Active, connected lifestyle promoted in Edmonton’s new communities

Accessibility, affordability, and amenities – not necessarily in that order – are what new home buyers are looking for in a place to settle down. But a sense of connectivity is just as important.

Communities with a sense of connection to nature, a connection between neighbours, a connection to the world around it – those are as important in choosing the neighbourhood to buy a home in.

Developers have taken pains to knit this kind of relationship between homebuyers and the communities they design and bringing in more and better amenities is one way of connecting life to the community lifestyle.

In this issue, we tour some of Edmonton and area’s new amenity-centric communities and see how connectivity influences lifestyles.

Southfork in Leduc

Small town living never looked so grand! Southfork in Leduc offers the solitude and serenity of the prairies with the lifestyle and amenities that today’s modern world demands. And right now, it is growing – offering even more opportunities for homebuyers to live in this small-town haven with a grand design.

Southfork by Jayman Living offers plenty of room to breathe, space to stretch and a glorious place to unwind. It is a neighbourhood designed to create stories with family and friends.

Southfork reflects a clean, bold, and decidedly modern interpretation of four tried and true traditional home styles. A high-contrast colour palette adds an element that’s nothing short of striking.

Connecting neighbours is important to its design and McKinley Park at the heart of the community brings residents together. With winding paths, two large BBQ pits, picnic tables and an abundance of green space it is there for the family to enjoy.

There are also three playgrounds, one area includes a BBQ area and a water feature. Children can enjoy a vast amount of playground equipment including swings, slides, monkey bars and even a climbing wall.

Walking trails and pathways surrounding the 12+ acre pond area. Beautifully landscaped, with a bridge over the natural vegetation and foliage. Watch the two water fountains while sitting on the benches at the lookout points.
There are more than 4 kilometres of pathways to walk, run, cycle or blade along throughout the community connecting you to community amenities.

Father Leduc Catholic School is a new Kindergarten to Grade 8 school located in the community of Southfork and is currently serving nearly 500 students. Located on Sheppard Boulevard, students in the community can take advantage of Southfork’s pathway system and walk or ride bikes to school.

Jayman BUILT offers townhomes, laned, front-drive, and estate homes in Southfork. While Homes by Avi has laned and front-drive homes. New front attached garage and laned showhomes are opening May 13th for both Jayman BUILT and Homes by Avi. The Townhome showhomes opened this past winter.

But no matter which home type you build, living in Southfork is its own reward. The setting may seem to remind some of the Little House on the Prairie series, although the homes are certainly anything but little, but the life that can be found here can be just as quaint and fulfilling.

For more information, visit jayman.com or southforkleduc.com

The Hills at Charlesworth

Cantiro endeavours to create environments where amazing lives can happen, and nowhere is this sentiment made clearer than in their southeast community of The Hills at Charlesworth.

One of Edmonton’s most awarded communities, The Hills at Charlesworth shines again as it won Best Community at the 2023 Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) Edmonton Region Awards of Excellence in Housing.

It’s the second straight year that The Hills at Charlesworth won this notable award. The community has also received international acclaim after recently winning the prestigious Royal Town Planning Institute’s International Award for Planning Excellence for its Sustainability Plaza.

The Sustainability Plaza not only brings to life The Hills at Charlesworth’s vision for a low-impact development based on sustainable building principles, but more importantly, provides a safe environment where residents can connect. Children can play at the solar powered playground while parents sit back sheltered from the elements in the repurposed sea can containers with solar and wind powered Wi-Fi.

Natural areas abound in the community with plenty of walking trails for residents to explore. “While The Hills is a leading community in environmental development,” Young says, “it also features year-round outdoor activities, with a 9-hole championship disc golf course, skating ribbon, and toboggan hill.” Adding to the outdoor amenities, are three retail commercial centres, providing residents utmost convenience in shopping, dining and other essential services, like childcare.

At the heart of the community, Élan’s central Parc Réunis offers incredible, imaginative wood-built playgrounds designed to offer physical challenge and beneficial play. Park benches and picnic tables empower people to linger and enjoy being out in the community under the shade of the pergolas. Sports courts and outdoor exercise equipment give adults more to do while kids run around and play. And on hotter summer days, venture over to Four Seasons Park and take in an afternoon at the splash park.

Élan checks all the boxes that these buyers are looking for with stylishly affordable homes from its founding builders that include Crystal Creek Homes, Homes by Avi, and Morrison Homes. Available are semi-detached (duplex), laned, and front-drive garage homes.

“Élan’s streets will be filled with a vibrant, diverse, and dynamic array of homes,” says Jen McDonald, Dream Marketing Manager – Alberta. “Styles stay true to Beaumont’s unique prairie-meets-French-Canadian spin and include Prairie, Farmhouse, Craftsman, French Country, and novel Quaint Quebecois architectures.”

Homes vary in width and detailing along a single street to help avoid a cookie-cutter look - allowing simple, timeless styles to breath and more complex architectures to truly shine. But, as in all other Dream communities, the cohesive vision for Élan is about connections.

Find out more at myelan.ca.