Edmonton Travel Forum

Hi there to all you keyboard types. (get it?)

I'm from B.C and looking to move to Edmonton. I really would like your opinions on Living in Edmonton. Also I noticed that most if not all streets end with NW as opposed to Calgary. Is a reason for that.

Thanks and looking forward to your replies,

Tom

i know of no streets that end in anything but NW. i don't even bother putting this on the addresses.
it tough to find a place to live right now in edmonton. homes are very expensive and there are few rentals. but, i think we've hit the peak already and things will start to slow down. summer in edmonton is really great with lot of good festivals. traffic is starting to be a bit of a pain with all the people who are moving here, some of the roads are getting pretty busy. all in all, i think it's a decent place to live.
the biggest downside for me is that you have to drive at least 3 hours to get into some of the really nice areas like the mountains or further to drive into bc. but there are some nice lakes around.

There are SW addresses, just very few. The centre of the quadrant system is in the southeast part of the city. It's basically where the numbers would end (0 St. & 0 Ave., although the streets aren't named that).

I've never lived in Edmonton, but it is a nice city. Winters are cold, but you get used to that. (Buy real winter tires. :) That makes the driving easier.) Housing is quite costly in Edmonton right now, so make sure that your expected income will be appropriate for your expected cost of living.

The openness of the terrain is nice - you may miss the mountains but they are not that far away (Jasper is about 400 km west). Highway access to Saskatoon and Calgary is quite good (and Regina is on the same route through Saskatoon). Access to BC is through Highway 16, or through Highways 1 or 3 via Calgary.

There is a lot to see and do in Edmonton. I doubt you would be bored.

I agree with the other 2 replies. If you plan on moving here, if possible, try to look for a place to live before you get here. It is very hard to find an apartment these days. Traffic is also pretty annoying, but we have a decent transit system. The people here are really friendly. There's tons of stuff to do, lots of bars, restaurants, art galleries, movie theatres, shopping...pretty much anything you could want. The mountains are a few hours away, but who doesn't like a good road trip every now and then :) Of course it's cold in the winter, but it's not -40C all winter long! We have a few cold snaps, but other than those it's pretty bearable. Check out some Edmonton members pages. If you have any more questions about Edmonton, feel free to ask. P.S. We have a few addresses that end in NE, SE, etc., because those areas are just starting to be built up, so I'm sure we'll start to see more of them in the future. It doesn't really affect much, because right now those are pretty much industrial/business areas.

The person who posted above is correct - someone decided that 0 street and 0 avenue is significant (I don't even know how to find that - must be south and east of most of the city) and since most of Edmonton is northwest of that, hence NW. No one except the post office and business mail uses that designation on addresses.
Edmonton is a great place to live but not an exciting place to visit since it doesn't have any of the glitzy attractions of many other places (except for West Edmonton Mall).
The quality of life is great, living is generally affordable and comfortable, especially when you consider that the greater Edmonton area has over one million people. Commuting times are short from most parts of the city. The unemployment rate is currently very low and there are lots of jobs (mostly in the service sector). And for those long weekends in the summertime when the sun never seems to set (over 17 hours of daylight in June), you can drive on a divided highway 360 km west to Jasper (3.5 hrs), or 400 km south and west to Banff (4 hrs) for a rest in the Rocky Mountains.

The climate in spite of numerous digs on this forum and on others, is very pleasant. Summers can be very hot and sunny, with thunderstorms in evenings, but can also be very dry. Autumns are normally sunny and warm. Winters are placid, most of the winter months have temps just below freezing during the day, and generally we don't get that much snow, some years not enough even to cross-country ski!! Normally we have one or two frigid cold spells lasting only a couple of days, usually in January, but last winter we had no cold spells at all. Spring - well - spring is the most unpredictable of all seasons in Edmonton. Some years it is early and tulips are blooming in April, and in other years it is cold and damp and sometimes snows in May (spring snowstorms lasting a day or so, snow melts quickly). You just never know!! But we have a much longer growing season than Calgary, where altitude and proximity to the mountains means frosts later in the spring and earlier in the fall.

I'm a bit confused about the 'ending in NW' bit, but edmonton, unlike calgary is really easy to get around. It is organized on a grid of ascending/descendind numbers with avenues running one way and streets the other. So, as long as you are able to count, you can find any address. As for the NW, you might be looking at a lot of places in the northwest region? Good luck with the move!