My Calgary Experience as a New Yorker
Hey guys! I’m from NYC and recently visited Calgary to see some relatives. My thoughts on Calgary is how very clean, spacious, organized, and safe it was! And you can’t beat the wonderful scenery of the Rockies!
People were telling me how much Calgary has grown and how crowded it became! Coming from a city that never sleeps, I felt Calgary to be empty, lol. Especially seeing lots of farmland not far from the city. Plus, barely any air pollution was a huge welcoming surprise for me.
Loved visiting Tim Hortons and A&Ws there. Also loved trying food that is only exclusive to Canada. Absolutely enjoyed eating Poutine and trying different variations from various places. I felt the food was much higher quality there than the US (not saying they’re all healthy but not as unhealthy when compared to US counterparts).
Was very fascinated seeing bike trails across the city. Though public transportation is not as accessible like NYC, it’s still nice to see even though I mostly went around by car.
The sun setting around 9-10pm kinda threw me off. Wasn’t use to seeing that. Also witnessing rapid temperature change with the Chinooks kinda threw me off, lol. One point of the day I’m wearing a regular shirt and next thing I know, it’s freezing out at night.
Visited downtown and went a few hours outside the city to see the beautiful lakes, parks, and mountains (ex. Banff National Park, Yoho National Park, Lake Louise, etc.).
People here are much more polite and many want to have a conversation with you, instead of the hustling and bustling in NYC.
Overall, my experience in Calgary was great. Definitely my favorite Canadian city thus far! Much better than most other Canadian cities that I visited so far (ex. Toronto and Niagara Falls). Would love to visit again in the future!