EDMONTON
Edmonton is the capital of Alberta in Canada. The city is divided into two by the North Saskatchewan River and has an estimated population of about 1.3 million people. A lot of people know Edmonton as the oil capital of Canada and as the festival city of Canada. People who reside in Edmonton pay less tax than those who live in other districts. People who migrate to Edmonton are awed at the hospitality of Edmontonians.
In 2014, Money Sense magazine rated Edmonton as the 8th most habitable place in Canada based on its economy, amenities, housing, weather and notable landmarks. In 2016, Edmonton had slipped down the list, as a result of population growth.
Edmonton has a leveled geography. The Rocky Mountains despite being out of sight is open for recreation. Edmonton’s river valley is home to the longest stretch of connected urban parkland anywhere in North America. There are over 97 kilometers (61 miles) of biking, hiking, skiing, walking and snow-shoeing trails.
Edmonton’s “ribbon of greens” was made from resident parks all over the city which produced 27,400 acres of parkland. This makes it the city with the largest area of parkland per resident. It has an advanced bus network and electronic rail system that stops often at major central and other districts.
People come to work in Edmonton because of the large deposit of oil and gas there. For this reason, this district has a lot of migrants from different walks of life. One-quarter of its residents are from China and other Asian countries. First nations estimated aboriginal people living in Edmonton to be about 5% of its population. About 85% of its inhabitants speak English as their primary language and 91% of people who migrate to Edmonton also speak English language.
In August 2016, unemployment rate in Edmonton was estimated at 8.3% as a result of over 11,000 people losing their jobs in just one year. As a result of the drastic downturn in its oil and gas sector, its economy is anticipated to crash by 1.3% in 2016, sequel to a 1.8% crash in 2015. Due to the crash in oil prices, oil producers have restructured their financial plans in order to reduce expenses. This has led to a decrease in employment rate.
Alberta’s economy is anticipated to rise by an average yearly growth from 2017-2020.
The biggest and most influential industry in Edmonton is the petrochemicals. Edmonton is naturally endowed with oil and natural gas, which has earned the province the title of “oil capital of Canada”. The amount of oil gotten from the province soil can only be compared to that of Saudi Arabia’s.
The region generates revenue from many other sectors of employment like. There are relevant opportunities in information technology, banking and biotechnology etc. a large curriculum of courses significant to the oil and gas industry are offered by the local colleges. Employers include Afexa Life Sciences, Bioware, IBM, Intuit Canada, Canadian Western Bank, Telus, General Electric, Stantec and TD Canada Trust. A lot of successful small and medium enterprises like Pizza 73 and Booster Juice have emerged. Due to the huge influx in the oil and gas industry, employment opportunities in the goods producing sector has reduced. More jobs are being created in the service producing sector; about 33,000 jobs were created within July 2015- July 2016.
Job vacancies are now offered to those who were quick to show interest. In the retail industry, potential employees can apply personally with their curriculum vitae and get hired instantly.
The economic recession that is ongoing in Edmonton can also be noticed in real estate valuation. Homes in Edmonton since mid-2015 to mid-2016 were calculated to cost about $370,000.
Concerning the best places to live in Edmonton, we will have to deliberate on family-friendly communities providing good quality of life with little or no crime rates. If you are a single youth seeking the inner city night life and entertainment, the neighborhoods considered earlier may not be your choice.
Residents of Edmonton suggest that the western neighborhoods are the most sought after and wealthy. Communities like Haddow, Henderson Estates and Ogilvie Ridge have low crime cases and its inhabitants are quite wealthy. Communities like Blackburne and Falconer Heights are also wealthy areas with low crime cases.
Communities such as Lendrum Place and Steinhauer are for the middle class despite the fact that they experience more illegal acts than the communities mentioned earlier they still have low crime cases.
Windsor Place and Bearspaw are good communities in South Edmonton, while Wild Rose, Cloverdale and Larkspur are beautiful communities to reside in the South East.
In the South East, some areas in Mill Woods are known to have high crime rates; some residents urge migrants not to reside in Mill Woods. Even when these residents only mean well; it is not right because only few areas have high levels of crime in Mill Woods province. The other communities provide good quality of life with low levels of crime. The best places to reside in Mill Woods are Jackson Heights, Greenview and Menisa.
Sherwood Park rests on the eastern part of Edmonton; it is populated by over 60,000 people, has very low level of crime and is most times chosen by many who want a very conducive environment.
You can also find a lot of family friendly vicinities in West Edmonton, though some of these areas were created recently. You can choose from Dechene, Gariepy, Glastonbury, Jamieson Place, Laurier, Heights, Potter Greens, Quesnell Heights, Rio Terrace, Wedgewood Heights and Westridge.
In North Edmonton, you should consider Canossa, Elinsore and Klarvatten. Cumberland and Oxford are good places you should also check if you intend to live in the North Western part of Edmonton.
St. Albert is also a great choice in the north. Home to about 60,000 people and it sits along the boundaries of Edmonton. Illegal activities in Edmonton are common in some north eastern communities and are most times concerned with drugs. Abbotsfield, Beverly, Hermitage and Norwood are some of the communities popularly known for high crime rates. The downtown areas are not left out once its dusk, especially in the east, Chinatown and McCauley precisely.
Other good places you can reside in the North East are Matt Berry and Hollick-Kenyon.
Crime levels in Edmonton are more than 50% for Canadian cities, though quite lower than Vancouver, it is 40% more than Calgary and is two-times the level of crime in Toronto and Montreal.
The communities we have highlighted have less than 50% low crime rates and are capable of providing great family friendly environs for families who want to migrate to Edmonton.
Edmonton has a continental climate, with high temperature differences for various seasons. It is almost a normal occurrence for snow to fall between September and May. It snows heavily in December and January, with average snowfalls of over 20 centimeters. December, January and February can be extremely chilly. In June, July and August, average highest temperature for each day is said to be over 20 degrees Celsius.
During summer, the mixture of heat and cloudburst leads to the creation of harmful thunderstorms which has constantly led to tornadoes. On July 31, 1987, Edmonton was struck with an F4 tornado that killed 27 residents. Hailstorms are also very common during summer.
In 2004, a great summer storm occurred; rainfall exceeding 100 millimeters was recorded in an hour. The storm created great damage to the West Edmonton Mall and also caused mass flooding all over the region.
There are three chief school boards for kindergarten to twelfth grade education which residents can choose from in the region of Edmonton. Most of the schools are registered with the Edmonton Public Schools board and provides quality education.
The region has a Catholic school District and a French language school board offering standard education for children who speak French language basically. Getting admitted into kindergarten- twelfth grade relies on your personal choices, schools admitting and your location. Student admission depends on their catchment areas and their residual address.
Edmonton has over ten post-secondary institutions. The University of Alberta is said to be the largest of all the universities in Edmonton, one of the best universities in Canada, rated 107th in the world by The Times Higher Education 2016-2017 World University Rankings.
The University of Alberta admits over 36,000 students yearly with about 3,500 teaching staff and about 10,500 non-teaching staff.
The city of Edmonton is home to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. The institute provides applied technical courses through different undergraduate programs and certificate or diploma. The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology has a large campus that admits more than 48,500 students every year.
ENVIRONMENT AND GETTING AROUND EDMONTON
Being the oil capital of Canada, people who live in Edmonton spend little on gasoline and diesel. A lot of its residents use cars as their primary means of transportation. They also have access to a reliable and efficient public transport system.
The Edmonton Transit System combines an electronic rail service that connects central and downtown places of interest and a bus system that links the whole region. Despite these efficient modes of transportation, people who live in Edmonton do not often make use of the public transport as they feel its time consuming and stressful. In Edmonton, it’s rare to find people riding bikes to work.
THE West Edmonton Mall provides variety of recreational activities; a lot of teenagers think it to be the regions first recreational center. It has an indoor amusement park which holds one of the biggest indoor roller coasters in the world, a swimming pool with water park, a mini golf, laser tag, a skating rink and bowling. The region also has modern western attraction centers like movie theaters, restaurants, youth clubs and lots of multi-screen.
The region officials decided on creating more recreational centers and businesses after complains of lack of fun activities were lodged by residents who lived downtown.
You will be pleased with the regions large and well connected park system if you love outdoor activities. Edmonton has the largest area of parkland per resident; its river valley has the longest stretch of connected urban parkland in all of North America.
A lot of these parks are properly secured while some parks like Borden Park get few visitors as it is considered to be dangerous once the sun sets because of the high rate of illegal activities that go unreported.
The Edmonton Eskimos are the region’s Canadian Football League team; a lot of peoples visit the commonwealth stadium to watch them play. The commonwealth Stadium aside hosting matches also hosts concerts and other stage acts that involve a lot of people. Edmonton hosts the capital Ex yearly; the festival involves midway rides, live acts, concerts and games
Edmonton is a very busy region with lovely people living there, earning a living or enrolling for different courses. Edmonton city has all a migrant could ever need to be at ease.
EDMONTON’S NEGATIVES
- High level of crime compared to other Canadian cities
- Extensive and extreme weather variations
- High cost of housing compared to other downtown regions
EDMONTON’S POSITIVES
- Low tax rates
- Lowest fuel and gasoline prices in Canada
- A strong economy
- Lots of job opportunities
- Highest area of parkland per resident of any Canadian city
- Cheaper housing compared to Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto etc
