For many Calgarians, small town living in the big city seems to be the Holy Grail of homeownership. Combining the best of both worlds, the appeal of pairing the charm of a rural community with all the vibrancy and amenities of an urban setting is one that's tough to beat.

By following that exact recipe, with a sizable dash of quality craftsmanship, the folks at Cardel seem to have cooked up yet another winning development in Elgin Village.

The City of Calgary Development & Building Approvals in partnership with the Calgary Fire Department are conducting a suite safety pilot on 50 of the city's existing suites.

The objectives of the pilot include seeing if the 50 suites have relevant permits, have the correct land use designation and are up to Alberta Fire and Building Code standards. The City will then assist property owners through City processes to bring their suites up to compliance if possible.

The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) has announced the completion of the third phase of RiverWalk.

The pathway now stretches two kilometres along the Bow River from Centre Street Bridge through East Village and around Fort Calgary to Ninth Avenue S.E.

While most of the province's real estate markets are expected to post declines in the coming months, increases in Alberta MLS® activity is expected to lead the country.

According to The Canadian Real Estate Association's (CREA) revised resale housing forecast, sales in Alberta are expected to hit 61,150 by the end of 2012, marking a 13.8 per cent increase over the 53,756 sales in 2011.

Calgary and Alberta's commercial markets have continued to make post recession headlines.

"The industry in Calgary has rebounded rapidly since the recession, bolstered by strong growth in employment, retail sales and investment in resource based supporting industries," said a BMO Economics commercial real estate outlook.