Date: 12/5/2004 8:11:18 PM Author: robpark Hahaha, yeah dude, I couldn't resist stirring the pot! First of all, I wouldn't say our past is ugly, let's just say....colourful. Now, lets get into some facts. Firstly, let's deal with population: According to Statistics Canada in 2001: City of Calgary-878,866, % Growth 14.4% City of Edmonton-666,104, % Growth 8.1% quote> Your Stats are almost 4 years old first off. Secondly, you are only looking at Edmonton proper, and not the surrounding area. Go look for some more stats. Date: 12/5/2004 8:11:18 PM Author: robpark Which leads me to my second point, which questions how Edmonton will exceed the population of Calgary by 2010, if in 2001 you guys were already 200,000+ behind AND had just over half the growth rate of Calgary. You can't be smaller, and growing slower and EXCEED an already larger and faster growing city...It is mathematically impossible. quote> see my above comments Date: 12/5/2004 8:11:18 PM Author: robpark Then one brings up the Stanley Cup issue...and yes, Edmonton has had more. And honestly, the Edmonton Oilers have had better management and a better team when they weren't winning the cup. That said, I feel sorry for ANY municipality that has only hockey to promote itself. And yes, after the Calgary Flames made their run to the cup LAST year, this city went nuts over hockey.... BUt it isn't all we can see...in fact it is so inconsequential to the city in general, that I don't understand why it is such a big deal. Same goes for the CFL. quote> fine Date: 12/5/2004 8:11:18 PM Author: robpark I feel the need to point out that Commonwealth Stadium, although bigger, also cost more to build and has never paid itself off, nor does it fill with fans for Eskimos games, so the fact that it is large merely points to a city that spent far too much money on a stadium that rarely gets filled. quote> You obviously dont know that the pride of the CFL lives here. We fill our stands more then any city in Canada for CFL football. We have also made the CFL playoffs for the last 26 years. Date: 12/5/2004 8:11:18 PM Author: robpark I don't know where you get your numbers from in regards to the arenas, I can only assume you are correct. Neither arena is particulrily nice, although the Saddledome features nifty flamethrowers that make giant fireballs when the Flames score. Although the Saddledome is architecturally bizarre, it is MUCH nicer to look at than Rexall PLace. Congratulations, that concrete swath of destruction that is West Edmonton Mall is your city's greatest claim to fame...That's like telling people to go to Edmonton to see the world's largest Walmart, or perhaps the world's ugliest fat person. Sorry, the world's ugliest money-losing fat person. The only reason that Calgary's and Edmonton's river valleys are undeveloped is not because people needed a park to play in; the simple fact is the developers and 'the City' are too lazy to try and develop the more difficult geography. I can without reservation say, however, that Edmonton's river valley is MUCH nicer. Heritage Park is Calgary's answer to 'Fort Edmonton' and is 'Canada's Largest living Historical Village.' Want to know more, go to www.heritagepark.ca I have never been to Fort Edmonton, so I cannot criticize, but I do know for a fact that Heritage Park is a lot of fun and has a lot to offer, like a working steam train (actually, several) and a working Paddle Steamer boat (which sadly, is fuelled by diesel). Calgary too has a Science Centre, Art galleries and museums, and a cultural district to waste your time in. I really don't care about the University rating system. The fact is the U of A does not offer any Urban or Architectural programs, so it is completely useless to me. Each university has its strengths, it is just unfortunate that MacLean's, for some reason, classifies U of C as a primarily medical school, when in fact more people go through engineering, law and other faculties. One thing is for certain, you want a cushy job in the oil sector, you had better go to U of C! I could give you the FULL history of how Edmonton became the capital of Alberta, but needless to say it involved LIBERAL politics and unfair voting boundaries, giving Edmonton 7 or 8 Reps and Calgary only 1. Let's just say we got our revenge when the Alberta Government placed the government administrative body for the oil industry in Calgary in 1938. Basically, when oil was struck in Leduc, just south of Edmonton, all of the money and the white collar jobs went to Calgary, a trend that continues today. Indeed Calgary has COP (Canada Olympic Park), the Zoo and a newer downtown (because we have been growing faster then Edmonton)... We have a more COMPREHENSIVE LRT system, but I would not say it is better. The decision to leave the LRT surface level through downtown will inevitably lead to complications later...... Calgary was the proud host of the 1988 Winter Olympics, the most successful and profitable games ever held. The surplus now fund countless amateur sports programs and Calgary is the training mecca for olympic athletes in Canada. Calgary has all of the premier horse showjumping events, the Calgary Stampede (for some reason missing from your previous list, and MUCH bigger and famous than Edmonton's Klondike days), the World Police and Fire Games, staging ground for the G8, countless Petroleum expos and more millionaires per capita than ANY city in Canada. Calgary also features the most Company HQs outside of Toronto and has received international recoginition in countless publications (USA Today[a full feature article all about how awesome Calgary really is], The Boyd Report [best place in Canada to do business], The Economist [more business stuff] and so on.....). Yes indeed we are the financial and oil capital of the province. The population is MUCH higher than Edmonton, and much wealthier. Calgary has been, for the last decade, the fastest growing city in Canada and continues to play host to the highest educated work force in Canada (58% have a university degree or better). To TJD, I would love a link to where you obtained the skyscraper info from. I would find it very informative for a paper I am writing.... Put on your gloves boys, because if I know anything about the rivalry between Calgary and Edmonton...this is just beginning... Take Care! quote> If you love Calgary so much, why dont you start your very own CJ on how much you love your city, Instead of trying to turn this into some sort of rivalary. TJD has done alot of work over a long period of time. There are much better places where you can thrash Edmonton, I think both cities are great. Alberta is wonderful. Have you considered trying to make your own version of Calgary? Maybe next year, you can win a trixie.
