[Drybrain]

I'll never live in Western Canada again, just due to the fact that I've fallen very hard to Atlantic Canada.

But I spent years and years Calgary, and lived in Edmonton for two years, and briefly Vancouver as well. I'm very glad that I got to know those cities and those regions--it's enormously broadened my perspective of the country, and I think I'd be a much more parochially minded person, set in my Central Canadian ways (was born and raised in Ottawa and Montreal) if I'd never lived west.

Calgary is definitely a positive place. I actually find the boosterism to be irrationally intense at times (Nenshi is a great mayor, but he's also a prime example of the "there's no place like this!" sentiment you get there). But the boosterism can also be very uplifting, and the pervasive "this place sucks" sentiments one often finds in other cities, as Signal Hill said, are also irritating and irrational, as well as depressing.

The next time I visit out west (my entire family is still there) I should probably spend more time getting to know the rural areas. Lived in Alberta for 15 years but I know nothing outside of Calgary, Edmonton and Banff (and a touch of Red Deer).

(And yes, the Ship is a great bar. So is Hop-in-Brew, which I imagine must be even more Newfoundland-esque.)