The void in Calgary: How office towers emptied in a once bustling downtown
I grew up in Calgary, and after spending the last 14 years in Toronto I have decided to move back.Income taxes are way lower in Alberta than Ontario; moving my remote-ok tech job to calgary was equivalent to getting a five-figure raise.Cycling in Toronto is a life-threatening activity, and Calgary has something like 150km of paved urban pathway.The politics are toxic in both places.Calgary is just quieter and I like that. I’m sick of listening to construction, sirens, street car clattering, and apt hvac systems.The water in Calgary looks appetizing - I spent a lot of time in the outer harbour in Toronto and am acutely aware of the water quality advisories.The shoreline of Toronto’s harbour front is ugly as sin. Chunks of the Gardiner is falling on peoples’ cars, and is a source of horrible, dementia-inducing noise pollution. Anyone with a balcony in Fort York or City Place probably used it for the first time during the pandemic, and otherwise is just their storage locker.Calgary has a stunning river that glows with mineralized rocky mountain water, and you can walk or cycle along it for exercise because it isn’t so oversubscribed as the pan am path.Transit is terrible in both towns but living on the subway was great.I can afford a 1700sqft inner city calgary home with a garage and a yard for the price of a 900sqft 2bed downtown toronto condo.The recreation opportunities in Calgary are year round, but in Toronto I felt like the onot things  to do in the winter were restaurants and the ago.The food scene in Toronto is amazing. I miss sushi. The music scene too. But Calgary has world class examples of all this, and this stuff is a lower priority than it once was.Everything is 8 minutes away from me in Calgary. Try getting anywhere in 8 minutes in Toronto, what with the choking traffic, and the fact that all your friends have to move to orangeville and whitby because of rising prices.Both cities have incredible energy. I was in calgary for the red mile, and at yonge and dundas when the raps won.Calgary for me is a better place on balance.