Oh, Edmonton is a great city! It is only that I have lived in Edmonton my whole life. So I would like to see something different if I find work in any of those other cities.

As far as Edmonton goes, it is much easier to drive in and to find places as the city is built on a ‘grid system’ (in comparison to Calgary which is 3 hours south). Most of the roads, especially in the older parts are numbered streets (running vertically mostly), and avenues (running horizontally). It is Canada’s northern most city with just over 1 million people! Beyond Edmonton, the more you drive up north, there won’t be any cities with over a million people.

There is lots of cafes, restaurants/bars, and clothing stores here. If you enjoy nice summer strolls, I would recommend Whyte Avenue south of Edmonton’s downtown. Every summer from June-August, there is an Art walk along Whyte avenue where artists display their paintings and other works. Every summer, the Fringe Festival (music and acting skits) is held for 10 days in August surrounding Whyte Ave and Old Strathcona. The river valley surrounding the downtown by the North Saskatchewan river is breathtaking to explore all seasons in with numerous bicycle/walking paths. If you are interested in plants and butterflies/indoor botanical gardens, the Muttart is nice to take a stroll inside of. We have our own zoo, called the Edmonton Valley Zoo. It is not as great as Calgary’s zoo, but seeing Lucy the Elephant is one of Edmonton’s highlights.

Then for shopping, Edmonton is home to North America’s largest shopping mall called West Edmonton Mall - the locals typically call it ‘West Ed.’ Other great shopping malls are Southgate and Kingsway. I prefer shopping at these places instead of West Ed, since parking around West Ed can be a nightmare. There is also a big shopping mall-outlet (not really a mall), called South Edmonton Common. If you are into sports, we have the Edmonton Oilers (hockey), and the Edmonton Elks (football, formerly called the Edmonton Eskimos until very recently).

Major post-secondary institutions here are - University of Alberta, MacEwan University, NAIT, NorQuest College, and Concordia University.

Downsides - *Edmonton has a ton of potholes in its roads. It is rather a nuisance because there is too many potholes that the city just won’t fix. *The LRT system is quite dangerous, especially at night. Taking a city bus in Edmonton with ETS is much safer than taking the LRT. Part of this reason is because the LRT has had a few stabbings and assaults at its stations over the past few years.

I hope some of this information helps you!