I’m a born and raised Calgarian and I’m tired of the way some people see my city in the future.

I am tired of the social engineers on city council and in the planning department and the left wing elitists who keep comparing Calgary to other cities.

Their mantra is Calgary’s future development should be the same as Vancouver’s or Portland’s or any other city that has frozen land development in favour of increased densities.

In reality, Vancouver is the west end of an urban region that starts at Chilliwack, 87 kilometres to the east, and an example of the socalled urban sprawl these people complain about here.

Truth is, the sprawl would be even larger, except the Pacific Ocean got in the way.

And, Vancouver has the most expensive housing in Canada and ranks 4th in the world for the least affordable housing.

Portland instituted prescriptive land-use policies years ago, driving up the cost of housing and driving many residents across the river to Vancouver, Wash.

Many former residents still work in Portland but now their property taxes support Vancouver.

I am tired of people saying we must proclaim Calgary’s image as a world-class city.

The first step to becoming a world-class city is to stop saying we’re a world-class city.

I am tired of people who say Calgary should be like Paris or New York City.

Those cities are what they are because they have been around a long time.

When compared to Paris’ age, Calgary is still in the baby stroller.

I’m tired of people decrying Calgary’s lack of culture, saying the government should do more to develop culture.

Tax dollars should not be spent on culture, which is a subjective thing at best.

One person’s love of opera is another person’s cats screaming in the alley.

I’m tried of people saying they want to build a vibrant city, which intimates Calgary isn’t vibrant.

Calgary has a culture and vibrancy and doesn’t need to be like other cities.

It’s a young, fast-moving culture that vibrates with entrepreneurialism and a get-it-done-or-get-out-of-my-way attitude.

Calgary’s net in-migration in the last 25 years is almost 500,000 people and because it’s net migration, it means a lot more than half a million people came here since 1983.

They came from small towns for the bright lights, for jobs and affordable housing.

They came to get away from their parents’ homes, to assert their independence and start families of their own.

They came from big cities to take advantage of bigger opportunities.

They helped those of us who were already here build a city that is the envy of many.

I am not against change.

As someone born here, I’ve seen a lot of changes.

But I am against changes that are prescriptive and driven by special interest groups armed with opinions instead of facts.