After the crossroads, Calgary looks to the road ahead

Onward!

You can only spend so long sitting at a crossroads before you have to pick a path and figure out the road ahead.

Calgarians don't dither. It's not in our nature.

Over the last year and a half or so, our CBC Calgary at a Crossroads series has offered up nearly 200 stories, interviews, maps, charts, photo essays and videos about our city and its soul. We've looked at the downturn in all its miserableness and punishing impact on our lives and our city.

While CBC Calgary journalists have told many a tale, we've also shared dozens of stories written by people in our communities.

From how crappy it is to come to work and find that cardboard box on your desk, to wandering the tall dark towers and empty streets of downtown.

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From how to tell your kids that you got the chop at work, to how your next job might involve the words, "Would you like to supersize that for only 35 cents more?" We've even looked at who our friends are on the federal political level in our time of need. And yes, we're keeping a list.

And, we've also had some fun.

We've checked out our city's rough and tumble history of beer parlour riots, our (occasionally) outsized egos, our "what-the-hell-is-that?"' public art, and even the best place to grab a drink after you and your cardboard box have been escorted out by security.

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We've tried to become the place for people to share experiences, hash out concerns, have a laugh and maybe bond a bit as Calgarians.

You can check it all out at our Calgary at a Crossroads page. 

The Road Ahead

The last while has been kind of a period of commiseration. But by now, we've pretty much figured all those little midnight votive candles and prayers to the oil gods don't seem to be helping. Begging the question, now what?

We're leaving the crossroads and looking at Calgary: The Road Ahead.

Think of it as shifting gears. Ask around and you'll hear a lot of people saying it's time to look forward. to explore what kind of a city we want to create, what kind of a Calgary we want to live in.

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If this place we call home will never again be what it was, what can it be?

Calgary: The Road Ahead will be the place for those stories, a place to debate visions for our future, where we can look at the decisions we face as individuals, communities and city.

What to do about taxes (carbon and otherwise) and real estate prices. How to create jobs, the best ways to design streets, whether money should go to bike paths or roads, where to plunk a new stadiums, how to draw in new businesses.

It's about the choices we face. Calgarians coming up with Calgary solutions.

And we begin with this piece from W. Brett Wilson.

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Calgary: The Road Ahead is CBC Calgary's special focus on our city as it passes through the crucible of the downturn: the challenges we face, and the possible solutions as we explore what kind of Calgary we want to create. Have an idea? Email us at calgarytheroadahead@cbc.ca