Calgary · Canada

Overview

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With the eastern face of the Rockies as its backdrop, the crisp concrete-and-steel skyline of Calgary, Alberta, seems to rise from the plains as if by sheer force of will. Indeed, all the elements in the great saga of the Canadian West -- Mounties, native people, railroads, cowboys, cattle, oil -- have converged to create a city with a modern face and a surprisingly traditional soul.

Calgary, believed to be derived from the Gaelic phrase meaning "bay farm," was founded in 1875 at the junction of the Bow and Elbow rivers as a North West Mounted Police post. The Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in 1883, and ranchers established major spreads on the plains surrounding the town. Incorporated as a city in 1894, Calgary grew quickly, and by 1911 its population had reached 43,000. More than 40 sandstone buildings constructed during that boom are still in use in the downtown core and the area was recognized as a National Historic District in 2002.

The next major growth came with the oil boom in the 1960s and 1970s, when most Canadian oil companies established their head offices in the city. Today, Calgary is a city of about 933,000 mostly easygoing and downright neighborly people. It's Canada's second-largest center for corporate head offices. Downtown keeps evolving, but Calgary's planners have made life in winter more pleasant by connecting most of the buildings with the Plus 15, a network of enclosed walkways 15 feet (sometimes more) above street level. Among the major cities on the prairies, Calgary usually has the most reasonable winter, thanks to the warm chinook winds that blow in from the nearby Rockies.

Calgary supports professional football and hockey teams,and in July the rodeo events of the Calgary Stampede attract visitors from around the world. Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, and the downhill slopes and miles of cross-country ski trails are at Kananaskis, less than 90 minutes west of town. The city is also the perfect starting point for one of the preeminent dinosaur-exploration sites in the world, a world-class dinosaur-exploration tour at Dinosaur Provincial Park near Brooks and the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller. The Glenbow Museum is one of the top museums in Canada, and the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts showcases theater and musical performances.