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I actually prefer the nightlife in Calgary (and to some extent Edmonton) to Denver. Denver is a great city in many regards and it does have some top notch breweries, but the nightlife is fairly lacking. Calgary and Edmonton actually have very underrated nightlife.
I have been to both Denver (multiple times) and Salt Lake City (once) but I have never been to Calgary or Edmonton. However, Calgary's inner city core looks like it outright leaves Denver behind, especially with respect to structural density.
Calgary, for instance, is certainly a superior urban center than either Denver or Salt Lake City.
Just look at that structural density. Denver cant match that structural density at all. Even beyond structural density to other aspects of urbanity like the pedestrian volume and/or pedestrian walkway zone in Calgary look more active and urban. Calgary has higher ridership on transit by quite a good bit, it was also one of the first light rail systems in all of North America. It had more comprehensive service than the system in Denver.
I like all four places, I really like Denver, but it's urban form does not measure up to Calgary's, especially in the downtown cores. This is an example of how a smaller population center like Calgary (1.4 million people) easily knocks out its much larger American counterpart in Denver (2.8 million people to 3.5 million people, depending on whether MSA or CSA is used). That's Canada too, which is the closest country in the planet to America on urban built-up form but still such a massive discrepancy anyways.
I have been to both Denver (multiple times) and Salt Lake City (once) but I have never been to Calgary or Edmonton. However, Calgary's inner city core looks like it outright leaves Denver behind, especially with respect to structural density.
Calgary, for instance, is certainly a superior urban center than either Denver or Salt Lake City.
Just look at that structural density. Denver cant match that structural density at all. Even beyond structural density to other aspects of urbanity like the pedestrian volume and/or pedestrian walkway zone in Calgary look more active and urban. Calgary has higher ridership on transit by quite a good bit, it was also one of the first light rail systems in all of North America. It had more comprehensive service than the system in Denver.
I like all four places, I really like Denver, but it's urban form does not measure up to Calgary's, especially in the downtown cores. This is an example of how a smaller population center like Calgary (1.4 million people) easily knocks out its much larger American counterpart in Denver (2.8 million people to 3.5 million people, depending on whether MSA or CSA is used). That's Canada too, which is the closest country in the planet to America on urban built-up form but still such a massive discrepancy anyways.
Calgarys downtown is all that it has going for it. Calgary looks like an odd city... in that it has such a large, lively downtown, surrounded by rather boring everything else. Calgary doesn't have a vibrant downtown. It's just an office park with ok shopping. Denvers downtown is way more vibrant.
Criteria:
- Culinary scene | Denver/Calgary (Calgary has amazing ethnic food options)
- Nightlife | Denver (I did have some amazing nightlife experiences in Edmonton though)
- Location | SLC (It's perfectly in the center of some of the best natural areas in the country)
- Outdoors activities |SLC (easy access, less crowded, more diversity)
- Scenery | SLC/Calgary (Denver is too flat and brown)
- Quality of Life | SLC/Calgary (Denver is crowded and expensive compared to the others)
- Cost of Living | SLC
- Economic prosperity | SLC (able to quickly grow while remaining a decent COL)
- Climate | SLC (Denver's intense sun and high elevation is a big draw back for some people)
IMO, the thing holding back SLC is it's reputation. It's a great city with tons of potential, but it might take awhile for the over obsessive Mormon image to dissolve.
IMO, the thing holding back SLC is it's reputation. It's a great city with tons of potential, but it might take awhile for the over obsessive Mormon image to dissolve.
Yeah, that's going to take time, but as more people get over their tendency to stereotype and generalize, things will change.
Calgarys downtown is all that it has going for it.Calgary looks like an odd city... in that it has such a large, lively downtown, surrounded by rather boring everything else. Calgary doesn't have a vibrant downtown. It's just an office park with ok shopping. Denvers downtown is way more vibrant.
You contradict yourself, see the statements in blue and then see the the ones in red.
I like Denver, it is my favorite city among these and would be my choice. I also think its name needs to be changed to Infillistan:
However, that being said, I think Calgary is ahead in urbanity. It's structural density transitions are a contiguous built-up high structurally dense form from CBD to adjacent areas. More so than Denver. Its transit ridership is also both more comprehensive and accessible within its neighborhoods served and higher ridership in general. Transit usage and less reliability on automobiles are further culturally ingrained in Calgary than in Denver. C-Train's daily ridership volume is over 305,000 people per day on its rail system, whereas in Denver the RTD's rail component averages a little more than 86,000 people per day.
Last edited by Trafalgar Law; 10-16-2017 at 02:30 PM..
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