To peer outside a huge picture window onto a forest of lush green trees and hear the quiet constant rush of the Bow River; to step outside and onto the city’s intricate pathway system and take a leisurely jog along the park, smelling the scents of spring. These are a dream of many, and a dream that’s becoming less available as the city grows and has developed along nearly all the developable river ways.

But to many Douglasdale and DouglasGlen residents, that dream is a reality.

Douglasdale and DouglasGlen were established in 1986, and are situated south of 114 Ave., 106 Ave., and 24 Street SE, east of the Bow River, west of Deerfoot Trail SE and north of 130 Ave., the community is situated along the river escarpment and next to Fish Creek Park, Calgary’s largest provincial park within city boundaries.

The communities were designed to make use of many of the area’s natural topographical features including the magnificent Bow River.

There are green spaces situated between many of the rows of homes, allowing for most houses in the area to back onto green space instead of alleyways.

And the large park bordering the community means there’s nothing obstructing the views of the Rocky Mountains on the western horizon.

Home to approximately 12,000 residents and 4,000 homes, many residents are able to live, work and play in the community, as there’s also the DouglasGlen business park, which is comprised of over 150 businesses from offices to retail and restaurants.

But many residents commute to work and although the community is in the southeast quadrant, they have easy access to the city’s main freeway, Deerfoot Trail, which allows for fast travel to and from the downtown and north end of the city.

Although the community of Douglasdale is fairly new compared to many, the name has roots in Scotland planted in the late 12th Century.

Douglasdale is the valley in which Douglas Castle, South Lanarkshire, is located.

The Douglas family, descendants of William de Duglas, was one of the most powerful in Scotland at the time.

According to douglasweb.net, de Duglas was the first known owner of Douglasdale in Scotland, holding the land between 1174 and 1213. It is believed that his father was Theobald the Fleming.

William de Duglas was the first Douglas for which we have written records, and one of his descendants, John Douglas, immigrated to Charles County, Maryland, U.S.A. in 1654 and became a wealthy planter.

While Calgary’s Douglasdale doesn’t possess the 12th Century castles that the Scottish Douglasdale does, the community really has everything the modern family would need.

—Angela Anderson is the Calgary Real Estate News resident reporter.