EarlFlynn

Darn it, I applied for that Bioware job...would have been perfect. Grumble.

Edmonton's a great place to live, often called "Redmonton" by the rest of the province because the political culture tends to lean to the left. Ready acceptance of gays, lesbians, atheists and socialists, a gorgeous river valley (Edmonton has the highest number of trees per capita of any major North American city), good roads, an excellent university, world-class theatre/symphony facilities, fantastic movie theatres, West Edmonton Mall, beautiful parks...

Oh, and yeah, the winters. But hey, usually it's only -20 or so, aside from the occasional week-long cold snaps of -30. Ugh. Summers are nice, though.

Late_Cretaceous

Edmonton is a nice place to live. The biggest drawback is the weather and being far away from anything else.


Some of the points to consider if you choose to live here:


If you are from the Spokane area, all of our major american networks channels (ABC< CBS< NBC) on cable come from Spokane, so will may be able to catch up on your local news back home.

You can ski or hike or canoe through the river valley -from one end of town to another, and hardly even be aware that you are in a major city because it has hardly been developed.

There is tons of park space and wooded areas. Moose, deer, bears and even a cougar have been found in local neighborhoods.

In the summertime it is daylight till 11pm. And it is one of the few major cities in the world where you can regularly see the northern lights and noctilucent clouds at night.

Our oldest son has just finished grade 1 and we have been impressed with the quality of education.

The air is relatively clean, and we are ahead of most ciites in recyling garbage.

If you live here it is a LONG drive to go ANYWHERE of note. Calgary is 3 hours, Banff and Jasper are 4. I don't think there is a decent beach within a 6 hour drive.

The weather is very erratic, which sucks in the summer but is sometimes good in the winter (because we get several periods of mild weather). The growing season is also pretty short.

Housing prices have been experiencing a period of rapid growth, and it has been getting quite pricey.

Every second vehicle on the road is a pickup truck.

Edmonton itself is quite diverse, but the surrouding area is pretty redneck.

There is a lot of festivals in the summer.

If you ever visit any surrounding areas, you will realize how great it is that they spray for mosquitoes in the city.

Did you say good roads EF? Maybe in the fall, just after they finish tearing them all up for repairs all summer long. Certainly not in the spring when the freeze/thaw cycle makes craters everwhere.