Really, it's OK to like Calgary

[Caesar555]

Both very good articles. New to Calgary, I am impressed by Prince's Island and Stephen Avenue. Great places to hang out and get away from the bustle of downtown Calgary. I do miss the river valley in Edmonton, the green, and the festivals though.
Both cities have a lot to offer. The same in many ways, but still different...

[IntotheWest]

^I don't agree necessarily with the "green" and tree comments though...not saying Edmonton isn't quite green - it is. But, Calgary is too - you just need to know where to look. Where Edmonton's River Valley is front and center, as a tourist (or new to the city) you'd have to go out of your way for a trip down some of the older streets - or Elbow Dr even - to see how plentiful trees can be in Calgary.

As well, though the bald Nose Hill sticks out like a sore thumb, there are relatively thick forests rolling through Fish Creek Prov Park - which cuts through the southern portion of the city...

And of course, Prince's Island to the Zoo is quite "green" as well.

River Cafe is still one of my favourite restaurants, period (if not my favourite). The setting just makes it that much better.

[bendecido]

Originally Posted by IntotheWest

^I don't agree necessarily with the "green" and tree comments though...not saying Edmonton isn't quite green - it is. But, Calgary is too - you just need to know where to look. Where Edmonton's River Valley is front and center, as a tourist (or new to the city) you'd have to go out of your way for a trip down some of the older streets - or Elbow Dr even - to see how plentiful trees can be in Calgary.

As well, though the bald Nose Hill sticks out like a sore thumb, there are relatively thick forests rolling through Fish Creek Prov Park - which cuts through the southern portion of the city...

And of course, Prince's Island to the Zoo is quite "green" as well.

Got to disagree with you on this one. After a million and one visits up to Edmonton, it dawned on me one day driving around just how many trees they had. The difference between Edmonton and Calgary is that many of Edmonton's roadways cut through actual forest, whereas all of Calgary's roadways have trees planted along them. To me there's no comparison.

[IntotheWest]

^Read my post again. Get off the roads and into something like Fish Creek - which spans across the entire width of the city in the south - is all natural.

I'm not trying to take away from Edm's stunning valley, or based on "tree count" who has more...my comment is Calgary's trees you have to look off the beaten-track for - not Deerfoot Tr.

[chuber]

When my Grandfather was alive, he used to tell us how when then came from Germany in the 60's they looked at Calgary but he said he hated all the 'elephant asses' in Calgary (bare brown hills) but loved all the forests around Edmonton and the river valley. Reminded him more of Germany which is why then ended up in Edmonton.

[Stephen Ave]

^It always amazes me when I see older pictures of Calgary. I haven't been here that long, but to me it's quite a green city. In fact Calgary seems to be much greener today than it was in 1998 when I moved here.

[Stephen Ave]

Originally Posted by bendecido

Got to disagree with you on this one. After a million and one visits up to Edmonton, it dawned on me one day driving around just how many trees they had. The difference between Edmonton and Calgary is that many of Edmonton's roadways cut through actual forest, whereas all of Calgary's roadways have trees planted along them. To me there's no comparison.

In established city areas the greenery isn't that much different between the two cities, and that's usually the case with all cities. In outer areas of the cities, Edmonton has more trees, but it also depends on where you are. If you're around some outer areas south and northwest it isn't much different. The river Valley is the areas that has the 'forests'.

To me Ottawa is greener than either city, when I first moved here I actually didn't notice any difference in greenery between Calgary and Edmonton until I took a closer look.

[Jay in Cowtown]

Trees?!? They'd just get in the way of our glorious view of the mountains , or our spectacular view of the soon to be 20 towers over 150 meters downtown. lol!

sorry Chuck, I still wouldn't mind your Stadium & Mall though!!!

[bendecido]

I'll take their stadium too, but you can have their tired old mall.
Back to trees... I agree with what you are saying Stephen Ave, but my only point was that there seems to be more density of forest (and roads going through them) in Ed. than Calgary. I'm Calgarian, so I'm not trying to be an Edmonton booster. I know we have Fish Creek and even south Glenmore park but overall, within the core of Edmonton, there are more trees. Seeing a lot of the Calgary threads I'm also amazed at how mature Calgary's trees have gotten and how green the city is looking. I miss Alberta in general.

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by bendecido

I'll take their stadium too, but you can have their tired old mall.
Back to trees... I agree with what you are saying Stephen Ave, but my only point was that there seems to be more density of forest (and roads going through them) in Ed. than Calgary. I'm Calgarian, so I'm not trying to be an Edmonton booster. I know we have Fish Creek and even south Glenmore park but overall, within the core of Edmonton, there are more trees. Seeing a lot of the Calgary threads I'm also amazed at how mature Calgary's trees have gotten and how green the city is looking. I miss Alberta in general.

In general there are more trees in Edmonton, but in the cores of each city I don't actually see a big difference. With the exception of the river valley they aren't that different. Where you see less trees in Calgary is in the newer outlying areas, and the area where Calgary suffers the most from lack of trees is in the north central area where the Deerfoot comes into Calgary.

you would have seen a huge diffence between Calgary and Edmonton 50 years ago, when Calgary had almost no trees at all. Thankfully, the city has been getting greener over the last couple of decades.