{"id":3709,"date":"2017-11-27T05:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-11-27T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/news\/?p=3709"},"modified":"2022-06-06T21:40:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T01:40:09","slug":"5-facts-about-calgary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/5-facts-about-calgary","title":{"rendered":"5 Little Known Facts About Calgary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\u2019s much more to Calgary than oil, steak and a Stanley-cup winning hockey team. Calgary, AB<\/a> is a city with a lot of history. While it continues to raise a flag to its \u2018wild west\u2019 history, it\u2019s also a Canadian economic powerhouse an artistic hub and a city built with frigid weather in mind. Here are five interesting facts about Calgary you may not know. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# 1.
There\u2019s an Above-Ground Network of Walkways<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Skywalk
Wikimedia Commons \/ Qyd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that Calgary is home to the world\u2019s largest indoor pedestrian skywalk network? A skywalk is essentially a protected tube that connects one building to another. In Calgary, it\u2019s called the +15 network, because each tube is roughly 15 feet above the ground. The reason for this large above-ground skywalk, as opposed to an underground network found in most major cities in Canada, is because of the cost of excavation. As a result, the city now has an interesting way to get around the downtown that allows you to enjoy the city from a bit of a different perspective and avoid the blustery winter weather. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# 2.\u00a0
Sandstone Helped to Build the City <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Old
Wikimedia Commons \/ Rockies77<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1886, the city of Calgary experienced one of its biggest fires in history. The fire ravaged building, causing the destruction of a large portion of the city. In response to this, those tasked with rebuilding the city opted for a different material: sandstone. The biggest rationale for using sandstone was to keep fire insurance costs low, but it also left its mark on this urban centre from an architectural perspective. The era of sandstone building ended at the beginning of World War I, but some of the original sandstone buildings are still in use and stand as a testament to the resiliency of local Calgarian solutions. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# 3.\u00a0
Canada\u2019s First Winter Olympics <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Calgary
Family Fun Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Another important fact about Calgary’s history, in 1988, Calgary hosted the first Winter Olympics on Canadian soil. This was a momentous occasion, as some of the world\u2019s finest athletes descended upon the city and brought about a level of excitement that those inside the city boundaries and in surrounding areas thoroughly enjoyed. Remember, these were the games that saw Eddie the Eagle (the British downhill skier) as well as the Jamaican bobsled team (which actually inspired the movie <\/span>Cool Runnings<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# 4.
The Oldest Neighbourhood Is Also Ground Zero for Hipsters<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Inglewood
Wikimedia Commons \/ Greenwood714<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, Inglewood<\/a> is known as a hip and happening place. It\u2019s a fun, quirky section of town, filled with some of the best restaurants, boutiques, sights, and sounds in the city. But did you know it\u2019s also the city\u2019s oldest neighbourhood? At one point, Inglewood was actually the city\u2019s \u201cmain drag.\u201d These days it\u2019s a bit of ground-zero for hipster culture, but there are loads of things to do and see for everyone\u2014including a bird sanctuary!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

# 5.
It Put Canadian Live Theatre on the Worldwide Stage<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"One
One Yellow Rabbit (From left to right: Michael Green, Denise Clarke and Andy Curtis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few decades ago a few artistic and creatively inspired performance artists, writers, musicians and dancers decided to create their own opportunities. They launched One Yellow Rabbit (OYR), an alternative, live theatre production house that served to showcase the city\u2019s burgeoning artistic talent. Over the years the group and its individual members garnered praise and accolades, but it was their annual live theatre showcase\u2014known as High Performance Rodeo\u2014that really pushed Canadian live theatre onto the world stage. While the Rodeo attracted talent from across the globe, it also went on tour\u2014taking Canadian talent and showcasing it across European venues. Sadly, one of OYR\u2019s founders, Michael Green, was killed in a horrible weather-induced car accident in 2016, but his work (and the work of his co-creators) continues on. The next <\/span>High Performance Rodeo<\/span><\/a> is scheduled for January 3 to January 28, 2018. To really experience Calgary\u2019s best and brightest creators, check it out. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Think Cowtown is only about hockey, political highlights and hoe-downs? Think again. Here are five facts about this great Albertan city<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15089],"tags":[],"guide":[],"class_list":["post-3709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-places"],"acf":[],"zolo_excerpt":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3709"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21205,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3709\/revisions\/21205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3709"},{"taxonomy":"guide","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zolo.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/guide?post=3709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}