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i feel Calgary is Canada's version of Denver. Both are inland urban places with no major waterways through it but are beautiful and right next to the great outdoors/mountains that attract tourists (Banff/Rockies). Which one would you like better?
based on:
quality of life
economy
nightlife
scenery
daytime activities/events
shopping/entertainment venues
transportation
overall vibe
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Denver is a much bigger and more vibrant city with a better downtown. Calgary's skyline gives the appearance of a much larger city but its only about 1.4 million in its metro area where as Denver's is more than double that. Calgary is more scenic with the setting on the Bow River and its nearby mountains are stellar and more impressive than the mountains near Denver.
City wise I pick Denver, but I would pick the Canadian Rockies over the Southern Rockies for a vacation. For what it's worth Edmonton is an alright city with a pretty good vibe 3 hours north of Calgary.
Denver is a much bigger and more vibrant city with a better downtown. Calgary's skyline gives the appearance of a much larger city but its only about 1.4 million in its metro area where as Denver's is more than double that. Calgary is more scenic with the setting on the Bow River and its nearby mountains are stellar and more impressive than the mountains near Denver.
City wise I pick Denver, but I would pick the Canadian Rockies over the Southern Rockies for a vacation. For what it's worth Edmonton is an alright city with a pretty good vibe 3 hours north of Calgary.
Canadian metros in general tend to be smaller than the US< mainly because they don't sprawl out the same way US cities do. The populations of the metros are pretty much heavily centered in the urban areas. If using MSA population as a measure, Toronto is the equivalent to Houston/Miami, when in real life, it's more comparable to Chicago in scale, and Montreal is the equivalent to Minneapolis and Seattle, when it's more in line with Philly and DC.
Denver's downtown feels more vibrant, sure, but I place the blame on Calgary's Skywalk, which pretty much takes all pedestrians off of the roads.
Canadian metros in general tend to be smaller than the US< mainly because they don't sprawl out the same way US cities do. The populations of the metros are pretty much heavily centered in the urban areas. If using MSA population as a measure, Toronto is the equivalent to Houston/Miami, when in real life, it's more comparable to Chicago in scale, and Montreal is the equivalent to Minneapolis and Seattle, when it's more in line with Philly and DC.
Denver's downtown feels more vibrant, sure, but I place the blame on Calgary's Skywalk, which pretty much takes all pedestrians off of the roads.
I think the PP meant larger as in number of people there. I agree, it's Denver.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
10,754 posts, read 23,832,257 times
Reputation: 14671
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal352
Canadian metros in general tend to be smaller than the US< mainly because they don't sprawl out the same way US cities do. The populations of the metros are pretty much heavily centered in the urban areas. If using MSA population as a measure, Toronto is the equivalent to Houston/Miami, when in real life, it's more comparable to Chicago in scale, and Montreal is the equivalent to Minneapolis and Seattle, when it's more in line with Philly and DC.
Denver's downtown feels more vibrant, sure, but I place the blame on Calgary's Skywalk, which pretty much takes all pedestrians off of the roads.
Yes I've been to Montreal and Vancouver which do indeed have a larger urban fabric and less of a suburban footprint than comparably sized US metro areas. I was implying Denver is a much larger metro area because it actually is twice the size of Calgary's. For Calgary, though outside the downtown core it feels just as sprawly and suburban with plenty strip malls and freeways as any sunbelt city in the US, unlike Vancouver and Montreal. Calgary could compare well to Salt Lake City, both have fairly sterile downtowns but impressive transit systems for their relative size.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 03-26-2019 at 07:33 PM..
Yes I've been to Montreal and Vancouver which do indeed have a larger urban fabric and less of a suburban footprint than comparable sized US metro areas. I was implying Denver is a much larger metro area because it actually is twice the size of Calgary's. For Calgary, though outside the downtown core it feels just as sprawly and suburban with plenty strip malls and freeways as any sunbelt city in the US, unlike Vancouver and Montreal. Calgary could compare well to Salt Lake City, both have fairly sterile downtowns but impressive transit systems for their relative size.
Calgary is much closer to Denver than it is to SLC in terms of urbanity and vibrancy, skyline aside. I prefer Denver because I think it has more character and a much better vibe in my opinion, but you could reasonably make the case that Calgary is every bit as urban as Denver.
Calgary is the only city I've been to outside the US.
quality of life - Calgary
economy- Denver
nightlife- Denver
scenery- Calgary has a really beautiful river front. Denver's isn't quite as nice. But when it comes to mountains, Denver takes it because you can actually see the mountains from most points in the city. Even driving a few miles West out of Calgary you can't really see the mountains that well. Much further from the city than I realized.
daytime activities/events- Denver
shopping/entertainment venues- Denver
transportation- Calgary has the ridership numbers and a great system, but Denver has a more extensive system. Slight edge to Calgary for efficiency.
overall vibe- Denver for me. Calgary is so nice, but the skyline kinda tricks you. You can tell it's a much smaller city. I'd still consider living there if it weren't so cold.
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