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What does this mean for Calgary? Maybe nothing. Calgary’s booming economy in recent years meant the demand for housing kept pretty much all real estate hopping. The recent economic slowdown may be changing that equation. Calgary’s penchant for single-family homes may never go away — the vast majority of Calgarians continue to choose to live in quiet suburbs — but in future years, demand for big 50-year-old suburban houses may not be guaranteed.

“In some cases, (replenishing the suburbs) may be possible, but in the U.S. now that is less likely because the growth is in minorities and young people,” Kinglsey said. “The demographic who want to live in the suburbs is no longer very big.”

The solution to that, Kinglsey said, is to rethink how suburbs evolve. Rather than forcing redevelopment on unwilling communities, he says civic leaders should engage community members in wider discussions about the future of their neighbourhood, with a focus on maintaining property values.

“Rather than coming in first and saying ‘We want to end (sprawl),’ they said ‘In this environment of change, let’s explore the concept of mixed use and high-density to see if it’s viable in market terms,’ ” he said.

Much of this discussion is speculative, of course, and the passions that flare up during development conflicts go much deeper than the pejorative label of NIMBY (not in my backyard) that often gets tossed around.

But it is something to think about as the city continues to evolve, especially for those living in the doughnut.

What do you think? Should we start paying more attention to the way those “doughnut” communities are evolving? If you live in those communities, is there something you would like to see to help keep the neighbourhoods vital? Should the city just keep its hands off?

Drop me a line on Twitter at Twitter.com/TomBabin or by e-mail at tbabin@calgaryherald.com, and we’ll keep this conversation going.