Couple heeds call of Cochrane
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After a year of living and working in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, former Calgarians Rachel Huber and Danica Fuller could feel the gentle, incessant tug of Alberta calling them home.
They enjoyed the West Coast and both had great jobs, but the next step in their four-year relationship was to buy a house — an affordable house.
“That was impossible in B.C., so we decided to move back,” says Fuller.
During a visit to Calgary in March, the couple took a day to just “look.” By day’s end they were the proud owners of a duplex by Jayman Built in Sunset Ridge, a Melcor community in Cochrane.
“Actually, Cochrane was number one on our list because it’s a small town and we wanted that. To be close to your neighbours,” says Huber.
The couple describes the neighbourhood of Sunset Ridge, a hilltop community north of Highway 1A, as friendly and inviting.
“We’re looking forward to the future dog park and there’s a future school site for our future kids. There’s a yoga pad, outdoor workout stations and a beautiful pond with trails running through the community. We’re excited to be a part of it,” says Huber.
They purchased Jayman’s Aurora two-storey duplex, a 1,345-square-foot, three-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home with a single-car front-drive garage. With sales of attached homes wrapping up in the current phase of Sunset Ridge, Fuller and Huber were able to purchase the show home and all the upgrades that came with it, such as a finished basement with a fourth bedroom.
Jayman area sales manager Lorraine Hamilton says there are six duplex homes left in Stage 2 of Sunset Ridge with three pairs on walkout lots. Prices start in the $340,000s. Jayman is also building front-drive homes in Sunset Ridge along with Douglas Homes, Excel Homes and Homes by Avi. Douglas and Homes by Avi are building laned homes.
The next stage of Sunset Ridge is few years out, but there are big plans for this area of town. In 2019, Cochrane annexed land from Rockyview County, adding a quarter section to the north to accommodate recreation infrastructure and a second access into Sunset Ridge.
Mayor Jeff Genung, who grew up in Cochrane, says he and town councillors are working on a vision document to map out possible outdoor amenities there. In addition to a 12-hectare site for a high school, there could be a quad ball diamond, rugby fields, a track for BMX and outdoor cycling with a clubhouse in the middle and possible restaurant or commercial services.
Between this annexation and developable space around Cochrane’s town centre, Genung says there’s land supply for the next 30 years.
“Depending on growth rates and the market, we could accommodate up to 50,000 to 65,000 people,” he says. The current population is 30,000.
Cochrane has been one of the fastest growing communities in Canada for the past 10 to 15 years, which has created infrastructure and transportation challenges.
The town recently upgraded and added amenities to the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre, which was a tidy $50 million project, says Genung. Water reservoirs are currently being upgraded and the pipeline that delivers wastewater to Calgary for treatment is being twinned, a seven-phase project that will roll out over several years to lessen the immediate financial impact.
The priority for Cochrane right now is managing traffic.
“We are working with Alberta Transportation to upgrade the intersection at the base of the hill when you enter Cochrane from the east and there’s budget to upgrade that major intersection at 1A and 22. We’re waiting for them to finalize the design and there’s hopes of that being in place for next year,” he says.
Genung was a councillor from 2001 to 2007 then returned as mayor in 2017 so that he might have more input on the direction Cochrane was going.
“Not to stop growth, but to manage it in a way that continues to make Cochrane a sustainable, likeable and desirable community in the future,” he says.
Preserving Cochrane’s historic downtown is something he believes has been done well. The new communities on the outskirts are unique in their own right, but each has a tie back to that historic area.
“We still have the small-town feel. We’ve done a good job of growing and maintaining at the same time.”
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