The impact of the post-World War II oil boom is nowhere more strikingly revealed than in this 1977 view of downtown Calgary. The pointed structure is the cap of the 600-foot Calgary Tower, a prominent feature of the city skyline. Since the war the old, central commercial core has been almost entirely rebuilt. The expansion has been mainly upwards as the low level sandstone structures that dated from the city's first boom period have been replaced with towering twenty to forty storey, glass and concrete monoliths.
This dynamic growth, characteristic of core area redevelopment in many cities, reflects a problem of increasing concern to urban planners. With the rapid obliteration of old neighbourhoods has come a belated consciousness that older, familiar structures often represent a vital link with the past; that they have much to do with a community's sense of identity and even its social stability. This awareness, and the recognition that certain structures have special, architectural characteristics that merit preservation, have convinced many Calgarians that attention must be given to the social as well as the economic costs and benefits of urban renewal.
While the office towers in this picture stand as visual evidence of Calgary's post-war growth and the heavy concentration of commercial activity in its downtown core, they are also suggestive of the city's distinctive economic character. Almost all the buildings shown here are occupied by oil companies, financial interests, or petroleum-related enterprises. This homogeneity of business enterprise perhaps unequalled in any other Canadian city means that Calgary has a predominantly white-collar work force. In keeping with such an employment profile, average wages are higher than in any other prairie city and amongst the highest in the country.
