Allison James

The Calgary real estate market continues to grow as 2014 gets underway, and it shows no signs of letting up! Price growth since 2005 has been more than 200% in some neighborhoods, such as Altadore. New and existing homes are selling quickly, and there are plenty of good reasons to celebrate the vibrant city.

Lots of jobs

For one thing, there’s plenty of employment. Genworth Canada’s report on the Conference Board of Canada’s Autumn Metropolitan Housing Outlook predicts that Calgary’s unemployment rates will drop slightly to around 4.6% in 2014, a trend they anticipate will continue for the next few years. Meanwhile, job growth will add nearly 3% to the region’s employment opportunities.

Exciting culture

But of course, employment is just one of the things that make an area attractive. We all want to have lifestyles that allow us to enjoy life to its fullest, and this makes Calgary even more attractive. The city offers many opportunities to celebrate food and fun, which makes it a top choice for residents.

Locals are already familiar with the popular Calgary Stampede that draws thousands every summer. This year, Shania Twain will be the star performer amid rodeo performances, talented youth shows, a petting zoo for kids, exciting carnival rides, and a vibrant midway. This is one of the most popular cultural events every summer throughout the province.

Our location near the Rocky Mountains provides appealing opportunities both for people who want a healthy lifestyle and those who enjoy outdoor activities like hunting, skiing, golf, and fishing. Walking, bicycling, and exercising at local recreation centers are readily available to everyone.

Dining, shopping, and art round out the Calgary experience and have been garnering international attention. Both the New York Times and The Guardian have noted that our city has transformed into a cultural hub worth experiencing in 2014, listing us in their respective annual “Where to Go in 2014” guides.

All these things are what make our city a wonderful place to live in, and the Calgary real estate market has been reflecting this desirability for nearly a decade, with no signs of letting up anytime soon.

Do you need to move to celebrate the changes that are happening in your life? Let me serve you in helping you make the move to the place or home that reflects where you are in life’s journey! I will listen to your needs and use my knowledge and expertise to make this a smooth transition to the right place for you to call home in Calgary. Contact me at 403-708-5873, ajames16@gmail.com, or www.allisonjames.com and let’s get on with your journey!

About Allison James

Allison James has been a realtor® since 1999 with Century 21 Bamber Realty Ltd. in the changing Calgary real estate market. A Century 21 Centurion Award 2007 recipient and a member of CREA and AREA, she specializes in residential real estate and has her designations as a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and a Certified Condominium Specialist. These designations testify that she has the expertise and resources to help her clients make a smooth transition to the next step in their life journey. She enjoys helping her clients as they move through many of the same stages of life that she, too, has experienced. The fact that the majority of her business comes from past clients and/or referrals from satisfied clients speaks volumes about her dedication to the high quality of service that she offers her clients to meet their Calgary and surrounding area real estate needs. She is a mother of four who are all on their own now, and a grandmother of eight. Besides helping people buy or sell real estate, she loves spending time with her family, being active outdoors, traveling and meeting new people, photography, playing the drums, reading, scuba diving, listening to music, learning new things, and nurturing her spiritual growth.

Image Courtesy of Wikipedia.org & Purpletwinkie

It will soon be Valentine’s Day, and I want to send all of you all the love in the world! These are exciting days for Calgary real estate. Calgary is a place full of culture, beautiful scenery, and exciting nightlife. I have been a Calgary real estate agent for 15 years because I fell in love with the area many years ago.

If you are considering buying a home in the Calgary area, I’d love for you to know about some of my favorite restaurants in the area that will surely be filled with couples on Valentine’s Day.

I prefer to support local restaurants as I find the food is usually exceptional and the service excellent versus the major chains, and am happy to recommend the following:

The Himalayan

The Himalayan over on 17th Avenue SW has excellent Nepalese food and is a favorite of the locals in the area. If you enjoy Indian or Asian dishes, check out the Himalayan on your next visit to the area.

Spiros

If you are not a fan of Nepalese food, you can head over to Spiros, an authentic Greek restaurant where you can order pulled lamb pizza, among many other traditional dishes. Not interested in trying pulled lamb? Spiros has plenty of basic dishes for the less adventurous eater.

La Chaumiere Restaurant

Ranked #46 of 2,824 restaurants in Calgary, La Chaumiere is a great place for fine French cuisine.

If you are looking into Calgary real estate, I can give you the inside scoop on this fun neighborhood full of diverse places to eat and interesting nightlife. I enjoy this area because there is always something to do here, places to see and nature to enjoy. I know that if you come and check out Calgary real estate, you will fall in love with it just like I did 15 years ago.

Do you need to move to celebrate the changes that are happening in your life? Let me serve you in helping you make the move to the place or home that reflects where you are in life’s journey! I will listen to your needs and use my knowledge and expertise to make this a smooth transition to the right place for you to call home in Calgary. Contact me at 403-708-5873, ajames16@gmail.com , or www.allisonjames.com and let’s get on with your journey!

About Allison James

Allison James has been a realtor® since 1999 with Century 21 Bamber Realty Ltd. in the changing Calgary real estate market. A Century 21 Centurion Award 2007 recipient and a member of CREA and AREA, she specializes in residential real estate and has her designations as a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and a Certified Condominium Specialist. These designations testify that she has the expertise and resources to help her clients make a smooth transition to the next step in their life journey. She enjoys helping her clients as they move through many of the same stages of life that she, too, has experienced. The fact that the majority of her business comes from past clients and/or referrals from satisfied clients speaks volumes about her dedication to the high quality of service that she offers her clients to meet their Calgary and surrounding area real estate needs. She is a mother of four who are all on their own now, and a grandmother of eight. Besides helping people buy or sell real estate, she loves spending time with her family, being active outdoors, traveling and meeting new people, photography, playing the drums, reading, scuba diving, listening to music, learning new things, and nurturing her spiritual growth.

Image Courtesy of Abdallah

So Calgary real estate is red-hot (Best Place to Live in Canada and fifth in the world!); but it wasn’t always this hot. It used to be that when people had to move to Calgary, they’d feel dejected, thinking it was too quiet, too laid-back. Today, there’s no place they’d rather be.

Cowtown

Calgary’s modern history (its full history goes back 11,000 years to Canada’s aboriginal peoples) actually didn’t start out that quietly. It came with the railway trains in 1883 which soon made Calgary an important commercial and agricultural center, and a transportation and distribution hub. It became a town a year later and a city after a decade.

First the chugs of the trains, then the moos of the cows. The offer of free homestead land in the city drew hordes of migrants the world over. Ranching became big in Calgary, until it emerged as the center of Canada’s cattle marketing and meatpacking industries, from which it got its nickname, Cowtown. In 1912, the Calgary Stampede was born as a small agricultural roadshow and rodeo to showcase Calgary’s local products and cowboy culture, and it has since been held yearly with a big local and global following.

Boomtown

But the cows’ moos were all but drowned out by the oil boom in Calgary after the discovery of big oil reserves there in 1947 and the rise in oil prices with the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s. People the world over flocked to the city, driving its population up by 70% in 18 years and then by 50% in the next 18 years. Suddenly, high-rise buildings and skyscrapers lined the horizon and filled the downtown streets, and the city even became the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympic Games, in 1988. But the drop in oil prices in the 1980s dragged Calgary’s economy along. Yet like a true cowboy, it rose from its fall a decade later by diversifying its economy from mainly oil and agriculture to include manufacturing, transportation, services, IT and e-commerce, and tourism, this last due to Calgary’s natural beauty and diversity from being lodged between the Canadian Rockies and the Canadian Prairies, and with two rivers running through it. Today, Calgary is a highly urbanized cosmopolitan town with an average household income that’s one of the highest in Canada and an unemployment rate that’s almost half the national average, but it has kept its cowboy’s down-to-earth and can-do spirit burning bright, which is what lifted it so quickly from the record flood in June last year.

I’ve proudly been calling Calgary my home since March, 1999 and have been a Calgary Realtor® for 14 years. I still get a high each time I tell people the story of Calgary’s rise from a quiet town to boomtown. Does anyone have other great stories to tell about Calgary? Let’s hear them!

Do you need to move to celebrate the changes that are happening in your life? Let me serve you in helping you make the move to the place or home that reflects where you are in life’s journey! I will listen to your needs and use my knowledge and expertise to make this a smooth transition to the right place for you to call home in Calgary. Contact me at 403-708-5873, ajames16@gmail.com , or www.allisonjames.com and let’s get on with your journey!

About Allison James

Allison James has been a realtor® since 1999 with Century 21 Bamber Realty Ltd. in the changing Calgary real estate market. A Century 21 Centurion Award 2007 recipient and a member of CREA and AREA, she specializes in residential real estate and has her designations as a Seniors Real Estate Specialist and a Certified Condominium Specialist. These designations testify that she has the expertise and resources to help her clients make a smooth transition to the next step in their life journey. She enjoys helping her clients as they move through many of the same stages of life that she, too, has experienced. The fact that the majority of her business comes from past clients and/or referrals from satisfied clients speaks volumes about her dedication to the high quality of service that she offers her clients to meet their Calgary and surrounding area real estate needs. She is a mother of four who are all on their own now, and a grandmother of eight. Besides helping people buy or sell real estate, she loves spending time with her family, being active outdoors, traveling and meeting new people, photography, playing the drums, reading, scuba diving, listening to music, learning new things, and nurturing her spiritual growth.