A quiet and peaceful community nestled into the bend of the rushing Bow River, Deer Run in southeast Calgary offers something for everyone. The community cradles Fish Creek Provincial Park, with many of its homes backing onto verdant, tree-lined park spaces.

"We absolutely love it here," said longtime resident Brenna Rutt.

She and her husband built a bi-level home in the area in 1987, at a time when the community would have been labelled "new" and was in its final stages of development.

It's early afternoon on a chilly Saturday in January, and in Calgary's southeast community of Sundance, groups of teenagers gather to play a friendly game of shinny on the frozen, manmade lake that serves as a hub for the community. There is camaraderie here – an old-fashioned feeling of belonging. A fire pit takes centre stage at the upper skating rink, and an oversized sculpture of Santa Claus and his sleigh – remnants from holiday festivities – graces the promenade level of the park.

WestCreek Developments continues to make its mark on Calgary's suburban skyline with two new communities – Cornerbrook in the northeast and Wolf Willow in the southeast.

At the opening of training camp in June 2012, even though he was already five years into his tenure with the Calgary Stampeders, Rob Cote felt anything but secure.

"So, a very stressful time to be doing anything else but concentrating on football,'' said the Cochrane-born fullback. "Especially to be making a huge financial decision like buying a house.

Ask anyone who lives across a broad swath of south Calgary for their favourite spot to go for a walk, jog or leisurely bike ride, and the No. 1 answer is bound to be Fish Creek Park.

It's widely known that lakes in and around Calgary provide both recreational opportunities and some highly desirable residential and vacation real estate.

However, here are five things you might not know about Calgary-and-area lakes:

Fish Creek Provincial Park is one of the largest urban parks in North America, with everything from vast natural areas to a popular, manmade swimming lake.

But the 1,348-hectare park almost never happened, and once faced the unfortunate possibility of being loved to death by the expanding population of Calgary.

Its saviours were a dashing politician who came to power in the early 1970s, and later, diligent work by provincial park staff to find a balance between human use and wild spaces.

Green spaces in Calgary a hop, skip and a jump from all residential communities

With an average of 2,396 hours of sun each year, Calgary holds the title of Canada's sunniest city. Not surprisingly, residents, in turn, tend to take full advantage, especially when it comes to the city's parks and greenspaces.

Calgary boasts almost 8,000 hectares of parkland – as well as Fish Creek Provincial Park and nearby Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. Connecting the city and its greenspaces are nearly 800 kilometres of pathways.