Nearest city to me, Cowtown. AKA Calgary. And yes, very touristy, especially when the Calgary Stampede is in full swing for July. So many tourists.
As for the rest, pretty standard architecture. But it also depends on what area in the city you go too. The ritzy upperclass areas are all modern contemporary. Then mid class areas are kinda a mishmash of nice clean houses and the ones you know are crack dens. Lots of shopping areas, longs of parks and things. With a hard influence of "we're western, yahoo." on some of the buildings while trying not to look like it's from the dirty thirties.
It's a clean place mostly, always worth a visit.