If you were to look at Calgary 30 years ago it would certainly look very different from Calgary as we know it today. That’s when this week’s guest on Your Neck of the Woods Shane Wenzel became involved with the company named after him by his father and began helping build our communities. Jason, Shane, and I chat about his early years at Shane Homes moving from drawing and comic books to working on job sites always with a strong work ethic instilled by his parents. Back then building lots for homes could be 40 feet wide or more.

Such is obviously not the case these days, so much of our conversation centres around what city building looks like now as opposed to what they looked like in the past. A common thread then and is bureaucratic and ideological stubbornness from city planners, of course, this bumps into the pressures of a housing market that demands both customizability and affordability. An excellent example of this was the debate around the Guidebook For Great Communities (now the Guide for Local Area Planning). We discuss the importance of complete, connected communities balanced with clear communication and what the market is telling you.

Contrary to the narratives we sometimes hear our guest says that we’re not seeing a move away from single-family homes but rather they’re becoming more popular. This is both a result of increased diversity popularizing multi-generational homes and the widespread adoption of work from home thanks to the pandemic. Speaking of the pandemic, once again it shapes our conversation as we talk about the changing face of cities if we continue to work from home and no longer need to be as close to the office and can be in a more comfortable space but also the rise of digital media and what we’re currently binging.

If the face of our city is fundamentally changing it’ll also mean downtown will need to be more of an entertainment hub so once again we agree that it’s time to put ideology aside and work collaboratively, time will tell if this is what we get. This was a refreshing, honest look into where our city is, where it’s going, and how your neck of the woods gets built along with one of the people whose hard work and dedication make it happen!

Follow Shane on social media @ShaneWenzel and follow Shane Homes @ShaneHomes

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