Parade of Homes

Paul Gray didn't want to wait until he became a father to move into a family-friendly neighbourhood, so he took a pre-emptive plunge. The project manager and his fiancée, Lisette, recently bought a new bungalow in Oak Bluff West, setting up in an ideal location to start raising a family one day. "A lot of the community is made up of young families, which is attractive to us. There's a family with young kids on one side of us and newlyweds on the other. It's the same situation across the street," he said. Having lived for 20 years in St. James and the last six in Bridgwater, Gray knows that space is at a premium within the confines of the Perimeter Highway so the wider lots in a country-like setting caught his attention. "We moved for more space, lower taxes and a brand-new home," he said. "Plus the prairie skies, prairie sunsets, man-made lakes and walking trails. We're in a country setting very close to the city and the amenities of south and west Winnipeg." Their bungalow is typical for the neighbourhood — more than 1,800 square feet, a 78-foot lot and a three-car attached garage — a blueprint that simply doesn't exist in Winnipeg anymore. Looking down the road a few years, Gray said his new address is ideal because there's a Kindergarten to Grade 8 school just a few blocks away and while the nearest grocery store is at the corner of Kenaston and McGillivray boulevards, he's confident that won't be the case for long. "Increased residential development will help spark commercial development in the area," he said. Indeed, De Luca's Specialty Foods recently opened a new location just off McGillivray as you enter Oak Bluff. Qualico Communities, the developer of Oak Bluff West, sold its first lot in 2011. There are about 300 houses to date in the neighbourhood but Courtney Sims, marketing manager at Sterling Homes, said there will be about 900 when it's completed. In fact, the number of homes in Oak Bluff West surpassed that of the original Oak Bluff in 2016. The new homes are primarily bungalows with lot sizes that are typically double the size of new lots found in Winnipeg. But a lack of two-storey properties doesn't mean Qualico Communities is targeting retirees who don't like to climb stairs. "There's been a shift in the demographic. We have a lot of younger people moving in so it's more of a mix," explains Sims. As an added bonus, being outside the Perimeter Highway means new homes aren't subject to the recent impact fee implemented by the City of Winnipeg. That works out to a savings of about $10,000 per property. "You can use that money for your actual home," she said. Having a triple-car garage doesn't mean you need to own a trio of vehicles — you can, of course — but it does provide extra space that can be used for additional storage or a workshop. And the extra-large lots not only allow for greater flexibility when it comes to designing a custom home, they enable homeowners to extend their living space to the outdoors, with spacious backyard decks and patios. Open country spaces close to nature and the city. As Gray points out, Oak Bluff West offers the best of both worlds. QUALICO COMMUNITIES — OAK BLUFF WEST ' OAK BLUFF WEST Room to grow in Oak Bluff West ' 20 Parade of Homes fall 2019

• Cover