While many residents say they feel more closely connected to their community, evidence suggests Fort McMurray is also fragile and scarred.

Fort McMurray — The story of Fort McMurray a year after the wildfire is really — to steal a title from Charles Dickens — a tale of two cities.

In one city, Alberta’s oilsands hub is the embodiment of its slogan Fort McMurray Strong, a blue-collar community again the image of industry and progress.

Previously scorched neighbourhoods are being reborn. Popular restaurants again have wait lists for tables. Even the resumption of daily traffic jams on Highway 63 is a welcome sign of normalcy.

Many residents say they feel more closely connected to their community than ever before, bonds strengthened by the experience of collective survival and resiliency.

But beneath the city’s outward appearance and motto of strength, Fort McMurray is also fragile and scarred.

You can see it in the numerous For Sale signs around town, many hammered into empty lots that used to be homes.

It’s there in the hilly woodland surrounding the city, the dense wall of green forest turned necrotic shades of grey.

Most of all, it’s obvious in the tightened faces and nervous laughter of people who still struggle to find peace.

For this group, Fort McMurray remains a city in crisis. Though no longer besieged by natural disaster, they say it is now mired in the messes of its aftermath: recovery fatigue, political lethargy and psychological struggle.

Regardless of which camp residents put themselves in, all agree on one thing. Fort McMurray is irrevocably changed, reshaped by a cataclysm that has forced residents to re-define their feelings of home.

“It’s like there is a dark cloud around everybody’s heads here now,” seven-year resident Carol Christin said. “I don’t know how to describe it. No one knows how to describe it. It’s just not the same.”

Human spirit

Over at the city’s municipal building, Mayor Melissa Blake acknowledges the uphill battles some residents have faced, but insists the city’s collective perseverance and “human spirit” have been the defining characteristics of the recovery effort. The experience has brought people together more than ever before, she says.

It’s a sentiment shared by many around town, even among people who lost their homes or livelihoods to the fire.

Residents report they hang out with their neighbours more often and have finally met people who have lived down the street from them for years.

New friendships have been forged through yoga classes and other recreational activities that help with stress. People share tips on how to deal with insurance companies and the municipal government, and pass on information about contractors and job opportunities.