High-rise living near Stephen Avenue, The Core & C-Train access in Calgary's business district [from $1,259–$2,250/mo].

Bordered by 14th Street to the west, 3rd Avenue to the south, Eau Claire to the north, and the Elbow River to the east, the Downtown Commercial Core is where Calgary's skyline is at its densest. The neighbourhood holds the second-largest concentration of head offices in Canada, and its housing stock reflects that daytime population: the community's roughly 8,000 residents live almost entirely in apartment towers, with very few single-family or low-rise options. Stephen Avenue's pedestrian mall runs through the heart of the district, lined with restaurants and cafes that fill at lunch on weekdays, while The Core shopping complex — anchoring Stephen Avenue Place, the Scotia Centre, and the former Eaton Centre space — spans three city blocks with roughly 160 retailers under one roof. Renters here are within walking distance of the Glenbow Museum, Olympic Plaza, and the Central Library to the east, and multiple C-Train stations along the 7th Avenue transit corridor put both the Red and Blue lines within a few minutes' walk of nearly any address in the district. For anyone who wants to walk to work and skip the commute entirely, few Calgary neighbourhoods offer a shorter one.