The West is Best

Unemployment rates came out today. Looking at the map in the Globe and Mail it's clear that the west is leading the country in jobs & economic growth.

I've been in Calgary now since March of 2007. Putting aside the lousy produce at the store, I've grown to love this city & this province. To be honest, I can't imagine moving back east even if my entire family lives there. The whole scene seems boring & lifeless, tired & old. Calgary's a place where people say hello in the elevator, where people let you in when you're turning in traffic....a place where people are civil and friendly. It's just how you are & it's how you become. The angry road rage I felt back home is long gone...hell now I'm the guy stopping to let someone walk across the road or someone cut in front of me in traffic.

And I've grown to appreciate the independent streak of this province...where people are willing to stand on their own without forever whining to the government for assistance.

But the thing I've most grown sick of is the never ending question I heard from everyone back east "when are you coming back". And the predictable litany of reasons why I should move back, many of them dated stereotypes of Alberta, Calgary & the rest of the west. As if it's somehow some lower form of life. As if Calgary should be some short term stopover for people in need of a job until they "collect their senses" and head back east.

Sorry, really...I'm just not interested in return to eastern Canada & it's miserable, pessimistic mentality.

I am a Calgarian. And pretty damn happy about it.