Quote:
Originally Posted by saffronleaf
This isn't a super comprehensive answer as I based it more on how I felt when living in Calgary and visiting Edmonton quite a bit when I was living in Calgary.
At a high-level, Calgary and Southern Alberta feel like the high plains / front range like Denver. Edmonton and Central/Northern Alberta feel a lot more like the Canadian Prairies like Winnipeg, Saskatoon.
In terms of environment, Southern Alberta is more arid and suitable for ranching. Going west to east you have the Rockies, the foothills, the high plains (which are arid), and the badlands. The populated parts of Central/Northern Alberta are mainly arable.
In terms of culture, Southern Alberta has more of a Western/cowboy culture and an alpine culture. Central/Northern Alberta has more Indigenous cultural influences and farming culture.
In terms of politics, Calgary feels more libertarian and holds on to ideas of rugged individualism. Edmonton feels more left-wing, with a greater sense of collectivism.
They're different enough that Southern Alberta (including Calgary, Banff, Waterton) could be a separate province.
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This is pretty accurate. Alberta was at one point planned to be 2 provinces. The difference in settlement history between the land North/South of the battle river is pretty substantial. North you have a fur trading history, heavy Ukranian settlement, and most of the franco-albertan history/culture. South was more heavily influenced by strategic policing settlement (to keep the US from expanding northward) but settlement from the western US because they were the immigrant group that had experience with the dryland farming techniques. This is also how you end up with the pronounced Mormon presence in the area around Lethbridge. The stereotype of Albertan identity is much more driven by the southern part of the province.
Obviously the province is still pretty similar in the grand scheme of things, but there's definitely a split between north and south.