How good is edmonton to live in?

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finbear

i've lived in both edmonton and calgary and edmonton doesn't hold a candle to calgary. i find edmonton to be a very dry, boring, dirty city. it's a very industrial place and therefore i personally find it to be very ugly. no offense to anyone living there that's just one person's opinion. i have lots of good friends there that enjoy edmonton, it's just a personal opinion of what you might be looking for in a city. i didn't particularly find edmonton to be more laid back than calgary, i'm not sure why people think that. oh well. calgary is very close to the rockies and it just seems a bit more current and trendy to me. there are drugs but i don't think anymore than in the states. i wouldn't know about that though.

Lostris

I've lived in Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton. Edmonton is not that bad of a city, ignore those that live in Calgary and bash Edmonton, there is a rivalry between the two cities.

If you're worried about drugs and homelessness, Calgary has a much more prevelent (visible) problem. There is a big methodone problem in Calgary and you often see homeless people pushing carts of bottles and bags, this is something that you don't really see in Edmonton.

Edmonton is more of a "blue collar" city, meaning it is based more on the manual skills, where Calgary is more of a "white collar" city meaning its built more on business. The pace of life in Edmonton is also more laid back than Calgary, this has much to do with Edmonton being the provincial capital.

Now as for St. Albert, its a very affluent suburb of Edmonton. NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) has a St. Albert campus

elementoflife

LOL... I like Edmonton way better than Calgary. I find Calgary really money oriented and fake.
I live close to downtown Edmonton, in what used to be a really run down, crummy area of the city. It's cleaning up and I find it fantastic. I am not that big of a partier anymore but I used to go out often when I was in school here (about 3 years ago) and I found the music scene to be great. I love live shows and there were lots of venues for that. Around the university (in the 'Strathcona' area), there are lots of bars that cater to the university crowd.

As for St Albert... it seems like a wealthy suburb of Edmonton. There is a bus that goes from St Albert to various stops in Edmonton. I have to to admit that the transit within the city sucks but if you have a car, then you'll have no problem (Calgary's transit is worse). Anyway, St Albert is just suburb - there isn't anything there of particular interest. It's attached to the city though.

There is quite a bit of homelessness here but you really get it all over the country. I find it worse in Vancouver and Toronto! Also, Whyte ave is where all the bars are that I was talking about, and there are a lot of boutiques and cafes around there. There seems to be a lot of panhandling around there since people that frequent the area tend to have money.

The lifestyle in Edmonton is different from Vancouver and eastern Canada - it's a big country. Vancouver - you're close to the mountains but it's VERY expensive to live. Calgary is pretty darn expensive too but also, you're close to the mountains. Edmonton is pretty pricey too but not as bad as Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver. We aren't as close to the mountains but I still go once in a while - I go for a weekend though. The weather is cold between late November through to March, but if you dress for it, you'll be fine (I never feel the cold, but I dress warmly - and I walk everywhere).

I guess there are drugs here but everywhere does! I rarely notice it as a problem. If you're worried about it, don't be unless you run with that kind of crowd.

Hope that helps!

I should add, I have lived in both Calgary and Edmonton - and this is just my perception of the cities! You may not find what you are looking for here, but you might - you'll never know until you try!

Miel

Both Edmonton and Calgary are growing at a superfast pace.

If you like the rockies I'd head further south to Calgary.

Every city has its seedy parts.

JAMES699

I hate living in Edmonton, I really want to move to Toronto (best city in Canda), better yet I wanna move to America. I refuse to live in Canada. Its so ******* cold.

Liz

I visit BC (British Columbia) a lot. Like a tropical rainforest, actually. In the winter, be sure to check out the Fire Channel. It's a public channel on your TV that has a live fire being taped and every once in a while a hand comes out and pokes it. If you watch it long enough you'll get really excited when the hand emerges. On Friday nights, we have Firechannel parties with popcorn and everyhting. Yeah.. there's not too much to do in BC in the winter..
As for drugs and stuff.. Yeah. I guess so. A LOT of alcohol and strip clubs every corner, or at least in Quebec.

sharon

edmonton is a horrible place to live in...it's way better in calgary which is 2.5 hrs drive away...the city is growing rapidly, more developed and slightly less colder than edmonton (ghetto). also there are way more opportunities in calgary, and definitely more lively as well.

MiKeY J

dont go

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