Strange Life in a Boom Town

Calgary to mark population milestone with one millionth citizen

On two separate occasions this weekend, people I have been with have started talking about how weird it is to live in Calgary. I volunteered at a homeless shelter on Saturday night and met people who had jobs but were still homeless. This is just the working poor, this is the working homeless. That is just stupid.
The other conversation was about the lack of workers in the service industry. We have certain grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants that close early because of a lack of workers. A city of a million people and I can not find a drug store open after 10 pm. My hometown has a population of over 200,000 and most are open until 12pm or open 24 hours a day. Very annoying.
Calgary is supposed to be "the promised land". What is so great about a place that can't attract workers because the cost of living is too high?