Nestled on the west side of the city, the upscale community of Aspen Woods has it all – a bevy of amenities, pockets of Aspen groves, picturesque ponds, stunning mountain views and a selection of home designs.

Jeannie Sturdy, interior designer and owner of Sturdy Design Co., lives just steps away from Aspen in Signal Hill. Her son goes to school in Aspen and many of her design clients are either in the process of renovating or building a home in this coveted west-Calgary community.

"I spend a great deal of time in Aspen and there is just so much here – workout studios, awesome grocery shops like Blush Lane and Cobs Bread, and a ton of restaurants," she said. "On a Friday night we just zip up to Mercato West for a great dinner. It's so convenient. We rarely go downtown anymore."

On a cold February day in 1968, a fleet of heavy equipment began stripping the prairie grass from a tract of land in southeast Calgary for a new community.

But any spectators to the activity might have been surprised when the machines started excavating deep into the ground.

It was the unlikely beginnings of Lake Bonavista, a new neighbourhood built by legendary builder and developer E.V. Keith that would become the first manmade lake community in Canada. Calgary now has almost a dozen lake communities, but back in the late 1960s it was a radical idea.

"Crazy," is how Les Cosman recalled the reaction from most people to Keith's plans, formed after he took an airplane flight over some early lake communities in Los Angeles.

It's early morning and the sun has just crested the horizon, casting a trail of sparkling rays across the still water. The shimmering lake ripples as a brook trout breaks the surface momentarily, before plunging back down into the depths. High in the sky, a bald eagle soars, gliding gracefully, while 100-foot-tall fir trees sway in the soft summer breeze. In the distance, a kayak quietly slices through the water like a hot knife through butter.

It's a typical day at Lake Sundance.

"I love it here," said longtime Sundance resident Anne Radic. "I wouldn't live anywhere else."

She's lived in the community for almost 40 years and watched it evolve from raw land into a mature and established neighbourhood with stately homes, excellent schools and mature trees that create a pretty canopy along the quiet streets. "We moved here in 1986 and basically bought a plot of earth," she said, laughing.

A quiet and peaceful community nestled into the bend of the rushing Bow River, Deer Run in southeast Calgary offers something for everyone. The community cradles Fish Creek Provincial Park, with many of its homes backing onto verdant, tree-lined park spaces.

"We absolutely love it here," said longtime resident Brenna Rutt.

She and her husband built a bi-level home in the area in 1987, at a time when the community would have been labelled "new" and was in its final stages of development.

The soft summer breeze rustles through the tall stands of mature Aspen trees and prairie grasses in the lush valley on the northwest edge of the city. Here nature sits untouched, a picture perfect backdrop for the homes that grace the ridge above. Nearby, the voices of happy children ring out, as they ride their bikes in the cul-de-sacs connecting the homes. And anchoring it all is a beautiful 18-hole golf course. This is Valley Ridge, home to almost 6,000 residents. Most live in single-family homes (93 per cent) and the area is almost entirely owner-occupied, leading to a connected community with a vibrant and engaged feel.

Don Boykiw has come full circle.

The president of the Willow Ridge Community Association grew up in the southeast Calgary neighbourhood of Willow Park before moving away to carve his own path. As fate would have it, he returned to the community 13 years ago.

Longtime Acadia resident Diane Darragh has been nurturing a colourful perennial garden in the backyard of her home for more than 20 years, adding plants, carving new beds and enjoying sunny days spent under shady flowing branches of Willow trees.

"I really love this neighbourhood," she said, especially the mature trees and the sense of community. "It's just so connected here."

It could be said that until recently, this southeast community was flying under the radar. But Avenue Calgary put it on the charts in 2015, when the community ranked third overall on the magazine's list of Calgary's top neighbourhoods – it dropped one spot to fourth overall in the 2016 rankings. The area is peppered with 1960s bungalows, most of them original. Tall, mature trees line the quiet and scenic streets. And with an abundance of schools within its boundaries, including Lord Beaverbrook High School, plus a variety of pubs and restaurants, the area holds appeal for both families and singles alike.