Community Spotlight: Cranston

If you’re looking for a home in a Calgary community that offers a true outdoor lifestyle, look no further than Cranston.

Cranston was founded 17 years ago in the deep southeast corner of Calgary, built on the former homestead of the Cranston family.  The community boasts 400 acres of fantastic green space and outdoor amenities which promotes an active lifestyle among residents.

When the community was first launched in 2000, it was a front runner in the Calgary real estate scene.  It featured innovative urban design in which connecting people to each other and to nature was high on a list of priorities.  It was an example of how community needed to be redefined and how people within the context of community needed to engage with each other.

A large windmill greets residents and visitors alike at the entrance to the community, a testament to the pioneering families of a bygone era.

Cranston was developed by Brookfield Residential Communities and build-out of the neighbourhood continues today.   The boundaries of this large south east community with 21,000 residents are the Bow River to the east, Stoney Trail on the north and Seton Blvd to the South and west.  The neighbourhood is somewhat pie-shaped and takes full advantage of the escarpment along the river and the valley.  If you take a drive out to Cranston, you have to get out of the car and take a walk along the ridge.  No where else in this quadrant of the city will you have such a stunning view and sense of wonder about how beautiful Southern Alberta can be.  It’s so easy to picture yourself biking down into Fish Creek Park or to live in a part of the city where you feel like you’re away at the cabin for a weekend.

Riverstone at Cranston

The Riverstone area of Cranston is where new homes continue to be constructed along the ridge and into the valley below.  This 671-acre pocket of natural beauty along the Bow River is full of nature trails and native woodlands.   Riverstone will have 3,500 people living here when it’s completed.   There are seven parks in Riverstone and the community has been laid out in such a way that every home will be steps away from one of them.

Riverstone has a unique tranquility despite being minutes away from Stoney Trail, Calgary’s ring road.  It’s a peaceful area with single-family homes, townhomes and luxury adult-only semi-detached homes backing onto the green belt by the river.  A significant number of surveys have been conducted in this valley area to ensure that homes would not be affected by flooding.  There have not been any homes constructed in areas touched by the floods of 2013, high water that was considered a hundred-year event in Calgary. 

Community Amenities

One of the first clubhouses to be used by the community (Tuscany is another) and integrated into the overall design of the neighbourhood was in Cranston.  The developer called it Century Hall and is a central gathering spot for residents.  It’s a 22,000 square-foot building with activities both in and outside.  Programs like yoga, art, English for New Canadians, karate and more are held inside while outside there’s a basketball court, tennis court, a splash park and in the winter, skating rinks. Almost all Calgary communities have a community hall but they were never built by the developer of the community.  They’re constructed on City of Calgary land but the halls themselves are built and maintained at the expense of the community.  Older communities, such as Mayfair in the southwest, don’t have a community hall and land was never made available for one.  Cranston set the bar very high by having this huge facility built in the middle of the neighbourhood.

About the location

At one time, new communities in Calgary’s sprawling suburbs were lacking amenities such as shopping, schools and transits.  Smarter planning has seen some of these amenities being built simultaneously with the neighbourhood.  Cranston has schools and shopping in place, with excellent commercial space just next door in the community of Seton.  Soon, a new rec centre will be constructed and the Green Transit line will be in place, connecting Cranston to the rest of the city.

As build-out continues, Cranston is also an excellent place to discover re-sale homes that are beautifully landscaped and just as close to the river.  Definitely a community worth checking out.