Calgary: Hick trailer park town with good sushi? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

looooob · 03-27-2006, 04:36 PM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...alComment/home

guess the globeandmail ran a feature where a Calgary guy goes to Toronto to check it out and vice versa

conclusion of Toronto guy seems to be that Calgary is a hick town with cowboy boots, pickup trucks, smoke filled bars, trailer parks, expensive ugly houses, hillbillies, kids dropping out of school, pending T.O. style crime problems, bad public transit...but good sushi

truth?

Calgary guy seems a bit more open minded about Toronto, although he had this interesting thing to say:

Yet nobody actually waits for me to answer the question. So I'll take a stab right now: Consider the anti-Americanism, which I've found more pronounced in Toronto than Calgary. Calgary "hates" Torontonians as much as Toronto hates Americans. That is to say: It doesn't hate Torontonians at all. The concern is with an entity that is oblivious to its own edges

looooob · 03-27-2006, 04:50 PM

a Calgarian responds

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...PStory/Comment

Rhettzky · 03-27-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by looooob

a Calgarian responds

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...PStory/Comment

That guy sounds exactly like me. Except I had a truck for a bit.

I think all in all the article by the guy from Toronto was fairly decent. The only real problem I have is how they were talking about not being able to find a decent strip of shops and we just have malls and home depot's. That's crap, the guy didn't visit 17th ave?? The famous red mile and he didn't mention it once. Nor did he mention Kensington or Inglewood... both great places to head out and sidewalk shop.

At least if you are going to write a review on a city in a short period of time get a guide. Someone that could have taken them to see the great places this city has to offer.

StoneCole · 03-27-2006, 05:09 PM

I enjoyed this comparison.

While it is true most Calgarians have been conditioned to hate T.O, we should be proud we are getting compared to it. It's not Edmonton or Winnipeg or Ottawa being compared; it really says something about the way people outside town perceive our city. I enjoyed the analogy to Arnold Schwarzenegger: Calgary really is a super-buffed-up city of a million people.

Many of the sterotypes he mentions are true: cowboy hats abound (more so than any other city), cookie-cutter houses, trucks, lack of mom-and-pop retail stores with only huge mega-malls. I was once told by my uncle's friend from Seattle that the city just looks to him like "one gigantic mall". Because of the reputation of the city people sometimes forget it is only a million people-you don't get a ton of mom-and-pop shops or a ton of people walking around in a city this size.

All in all a fun read.

Anyone know why they call it "Hogtown"?

looooob · 03-27-2006, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhettzky

That guy sounds exactly like me. Except I had a truck for a bit.

I think all in all the article by the guy from Toronto was fairly decent. The only real problem I have is how they were talking about not being able to find a decent strip of shops and we just have malls and home depot's. That's crap, the guy didn't visit 17th ave?? The famous red mile and he didn't mention it once. Nor did he mention Kensington or Inglewood... both great places to head out and sidewalk shop.

At least if you are going to write a review on a city in a short period of time get a guide. Someone that could have taken them to see the great places this city has to offer.

to be fair Calgary likely has less of these interesting neighbourhoods than Toronto...but yah that was my major problem with the article...Calgary is 1/4 the size of Toronto...so we likely have 1/4 the trendy areas, and we have way less established areas with old houses etc...but Toronto (and surrounding area) has tonnes of strip malls, and cookie cutter houses too...that's not unique to Calgary

some of the stereotyping did bother me though...unless I'm numb to it, I can go a whole month without seeing someone in cowboy boots, this guy seemed to imply that 80% of Calgarians wore cowboy boots, smoked, fired guns and drove pickups...I was also surprised by his "Trailer park boys " reference...really are there that many mobile home parks in Calgary?

Winsor_Pilates · 03-27-2006, 05:15 PM

It sounds like the guy knew about Calgary's stereotypes and looked for ways to enforce them. If he put in more effort, he'd probobly see a more diverse city, but unfortunately it does take some effort to find that in this city and he clearly wasn't up for the exploration.
All in all, if he was talking in general/stereotypical terms, his description isn't that far of.

peter12 · 03-27-2006, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by looooob

to be fair Calgary likely has less of these interesting neighbourhoods than Toronto...but yah that was my major problem with the article...Calgary is 1/4 the size of Toronto...so we likely have 1/4 the trendy areas, and we have way less established areas with old houses etc...but Toronto (and surrounding area) has tonnes of strip malls, and cookie cutter houses too...that's not unique to Calgary

some of the stereotyping did bother me though...unless I'm numb to it, I can go a whole month without seeing someone in cowboy boots, this guy seemed to imply that 80% of Calgarians wore cowboy boots, smoked, fired guns and drove pickups...I was also surprised by his "Trailer park boys " reference...really are there that many mobile home parks in Calgary?

I think there is one on the far east end of town.

Rhettzky · 03-27-2006, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peter12

I think there is one on the far east end of town.

I can think of three off the top of my head. One on the top of the hill behind Deerfoot meadows on Blackfoot, one on the east side of Riverbend and there is one in forest lawn that looks like a huge trash heap.

Bobblehead · 03-27-2006, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by looooob

some of the stereotyping did bother me though...unless I'm numb to it, I can go a whole month without seeing someone in cowboy boots, this guy seemed to imply that 80% of Calgarians wore cowboy boots, smoked, fired guns and drove pickups...I was also surprised by his "Trailer park boys " reference...really are there that many mobile home parks in Calgary?

Well, I can't think of any in the TO area, at least not like the one on 16th. I guess if you are only here 20 minutes and you see that one, you may get that impression. But unless they have cleaned it up in the last 15 years, there is a stretch of pretty motels along the Lakeshore.

A lot of Calgary neighbourhoods look very cookie-cutterish; moreso than in Ont. I don't know if it is neighbourhood restrictions, or the swaths of land being bought up by developers, or maybe even the smaller lots, but some 'burbs (especially the newer, mid to low end ones) are crazily similar. A few more years, and a chance for some trees to grow, and a few changes or ownerships and associated remodelling will change things up somewhat.

But I do agree they should have went down to Kensington or the Red Mile.

ken0042 · 03-27-2006, 05:30 PM

The one thing with our trailer parks is they are visible from the main roads; 16th ave and Deerfoot. If somebody just did a quick drive by they might notice them.

looooob · 03-27-2006, 05:38 PM

another reply, saying what some of us are hinting at about context

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...PStory/Comment

RougeUnderoos · 03-27-2006, 06:01 PM

What a silly article. If you want neighborhoods you can walk around and shop in, maybe it's a good idea to, you know, go to a neighborhood you can walk around and shop in, instead of driving out to Forest Lawn.

Cheese · 03-27-2006, 06:06 PM

Having lived in both places I actually find fewer differences than some think.
The BIG diff I notice right now is smoking....it really seems like the majority smoke in Calgary, although Im sure its exagerated, when compared to Toronto and area. Drives me insane...when flying home I stink like a day old cig.
Calgary's speeding cameras and red light camaras are also insane....I think its Big Brother gone wild in Cowtown.
Housing in new areas in Ontario are cookie cutter as well...the diff out here is they mainly use Brick whereas Calgary uses siding....I think that has an effect on appearance and the comment from above about Cowtown appearing like a mall.
Other than that the people are the same, business is crazy everywhere...

More beautiful chicks to gawk at in Tarana....

looooob · 03-27-2006, 06:14 PM

the smoking bylaws in Calgary are a drag (as a non-smoker)

I would guess the proportion of smokers in Calgary is not that much higher (could be wrong) but the fact it can still be done in the bars/restaurants changes that perception

nothing like the good old days when I lived in Montreal and would see the shoppers handling the produce with cigarette ashes falling in the food

Hack&Lube · 03-27-2006, 10:13 PM

If you guys bother to listen to the audio version, he says that he doesn't see any cowboy hats at all aside from at the airport and that he went to 17th.

RougeUnderoos · 03-28-2006, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

If you guys bother to listen to the audio version, he says that he doesn't see any cowboy hats at all aside from at the airport and that he went to 17th.

I bothered to read the actual newspaper version of the article and cowboy hats/boots figure quite prominently in the first few paragraphs and 17th Avenue doesn't get mentioned.

Hack&Lube · 03-28-2006, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

I bothered to read the actual newspaper version of the article and cowboy hats/boots figure quite prominently in the first few paragraphs and 17th Avenue doesn't get mentioned.

The audio commentary version is really wierd actually. It's completely different from the article. It's pretty short, he spends most of his time talking about the gay scene.