The Calgary downtown is fairly compact by North American standards and creates interesting urban canyonscapes, with most the building constructed in the oil and gas boom of the mid 70's and 80's. With this incredible amount of construction activity, many of the older buildings were unfortunately destroyed, but enough has been preserved to get a flavour of the past. Still, there is a diverse amount of modern architecture, and it wouldn't be surprising in a hundred years that these skyscrapers are declared a heritage site of sorts towards architectural styles of their time period. The triangular block is City Hall. The purple line is the Canadian Pacific rail line that runs east-west through the city.
North is up on the map.
Click on the yellow dots to see information and photos of various downtown landmarks. A grid of enclosed walkways called Plus 15s also connects many of the downtown malls and buildings. This walkway system is a godsend in winter as you don't have to go outside to get around. See more about Chinatown. Chinooks Calgary has somewhat unique weather.