Six truths about the city that's no longer, simply, Cowtown

I first came to know Calgary, as many do, driving along highways and broad suburban avenues, through the nowhere geography of its ample suburban periphery as my future wife toured the non-sights of her childhood. We would sometimes meander around its inner-city precincts as well, and she'd grow steadily more agitated behind the wheel as she pointed out all the spots where the old buildings used to be. It's a common tic, actually, in the coded language of old-hand Calgarians: first you trade the names of the suburban neighbourhoods where you grew up, then you offer driving directions by way of landmarks that no longer exist...

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