I thought, 'wow, I have to get into that.'"

We've all heard that Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was Calgary, which continues to undergo an urban renaissance. Over the next five days, CREB®Now will present a series where it has sat down with five influencers who have helped develop the city as we know it today.

The path less travelled

It may seem strange that a woman originally destined for medical studies is instead helping build what will ultimately be the largest pathway and urban parks system in the world.

But Calgary's giant $60-million Rotary/Mattamy Greenway — to encircle the entire city when completed — is a symbol of the less-travelled path Myrna Dubé herself has chosen in more than four decades of service to her adopted city.

The working life of the Montreal-born CEO of Parks Foundation Calgary (PFC) has run from instructor in a genetics lab and office work, to corporate and community relations as well as business and land development.

We've all heard that Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was Calgary, which continues to undergo an urban renaissance. Over the next five days, CREB®Now will present a series where it has sat down with five influencers who have helped develop the city as we know it today.

'Sink or swim' for housing titan

At the age of 17, Jay Westman was thrown by dad, Al, into the housing industry's version of 'sink or swim.'

The self-described "average" student had no "big idea" about what he wanted to do after high school: "I think my parents would have liked me to be a lawyer or a doctor but school was not my strong suit," said the chairman and CEO of Calgary-based Jayman Built, one of the largest homebuilders in Alberta.

So Al Westman — through his own housing company — plunged Jay into project management, and life in a motorhome on a multi-family site in Lethbridge.

"I learned a lot of life lessons. I made a lot of mistakes and cost my dad some money. But I paid him back later," he said.

CREB®Now sits down with Canadian Real Estate Association president

Pauline Aunger is no stranger to Canada's real estate market. As president of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), she has a unique behind-the-curtains perspective of the industry – from its performance to advocacy efforts.

CREB®Now recently sat down with Aunger, who was in Calgary recently as part of CREA's cross-country open house series with local real estate boards. Here's what she had to say about everything from insurance premiums to how Calgary factors into her bucket list.