With many people trading in their downtown commute for a home office due to the COVID-19 pandemic, proximity to the city centre has been less of a priority for house hunters this year.

In fact, a new emphasis on creating comfortable, productive workspaces within the home and the reduced importance of living anywhere near the office have increased buyer interest in areas just outside Calgary's city limits – where prices are lower and space is plentiful.

By early 2022, the first of Alpine Park's eventual 10,000 residents will be moving into a mixed-use community at the heart of a new type of Calgary suburb.

Diversity and volume of home options offer something for homebuyers of every stage

There is no such thing as a "typical" home in the $500,000 to $750,000 price range in Calgary's market today.

"It is more than a starter home, but no mansion," said Ray Riley, a REALTOR® with RE/MAX First. "It could even be a teardown in a desirable (inner-city) neighbourhood, or a luxury apartment downtown. It just depends on what the buyer is looking for, and where."

Leaders in middle-ring suburbs grapple with current challenges, while looking to the future

Calgary is a city that is continuing to grow and expand, with new suburbs and surrounding areas showing marked growth this year, yielding new infrastructure and amenities for residents. However, while Calgary's newer communities expand, older communities are experiencing unique challenges.

Middle-ring neighbourhoods offer perfect balance of suburban charm and inner-city convenience

Between the inner city and the burgeoning suburbs lie Calgary's so-called "middle-ring neighbourhoods," a concept explored in a 2010 study by the University of Calgary's faculty of environmental design.

As the study describes, Calgary's 80 middle-ring neighbourhoods – which include communities like Acadia, Glamorgan and Huntington Hills – are those developed between the 1950s and 1970s and "poised to undergo redevelopment."

Canyon Meadows, established in 1963, is one such community. When Gurmit Bhachu, the current president of the Canyon Meadows Community Association, moved to Calgary in 2004, he and his wife looked for a home.

City of Calgary report provides estimates for short-term growth in city's suburbs

What's Calgary going to look like in the next five years when it comes to growth and the housing market?

The City of Calgary's Suburban Residential Growth 2017-2021 report sheds some light on where the city is headed in terms of population and housing growth over the short term.

The draft document is an interesting one, and it serves as a starting point of discussion as the City looks to sustainably increase its footprint.

Developers creating public art 'for the people that belongs to the people'

It's Sunday morning and soft skiffs of white snow blanket the still green grass, while golden and red leaves cling tightly to drooping branches laden with the heaviness of an early fall storm.

As the sun streams through a parting overcast sky, melting the show of winter that has arrived all too soon, the landscape becomes an artistic vista – one of twinkling light and impressionistic colour as St. Patrick's Island awakens to the day.

Two young professionals living in the inner city versus suburbia

Calgarian Crystal Scriven went five years without a car until purchasing one last September.

Her deference to driving came down to her needs at the time, but also personal preference – a sentiment shared by a growing number of young adults, suggests Zipcar's annual Millennial Survey.

The survey, released last month, found 45 per cent of millennials – the most popular definition of which is someone born between the early 1980s and early 2000s – are making a conscious effort to reduce how much they drive.