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#1 | beschreibung der stadt edmonton - One Year in Edmonton datum

22.08.2009 12:44

hallo

hier eine interessante beschreibung der stadt edmonton, von jemand der da bereits 1 jahr lebt und arbeitet.

kaum jemand in deutschen foren, nicht nur in diesem, ist je bereit eine solche realistische beschreibung über seine stadt zu schreiben - just life

quelle - englisches forum

Zitat

One Year in Edmonton Alberta

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Before I start, let me just say, this post will not go down well with Edmontonians - but it's not meant for them. I hope this thread will be read by people weighing up the pros and cons of the various Canadian cities. A recce is just a snapshot and warts-and-all, unbiased info (not just sugar-coated tourist rubbish) is hard to come by. Consequently, this piece may seem overly negative, but my intention here is not to anger or antagonize, but merely to redress the balance. Believe it or not I've gone easy, I've left out personal stuff that's happened, some of which would not make for comfortable reading on a forum such as this. (You can review crime stats etc. elsewhere)

So let's cut right to the chase, Edmonton is not the "world class" metropolis it's marketing people would have you believe. It's a blue collar city that rises and falls on the strength of it's economy - people relocate here from overseas and from other provinces for the work and for that alone. People looking for the whole "quality of life" thing, would be advised to seek it elsewhere. The city has a lamentable infrastructure, horrible architecture and doesn't show any sign of getting better any time soon.

The cities "downtown" area is a bit of a joke. It has none of the vibrancy or energy you would expect in a city this size. Very few pedestrianised areas or natural outdoor gathering places. There is also a very serious panhandling and aggressive begging problem, (which sometimes escalates into actual violence and recently death), although this is a problem not just restricted to the downtown area. Once out of the city centre Edmonton is your average mixture of generic condo blocks (flats), older "character" homes, strip-malls and the ubiquitous avenue after avenue of newly built McMansions. Property in Edmonton is relatively expensive by Canadian standards.

On the culture and entertainment front Edmonton is mediocre at best. There's stuff out there, but it's all pretty average and fairly generic, cinemas, clubs, galleries etc. Edmonton sells it's self as Canada's year round "Festival City", although most of these "festivals" are again pretty generic and mainly bunched together during the short Summer months. The better ones tend to be smaller and consequently sell out fast making tickets hard to come by. Eating out here is never a great experience, the restaurants are on the whole terrible - indifferent service and poor quality food.

Edmonton's "Crown Jewel" is it's "River Valley". The North Saskatchewan river valley effectively cuts Edmonton in two diagonally and provides some welcome greenery (during the summer) and a few miles of cycle trails. Unfortunately it also provides cover for an unofficial shanty town of tents and shacks housing many of the towns bums and vagrants during the Spring through to Autumn. Consequently, Edmontonians consider the river valley a no-go-area after dusk which is a shame.

Everyone mentions the driving, I confess, I do not drive. That said, I have witnessed more driving accidents and near misses in one year in Edmonton than in the rest of my 40+ years put together. No exaggeration. Yes, some of these were just winter prangs, but the majority were just caused by careless driving on ice-free roads. Crossing a busy intersection with one hand on the wheel while talking on your cell phone appears to be compulsory here. And man, do Edmontonians love the horn (insert puerile joke here).

The people of Edmonton are for the most part very nice. They are on the whole polite and welcoming - though I suspect being white has helped me out on that front. I'm pretty shocked at how quickly many (Caucasian) Edmontonians, regardless of age or background, can turn any discussion on the cause of Edmonton's woes in to an opportunity to be blatantly racist about either Natives Americas, Blacks or various "Asian" groups . (That said, these views may appeal to the "Daily Mail" type expat!) Canadians I've got to know from other parts of the country don't seem to fall back on these tired old clichés so often.
There also seems be a strange preoccupation bordering on an obsession with Calgary. Edmontonions generally seem to hate the place with a passion, whilst at the same time, desperately aspiring to be more like it. The fact that Calgary appears to be many Edmontonian's only yard-stick by which to judge it's own city gives some insight into the depth and breadth of the average Edmontonian's world view. Unfortunately, it doesn't help that Calgary is indeed a more appealing city in most respects, and at least has some character and sense of it's own identity.

Overall, after spending a year in Edmonton, my advice to anyone planning on making Canada their home would be to consider other cities before even looking at Edmonton. You don't get that whole "quality of life" thing here, far from it. I freely admit, we came here for the work and for that alone, and when the time is right we will be getting the hell out of here. I hope for the sake of the city and it's people the economy stays strong, Edmonton now isn't great, Edmonton during any kind of protracted slump doesn't bare thinking about.

Canada Talk » beschreibung der stadt edmonton - One Year in Edmonton