Whenever I made a particularly involved Facebook post I was told I should make a website.  A website about living downtown.  I’d laugh, and think about it a bit.  That’s as far as I ever got.  

Yet everyday I’m living potential posts.  What’s it like raising a family downtown?  How do we have enough space?  How can it work with only one car?  Where did we just eat out?  Where was that picture taken?  I’d think about it again.  However I set high standards for myself, I’d get overwhelmed at the idea I’d created and never begin.  

A few more years went by.  Again and again I’d be told, “you should put that on a website”.   Again I’d think about it.  I could make a blog, talking about downtown life.  I’d post about car alarms at 3 am, and street closures for festivals, my wife’s four block commute.  Maybe restaurant reviews, and that’s it?  Maybe pictures and reviews of city parks, oh that’s already been done.  How about a site about current events in our city!  Oh I just intimidated myself.  I can’t maintain that website.

Still I think about it.

On Wednesday June 21st, I decided to do it.  I was going to make a website about “Calgary’s Downtown Experience”.  What would it include, what wouldn’t it?  Will I have a strict mission statement?  

It will be about things that interest me and my family about downtown life.  Where does that begin and end?  I’m not sure.  Do I have to define it?  I don’t think so.  In time the objective of the website will become obvious, the tone will evolve, and the scope will grow to suit “Calgary’s Downtown Experience”.

This is my telling of our family’s experience living in downtown Calgary.  Our choice to live downtown was always our preference.  We can’t imagine being anywhere else, we have no ambition to leave, this is ideal for us.  We keep our life focused on downtown, for diversity, for convenience and for enjoyment.  

We’ve chosen downtown and these are our stories.