Calgary is no concrete jungle

In addition to the streets, sidewalks and skyscrapers that define most large cities, Calgary is blessed with enough parks and natural spaces to leave other major centres green with envy.

"It's very important to have a variety of open spaces for relief from urban living, whether it's pathways for exercise, parks with playgrounds or just a place to kick a soccer ball," said Travis Shaw, planning and development lead with Calgary Parks.

Lavish Bel-Aire property showcases local builder's talents, and what $6 million can buy in the Calgary luxury market

While the term showhome often denotes a certain level of sophistication, there are properties that take that refinement up a notch. And then there's Bel 35.

Constructed by award-winning builder Rockwood Custom Homes, the 6,400-square-foot home in the community of Bel-Aire isn't your average new build.

Valuable land in the city centre provides several avenues for profit generation

Sharon van de Burgt and her family will move into their new, two-storey, 1,800-plus-square-foot, inner-city duplex before Christmas.

They will have new next-door neighbours in 2018 – and earnings to help pay for their home – with the sale of the other 2,000-square-foot unit, now listed at $865,000.

Patricia and Michael Insole went from renters to buyers and never looked back

For Patricia and Michael Insole, timing was everything when it came to purchasing their penthouse condo in Calgary's inner-city Beltline neighbourhood.

They weren't really looking to buy a home, but when the building where they were renting became a condominium conversion, they jumped at the chance to purchase. They gathered a down payment, borrowing from family and friends, and purchased their 1,700-square-foot condo on the 15th floor.

Launched in 2007, the Waterfront development has been ten years in the making with plenty more to come

The Waterfront development, an 11-building project, has become a landmark in downtown Calgary for Vancouver-based developer Anthem.

Elva Kim, vice-president of sales and marketing for Anthem, says five buildings have been completed now with close to 630 units just east of Eau Claire Market and along the Bow River.

"It's great. It's absolutely a landmark development for Anthem, both in terms of product, timing and location," said Kim.

Inner-city communities offering residents plenty to get excited about

From the historic streets of Inglewood to the shopping district along 17th Avenue, Calgary's inner city represents an eclectic and ever-changing mix of stories, style and substance. After all, these are areas where 100-year-old brick buildings seamlessly interchange with high-rise construction cranes.

Yet for those who live in Calgary`s inner city, it isn't just their surroundings and amenities that make it special. It's the people.

"Sure we have our night markets, Christmas celebrations and kitschy shops, but what makes Ramsay and Inglewood an exceptional place to live are the people," said local resident Natalia Jezierska.

City revisiting inner-city development

Almost 15 years ago, Naz Virani made the shift from chef to homebuilder and developer. Since then, he has been one of a handful of builders at the fore of Calgary's gentrification.

In the early 2000s, Virani founded Sarina Homes, and began what he describes as a journey to transform the inner-city, one infill home at a time.

"A lot has changed since we started the business," he recalled. "We started out building single-family homes, then moved into semi-detached and then fourplex designs."

Calgary's aging sandwich communities seek their place in shifting housing landscape

What's old is new again. It's an apt description of homebuyers' newfound interest in Calgary's sandwich communities – those not-quite-inner-city neighbourhoods that long outgrown their suburban roots.

Built along what was then the city's outskirts starting in the late 1950s, these detached-heavy communities such as Thorncliffe, Huntington Hills, Ogden, Winston Heights, Albert Park, Fairview and Kingsland represented optimism and prosperity synonymous with the post-Second World War era.

Fast-forward several generations later and upwardly mobile generation-Xers and millennials are returning to their birth places, attracted by location, ample amenities and familiarity.

Small-volume builders say they've been largely unaffected by the economy

Alberta's economic downturn is not impacting all areas of the housing industry in the same way, according to small-volume builders who say their niche is, in fact, busier than ever.

"We are pretty much unaffected by the economy," said Brian Cook of Cook Custom Homes, a Calgary-based micro-builder that designs and builds five homes per year. "There is still money in Calgary and those who work in economy-friendly industries are building homes."

Cook noted one of the only differences he's seeing is in buying strategy, especially with spec homes. When the market was hot, buyers would tour a home once and put in an offer.

Where will Calgary's newest hot spot emerge?

People are always on the lookout for the next big thing, and that search extends to the world of real estate.

When it comes to reading the proverbial crystal ball as to which community will emerge as Calgary's next inner-city hot spot, the author of the blog The Everyday Tourist, Richard White, suggests one look north.

"The northwest inner-city communities are becoming much more urban and desirable," says White, explaining the growth of these communities has coincided with the relatively recent expansion of facilities like the Alberta Children's Hospital, the Foothills Medical Centre, SAIT and the University of Calgary campus.