Edmonton’s Attractions and Unattractions
When I moved to Edmonton, what I needed was a concierge. There’s lots that OK in Edmonton Alberta and great jobs, schools and universities. But oddly, the city doesn’t promote what I think are its best attractions, from the point of view of someone with a small child, and I’ll add its most interesting urban areas. Skip the mall and try these:
Kidmonton Bravissimo to:
#1, the star of the show: Fort Edmonton - steam trains and pony rides!
Ukranian Village - Autumn Harvest
Millenium Place swimming pool
Rutherford House - Kid’s Halloween
The tram over the High Level bridge thanks to the volunteers of Edmonton Rotary Railroad.
Walk along Ada Boulevard, admire houses in Highlands
Hawreluk Park - feed the ducks. Why isn’t there a really good restaurant?!
University of Alberta Rutherford Library Reading Room
Edmontonians are great customers - talk about patient people!
That mobile petting zoo
Shopmonton Bravo to businesses and local products which are better than the others:
Saturday Market, Downtown - ‘real’
Pinocchio Gelato and Ice cream (available in a few supermarkets)
‘Popular’ Portugese Bakery - try the lemon custard tarts, buy the corn bread.
Balkan Deli - try the sausage
Budapest Hungarian deli - fresh cooked meats on Sat.
Other historic businesses and facades of 118 and 112 Avenues - Hang in there.
Ukranian Bookstore
Mediterranean Market and Paradiso Bakery, both 134 Ave.
ETS buses and LRT - right on time and friendly
The new International Airport terminal
124 St. boutiques and galleries
34 Ave. South Asian restaurants and shops
The businesses on 134 Ave. around 110 St.
Vienna Bakery - only the heavy rye
Fedmonton Restaurants:
The Hardware Grill - #1 pick: world class food, understated but seems to have too intimidating a reputation for most locals
Il Portico - Great wine and Italian food
Culina - good food, best decor
Wild Tangerine Restaurant - Fab fusion, trying a bit too hard
Block 1912 - Coffee, Newspapers and Gelato
Leva - Coffee for academics
Deadmonton Disappointments - its good to be proud but its best to want to get better:
Driving 1 - a big disincentive to going out: Terrible intersections, lack of winter plowing, bizarre highspeed merges, poor signage, artificially low speed limits, weaving cars, heavy truck traffic in the city core
Driving 2 - Lack of signage, missing signs
Driving 3 - Truck mania - one of the main factors precipitating personal bankruptcy. Jacked up 4×4 extendacabs are just not necessary for taking kids to school
Hard to find webpages listing events and lack of listings for young kids’ events in the paper.
All those other bakeries: bread that’s so expensive they sell half loaves!
Patisseries run by people who’ve never tasted the real thing.
All those other over-priced restaurants - expensive does not mean tasty.
No more small hardware stores
Poor quality fruit and vegetables, everywhere
The River Valley - its a ditch: littered and inaccessible to an aging population and families with young children
Overpriced houses - is there a 100K premium?
South Edmonton Common - chaotic, unappealing, dangerous parking lots
No scheduled direct air links to Europe, Mexico or the Pacific
People who think Edmonton is better than Winnipeg and ‘just like Ottawa’
Even the police stations and libraries seem to be in strip malls!
Where’ the soft icecream?
November 13th, 2005 at 8:14 pm
“The River Valley - its a ditch: littered and inaccessible to an aging population and families with young children”
As much as I don’t like Edmonton and hope to leave soon, I totally disagree with the statement above. Edmonton has an absolutely wonderful River Valley, accessible at any time of year to anyone! I’ve never seen any garbage there, it’s superclean. It’s great for biking and walking. All the adjacent parks are great: Hawrelak, Trewillegar and Victoria. One can bike/walk for hours, because it’s so extensive. Various smaller river parks such as Mill Creek or Whitemud Ravine are wonderful, they have various types of forests and plenty of wildlife, including deer, coyotees and lots of birds: waterfowl in summer, owls, woodpeckers. To sum up, it’s a great place for a family stroll or quite a strenuous spring/summer/fall bike ride, or cross-coutry ski in the winter!
It’s quite a unique River Valley, not every city can boast with one like that!!! That’s definitely the main thing I will miss about Edmonton!!!
December 24th, 2005 at 2:44 pm
I’d have to add La Ronde, the Creperie, Madison’s, la Spiga, and Characters to that list of fabulous restaurants. (And Jaipur Palace if you’re an fan of indian food.)
Also, there’s a great little gelati place across from Mountain Equipment co-op (124st) and while you’re down there, stop by Paddy’s International Cheese Market to pick up some amazing, and resonably-priced gourmet cheeses.
Tara
December 28th, 2005 at 11:57 am
You forgot to mention the spirit of Edmontonians and how proud we are to call this home. This is a city that by all accounts is much cleaner than most and we have numerous festivals to appeal to many different cultures that live here. Some other restaurants that you may want to try while you are here: High Level Diner, Cafe Select, Louisiana Purchase, Julio’s Barrio, Dadeo’s(no minors though) and of course, as mentioned by someone else, Jaipur Palace.
Keep in mind that when you go somewhere with a closed mind, you will only find the negative.
I’m proud to call Edmonton my home, even though for the first 15 years of my life, I lived on Vancouver Island.
November 21st, 2006 at 9:09 pm
33 murders this year, since when did Edmontonians find it acceptble that young kids going out on a Friday night to the pub have to worry about being killed? Be proud of the city but face the fact that it has major problems.
July 26th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Sorry, but Edmonton used to be a nice place to live. Now it’s overcrowded (and thus overpriced) thanks to everyone flooding here to use E-town as home base for their blessed Fort “McMoney” jobs. Now we have pothole littered streets, overcrowding, $400,000 starter homes and exorbitant rents. Schools and hospitals are chock-full (people have not been bringing these with them when they come here!!) Most people that are not in the oil sector (directly) have NOT seen the wage increases to compensate for the massive jump in living and housing costs. If you’re not coming here for an “oil job” - you had better get lots of $$$ for whatever it is you do because E-town is very expensive, and the government has NO idea how to keep the place up. The city is falling apart. Ironically, we’re in “oil country” and we’re also getting RAPED at the gas pumps to the tune of $1.20 a litre. It’s a joke but for most people it’s just not funny. I’m seriously considering moving to Saskatchewan and leaving this run down old oil town to the “oil boom” tradesmen that have flooded here in droves. There are just too many dumb overpaid people here now with their annoying, loud and overpriced vehicles like 4×4’s, SUVs, LUVs, and Hummers. Not to mention that everyone and their dog now owns a Harley Davidson – these noise-makers should be outlawed. E-town is simply full of rich morons. And they’re all driving like today is the last day on earth. Won’t miss this place when I go. It’s not the same anymore.