Not your traditional suburban community

The rapidly growing community of Chestermere exudes an intrinsic lightness of being and a twinkling joie de vivre. You can feel it crackling in the air as you stroll down the pathways, watching people run, blade and bike during the summer months or cross-country ski in the winter, whooshing, swishing, all the while laughing.

"It's the people that really make this an amazing place to live," said resident Ryan Armstrong.

He moved his young family from northwest Calgary to Kinniburgh Estates in East Chestermere four years ago and hasn't looked back.

For the third consecutive quarter, sales growth in all communities surrounding Calgary was in the double digits. In addition to lifestyle preferences, demand in surrounding areas has improved due to the relative price advantage over Calgary and less supply constraints in many of the surrounding markets.

During the first quarter of the year, 44 per cent of new listings in surrounding areas were priced below $400,000. Within the city of Calgary, 23 per cent of single family homes were under this price point.

Chestermere's Town Council has approved the master area structure plan for the 2,400 acre Waterbridge Development in West Chestermere.

"After extensive review and hard work by all involved, we're excited to see the plan for Chestermere's West side take place," said Chestermere Mayor Patricia Matthews. "We expect future plans, including the large commercial area in phase one, will be reflective of Chestermere's unique character and anticipate we will be seeing those plans quickly."

Chestermere may soon be expanding their town to include 2,400 acres of residential and business development thanks to a project known as Waterbridge, which could attract more than 46,000 new residents.

"The Town of Chestermere annexed the Waterbridge land in 2009. They annexed the land because it allowed them to control growth adjacent to them, rather than if Calgary annexed it, they would have had no control over how these lands would develop," said Pam MacInnis, associate with Brown & Associates Planning Group.

According to Statistics Canada, between 2006 and 2012, the fastest growing medium-sized community in Alberta was Chestermere. The town's population grew by a staggering 19.7 per cent to almost 12,000, up from 10,000.

By comparison, the province's overall population grew by 13.5 per cent during the same span. The other fast-growing communities also tended to be not far from Calgary, with High River (+18.5 per cent), Airdrie (+18.2 per cent) and Cochrane (+15.7 per cent) showing impressive population gains.

With prices that more than compete with those in the big city, while keeping amenities closer than many Calgary communities, Chestermere and Langdon offer an attractive package for prospective buyers.

Chestermere's status as "Alberta's Oasis" is evident in the number of homebuyers making the town home. Over the last decade, the population of Chestermere has more than tripled, rising from less than 4,000 residents in 2002 to 15,352 in 2012.