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Colleen is a Calgarian, born and bred. She has been in real estate since 1990, is a three times Silver Award winner and a member of the Presidents Club. Her success comes from her love of marketing and "earning the right to do business with [her] clients". Colleen believes each home has its' own story to tell, and tailors her approach to reflect the different personalities she encounters. Her methods are innovations in the field, and appreciated by her co-workers and clients and alike. "My clients like the fact that I'm not sitting waiting," says Colleen, "I'm always trying to make something happen." Contact Colleen:
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The Greater Calgary Area
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Calgary's Growing
With the influx of oil money and new residents to Calgary over the last 5 years home prices have skyrocketed. This means more and more people are looking to live on the outskirts of Calgary, as Calgary begins to look like Tornto or Vancouver with sprawling suburbs, and a GCA: Greater Calgary Area. This section details these areas, and their changing relationships with the City of Calgary.
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The Metropolitan Calgary Area
 The GCA is in fact the Municipal District of Rocky View and Calgary (5,083 sq km), which includes the City of Airdrie, the Town of Cochrane, the Town of Chestermere and the village of Beiseker. Rocky View also includes a number of unincorporated hamlets; the largest are Springbank and Bragg Creek. The GCA is the 5th largest metropolitan area in Canada, and statistics Canada last estimated the population of the area to be 1,107,200 in 2006.
To make things slightly more complicated, Calgary's economic region is called the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP), which is a cooperative of economically associated municipalities around Calgary. This area is economically tied to Calgary, but many parts of the region are too far from the city to consider a daily commute - especially in the winter. Also, since the CRP is an organization and not an area per se, not all of the municipalities within the GCA are members. It includes the Municipal District of Rocky View, the City of Airdrie, the Town of Cochrane, the Town of Chestermere, the Town of Okotoks, the Town of High River, and the Municipal District of Foothills. It also includes the Town of Canmore in the Rockies, the Municipal District of Bighorn to the west, and the Town of Strathmore to the east. The towns of Crossfield and Banff have also recently been made members on the CRP.
Here we'll briefly talk about the 4 biggest and closest towns to Calgary: Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere, and Okotoks.
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City of Airdrie
Airdrie is about 10 kms due north of Calgary along highway 2 (Queen Elizabeth II highway), aka Deerfoot Trail. It currently has a population of 31,512, making it Calgary's largest suburb. Airdrie has recently annexed land to the south, allowing it to better grow and meet its need to house more Calgarian commuters. In the south alone there are 12 new communities being built for this purpose. Airdrie is most known for its scenic Nose Creek Park, which hosts various annual festivals.
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Town of Cochrane
Cochrane is 7 kms west of NW Calgary. It is accessed either by highway 2A, aka Crowchild Trail, or highway 1 or 8 west, and then highway 22 north. It currently has a population of 13,760. Cochrane is a popular town for shopping in its quaint western-oriented stores, as well as for wind sports, cycling, golfing, hiking, and adventure activities. It is notable as being one of a few Canadian communities with no business tax. It is also experiencing very rapid growth due to its proximity to Calgary.
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Town of Chestermere
Chestermere is 6 kms east of Calgary. It currently has a population of 11,262. The town is built around the 2.65 sqr km lake Chestermere. It became a town in 1993. As of 2006, the City of Calgary was in negotiations with the Municipal District of Rocky View to annex extensive tracts of land between Calgary's present eastern limits and Chestermere. According to the latest map the annexation proposal puts Calgary's eastern city limits only half a section from Chestermere.
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Town of Okotoks
Okotoks is about 18 kms south of Calgary. It currently has a population of 17,145. Because of its proximity to Calgary it had the highest population growth between 2001 and 2006 across the country (46.7%). Okotoks has 3 golf courses, camping grounds, fishing, and various organized sports leagues.
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Resources
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After finishing his Finance degree at McGill University Chris obtained his mortgage brokering license here in Calgary. He has since worked with several of Canada's top brokers, and has quickly gained a reputation as the "go-to" agent for many of Calgary's realtors. Chris attributes his ability to take complicated scenarios and turn them around in record time to the talented team he works with, and his relationships with over 40 different lenders. "If you have any questions on the current Calgary housing market, your ability to finance your next home, or just need a mortgage put together quickly at a great rate, give me a call!" Contact Chris:
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