Calgary is Canada's oil capital - home to the head offices of nearly every major petroleum company in the country, its skyline built on energy money, its economy tied to commodity prices that swing wildly. When oil is high, Calgary booms; when oil crashes, tower office space empties and restaurants close. The volatility is accepted as the cost of the business; the wealth that flows during good times makes the downturns bearable. Once a year, Calgary pretends to be something else entirely: the Calgary Stampede transforms corporate Calgary into cowboy Calgary, with white hats, rodeo competition, and free pancake breakfasts. The corporate types dress in denim; the tourism machine cranks; and for ten days, oil country plays cowboy.
Calgary's oil industry began in 1914 with the Turner Valley discovery south of the city, but the modern industry dates to the Leduc discovery of 1947 and the development of the oil sands in northern Alberta. The companies that extract, refine, transport, and finance petroleum are overwhelmingly headquartered in Calgary - the towers downtown house their corporate offices, the economy depends on their activity. The boom-bust cycle is pronounced: the 2014 oil price collapse emptied office towers and pushed unemployment above 10%. The dependence is acknowledged and unavoidable; diversification is discussed and rarely accomplished.
The Calgary Stampede - 'The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth' - runs for ten days each July, combining rodeo competition, agricultural exhibitions, concerts, midway rides, and an excuse for corporate Calgary to dress like cowboys. The rodeo events are genuine: chuckwagon races, bull riding, bronc riding, barrel racing, with competitors from across North America. The agricultural fair preserves ranching heritage; the midway provides carnival entertainment. The Stampede generates over $500 million in economic activity and attracts 1.2 million visitors. The rest of the year, Calgary is corporate Canada; during Stampede, it pretends otherwise.
Banff National Park begins an hour west of Calgary, where the prairies end and the Rockies begin. The access makes Calgary a gateway to world-class skiing (Lake Louise, Sunshine Village), hiking, and mountain tourism. The 1988 Winter Olympics were held here, leaving infrastructure including Canada Olympic Park, now a public skiing and mountain biking facility. The mountains are Calgary's escape from cubicles; weekends draw the city west on the Trans-Canada Highway. The proximity to wilderness compensates for the city's flat surroundings - Calgary is prairie, but the mountains are close enough to matter.
Calgary has grown rapidly - from 600,000 in 1981 to 1.3 million today - driven by oil industry employment and migration from other provinces. The growth brought sprawl: Calgary's city limits encompass 825 square kilometers, mostly low-density suburban development. The downtown is modern, the suburbs are generic, and the transit system is playing catch-up. The city has experimented with densification, new transit lines, and downtown revitalization, but the pattern of expansion continues. Calgary is building itself outward faster than it can build inward, creating a city whose edge moves faster than its center can adapt.
Calgary is served by Calgary International Airport (YYC). The Calgary Tower offers panoramic views, though the downtown skyline now exceeds its height. The Glenbow Museum covers Western Canadian history. The Calgary Zoo is one of Canada's largest. Stephen Avenue Walk is the downtown pedestrian retail corridor. The Stampede runs the second week of July; book accommodations months ahead. Day trips to Banff and the Rockies are essential - the mountains are Calgary's greatest attraction, though they're not technically in Calgary. The Plus 15 system, elevated walkways connecting downtown buildings, makes winter navigation comfortable. The experience reveals a city defined by resource extraction and mountain proximity - corporate Canada with cowboy aspirations.
Located at 51.05°N, 114.07°W where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, on the edge of the Alberta prairies. From altitude, Calgary appears as urban sprawl extending across flat terrain toward distant mountains - the Rockies visible to the west as a dramatic wall rising from the plains. The downtown skyline clusters around the Bow River; the suburban development extends in all directions. The Stampede grounds are visible south of downtown. What appears from altitude as a prairie city at the mountain's edge is Canada's oil capital - where petroleum wealth built the towers, where the Stampede maintains Western mythology, and where the economy rises and falls with global commodity prices.