Downtown shopping! In Calgary! No.... really...

Coming from Montreal, where the downtown core is very much alive and dynamic and a destination for all who live in the city for more than just work, coming to Calgary was a bit of a culture shock. Calgary has a modern, sleek downtown core. While visitors who have visited from older parts of the world have said things like "the city looks like it was just unpacked" (which is mostly true), the downtown core has a lot to offer. This includes a 6 block long stretch of street converted into an open-air pedestrian mall (Stephen Avenue Mall - 8th Ave SW), the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, a vibrant Chinatown, numerous hotels and restaurants and a 7 station stretch of the LRT line that is free to make it easier to get around downtown. Even better, Calgary has a +15 walkway system that connects many buildings together on their second floors in a way that it isn't hard to walk a dozen blocks or more without stepping outside.

Although Darlene and I head downtown to shop fairly regularly (on the weekend), I was floored at how many people not only don't go downtown to shop, but don't even know there is some great shopping to be had at a complex starting with the Hudson's Bay Company store at the east end to the old Eaton's store (which became Sear's - which becomes the soon to be Holt Renfrew store) at the west end, with the Scotia Centre, TD Square and the old Eaton's Centre in between. The TD Square and Eaton Centre properties have merged into The Core, and are renovating into a huge downtown mall. Among the new features we can look forward to when the facelift is complete include the largest skylight in the world (at least 2 city blocks long), the Devonian Gardens are being rebuilt and integrated into the complex. This by itself is great news - the gardens are a tropical paradise to escape to which is very welcome in winter. The 3rd level will have several 2 storey facades, lit up by the huge skylight, creating a feeling of an outdoor urban promenade.

Thanks to Ernest for the link to The Core.....