Edmonton has Been Destroyed; What Would You Miss?
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about leaving Edmonton, lately. As much as I love this town, I think I need to leave in order to truly appreciate it.
As I’ve been thinking about moving away, I’ve been thinking about what I’d miss. Here are a few of the things I’d miss, if I moved away from Edmonton. Please share things you’d miss, if you were to move away (or if you already have), in the comments.
- The mountains - I know that the mountains are not in Edmonton, but their relatively close proximity to the city (and the fact that, if I move, it will likely be out of Alberta) makes them close enough to be included in this list. Jasper is one of my favourite places in the world, and living in Edmonton means that I’m only 4 hours away at any given moment. The mountains, perhaps more than anything else, would be missed.
- The Fringe - Edmonton has the largest Fringe Theatre festival in North America—second largest in the world. Theatre, fringe or otherwise, is one of the things that Edmontonians do best. To me, the Fringe is one of the mainstays of the summer festival season. It occupies a huge portion of Old Stratchona for 10 days, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Apparently, in most other Canadian cities (Winnipeg being a notable exception) the Fringe Festival, if it exists at all, occupies a sad side-street and one or two small theatres. That is not the way it’s supposed to be.
- The grid system - I know this seems like a weird thing to miss, but I would miss the fact that Edmonton’s roads are organized, for the most part, in a convenient grid system that is super easy to navigate. While there is the odd named street to throw a wrench in the works, the system is generally easy to figure out: go south/east and the avenue/street numbers get smaller; go north/west and they get larger. This simple system makes it easy to find just about any address in the city, even if you’ve never been to that part of town before. I have no doubt that I will miss “boring” addresses like 10645-137 Avenue while I’m driving around some other city trying to find 35 West Water Street.
- Catfish Coffee Roasters - I discovered this company a few weeks ago at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market and fell instantly in love with their locally roasted beans. I’ve only tasted their Peruvian blend (which they call Husker Du Peru) so far, but I must say that it is one of the best, if not the best, coffees I have ever tasted. I will definitely miss this coffee if I move away from the city.
- The Edmonton poetry community - While a lot of people might not be aware of it, Edmonton is a poetry city. The community is huge, and there are number of open mic nights around the city, including my favourite: the Raving Poets. I would miss the community, and the generally unpretentious nature of most of the poets in Edmonton.
- Alley Kat and Amber’s Brewing Co. - Edmonton has two very fine microbreweries, Alley Kat and Amber’s Brewing Company, both of which would be greatly missed if I moved. Between the two of them, most of my favourite beers are locally brewed. Unfortunately, I don’t think either of these breweries export out of the province (I’m not even sure if they can be found outside of the Edmonton Metro Region).
- No PST - OK, this is an Alberta thing, rather than an Edmonton thing, but if I were to move away from Edmonton, I would be leaving the province as well, so I would definitely miss not having to pay PST on top of the GST. With the combined PST & GST (or HST) in most provinces being around 13% (and as high as 15.5% in Prince Edward Island), I’d certainly miss only paying the 5% federal tax on goods and services.
There are a multitude of other things that I’d miss, I’m sure, but I can’t really think of much else other than family and friends. I think that one of the things about moving away from home: only after you’ve gone to you really appreciate what you had.
What would you miss if you had to leave Edmonton? Pretend the city has been destroyed and you will never be able to return.
The Fringe would definitely be on my list too. I’d miss friends, of course. The Oilers. The University of Alberta. The river valley. The Edmonton Tweetups! I’d miss a ton of stuff…I love Edmonton.
Mack D. Male
12 Sep 08 at 10:48 am
Your mention of the Oilers made me think of another thing I’d miss: the Eskimos. Of course, I would still cheer for the Oilers and the Eskies wherever I moved, but I would miss going to live Eskimos games.
The Oilers, well, I can’t really afford to go to a live game very often, so I wouldn’t really miss that very much.
I’d miss the river valley, too.
Adam Snider
12 Sep 08 at 11:12 am
I’d miss the river valley. Friends, The mall. I love e-town.
Zach Kowalchuk
12 Sep 08 at 11:22 am
I can’t say that I’d really miss the mall (I assume you mean WEM), but to each their own.
Adam Snider
12 Sep 08 at 11:25 am
Definitely the river valley. Also, Whyte Avenue can be a lot of fun.
Forrest Zeisler
12 Sep 08 at 11:25 am
The smaller independent food restaurants and all the festivals is what I currently miss the most right now.
Jon
12 Sep 08 at 11:27 am
I like Whyte Ave, but I don’t know if I’d miss it. Most decent-sized cities have a similar area. Having said that, I would miss certain restaurants, bars and stores on Whyte.
Adam Snider
12 Sep 08 at 11:28 am
Without a doubt, it’s the ease in which you can get to know just about anyone in town.
Edmonton still has a very small, casual network of power-brokers (no matter what area your interests are. Not just business, but politics, service, or the arts). If you don’t know the person you will probably only be 1-2 degrees seperation from them.
Plus we are much more laid back, and less hung-up on fashion, money, stature etc. A good thing in my mind.
Good questions!
Chris LaBossiere
12 Sep 08 at 12:07 pm
Hmmm. I don’t know if I agree with what Chris is saying, I find it very hard to meet people in Edmonton. But then I’m looking at it from a purely social perspective, and he seems to be talking about power brokers and business relationships.
I would miss our summers. The mix of rain and sun and moderate temperatures is my idea of perfect weather.
As for the grid system, once you realize that Edmonton is a collection of very ordered grids with some funny business in between you have it made. Although, the bizarre assortment of roads at the bottom of the river valley is another thing I’d miss - I’ve never seen anything so weird.
Edward Pollard
12 Sep 08 at 1:29 pm
Yeah, maybe I’m not outgoing enough, but I actually find that Edmonton is not an easy place to meet people. In my experience, we’re kind of anti-social folk who don’t talk to strangers if we don’t have to in this city.
Adam Snider
12 Sep 08 at 1:58 pm
I guess my experience is more in line with Chris’…never really had a problem meeting people here.
Mack D. Male
12 Sep 08 at 2:20 pm
Last year I moved from Edmonton to Montreal for school. I’d have to say the thing that I miss the most is the sky. That probably sounds weird, but I live right in the middle of downtown in Montreal. Basically the only things I see around here are tall buildings, tall trees, and Mount Royal. Not that I have a problem with buildings and trees… but its just not the same! It also doesn’t help that its sooo cloudy here all the time. This summer has been awful and (while I felt bad for you guys in Edmonton last winter with the temperature) last winter in Montreal was cloudy and snowy and gross! Seeing the sun more then once a week was a rare occurrence.
I guess the other thing that I miss most about Edmonton (oddly enough) is Badass Jack’s restaurant. I can’t find a good wrap here anywhere! (and trust me, I’ve looked!)
Rosanne
12 Sep 08 at 2:37 pm
Actually, I can understand missing the sky. In fact, when I was first thinking about this idea, that was something I thought of (but forgot to include in the post).
We’ve got that big prairie sky that you just don’t get in a lot of other parts of the country, especially if you’re living in the heart of a much larger city.
Adam Snider
12 Sep 08 at 2:47 pm
Yeah, I didn’t even realise I would miss until it was gone. I had never lived anywhere else besides Edmonton, so I guess the sky was just one of those things I took for granted!
Rosanne
13 Sep 08 at 5:49 am
Good question, Adam. I’d miss the valley for sure. The Transit system - crippled and ineffectual as it is - would be missed. Although I’m not a sports guy, I would probably miss the Esks and the Oilers. And I’d miss the poetry scene - the people and their (general) lack of pretension.
Wouldn’t miss the mall or Whyte. Wouldn’t miss south Edmonton common. Wouldn’t miss the rednecks. And the minus 30 weather. Wouldn’t miss that one bit.
Mike Gravel
13 Sep 08 at 7:58 am
Mike, I’d definitely miss the poetry scene, too. I was definitely thinking about that as I took in the Edmonton Poetry Festival this weekend.
Since you’ve added thoughts of what you wouldn’t miss, I’ll add some thoughts of my own with regard to that: I wouldn’t miss South Edmonton Common, either. I wouldn’t miss the rednecks, nor would I miss trucks so tall that I can’t roll down my car windows in the summer without inhaling a lung-full of diesel exhaust.
As for the biting winters I think, strangely, that I would miss that. Partly, that’s because I’m clearly a masochist, but partly it’s because of nostalgia. Some of the best things that have happened to me have happened during -40C weather.
Adam Snider
15 Sep 08 at 8:30 am
The restaurants: Edmonton has some great food. Bua Thai, Khazana’s, Lemongrass Cafe, Bloc 1912, The Red Ox Inn, The Blue Plate, etc., etc.
The summer weather.
Cross-country skiing in the park behind my house.
Green Onion Cakes.
And yes, the sky.
Cori
15 Sep 08 at 8:55 am
I… don’t really get what people don’t like about South Edmonton Common.
Edward Pollard
15 Sep 08 at 8:57 am
I don’t get what people like about it, either. I have a severe hate on for South Edmonton Common, and avoid it like the plague.
Adam Snider
15 Sep 08 at 10:09 am
Are you being sarcastic or failing at literacy Adam?
Edward Pollard
15 Sep 08 at 10:35 am
I would be failing at literacy. I guess my own bias against SEC caused me to completely ignore the second “don’t” in your comment.
Adam Snider
15 Sep 08 at 11:54 am
It is a double negative. The fault is mine.
But really I don’t get “disliking” SEC. Some of the stores suck, some suck a lot, but I’d dislike the stores not the … well… whatever it is you call that.
Edward Pollard
15 Sep 08 at 12:12 pm
I dunno…I just find it overly congested and poorly designed. The traffic flow in the area is generally terrible.
Adam Snider
15 Sep 08 at 1:06 pm
The only problems I’ve ever really had was when a train hits.
Lets face it, when it comes to urban planning that train line is the punch line of a terrible, horrible, awakening-Lovecraftian-gods joke.
I do not miss living in a place where I could watch the train from my deck.
Edward Pollard
15 Sep 08 at 1:08 pm
Yeah, that train is terribly located. Of course, I suppose the train was there first, so building around the line as they did wasn’t the brightest idea?
Adam Snider
15 Sep 08 at 1:12 pm
Well I don’t know if they really had too much of a choice. I’d imagine at that point they were desperate to get the city closer to the airport and thus took it as a natural consequence of that need.
And I do enjoy navigating South Edmonton a lot more than East, West, or North Edmonton.
Edward Pollard
15 Sep 08 at 1:14 pm
I’m late to the party, but thought I’d chime in all the same.
I’m with you on the theatre scene, especially the Fringe and local companies like Teatro la Quindicina and Shadow Theatre.
The familiarity of everything - the streets, my neighbourhood, knowing which restaurants will hit the spot…
Sharon
18 Sep 08 at 4:54 pm
[...] my last post (which I have updated since first writing it), I talked about things that I would miss about Edmonton. In the comments section, the topic of things you would NOT miss about Edmonton came up, so I [...]
What Would You NOT Miss About Edmonton? at River City Writer
24 Sep 08 at 1:37 pm
I’d probably miss the long clear summer days most of all. The river valley, and the high level bridge. The generally down to earth and unpretentious attitudes of Edmontonians. September. And although I consider our transit miserably inefficient, I find the slow pace of the LRT ride to Clareview charming with that brown and orange interior and that big brick tower/chimney in the middle of that field.
maurice
27 Sep 08 at 10:27 am
[...] are two posts from Adam that you don’t want to miss: Edmonton has been destroyed: what would you miss? and the follow-up, What Would You NOT Miss About Edmonton? Lots of great comments on both. [...]
Edmonton Notes for 9/27/2008 at MasterMaq’s Blog
27 Sep 08 at 11:33 am
I recently moved from Edmonton to Vancouver and here are the things I miss the most:
The river valley, the sun, the Oilers and liquor stores that are open past 9PM on a Friday night.
Iris
22 Oct 08 at 11:23 pm