Calgary

Alberta's largest city rises from the prairie where the Bow and Elbow Rivers meet, pairing a compact, energetic downtown with one of North America's largest urban pathway networks and some of the shortest drives to the Rocky Mountains of any major Canadian city.

Downtown and the Beltline anchor Calgary's inner city, linked by the CTrain's Red and Blue Lines and centred on Stephen Avenue's pedestrian mall of shops, patios and heritage sandstone buildings. East Village has turned a former rail yard into condos, the National Music Centre and riverside pathways, while Kensington and Hillhurst across the Bow River offer walkable streets near SAIT and the University of Calgary.

Just south of downtown, Mission and Cliff Bungalow line 4th Street SW with restaurants and patios, and Inglewood, Calgary's oldest neighbourhood, mixes antique shops and live music venues along 9th Avenue SE near the Bow Habitat Station and the zoo. Further out, newer communities tell the rest of the story: Mahogany in the southeast is built around the city's largest lake, Evanston anchors the fast growing north near Symons Valley, and Signal Hill and West Springs give the west end newer homes with mountain view potential.

Calgary's quadrant address system, NE, NW, SE and SW, radiating from Centre Street and the CPR line, takes some getting used to but makes navigating a new area straightforward. With an energy and technology driven economy, a relatively young population and detached homes still attainable well inside city limits, Calgary continues to draw buyers priced out of Vancouver and Toronto who want space, sunshine and the mountains close at hand.