Edmonton is in the grip of a cold snap. For a while, between the actual temperatures and the wind chill, it felt like -48C. The wind has mostly died down over the past couple of days, but the weather is still absolutely frigid. The roads are mostly ice (and bumpy as hell on the side roads). Cars don’t warm up until they’ve already arrived at their destination. Those braves souls who ride transit stand stoically at unsheltered bus stops, waiting for steel chariots that are running as close to schedule as possible (up to 30 minutes late, earlier in the week).
For many people, this weather is resulting is a mad case of the winter blahs. At first, I felt this way too, but no longer. Would it be nice if it were warmer? Sure, but I can’t do anything about the weather, so I figure that I might as well just roll with it.
The biggest cure for the winter blahs, I think, is to get out of the house.
It’s tempting, in this kind of weather, to stay home and hibernate. And, if you’re with the right company, that might not be a bad idea. But, personally, I think that getting out of the house helps a lot. Even if all you do is drive 10 minutes to visit a friend, getting out of the house will help you break the rut of the winter blahs.
So, don’t stay home this weekend. Get out there and see what’s happening in River City. Go to a movie, take in a play, check out a concert, or even just go for lunch with your best friend. Just don’t stay home this weekend, Edmonton.
I have a few family issues going on right now, so I haven’t been able to write a post for today. Instead, I’ll just pose a question for all of your: what are your favourite Edmonton restaurants? Any details you want to give—favourite dishes, average prices of a meal, etc.—would be great.
Hopefully, I’ll be back to posting as usual in a day or two.
After last week’s series about Reasons to Leave Edmonton, I figured providing some reasons to stay might be a good idea. I’ll be writing my own series about some of my personal favourite reasons to stay in Edmonton—or to move here if you don’t live here already—in the near future (probably next week). In the meantime, MasterMaq wrote an article back in July 2007 called “Why not move to Edmonton?” that’s worth checking out.
I’ve updated the Edmonton Date Ideas article a bit. Not much has changed, but there are a couple of new ideas added.
Of course, I’m always open to suggestions from my readers, so please feel free to add any ideas you have about how to have a good date in Edmonton. Your ideas don’t have to be things that are exclusive to Edmonton but, if they are, that’s even better.
For more information, check out the Edmonton Date Ideas article.
Edmonton Eskimos fans have something to be excited about today, as the Esks announced that they’ve resigned Jason Maas.
Maas was traded to Hamilton after the 2005 season, where it was assumed that he’d get the chance to become a full-blown CFL starting quarterback, instead of playing backup to Edmonton starter Ricky Ray. This never happened, partly because of a shoulder injury that plagued him through his time with the Tiger-Cats.
The Tiger-Cats traded Maas to the Montreal Alouettes last season, and that club sent him off into the world as a free agent. Today, the Eskimos announced that they’ve signed Maas to a one-year contract plus option.
Re-signing Maas doesn’t mean that Ricky Ray will be losing the starter’s role. He won’t. Ray will still be the starter, and the second-string position will remain with Stefan LeFors. Maas will be competing with teammate Steven Jyles for the third-string role.
Maas doesn’t seem to mind. He’s happy to be home—he and his family still live in Sherwood Park—and all reports indicate that he’s looking forward to playing with the Esks again.
Personally, I’d like to see Maas move into the role of backup quarterback, or even take over the starting role, but that’s not likely to happen, especially in light of his inconsistent play over the last couple of seasons (due mostly, I suspect, to the injuries he’s been battling).
Despite that, Maas stands to play a leadership role. According to head coach Danny Maciocia, “Jason is a proven leader and winner whose intensity and passion for the game will be a real asset to the team.”
If nothing else, it’ll be nice to see Maas donning the green and gold again come June.
If this is your first time here, I suggest you read the rest of this series Reason to Leave Edmonton - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
While I’m not normally one to suggest that people move away from Edmonton, the people who do often have good reasons for doing so. This week, I’ll be talking about some of these reasons, as well as ways to solve the issues in question without leaving the city.
So far, I’ve talked about Edmonton’s lengthy winters, our supposed lack of a cultural scene, our problems with urban sprawl, and the fact that we have the one of the highest murder rates in Canada.
Edmonton is full of terrible drivers
There are terrible drivers everywhere, but I’ve heard that Edmonton drivers are among the worst in Canada. This, I suspect, is true.
I can’t argue this one. I don’t know how many times I’ve nearly been killed on the way home from work. It’s like a war zone on the roads in this city, sometimes. People drive too fast. People drive too slow. People cut each other off in rush hour traffic. People tailgate. Basically, Edmonton is full of terrible drivers.
What can be done to solve this?
Force everyone in the city to take driver training
OK, so this obviously isn’t realistic, but sometimes, I’d really like to see it happen. I mean, come on people! Learn to drive!
That’s it for the “Reasons to Leave Edmonton” series. I figured I’d leave you with a bit of humour for the end of the week. Have a good weekend, and try to play safe on the roads.
If this is your first time here, I suggest you read the first part of this series Reason to Leave Edmonton - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
While I’m not normally one to suggest that people move away from Edmonton, the people who do often have good reasons for doing so. This week, I’ll be talking about some of these reasons, as well as ways to solve the issues in question without leaving the city.
So far, I’ve talked about Edmonton’s lengthy winters, our supposed lack of a cultural scene, and our problems with urban sprawl. Today, I’ll talk about the high murder rate.
Edmonton has the highest murder rate in Canada
Statistics from late 2006 showed that Edmonton had the highest murder rate in Canada. I can’t find accurate stats for 2007, but I know that we still have among the most murders, per capita, in the country.
I don’t know that I really need to elaborate on this particular point. A high murder rate is, one assumes, a pretty good reason not to live somewhere.
Edmonton is actually a very safe city
Despite our high murder rate, Edmonton is actually a very safe city. Personally, I feel completely comfortable walking around the vast majority of the city at all hours of the day and night. There are a few areas I’d probably avoid after dark, but they’re few and far between.
While we do have problems with violent crime—including, obviously, murder—most of the incidences are isolated, and generally occur between people who know one another (domestic abuse, for example).
As for the murders themselves, the vast majority of these occur among people who engage in high risk lifestyles. Many, if not most, of the murders that occur in Edmonton are gang-related. That, in itself, isn’t necessarily a comforting fact.
Gang wars can result in innocent people getting caught in the crossfire. However, this is an incredibly rare occurrence in Edmonton. In fact, I can only think of one instance when an innocent bystander was killed as a result of gang activity. Back in 1999 Adnan Pervez was mistakenly killed by a hit-man who had been hired to kill his older brother, Usman.
So, what should be made of all of this?
I’m suggesting that, despite the high murder rate, Edmonton is actually a very safe city, and the vast majority of murders that occur here do not directly affect average Edmontonians. While I am hardly qualified to suggest a solution to murder and other violent crimes in Edmonton, I am confident in saying that Edmonton is actually an incredibly safe city.
I’ve lived here my entire life and never once have I felt unsafe in my city, and I see no reason for most other people to feel unsafe.
If you engage in a high risk lifestyle, or you’re one of the many unfortunate homeless people living in the city, then yes, you’re going to run into some dangerous situations. While that’s unfortunate, and something needs to be done to help those people, the fact remains that Edmonton is very safe for the vast majority of Edmontonians.
If this is your first time here, I suggest you read the first part of this series Reason to Leave Edmonton - Part 1, and Part 2.
While I’m not normally one to suggest that people move away from Edmonton, the people who do often have good reasons for doing so. This week, I’ll be talking about some of these reasons, as well as ways to solve the issues in question without leaving the city.
So far, I’ve talked about Edmonton’s lengthy winters, and our supposed lack of a cultural scene. Today, I’ll be talking about urban sprawl.
Edmonton suffers from terrible urban sprawl
According to Wikipedia: “At 684 square kilometres (264 sq mi), the City of Edmonton covers an area larger than Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto or Montreal.” Despite our relatively massive size, Edmonton has one of the lowest population densities of any city in North America.
Hmm…relatively few people inhabiting a very large urban space. That’s basically the definition of urban sprawl.
Edmonton’s urban sprawl has created a number of problems for the city. Perhaps the number one problem is that it has lead to a dependence on automobiles.
It’s nearly impossible to get around in this city without using some form of motorized transport (either your own vehicle, or public transit). Much of the city is pedestrian unfriendly. There are large areas without sidewalks, and there are very few dedicated bicycle lanes on Edmonton streets, making it difficult and often unsafe to be a bicycle commuter.
The wide-spread nature of the city also means that there is less a sense of community among Edmontonians than among people in more densely populated cities. Because people spend most of their travel time in cars, rather than on foot, Edmontonians don’t often mingle on the streets. There are some pedestrian friendly areas on the city—Whyte Avenue being the most obvious—but these are the exception, rather than the rule.
Build up, instead of out
The solution to Edmonton’s urban sprawl is actually already underway. Expanding vertically, instead of horizontally is the best way to deal with urban sprawl. Combine this within in-fill developments (i.e.: building high-density housing in central neighbourhoods, rather than continuing low-density projects on the city’s edges), and you’ve got a pretty good solution to urban sprawl, and many of the problems that come with it.
The recent condo explosion in downtown Edmonton is doing a lot to help avoid urban sprawl. While I’m not a huge fan of converting rental units into condos, I am quite pleased by all of the new condo complexes that are shooting up in the core.
High-density housing will mean more people living in close proximity to one another. If they’re downtown, they’ll be close to all amenities, and possibly their jobs, which will reduce their reliance on automobiles. This, in turn, will mean more pedestrians, more mingling with neighbours, and a greater sense of community.
I’d like to see continued in-fill housing developments. Condos, though, are not for everyone. Some people, by virtue of the lifestyle they’ve chosen, are far better off living in a house (or townhouse-style condo) than an apartment-style condo. However, there currently isn’t much space to build houses in the centre of the city. Ever expanding suburban neighbourhoods are, at the moment, the only option.
The solution to this problem, I think, is for the Municipal Airport finally be closed down, and to have the city turn the land into mixed-used housing, similar to what has been done in Denver, Colorado’s Stapleton community, and numerous other former municipal airports around the United States.
I think that a Stapleton-like community on the current site of the municipal airport, along with the condo developments that are being built downtown will help relieve a lot of the urban sprawl-related problems that Edmonton currently faces. What do you think?
If this is your first time here, I suggest you read the first part of this series Reason to Leave Edmonton - Part 1.
While I’m not normally one to suggest that people move away from Edmonton, the people who do often have good reasons for doing so. This week, I’ll be talking about some of these reasons, as well as ways to solve the issues in question without leaving the city.
Yesterday, I talked about Edmonton’s lengthy winters. Today, the focus will be on the cultural scene or, to hear certain critics speak of it, the lack thereof.
Edmonton has no cultural scene
If you believe some people, Edmonton has no cultural scene. We have no art, no theatre, no music scene. What little we do have, the critics claim, is not worth sticking around for. And, even among artists, there is a feeling that in order to be a success, you must leave River City for Toronto or Vancouver.
While it is, unfortunately, often true that artists must move to one of the country’s cultural capitals in order to advance their careers, I think this has more to do with the national arts scene as a whole, than it does with Edmonton’s scene specifically.
However, I will admit that, despite a glut of theatres and theatre companies in Edmonton, and a surprising number of galleries, the cultural scene can be somewhat elusive at times.
With the exception of the big festivals like the Fringe and the Works, the Edmonton arts scene is often very insular, and doesn’t reach out to the public as often as it does. This, I think, is the main reason that a lot of people—from inside and outside of Edmonton—think that the city has no cultural scene.
Increase public awareness of the local arts scene
The solution is fairly obvious: the Edmonton arts community has to reach out to the public and increase awareness about the city’s cultural scene.
Now, I know right now that a lot of local artists who read this will want to call me an idiot. They’ll say that they already do reach out. They hold shows in galleries. They perform at open mic nights. I’m not denying this.
I’m an artist myself, and I perform at open mic nights. I certainly don’t want to imply that Edmonton’s artists aren’t making their work available to the public. What I’m suggesting is that making it available means nothing is no one knows that it’s available.
Part of this may be the fault of the media. I know of a few artists who have complained that their press releases have been completely ignored (however, it’s likely that their press releases sucked. I’m in marketing, and I know from experience that most press releases suck and don’t get read, but I’m not going to get into that here). However, I do think that the local media—especially the alt-weeklies—have really improved in their coverage of the local scene in the last few years, so blaming the media isn’t really fair.
However, even if the media helped to publicize every single event happening in town, that wouldn’t make as much of a difference as people might thing.
See, the news is supposed to be new. The media likes to publish things that are timely. This is why they often don’t talk about a concert until the day before (or, more often, the day after, when they publish a review). If people don’t know about your event until the day before it occurs, most of them won’t show up.
You need to generate a buzz, well in advance of the actual event, if you want people to show up to your gallery showing, or your open mic night.
How do you generate buzz? That’s my question to the readers. But, I will get things rolling with a few suggestions.
How to Generate Buzz
- Inform the mainstream media (press releases aren’t as effective as they used to be, though, so you’ll have to get creative).
- Talk to bloggers who write about the city, or about your type of art, and see if they’ll write a post about your event. Mainstream journalists often read blogs for story leads, so if you can get written-up on the right blogs, you might get a call from a mainstream news source.
- Blog about it yourself. If you don’t have a blog already, start one. Used effectively, it’ll be an invaluable promotional tool.
- Put up posters, especially downtown, on Whyte Avenue, and on the U of A campus.
- Tell your friends and fans, and ask them to spread the news—word-of-mouth is still the best form of advertising.
I’m not normally a person who talks about reasons why people should leave Edmonton. After all, I love this city, and the entire point of this blog is to promote the good things about Edmonton. Still, River City isn’t perfect. The haters out there occasionally have some legitimate complaints.
So, this week, I’m going to talk about some of the biggest reasons why moving away from Edmonton might be a good idea. But, because this is a blog focusing on River City’s positive qualities, rather than it’s negatives, I’ll also suggest ways to “solve” the problems without leaving the city.
The first, and perhaps the main reason why people might want to leave Edmonton is simple: the winter.
Edmonton winters are long, cold, and miserable
Edmonton is one of the most northerly major cities in the world. Because of our location, we have long, cold winters. Global warming is slowly changing this (which is not a good thing, despite how nice it may be to have fewer -20 Celsius days in the winter), but the fact is, it gets cold in River City during the winter.
On top of the cold, our winters are very long. Winter-like temperatures can last as long as 6 months in Edmonton and, because of our latitude, it gets dark very early in the winter.
For most Edmontonians, winter means waking up and driving to work before the sunrises, and not leaving work until the sun has already set. For people like me, who don’t have a window in their office, this can mean getting almost no natural light during the winter months.
The lack of sunlight and the cold can lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Even those who don’t suffer from true SAD can find themselves suffering from a general sense of malaise during an Edmonton winter.
I don’t blame people for wanting to leave Edmonton after they’ve experienced and River City winter. Hell, sometimes even I want to leave during the winter.
Despite that, I think there are ways that Edmontonians can make winter work in our favour. Rather than dreading winter, we should embrace it.
An Edmonton Winter Festival
The main solution to the Edmonton winter blues, in my opinion, would be to launch a winter festival, similar to La fête des Neiges de Montréal or Carnaval de Québec (the Quebec Winter Festival). Instead of hiding ourselves away in our homes and malls for 5 or 6 months a year, we should be out and enjoying our city during the winter.
Perhaps an Edmonton winter festival could be focused on Churchill Square, to take advantage of the skating rink in front of City Hall. Surely, something could be done on the river, as well. If the ice is thick enough, we could create a natural skating rink to rival the Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
Like the Rideau Skateway, kiosks could be setup along the river (and in Churchill Square) to sell hot food to keep revelers warm. Coffee, hot chocolate, and warm pastries would sell like crazy in such a situation.
A new Edmonton winter festival could take advantage of the very few winter events that already occur in Edmonton, such as the Ice on Whyte ice sculpting competition, incorporating them into the new festival. Perhaps the festival could kickoff on January 1st at midnight, using the New Year’s Eve Downtown celebration as a way to launch both the New Year, and the festival. (This would be especially symbolic during the festival’s inaugural year).
That’s my suggested solution to the Edmonton winter blues: an Edmonton winter festival. I’ve given a brief illustration of what I think such a festival could and should look like, but I’d like to hear your ideas.
After all, for something like this to ever become a reality, the festival organizers would undoubtedly need input from the community. Let’s get a jump on the game and start brainstorming ideas here.
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