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What do Edmontonians like most about life in the city?

Each other. Edmonton is a community-minded city full of volunteers, which allows many people here to find fulfillment professionally and personally. 

Related Stories

  • A Big Giant Hippie Sport
    It’s a good way to meet people. You don’t socialize just with your team. You talk to the person who’s marking you. That’s completely not normal in other sports.
  • A Night Closer Than Our Days User submitted story
    We all sang the same song holding hands and hugging. The funny thing was when we left downtown after we saw the fireworks we still sang together with a lot of random people on the train.
  • A Pink Year Story has video User submitted story
    Suddenly, a crushing blow hit. I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, and everything stopped.
  • A Salute to Your History User submitted story
    I'm proud to say that my family is a part of Edmonton's history and has been since my paternal and maternal great-grandparents settled in Edmonton in the early 1900s. I'm grateful they chose Edmonton!
  • A Spontaneous Decision User submitted story
    This city has changed, and I was only a few miles away and had no idea. Around every corner is an opportunity to discover something new.
  • A Strange Way of Growing On You User submitted story
    We were living in Tanzania when our young son decided he wanted to do nanotechnology. I found that the University of Alberta would be starting this program. But where was this place called Edmonton?
  • An Aussie in Edmonton User submitted story
    The day the temperature reached an inconceivable -36 C, I stayed in bed and missed class. (They say only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. I say only mad Canadians go out in those temperatures.) Luckily for my studies, that only happened once during the first winter.
  • Block Party
    There are lots of opportunities in developing neighbourhoods: room for new initiatives, for people to promote change. Working together we transform the area. We’re attracting community to this neighbourhood.
  • Christmas Eve Kindness User submitted story
    We lived in 2 rooms with the luxury of sharing 1 shelf in a refrigerator which stood in the hallway, and it was rarely filled.
  • City Canvas: A Wonderful Surprise Story has video
    What does the Garneau Tree, art, and getting your start in radio have in common? Watch Mark's videos to find out.
  • Downtown Surprise User submitted story
    Of course, living on the busiest street of downtown Edmonton meant that life was always moving, and Jasper Avenue provided all the charms of that energetic downtown lifestyle.
  • Edmonton Chinese Garden User submitted story
    Nothing fills my heart with dread more than the question, “Where are you from?” As a Chinese-Canadian, I know that when I answer “Alberta,” this will prompt the inevitable follow-up query: “no, where are you really from?”
  • Edmonton is the Place to Bee User submitted story
    The big fat industrious bumblebee itself is Edmonton as a whole - as hardworking and cheerful with a buzz and purpose much like this city I have grown to love so much.
  • Football Memories
    I’m a huge Edmonton Eskimos fan. I’m from a family of 3 daughters, so my poor father had to teach his daughters the rules of football. My world stops when the Eskimos are playing.
  • Glimmering Moments User submitted story
    The conductor took as much time as needed and enthusiastically answered the copious questions of a curious and delighted child. My love for Edmonton comes to me through this glimmering minor moment.
  • Growing Up Edmontonian User submitted story
    There were disorganised games of soccer baseball, football, tag, Mother-May-I, and red-light green-light. There were train tracks to explore, bridges to cross, and rocks to throw.
  • Hello Neighbor User submitted story
    She was the sweetest old lady who would babysit me. She would make me and only me cookies every weekend. No matter how busy she was, she would find time to make them for me.
  • I Am At Home Now User submitted story
    As a mother, I felt we needed to be together somewhere that everyone would be comfortable and I thought Edmonton might be that place.
  • I Didn't Even Notice the Cold
    My favourite season is Edmonton winters because that’s when I can watch hockey. It’s my favourite sport. I'm a big fan.
  • I'm Coming Home User submitted story
    My family and I have been lucky in the amount of world we have been able to travel to. As a child my grandmère traveled extensively and we saw many places vicariously through her.
  • In the Blink of an Eye User submitted story
    Life can be so quick you don’t notice how much you've grown. But I must say: I'm lucky to have lived in Edmonton.
  • Janelle, 13, on Janelle
    You’ve got the mountains right there. They’re good for hiking, good for skiing. They just give you a lot of opportunity for things to do, a place to go away that’s not too far so it’s easy to only go away for a weekend.
  • Life in the Big City User submitted story
    In 1999, the mine in Grand Cache went bankrupt. Along with about 400 other families, we were suddenly out of jobs and had to move somewhere else.
  • Match User submitted story
    I found an advertisement in the newspaper for Match.com and figured I should just check it out since I was not finding Mr. Right in grocery stores.
  • My All-New Heaven On Earth User submitted story
    I can’t say I am a nature lover for certain because that would imply so much depth and would be a tall claim, but the reservoir truly gives me an extraordinary feeling of sensitivity.
  • My First Time on the Mindbender User submitted story
    The idea was hatched even before class had started. Me and my cousin are going to go ride the Mindbender after class today.
  • My Skate with the Oilers User submitted story
    I moved to Edmonton when I was 4 years old. My parents separated and I had to leave my father, my sister, my pit-bull Lassie, and our house in Montreal. I had trouble adjusting to my new and more humble surroundings.
  • New Game Plan: Edmonton's Next Gen User submitted story
    I came to Edmonton from Vancouver a few years ago to pursue my PhD. The program at the University of Alberta is world class and I was so excited. However, upon hearing I was relocating to Edmonton my friends were aghast.
  • Not a Hockey Game or a Pile of Rocks User submitted story
    I was born in this city at Edmonton General Hospital in 1966 and after 43 years considering what was a defining moment that I felt truly an Edmontonian?
  • Our Story is Far From Over User submitted story
    Our story is far from over. There will be many more chapters to explore and to write.
  • Peace in the Valley User submitted story
    I spent my first years of school in Edmonton where I made a lot of friends. Friends who I will never be granted the opportunity to speak to again.
  • Plugged into Edmonton User submitted story
    I asked her what she was doing for Thanksgiving. She said nothing. She had nothing to do on the most delicious holiday of the year.
  • Purple City S'mores User submitted story
    The security guards stopped by once or twice to see what exactly it was that we were up to. Each time we smiled sweetly and offered them a marshmallow, and each time they politely declined.
  • Scooting Around Town Story has video
    I’m a visually inspired person, obviously, being an artist. The views in Edmonton really grab me. Standing on top of the river valley, you can see the whole city. Sunsets. The moon. Clouds sweeping through.
  • Sense of Wonder User submitted story
    I do not come from what anyone would call a well off family, and so the move was a little difficult.
  • Sound of the Olympic Flame User submitted story
    My senses are on full alert…the sounds, the sights, the feel of the pavement, the setting sun in a cloudless sky, even the sound of the Olympic flame in my torch as I’m jogging. With a huge smile, I look up at my lit torch…beautiful!
  • Spring 2005 User submitted story
    In the spring of 2005 my family had a difficult decision to make.
  • Spring in the Park User submitted story
    It was an unusually warm April morning in Edmonton, Alberta. My friends and I were enjoying a lazy Saturday morning after a night out celebrating the end of the semester and the beginning of summer.
  • Subtle Aspects User submitted story
    Having grown up in Edmonton and lived here my whole life, I've learned what I love the most about this city is what it’s not in comparison to other cities of the world.
  • Sunshine Sketches of a Beautiful City User submitted story
    Looking for the best place on earth to live? Then focus your Google Earth search on north Edmonton and hone in on Beaumaris Lake.
  • Taking in Our River Valley User submitted story
    Flowing glacially in a traffic jam of metallic snails, I am a mesmerized sightseer in the comfort of my vehicle, just letting the sweeping river valley panorama impress me for a prolonged IMAX sensation.
  • The Jackrabbit Made Me Do It User submitted story
    I got a crappy job, had no friends, and it was -35. I was miserable and really missed the Okanagan weather and the life I'd had there. I wondered what the heck I had done to my life by moving to this godforsaken place.
  • The People Make the City User submitted story
    It's possible to look at Edmonton and simply see the sports teams with their championship legacies. Or just West Edmonton Mall, the river valley, and all the festivals. But those who only see these things are missing the most important aspect of the city – the people.
  • The Trip Across User submitted story
    I will never forget the look on our collie’s face at the sight. What the heck have you gotten me into? I wondered that myself.
  • The Wedding Cup User submitted story
    That was the night that the Stanley Cup came to Edmonton for the first time out west, with Wayne Gretzky and the dream team on the ice.
  • The Wild West
    Edmonton is a young city in a lot of ways. I don’t want to say it’s the Wild West, but it kind of is. There’s a lot of opportunity for people who are ambitious and want to try and do things and make an impact themselves.
  • Things I Must Do Story has video
    Sandy moved to Edmonton with her husband. She is getting to know Edmonton with new friends and getting involved in the community by volunteering.
  • Three Passions, One Lucky Lady! User submitted story
    Music Together has allowed me to combine my three passions – my love of children, my love of music, and my deep love of family – and to find a rich and rewarding career – all without having to leave my home town!
  • Two-Wheeled Adventures Story has video User submitted story
    My bicycle has given me a new lease on life in Edmonton now that I leave the car key at home when I go out to visit my favourite haunts.
  • You Grow Up One Way Or The Other User submitted story
    When you grow up in Red Deer, you are either an Edmonton fan or a Calgary fan.
  • A Love Of Place Story has video
    I moved here without any plans and I found a really exciting theatre community that I could be a part of. When I was younger I thought I might move on eventually, but you develop roots. And just a love of place.
  • A Mission of Diversity
    I applied to various universities throughout Canada and heard back from the University of Alberta. They sent me a reply along with a pre-paid cable for my response. I accepted, and it was an incredible decision.
  • Come Give Us a Try Story has video
    Joanne Beaton loves doing business in Edmonton.
  • Converting a Calgarian User submitted story
    The number 99 haunted me growing up. Unlike most present-day Edmontonians, I grew up wearing red and yellow hockey sweaters - not orange and blue. Wayne Gretzky didn't make my childhood hockey dreams come true...he killed them. To this day, it frustrates me to no end, knowing there's no rebuttal for "Five Cups."
  • Don't Diss Edmonton
    Edmonton surprises people. Look at our TV industry. We have a really strong independent film community here. And we’ve got a really strong industry community here actively engaged in the arts business.
  • From Seaweed to Stubble User submitted story
    I worked the streets of Edmonton for 25 of my 29 year police career and was given the opportunity to try many areas of the Service.
  • Home Of Strange Records
    Folkways was this label from New York City by Moses Asch. It was a very forward-thinking, independent label. Moses wanted to capture sounds that would’ve otherwise been lost because they weren’t commercially viable.
  • I Was This Close to Going Back Story has video Story has audio
    I was one lucky guy. They called and said I’d gotten the job, and that I could start the next day if I wanted to.
  • Opera Boot Camp Story has video
    I’ve always been an educator. If you want it, you can make it happen. Same thing, 11 years ago, when I had the idea to start Opera NUOVA, which came from a collection of things happening around the same time.
  • Taking It To The Citizens User submitted story
    Who would have thought that someone born in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, raised in Nairobi, Kenya, with Goan, Indian heritage would be such a diehard Edmontonian?
  • The Accidental Company Story has video
    Interestingly, the minute we arrived they all moved to Vancouver and the pressure was on for us to also move. But we liked it here, we were doing well, and we had started our company.
  • Time For a Change
    I promised myself that I wouldn’t work in food service for the rest of my life.
  • Traces: LA, Honolulu & Edmonton
    The truth is the idea for teaching the Edmonton course was seeded in something I did a few years ago.
  • Why I Chose Edmonton User submitted story
    I came to Edmonton as an international student and was always asked the same question, Why did you choose to come to Edmonton?
  • A Man With A Crush Story has video
    I could draw you a map of the world right now. I love history. I love all the stuff you’re really not supposed to talk about at work, so I figure I should work in a place where I can talk about it all the time.
  • Edmonton: An Awesome Place for Kids Story has video User submitted story
    Katie thinks Edmonton is the greatest city. From the Valley Zoo to the WEM waterpark, Edmonton has tons of things for kids. In the attached video Katie shares some of her favourites!
  • Magical Volunteer Army Story has video
    What does it take to become one of the world's best folk festivals? Blood, sweat, toil, and tears? Definitely. Volunteers? Absolutely. Watch 2 short videos to find out what keeps everyone coming back each year.
  • More Than a Whirlwind User submitted story
    I had returned to visit treasured friends I had made in the early 80s while working at University of Alberta Hospital. I will never forget that hot afternoon.
  • My Edmonton Has It All User submitted story
    When I think of Edmonton, I think of home. I say we’ve got it all. A remarkable skyline, an incomparable conservatory, and one of the grandest bridges I’ve ever seen.
  • Red Light, Green Light Story has video
    Shelley grew up in Calgary, and remembers coming to Edmonton for the weekend as a child. In the video below, she recalls a funny story about being a kid and preparing for the Edmonton traffic light experience.
  • We Shared a Secret Smile User submitted story
    Good old West Edmonton Mall. We looked at each other while it dawned on us what she was talking about. We shared a secret smile only Edmontonians can have.

Brought to you by the City of Edmonton & Edmonton Economic Development Corporation