Edmonton - How It's Changed in 25 years

[Grizzly Adams1]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Cities suck all of them not just Edmonton and that is why I stopped living in them

Living in a city just makes me frustrated, angry, and just negatively impacts my quality of life. You guys who live in them can keep them

I grew up in Calgary and lived my early married life there, same story, Cities have become cesspools, we left 40 years ago and would never go back.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams1

I grew up in Calgary and lived my early married life there, same story, Cities have become cesspools, we left 40 years ago and would never go back.

I lived in Calgary in the early 2000’s when the city started to really blow up in size. It was great for a guy with a small construction outfit but watched the city start to dive fast.

Crazy part was the starter homes I started my outfit on were at a low of around 165k but within 2 years that price went up to around 300k. Same house same neighborhood maybe a window was added or moved other than that same design

Now the place is nuts no way I would live there now.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by Dick284

I grew up in Edmonton, learned to drive there too. Left in 1989 at age 25, and when ever I go back, it’s absolutely insane to drive there….
I manage and that’s about all, couldn’t imagine actually living in the cess pool it has become.

I had the same thought and I have lived here all my life. Then a few years back we drove up to my aunts 80th bday in Vancouver and I had to drive my car around for 4 days.

1. Not a manual transmission friendly area with all the stop and go hilly roads lol.


2. I said I would never complain about Edmonton traffic again, so far I have not. Drivers, different story.


And ya, living here for 57 years, I think the last 15 to 20 ish is when I seen the most down turn in cleanliness, safety, crime/homelessness and all around feeling good about living here. With the way the city councils have gone and now being Redmonton, the thought of moving just outside to a outer hub town is in my head more and more these days.

[TimeOff]

The city's downward trajectory really started after Mayor Bill Smith's tenure, last fairly conservative mayor. Steadily gotten worse, but if you take advantage of the river valley, and know where to get crown land within an hours drive, it has its appeal. Buena Vista Park has probably the best off leash dog park in western Canada. Can still find a few spots for berries and mushroom as well.

[Faststeel]

The never ending yellowhead contruction, who is in charge of this.....?

Multiple other big projects all over the city, just make it a cluster to get around in, in decent time. 2021 i had a chance to move any place I wanted to,. i chose Medicine hat, its just the right size for me, and the 60,000 other people I am happy to share this city with, love the close proximity of the shotgun and rifle ranges to town, has a Costco, lots of good golf, my favorite things are covered.....FS

[flydude]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Lived here all my life other than my economic exile in the 1990's to Texas and Florida.

In 1989 I was Articling at the Wentworth Building across from Canada Place. Behind 97th Street was a bunch of skid row drug dens and ***** houses.

Ladies would be "marketing" all over the area from 2 PM onward. The Transit Hotel, the Cecil Hotel, and a host of other slum dive bars could be counted on for regular stabbings every week.

Those parts of Edmonton have cleaned up. Alot of the current downtown core is now empty lots, with homeless people. There never was a real downtown redevelopment simply by building Rogers Place. No other developments to date like the City had envisioned for the "ice district".

Biggest issue is rising homelessness and meth / fentanyl abuse. No secret that alot of people have turned to the streets and are permanently unemployable due to lack of skills / mental illness / thirst for stronger and stronger drugs.

Used to be getting busted for Pot was a deterrent, now there is a Pot shop on most major travel corridors. Only deterrent to drug abuse is how long a ride on the ETS bus it is to the free / safe injection site.

Edmonton is a symptom of the failed Woke Experiment. Not as bad as Vancouver, but still pretty bad. We could spend money on Parks, Recreation and Roads, but instead the services of a Municipal Government are the last thing a City Manager cares about.

The Homeowners get taxed to death while dreamy eyed City Planners and Counsellors dream up new ways to show their support for diversity and inclusion while the bike lanes remain unused.

All the while the homeless rob the grocery stores and liquor stores and the Police treat shoplifting as not worth enforcing.

Drewski

You should run for Mayor.

[HVA7mm]

I moved to Edmonton from NE BC in 1990 to go to school until 1993, it kind of had more of a big small town feel to it with a population of around 600,000. Things were happening up and down Jasper Ave and to a lesser extent at the time Whyte Ave, but there were also the skid row pockets between 101 St and 95 St, and Jasper Ave to 107 Ave and of course along 118 Ave/Stony Plain Rd. I moved back up NE BC as there were very few jobs to be found in AB at the time, but found myself back here looking for work and finding work 1997 when the NDP were still trying to starve out NE BC. So I guess that I've been here for the last 27 years and have noticed dramatic changes.

In the late 90's early 2000's countless tax payer dollars were pumped into (and still are) failed attempts at gentrifying 118 Ave, 107 Ave, Stony Plain Rd, etc. However around 2003 or so the downtown core started making a comeback, and the pocket from 100 Ave to 104 Ave from about 100 St to 124 st, as students and young professionals started moving downtown. By 2013 or so it was really getting some vibrancy back and the ICE District seemed to offer some promise of that continuing. Sure you still had a few junkies/homeless wandering around, especially after the work day, but it wasn't any different than any other large cities.

Then COVID hit, everyone was going to die from just looking at each other, so downtown closed and everyone moved back to the suburbs to avoid the plague. Work stopped for anyone that wasn't deemed essential and the Trudeau threw handfuls of money to everyone, and I mean everyone. That's when the zombies moved in, and were encouraged to do so by Edmonton city council. They opened up the Expo Center, transit centers(actually provided transit), Commonwealth, the Convention Center etc. etc. You know who really likes concentrations of unemployed people and people with mental illness that have money thrown at them, drug dealers, and oh boy did they ever have a field day. When word got out that you can get free money for drugs from the government, an abundance of drugs available to buy, and a city that will help facilitate said drug use, people took notice. It was pretty much an "If you build it, they will come" scenario. Pretty soon the public facilities weren't working for everyone because some of them had a few rules, so the next step was encampments in which the city did absolutely nothing to curtail. Remember the Rossdale Encampment, or should I say Camp Pekiwewin. What a joke that was. Nothing but a haven for addicts, dealers, predators and criminals, but the city wouldn't do anything because some of the "residents" said that "Rossdale has been an important gathering place for Indigenous people for thousands of years and is the site of traditional burial grounds and no governing body wanted to do anything. Then after it was finally cleared up, encampments began to spring up everywhere because there was and still are no deterrents.

Fast forward a few of years, the plague wasn't that bad and everyone wants to get the ball rolling and get back to work downtown, however there are now many many unwanted guests that public policy has allowed to proliferate for nearly half a decade. Soft handed left-wing politicians and zero enforcement of existing laws have helped this crap show become the norm, much like most other cities. People have gotten so used to it, that most just ignore it, just like the government has been doing for years. That's been the biggest change that I recall ever happening in Edmonton in my 27 years here.

[W921]

If you Google where does Rachel Notley live nothing current comes up. I would be willing to bet that no drug zombies would ever be allowed in her neighborhood.?
I think a solution would be somehow to get these zombies moved to better neighborhood where woke politicians can live with them and help them overcome their misfortune.

[FlyTheory]

Anyone notice that no one waves when you let them into your lane anymore? It’s turning into Calgary.

I’m curious, we have all these grievances, but what can actually be done? I plan on moving out of the city soon enough anyways 😎

[CDNOutdoorsman]

Originally Posted by HVA7mm

I moved to Edmonton from NE BC in 1990 to go to school until 1993, it kind of had more of a big small town feel to it with a population of around 600,000. Things were happening up and down Jasper Ave and to a lesser extent at the time Whyte Ave, but there were also the skid row pockets between 101 St and 95 St, and Jasper Ave to 107 Ave and of course along 118 Ave/Stony Plain Rd. I moved back up NE BC as there were very few jobs to be found in AB at the time, but found myself back here looking for work and finding work 1997 when the NDP were still trying to starve out NE BC. So I guess that I've been here for the last 27 years and have noticed dramatic changes.

In the late 90's early 2000's countless tax payer dollars were pumped into (and still are) failed attempts at gentrifying 118 Ave, 107 Ave, Stony Plain Rd, etc. However around 2003 or so the downtown core started making a comeback, and the pocket from 100 Ave to 104 Ave from about 100 St to 124 st, as students and young professionals started moving downtown. By 2013 or so it was really getting some vibrancy back and the ICE District seemed to offer some promise of that continuing. Sure you still had a few junkies/homeless wandering around, especially after the work day, but it wasn't any different than any other large cities.

Then COVID hit, everyone was going to die from just looking at each other, so downtown closed and everyone moved back to the suburbs to avoid the plague. Work stopped for anyone that wasn't deemed essential and the Trudeau threw handfuls of money to everyone, and I mean everyone. That's when the zombies moved in, and were encouraged to do so by Edmonton city council. They opened up the Expo Center, transit centers(actually provided transit), Commonwealth, the Convention Center etc. etc. You know who really likes concentrations of unemployed people and people with mental illness that have money thrown at them, drug dealers, and oh boy did they ever have a field day. When word got out that you can get free money for drugs from the government, an abundance of drugs available to buy, and a city that will help facilitate said drug use, people took notice. It was pretty much an "If you build it, they will come" scenario. Pretty soon the public facilities weren't working for everyone because some of them had a few rules, so the next step was encampments in which the city did absolutely nothing to curtail. Remember the Rossdale Encampment, or should I say Camp Pekiwewin. What a joke that was. Nothing but a haven for addicts, dealers, predators and criminals, but the city wouldn't do anything because some of the "residents" said that "Rossdale has been an important gathering place for Indigenous people for thousands of years and is the site of traditional burial grounds and no governing body wanted to do anything. Then after it was finally cleared up, encampments began to spring up everywhere because there was and still are no deterrents.

Fast forward a few of years, the plague wasn't that bad and everyone wants to get the ball rolling and get back to work downtown, however there are now many many unwanted guests that public policy has allowed to proliferate for nearly half a decade. Soft handed left-wing politicians and zero enforcement of existing laws have helped this crap show become the norm, much like most other cities. People have gotten so used to it, that most just ignore it, just like the government has been doing for years. That's been the biggest change that I recall ever happening in Edmonton in my 27 years here.

Absolutely bang on... and this goes for every major center, not just Edmonton.
When will this corrupt politicians be held accountable?

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Edmonton is becoming the Toronto of the west, socialism, traffic, crime, drugs, all of the negative aspects of a big city.

Yup. Even their hockey team is wrapped in NDP colours.

I bet someone who was away from Calgary and came back after 20 years… or any small, medium to large city will see a notable change.

Plus over time one forgets the annoyances like traffic.

[ab_hunter]

Pretty interesting.https://youtu.be/_2V8nKqLkFg?si=XjYGuVf_QnxHFGUh