There is a slight–at this point very slight–possibility that I could move to Edmonton in the next year or so. I don’t know a damn thing about Edmonton, other than it’s way west and way north of where I am now (Connecticut) and it’s where Gretzky played the first part of his career.
So what’s the straight dope on Edmonton? Give me the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Well, seeing as I’m sitting in Edmonton right now, let’s see…
The Good: Edmonton can be very pleasant–indeed, downright hot–in summer. Edmontonians take advantage of this, and there are a number of festivals and such. Even when there aren’t, there are plenty of places to have a good walk or bike ride. Lots of parks, a nice river valley, plenty of interesting and historic neighbourhoods. The University of Alberta (which is itself one of Canada’s top schools) has a beautiful campus, with many historic buildings and interesting architecture.
There is also a thriving music/club/live theatre scene as well. Whyte Avenue is the place to be for these kinds of things; it is lined with a number of pubs, clubs, and bars catering to every taste, as well as theatre. But there are many such places throughout the city that you might like, it’s just that many are concentrated on Whyte.
The Bad: Public transit is very poor. There is an LRT (basically, the same as a subway), but outside of weekday rush hours, it doesn’t run as often as it should–a train may run as infrequently as every 15 minutes, for example. Bus routes wander off main streets so much that a 20 minute car ride directly between two points will take 60 minutes on the bus meandering along its route between the two points. Needless to say, Edmontonians love their cars, and only take public transit if it is unavoidable.
The dowtown is, sadly, not what it once was. I wouldn’t say it’s in decline, because it’s clearly not, but it’s just not much after the workday ends and the offices empty. Driving can be a challenge too, with some intersections barely resembling anything normal (61 St and 109 Ave is a good example), and drivers jockeying to get into the lane that will take them onto a bridge. Or jockeying to avoid getting stuck in the lane that will take them onto a bridge.
The Ugly: Edmontonians love their sports, and you’d better too. Hockey rules–none of that silly NBA or MLB stuff in this town–and the Oilers are the only team to cheer for. The Calgary Flames are barely tolerated, but only because they’re from Alberta too. Canadian football is the only football worth watching, and you’d better cheer for the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. Fights start over this kind of stuff. Sure, there are other sports out there, but just to give you some perspective, it wouldn’t be unusual for the newspaper’s front page to have a headline “Oilers Lose Three Straight,” while buried in the sports section, in tiny type, would be “Super Bowl Played Yesterday”. And if the home team wins the Cup, Whyte Avenue gets trashed. If the home team loses, Whyte Avenue gets trashed. Championship games, liquored-up mobs, and Whyte Avenue are not a pleasant combination.
Not so ugly, but winters can be wearying. Our first snow last year came in October, and as I type this, some is still on the ground from yesterday’s snowfall. Hopefully, that will be the last one of the year. Snow clearing–or the lack of it–makes things difficult in winter, especially if you’re driving. I recall a news report from last December about this; one city councillor was quoted as saying something like, “Maybe we should actually remove the stuff rather than just push it around.” You either learn to love snow, or you spend a very unhappy, very long winter.
Overall, not a bad city though. Kind of nice, actually. Anyway, hope this helps.
Winters are ugly in Edmonton - this is from someone who lived both there and in the Arctic. Summers are absolutely wonderful. Flowers and trees and grass, clean streets, and festivals all summer long. It’s not too far to head out to Jasper if you’re a skiier or a nature lover, but you don’t have to leave the city for hiking, even. I love Edmonton.
My dad lives there, and I was born there. I get back to visit whenever I can.
More Bad:
My friends just bought a house there (they’re having to relocate from Calgary) and it was a total shit-show. Crappy houses, in disrepair, overprice, etc. Worse than Calgary right now, and Calgary is pretty bad.
However, they have liked many other things about the city, including a number of the things Spoons mentioned. They’re both working at the University and really like the neighbourhood around there.
Like I used to say, as a Calgarian, ‘Edmonton isn’t the end of the world but you can see it from there’.
Edmonton isn’t really that bad, but IIRC are mosquitos a major problem in the spring and summer?
Mosquitos can be bad. Winters are shitty.
Whyte Ave is great to hang out on, but not a good idea to live off of. The area gets trashed regularly (already said) and can be pricey for crappy housing since it is so close to the University. One former friend would regularly be woken up by drunks trying to get into his (crappy) apartment.
When I lived there (3 years ago) Millwoods had a gang problem and Belvedere wasn’t much better, especially in the few blocks nearest Fort Road and the Transit hotel.
Lots of fun festivals (Fringe Fest is rated one of the best in the world), Canada day at the legislature is fun and the river valley is great to run around in.
Public transit is bad. About the only time that is good to use it, is when going to stuff like Canada Day and First Night activities. Park and ride the LRT.
West Edmonton Mall is overrated. Majority of the stores there can be found elsewhere and will be less busy. When I lived there I’d go only once or twice a year when the mood hit for the Chinese grocery or a concert at one of the bars or I was dragged by friends. The waterpark can be fun though, but expensive.
The Good…
As others have said there is the river valley and it’s extensive park and trail system. The summer festivals and artsy scene. There are some beautiful residential neighbourhoods in the older parts of the city.
The Bad…
Housing prices are just crazy now and rents aren’t far behind. The booming economy is actually a negative thing in some ways: because good paying jobs are easy to get it means that businesses have trouble hiring and keeping unskilled labour. You see that in the service you get at fast-food places, car washes, etc. Try getting your yard landscaped… costs an arm and a leg if you can actually find someone to do it.
Yeah, winter is long but it’s not really as bad as you would think. We’ve had some freakishly mild winters in the last 20 years. We don’t get very much snow; it justs stays around until spring so it seems like a lot.
The Ugly…
Crime is getting to be a concern. Edmonton is the murder capital of Canada (per capita). Architecturally, most of Edmonton is suburban blight.
No, not really. There are aggressive spraying programs - they are very effective unless there is a lot of rain and wind.
Real estate is going crazy. I doubt you’d be able to find anything less than $200,000. I read in the paper a few weeks ago that real estate prices have gone up 60% since last March. I moved here about 2 years ago and I got a two bedroom apt. for $800/month. It has just gone up to $1000/month.
Edmonton (and Alberta in general) is kinda redneck-y. Think of Alberta as a Texas that freezes over 8 months a year. I don’t regret moving here cause this University is where I needed to be, but I definitely would rather live in Montreal or Ottawa or parts east than stay here.
Nunavut Boy I agree about the redneck thing. But, believe it or not, Edmonton is called “Redmonton” by the rest of Alberta - they think we’re liberal, pinko, atheists.
Edmonton is to Alberta as Austin is to Texas.
Yeah, compared to Cowgary, Edmonton is hippie-flowerchildland.
There are major labor shortages around Edmonton, so good-paying jobs are easy to come by. Yesterday, I came out of work to find a note on my windshield - “Workers wanted. Will pay $16.25 per hour. No experience necessary.”
The local 7-11 is paying $9.25/hr, plus a $700 signing bonus, plus an extra $1000 per year ‘loyalty bonus’ to keep the workers.
Unfortunately, a lot of these jobs are going unfilled because it’s hard to find a place to live here right now. The vacancy rate is very low, and rent is pretty high. I’ve heard stories of people coming to town for work and finding it, but having to leave because they either can’t find a place to stay or can’t afford the places they find.
But overall, Edmonton’s a pretty good city. To me, it doesn’t feel as big as it is. Calgary feels much bigger, but maybe that’s because I’m used to Edmonton. You can get from any point to downtown in less than half an hour by car. The river valley park system is huge - one of the biggest interior parks in the world, as I recall. There’s lots of recreational activities.
And the winters generally aren’t THAT bad. Winter can get cold, but it’s a dry cold and usually with not much wind so it doesn’t feel as cold as it could. I grew up in Lethbridge, which is much warmer, but always windy. I prefer the winters here. And this year is the worst one we’ve had in close to a decade. The past 5 or 6 winters have been really balmy - we even had a ‘green’ Christmas a couple of years ago - by Christmas we still hadn’t had any snow. Other recent winters saw snow on the ground no earlier than late October/early November, and spring-like conditioon by the end of March. That’s a pretty short winter.
This one sucked, though. Early snow, big accumulation through the winter, and it’s just leaving now. Yuck.
Oh, one more big advantage of Edmonton - you’re only a few hours from some of the best skiing in the world - Jasper is about three and a half hours from here, and Banff/Lake Louise a couple more. If you like fishing, there’s plenty of great fishing lakes around here, and the Rockies are only a couple of hours away if you want to do some mountain climbing/biking/canoing/whatever in the summer.
IIRC though, Edmonton’s per capita number would place it fourth best in the United States.
Another Edmontonian Here…
Most of what has to be said has been said…
but, one thing that Edmonton has is a “plethora” of Zones… It is actually (and continues to be) a collection of smaller towns that grew together. (Edmonton is divided, north/south by the Saskatewan River)… Strathcona , on the south side was once its own town, as was Beverly, Jasper Place and many other areas… Currently we are “engulfing” some bedroom communities (Sherwood Park, Nisku, St Albert, and Leduc…).
Because of this you can find varieties in culture and attitude often within a few blocks of each other.
The weather is constantly changing. We get "chinooks (Sudden warm s/w winds, in the dead of winter) I have seen it go from - 20c (about 7 F, if I remember correctly) to just above freezing in less than 4 hours. Summer days can turn from balmy to incredible summer storms… and yes we have had tornadoes, including killer tornadoes.
The people are freindly, for the most part, and very culturally diverse. You can eat “authentic” food from all over the world, well made and often in unique restaurants, at a variety of budget levels.
We are essentially a small town turning into a major city, too. Ifrastructure was built to handle a population of about 600K to 750K… We are currently pushing 1 million, so traffic and public transport can be a night mare… (A cross town rush hour trip can take 1.5 hrs, same trip at non peak times 20 minutes).
Don’t count on a land line if you are having a new house built… Current wait times can be up to 8 months.
We are just 2 hours away from a major American City (Calgary). Although it “lives” in Alberta, most Calgarians tend to think and act like Americans.
If you like a varied land scape, Edmonton is less than a day’s drive away from mountains, pristine forests, artic muskeg, badland desserts, rolling and flat prairies.
During the summer, the parks ROCK!.. the river valley is a gem of cultivated wilderness, and we are a short drive away from some very cool natural parks and historic sites.
We have good museums, schools, libraries.
There is a shortage of Doctor’s here, but very high tech hospitals.
You can get a good job in one day.
You can get a good place to live in 500 days, and not cheaply.
and NUMBER ONE… at least we are NOT Calgary…
Regards
FML
I’m sorry, I do not agree with this. Could you elaborate please?
I agree that Edmonton is the most ‘cultural’ city of Alberta. I have Alberta cred…I grew up in Lethbridge, lived in Calgary for 2 years and am now living in Edmonton. I’ve also spent a lot of time in Austin (when I was in the military) and didn’t notice much of a difference from Alberta.
Fuck the rest of Alberta. I AM a liberal pinko atheist. Well, at least a liberal atheist. Just tonight I got some ‘Pocket Testament League’ bullshit shoved under my apartment door. I wish I knew who was doing it so I could push my own little liberal pinko atheist propaganda under THEIR door.
I do not agree, and I have lived in the Lethbridge area, Red Deer, Edmonton, Calgary, AND America (and still live here). Calgary is not much different from any of them and nothing like I have found here. Unless you’re talking about the availability of flights.
Edmontonians typically poke fun at Calgarians, and my “American City” comment was one of those jabs.
FML
Thanks for all the responses. As I said, at this point it’s simply a very slim possibility that I will move to Edmonton but I’m feeling much better about the possibility after reading the responses. I don’t need to be in a big city but I was concerned that it was a black hole of nothing… 
Any recommendations on jobs websites?
Thanks again.
Just curious, not arguing, but do you really get Chinooks? I lived in Calgary for about eight years and adored the fabulous “Chinook arches” coming in from the west. Not only did it mean that it was going to warm up, but they were beautiful just to look at.
OTOH, I was told (I have no personal experience) that Chinooks were pretty uncommon once you were as far north as Edmonton - and basically that meant when it got cold in early November, it stayed cold :eek:
(btw, -20c is equal to -4F)