A new look at old neighbourhoods

In addition to the Twist and Woodstock, a lot of great neighbourhoods were created in the 1960s. Today, Calgary's middle-ring suburbs – those developed between 1950 and the early 1970s – face some serious challenges, but, at the same time, some unique opportunities.

"These neighbourhoods are in a good location, fairly close to downtown, and feature large lots with single-family, detached bungalows and split levels," said Francisco Alaniz Uribe, an assistant professor in the faculty of environmental design at the University of Calgary. Uribe co-authored a study on the city's middle-ring communities with his colleague Beverly A. Sandalack, professor and associate dean with the faculty of environmental design.

Smarter Growth Initiative aims to educate public about homebuilding and development industry

Guy Huntingford knows the value of providing people with useful and interesting information.

After all, the CEO of BILD Calgary Region was once in the newspaper business, as a publisher at both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun.

That background gave him the spark needed to put together the Smarter Growth Initiative, a BILD-affiliated entity whose tagline is "fostering conversation about urban development," nearly four years ago.

CREB®Now connected with some of Calgary's housing industry experts and leaders for their opinions on 2018. Here's what they had to say. . .

City continues process of intensification, as communities adjust to higher-density living

For a long time, news stories about development in Calgary tended to paint a picture of a city growing out of control, with headlines like "Calgary battles urban sprawl" or "Calgary versus the car: the city that declared war on urban sprawl."

Rylan Graham, an instructor in the University of Calgary's Faculty of Environmental Design, says after the Second World War, much of the population growth in cities occurred on the urban-rural fringe.

"This is the form of growth that is often connected with the term urban sprawl," he said. "Generally, planning has come to recognize the ills of urban sprawl – that it is unsustainable socially, economically and environmentally."

Luxury buyers want it all including the (second) kitchen sink

Today's homebuyers want more for less – a pattern that is also starting to manifest in the luxury market, say local industry experts.

"There's no question that, like everybody, we've felt the pinch," said Danny Raposo, general manager of Astoria Custom Homes, which is building in Watermark at Bearspaw, just outside the city limits.

Still, Raposo describes 2016 as "a decent year," noting an increased interest in Astoria's Watermark product during the eight weeks prior to mid-September.

The car-less lifestyle is trending, but Calgary's housing market still driven by the automobile, say experts

Cars aren't going anywhere soon, and neither is Calgary homebuyers' desire for neighbourhoods – or condominiums for that matter – that support their automobile-driven lifestyles, say housing experts.

While much is being made about efforts to create a more pedestrian-friendly city that focuses on "vertical growth," Calgarians still very much enjoy the freedom that comes with driving an automobile. And they
want their residence — whether it's a condo, townhome or single-detached house — to support their yen for putting the pedal to the metal, said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) regional economist Lai Sing Louie.

"Most people still want parking," he said. "They want the freedom to come and go with a car at their disposal, and they're willing to pay a lot of money to afford that."

Behind-the-scene details of how communities in Calgary come to life

For casual observers, it might appear that new neighbourhoods just sprout from the ground overnight.

In fact, those first show homes only come after years of planning and negotiation.

"When people see the graders out there, people think that's the start of a community, but it starts long before," said Brookfield Residential senior manager of strategic initiatives Grace Lui.

In the case of Brookfield's up-and-coming Livingston development in north Calgary, for example, grading might have started this year, but land acquisition took place 15 years ago. The new community, which will be comprised of 10,000 homes on 514 hectares of land just north of Stoney Trail, will welcome its first show homes in 2017.

As CEO of the Urban Development Institute in Calgary, Guy Huntingford knows a lot about what makes a city, and thereby that city's development, tick. Huntingford took some time to chat with CREBNow about everything from urban sprawl to low density development to migration numbers in the city.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi may have his work cut out for him in his bid to end Calgary's "sprawl subsidy" by increasing suburban developer levies.

Calling for an end to what he calls a developer "subsidy" that amounts to $4,800 for every new suburban home built in the city, Nenshi has laid out his arguments against the current agreement between the city and suburban developers.