User Story

By Bonnie Caron

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. We had lots of choices, but after a Christmas trip to West Edmonton Mall our kids were pretty stuck on moving to Edmonton. My eldest daughter was very into theatre and drama and had gone to several workshops at Victoria Composite High School. She begged us to move to Edmonton so she could attend the theatre program there.

We had 1 teenager and 2 preteens. Looking at Edmonton and all the colleges, universities, etc., it seemed like the best choice for our family. We made the decision and plans to go into the city and look for someplace to live.

That weekend my husband and I headed into Edmonton. We made an appointment to meet with a real estate agent to look at rentals. We had determined how much money we wanted to pay for rent and he took us to look for condos and houses in the area around NAIT. By lunch we had looked at 14 places and were very discouraged. It all seemed very busy and city centre for a small-town family like ours. We decided to head back to our hotel on Stony Plain Road and regroup.

As we drove up 107th, we got caught on the circle at 142 Street. Both my husband and I were raised in B.C. and to my knowledge nobody on the West Coast ever was foolish enough to build one of those crazy circles. We went around and around and around and by the time we shot off we had no idea where we were or what direction we were headed in.

“I remember this from our last trip," my husband assured me, "if you turn off the main drag you end up in a little community and we can park and look at the map.” We took the next right into a very pretty little neighbourhood and parked in front of the school to re-navigate our way. We could have held the map upside down and done better. We were really, truly good and lost.

Lots of parents were walking their children past our car on their way back to school after lunch. I decided to ask for directions and looked for a friendly face. A petite pretty woman with the cutest little girl was approaching and I rolled the window down.

"Excuse me," I said, "We are so lost. Can you help us?" She laughed and told us that people often got lost when they turned off the main drags and started to give me directions back to Stony Plain Road. As I wrote her instructions on my writing pad she noticed all the house and apartment notations with rental prices and addresses.

"Are you looking for someplace to rent?" she asked. As I explained our dilemma to her she smiled and said that there was a house next to her for rent. I looked around at the pretty little houses and told her that I was sure we couldn’t afford anything in such a nice neighbourhood.

"Oh no!" she assured me, "It would be cheaper than most of those units!" We agreed to wait for her while she dropped her daughter off. She would call the landlord for us so that we could look at the house. It was amazing how things came together. We talked to the landlord and rented the house immediately. It was perfect for us. We moved to Edmonton 2 weeks later and started life in the big city. Our nice little community made it feel like a small town for us and that really helped. I had a next door neighbour who introduced me around, showed me where to shop, everything I needed. We were living in one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Edmonton.

That friendly face is what I think of when I think of Edmonton. People here don’t fall all over themselves, but they are helpful when you need it. Edmonton has lived up to our expectations. My children have gotten good educations here and we live a good life. There are so many cultural activities and outdoor places that all a person's needs get met. We are just minutes from downtown and blocks from the river valley.

Years later we bought our own home in Edmonton just a few blocks from that first house. We are still friends with that family next door. I feel at home here. Edmonton is a good place to live.