CALGARY - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 443

nounced that Calgary had been awarded the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Life was in-
jected into the economically ravaged city, construction started anew, and the high-spirited
Calgarians were smiling once again.
Today and the Future
Calgary has been Canada's fastest-growing city since the late '90s. The population has in-
creased by more than 25 percent since 1996, with current estimates having the city grow
another 25 percent to 1.25 million people in the next decade. Even with $4 billion currently
slated for new infrastructure, the city is struggling to address the needs of this expansion,
which includes new schools, hospitals, and a ring road planned to eventually encircle the
entire city. Much of the land in and around downtown has been rezoned for multifam-
ily dwellings, with the area south of downtown seeing massive redevelopment and con-
troversial plans in place for the East Village project immediately east of downtown. City
limits continue to expand at a phenomenal rate—especially in the northwest, north, and
south—with new suburbs, housing estates, and commercial centers extending as far as the
eye can see. But Calgary is still a small town at heart, enjoying tremendous civic and pub-
lic support. Many of the city's self-made millionaires bequeath their money to the city, and
residents in the thousands are always willing to volunteer their time at events such as the
Calgary Stampede. This civic pride makes the city a great place to live and an enjoyable
destination for the millions of tourists who visit each year.
Sights
ORIENTATION
The TransCanada Highway (Highway 1) passes through the city north of downtown and
is known as 16th Avenue North within the city limits. Highway 2, Alberta's major north-
south highway, becomes Deerfoot Trail as it passes through the city. Many major arter-
ies are known as trails, named for their historical significance, not, as some suggest, for
their condition. The main route south from downtown is Macleod Trail, a 12-kilometer
(7.5-mile) strip of malls, motels, restaurants, and retail stores. If you enter Calgary from
the west and are heading north to the airport or Edmonton, a handy bypass to take is
Stoney Trail, which joins Highway 2 north of the city.
The street-numbering system is divided into four quadrants. At first it can be more
confusing than the well-meaning city planner intended, but after initial disorientation,