While downtown Calgary struggles with an office vacancy rate nearing 30 per cent, a unique "campus" development in the heart of the Beltline is seeing success.

It has been quite a ride for some of those affected by the construction of the Southwest Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), so the project's impending completion comes as good news for more than just riders.

Lined with charming, independent businesses and loads of historic treasures, small towns are trying to revitalize their main streets

Kelly Warrack describes the movement of businesses out of Strathmore's downtown core to the edge of town as "a fairly typical story for towns like us."

Warrack, who grew up on a farm near Strathmore, says Strathmore's Second Avenue (Main Street) was always the focal point of the town in decades past. "Main Street was the place to go," recalled Warrack, citing the presence of the feed mill, banks, the hardware store, the local Co-op and the King Edward Hotel as among the street's popular destinations. In recent times, however, Warrack says businesses have moved from downtown and have opened along the highway.

Calgary's satellites rank as best places to do business

For the fourth consecutive year, Calgary's satellite communities have been ranked as the top places to do business in Canada.

In its eighth annual Canada's Entrepreneurial Cities report, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) ranked areas around the grouping of municipalities that surround Calgary – including Airdrie, Chestermere and Cochrane – as the best at fostering "entrepreneurial spirit."

Calgary periphery scored 73 out of a possible 100 in the major cities category (population over 150,000), followed by Kelowna (71.4), Edmonton periphery (69.5), Saskatoon (67.7) and Toronto periphery (67.3).

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi made his annual address at the Calgary Chamber's The State of Business in Calgary event today.

Here's some of what the mayor had to say:

On the drop in oil prices

"Yes, we're a little bit nervous about what's going forward, about what will happen but I'll remind all of you, we were also nervous at the end of 2008 and this city and this region, although we certainly had some pain, got through that better than just about everybody else in the world. And I think that that has a lot to do with the confidence and optimism of the people that live here."

Today Calgary Economic Development and Calgary Chamber held a Business Recovery Task Force Commemoration sharing stories from local businesses impacted by 2013 flooding.

Also released at the event was an Emergency Business Contact Database to help facilitate communication and collaboration between the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) and the business community during emergencies such as natural disasters.