For Sue and Jason Bissonnette, East Village condo investment was too good to pass up

Forty-somethings Sue and Jason Bissonnette love to travel and experience new things. They own vacation properties around the world, including a three-season recreation trailer at B.C.'s Moyie Lake and two timeshare properties in the Caribbean. When they're not travelling, they spend most of their time hanging out in Airdrie, where they own a two-storey, 2,000-square-foot home that they share with their two kids – a 19-year-old daughter and a 22-year-old son. Always on the lookout for new investment opportunities, the couple couldn't resist exploring the options when they were introduced to Knightsbridge Homes' N3 condominium project. They were attracted to its East Village location – steps away from the downtown core and the LRT – and the car-free lifestyle. A Car2Go membership, furniture package from Ikea and a Biria urban bicycle sweetened the deal. In the end, the Bissonnettes purchased a 498-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bathroom condo on the 14th floor.

The car-less lifestyle is trending, but Calgary's housing market still driven by the automobile, say experts

Cars aren't going anywhere soon, and neither is Calgary homebuyers' desire for neighbourhoods – or condominiums for that matter – that support their automobile-driven lifestyles, say housing experts.

While much is being made about efforts to create a more pedestrian-friendly city that focuses on "vertical growth," Calgarians still very much enjoy the freedom that comes with driving an automobile. And they
want their residence — whether it's a condo, townhome or single-detached house — to support their yen for putting the pedal to the metal, said Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) regional economist Lai Sing Louie.

"Most people still want parking," he said. "They want the freedom to come and go with a car at their disposal, and they're willing to pay a lot of money to afford that."

Alternative forms of transportation dominates headlines in 2015

Joe Starkman was contemplating buying a car for his daughter while she attended university in Halifax. To his surprise, she wasn't interested.

"That twigged us," said Starkman, president of Knightsbridge Homes, the builder behind N3 in East Village, Calgary's first carless condo. "We started to do some research, and our research showed there's a market in that Generation Y demographic for which car ownership is not a priority.

"We're not trying to change the world, we're just responding to a world that's changing."

In a city renowned for its freeways and sprawling suburbs, more residents are choosing to live closer to its centre — and even forgoing hopping behind the wheel altogether

Who needs to own a car? Not Jennifer Lee.

The 21-year-old moved to Calgary two years ago to study and work in the city's burgeoning IT sector. And like a growing number of millennials, she doesn't own a car and has no plans to own one soon.

While that may not sound altogether revolutionary, Lee represents a wave of change in a city renowned for its multi-lane freeways, suburban sprawl and increasingly congested roadways.

Calgary city council votes unanimously for East Village development

In a rare move, all 13 members of Calgary's city council agreed to approve a once-controversial "carless" condo development in the East Village.

Located directly east of the old St. Louis Hotel, N3 is set to include 167 units that developer Knightsbridge Homes says are priced $70,000 less than comparable developments because of the lack of a parkade.

N3 buyers will get a furnished unit, as well as a free bicycle and $500 Car2Go credit.

"Everybody thought we were nuts," Knightsbridge president Joe Starkman said about the carless development. "There is a market out there for young people; the car just isn't a priority."