On Calgary growth and urban sprawl

--Daniel Bach for the Calgary Journal--

I’ve always been a curious citizen and witness to Calgary’s booming growth.

Recently, while combing through an archive of books and articles related to Calgary’s contemporary growth and development, looking for a work that would give me a sense of where the city is at today, I was instantly enthralled upon finding a book first published in 1974 to celebrate Calgary’s centenary the following year.

Calgary: a not too solemn look at Calgary’s first 100 years, written by Bob Shiels, a former University of Calgary professor and newspaper columnist, chronicles the city’s growth, from its beginnings as a tiny settlement along the banks of the bow, through the oil boom of the early 20th Century and into the massive refurbishment and infrastructure development years of the late ‘60s and ‘70s.