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Calgary with its proximity to the Rocky Mountains and wide variety of amenities makes it an attractive retirement community.
Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta, Canada. Located only 80 kilometers from the Rocky Mountains, the opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors abound for hikers, and skiers.
Located in the Parkland Region of Alberta and the start of the foothills, it offers rolling plains and a lush river valley with the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Nose Hill Park in north Calgary is the largest urban natural habitat park. Fish Creek Park in south Calgary offers several man made lakes and many acres of natural habitat.
Calgary is the third largest civic municipality, by population, in Canada. As of the 2007 civic census, Calgary's population was 1,019,942. The metropolitan population (CMA) was 1,079,310 in 2006,[3] making Greater Calgary the fifth largest census metropolitan area in the country.
Calgary is the largest Canadian metropolitan area between Toronto and Vancouver.
Calgary is well-known as a destination for winter sports and ecotourism with a number of major mountain resorts near the city and metropolitan area. Whether visiting or living in Calgary is a bustling center of activity with choices to suit every personality.
The warm Chinook winds during the winter, come melting the snow and offering a brief reprieve from the prairie winter. The warm winds coming down over the Rocky Mountains can warm the temperature 20 or 30 degrees in a matter of a few hours. Hence, a common saying in Calgary is "If you don't like the weather wait a minute."
Calgary has been a city that has grown very rapidly now being double the population it was in the 1970's. This is obvious to visitors. The residential property in general appears newer and the city in general is visibly the product of modern urban planning. Older cities which have developed more slowly, such as Toronto and Vancouver, are a checker board of old and new homes and houses vary greatly in style and color. In Calgary the architecture from subdivision to subdivision is much more consistent within each subdivision.
The color themes of the subdivisions are almost a give away to the year the houses were constructed and the city sprawls with an obvious shift to newer homes with each five miles one drives out from city center in any given direction.
Visitors also find the street naming system in Calgary unique. Each subdivision is named and the streets in the subdivision bear part of the name of the subdivision. A number of years ago, when I lived in Calgary, I lived in Hidden Valley on a street named Hidden Ranch Hill. Surrounding streets included Hidden Ranch Crescent, Hidden Ranch Way, Hidden Ranch Close, Hidden Ranch Place and every other imaginable combination.
Calgary's economic activity is mostly centered on the petroleum industry; however, agriculture, tourism, and high-tech industries also contribute to the city's fast economic growth.
Calgary holds many major annual festivals which include the Calgary Stampede, the Folk Music Festival, the Lilac Festival, One Yellow Rabbit High Performance Rodeo — One World Festival (balFest),Calgary's International Festival of the Arts, Wordfest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival, and the second largest Caribbean festival in the country (Carifest).
In 1988, Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic
Winter Games. Today, the facilities developed for the Olympics
are enjoyed by Calgarians. It has one of the fastest long track
speed skating ice rinks in the world, located at the University of
Calgary.
Calgary had the most miles of off street bicycle paths of any Canadian City. Exploring the more than 635 km of pathways and 290km of on street bike pathways is a great way to stay fit.
Calgary was ranked the world's cleanest city by Mercer Quality of
Living in a survey published in 2007 by Forbes magazine[5]
