So far my time at Banff is going well. My roommate is nice and the food’s pretty good. The place is beautiful–I have an awesome view out my window. We’ll get our own studio space and they have a library, a pool, exercise facilities, etc. Just like the University, really.

The town of Banff is also interesting. A typical tourist town. They have kitsch street names like “Beaver” and “Bear”. Pictures follow.

Of course, I found some infrastructure along the way, and had to take pictures of it. Notice the different fire hydrants–not sure if these are special in any way, or just the norm here. Maybe they are more resistant to freezing? Or built for the more rugged environment here? And the street signs are interesting, too. The “no stopping” sign is my favorite. Whoever did the information design on this one needs to go back to design school–it presumes you already know what a stop sign looks like. Which may or may not be a good assumption, but still: it’s a principle thing. Signs (especially road signs) should include a complete, understandable message in and of themselves–that’s the point of *good* communication, right?