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Hey there,

Just wanted a little insight on Alberta/Edmonton/Calgary as a whole. Being from Toronto, don't have much experience about it other than the fact that its freezing cold lol. How do you like the cities? How is the cost of living, weather, social life/people, activities, enviorment, etc. compared to Toronto/Vancouver.

 

Cheers,

Richard

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Edmonton is a multi-cultural city primarily made up of blue-collar people, which is fantastic (esp. compared to Toronto and Vancouver) in that people really love to small talk, etc. That being said, we have an enormous university and a lot of government here, as well. Edmonton is not a place that you would come for a vacation (although there are plenty of gems), however it is a really great place to be if you are engaged in something, like work or school. Second sunniest city in Canada. Amazing river-valley network. Not too far from the Rockies. Great restaurant scene. 

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3 hours ago, LiconC said:

Edmonton is a multi-cultural city primarily made up of blue-collar people, which is fantastic (esp. compared to Toronto and Vancouver) in that people really love to small talk, etc. That being said, we have an enormous university and a lot of government here, as well. Edmonton is not a place that you would come for a vacation (although there are plenty of gems), however it is a really great place to be if you are engaged in something, like work or school. Second sunniest city in Canada. Amazing river-valley network. Not too far from the Rockies. Great restaurant scene. 

I’d agee with all of this. Edmonton is a good place to be if you’re focused on something like school. It’s generally a lot more affordable than Vancouver or Toronto, and there’s actually a decent amount going on in terms of entertainment - there’s a symphony, lots of theatre, a good and growing restaurant and brewery scene, etc.  And I do think people are a bit friendlier out there generally, although I find Vancouver relatively friendly as well (depends where you go).

The major issue for me living in Edmonton was the heavy reliance on a car. Most things are far apart and spread across the city. It’s not nearly as easy to get around on foot or bike or bus as somewhere like Toronto or Vancouver. There is transit, but it’s only really convenient if you’re going between certain places. If it’s important to you, there are a couple more walkable neighbourhoods though, like around the university. 

The cold takes some getting used to — it really can be just unbelievably cold, and the winters can be looooong (think snow in September and May in a very bad year). But unless you take the bus or love winter sports, you don’t actually need to spend that much time in it. Just make sure you have a warm place or a block heater to park your car :p  The positive trade off is that the other seasons are lovely, especially summer — the days are long and the weather is warm but relatively mild/less humid than Toronto or Vancouver.

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