That was good, this is better. For 70 years, I've watched Calgary change from this hill

This First Person column is the experience of Doug Margach, who lives in Calgary. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

My wife Wanda and I stand on the brow of a hill in northwest Calgary, near where our new condo is being built.

Looking west, we can see the now unusable ski jumps standing with the outline of mountains behind. To the south, the CFCN broadcast tower stands above the Douglas Fir Trail, while to the east, the Husky (a.k.a. Calgary) Tower is barely visible among the city centre skyscrapers. Only to the north can the original bare prairie be seen rising up onto Nose Hill, although even this is obscured by high-rise apartment buildings and the University of Calgary campus.

It sure didn't look like this when I was a kid.

Seventy years ago, as a five-month-old baby, I moved into a brand new three-bedroom bungalow in Parkdale with my parents and two older brothers — not a tree in sight, a few dirt roads waiting for oil to keep the dust down, and the city limits of Calgary running down the road in front of our house.

At that point, this was called the North Hill. The hill was part of a farmer's field, where cattle wandered down to the Bow River. It was where the prairies met the foothills; where coyotes hunted rabbits and mice; where the cold north wind bit your skin, while the Chinooks eased you through the winter; and most of all, where the big, bright, blue sky would make any day of the year more beautiful.

But things changed. Foothills Hospital took over the top of our toboggan hill. The cliffs we climbed disappeared when the Trans-Canada Highway replaced the wheel ruts at the top of 37th Street. Instead of a slough where my older brothers learned to skate, a developer built Stadium Shopping Centre.

Calgary has been in a hurry to become a major city.

Who else builds a major football stadium in 103 days? Why else would the Calgary Tower be erected in one continuous concrete pour over 24 days? Get rid of single family homes downtown, replace them with ever more office space, build bigger homes farther and farther out with high-speed "trails" to serve the new communities.

The '80s brought us the Olympics, a respite from the commercial growth. But nonetheless, Olympic Plaza, the Saddledome, Canada Olympic Park and the Oval speed skating track all made Calgary into a bigger, more cosmopolitan city.

And leading the way in all of this: the oil booms. No longer were we just the home of the Greatest Show on Earth. The theme was set: grow, GROW!

The whole city changed — in many ways for the better. Two new universities, hospitals and now a major new cancer centre about to open. The city today is far more international, with economic, cultural and food influences from around the world. So many more options than the old Barney's Kentucky Fried Chicken!

And what about the prairie? The fauna and flora adapted. We still see the coyotes hunting prey — which now includes the odd pet. The poplar trees still grow along the banks of the Bow River even as the beaver continue to clear cut when given a chance.

The urbanization of Calgary has only seemed to increase the number of northern flickers furiously rapping on the phone poles. And what pathway user has not seen huge numbers of Canada geese and goslings? Meanwhile, at the bottom of my hill, Parkdale has been transformed from a treeless prairie landscape into a vibrant inner-city oasis of tall trees, thick shrubs and two-storey homes.

Our new home — much smaller and less work than our split-level house — will soon be ready for us to move into. Just as the landscape has adapted, my wife and I are beginning our own process: down-sizing and recognizing both the possibilities and the limitations of our age.

Just as Calgary had to move on, so do we.

But I hope I'll still climb my hill regularly for a few more years. And I sometimes wonder, 70 years from now, will another generation look out and see both fragments of the past and new symbols of their modern age? Will they also think: that was good, but this is better? I sure hope so.

Telling your story

As part of our ongoing partnership with the Calgary Public Library, CBC Calgary is running in-person writing workshops to support community members telling their own stories.

This workshop was hosted by Unison at the Kerby Centre.

To join a workshop, suggest a topic or volunteer a community organization to help, email CBC producer Elise Stolte or visit cbc.ca/tellingyourstory.