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Edmonton Branding and Tourism strategy

Not too often unless the Oilers are playing, but I can tell you firsthand that the reputation is disheartening. I regularly chat with folks from the Bow Valley/Calgary and many are new to Canada/Alberta here on work VISAs or PRs. They ask what there is to do there as they are often told (unsure by who) that there is not point in going north of Calgary as Edmonton is a smaller, lesser form of it and 'much more dangerous'. Sadly, this is a very common conversation and needs to be addressed and overcome.

Now before folks jump on me for the above, it's something I try to dispel and share a variety of reasons to go to river city.
 
IanO said:
Not too often unless the Oilers are playing, but I can tell you firsthand that the reputation is disheartening. I regularly chat with folks from the Bow Valley/Calgary and many are new to Canada/Alberta here on work VISAs or PRs. They ask what there is to do there as they are often told (unsure by who) that there is not point in going north of Calgary as Edmonton is a smaller, lesser form of it and 'much more dangerous'. Sadly, this is a very common conversation and needs to be addressed and overcome.

Now before folks jump on me for the above, it's something I try to dispel and share a variety of reasons to go to river city.
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I've experienced this as well, particularly from Calgarians and it is very bizarre. You don't have to want to move to Edmonton, but I can't imagine someone from Toronto saying that Montreal is so dangerous and rundown that they would never visit. I mean, if you want to go to Stampede every year fill your boots, but doesn't that get a bit boring after awhile? Isn't there any sense of discovery in doing something new?
 
IanO said:
Not too often unless the Oilers are playing, but I can tell you firsthand that the reputation is disheartening. I regularly chat with folks from the Bow Valley/Calgary and many are new to Canada/Alberta here on work VISAs or PRs. They ask what there is to do there as they are often told (unsure by who) that there is not point in going north of Calgary as Edmonton is a smaller, lesser form of it and 'much more dangerous'. Sadly, this is a very common conversation and needs to be addressed and overcome.

Now before folks jump on me for the above, it's something I try to dispel and share a variety of reasons to go to river city.
Click to expand...
Not only do they do a good job of branding themselves but also us. It seems to be a their civic duty.
 
IanO said:
So excited for the Klondike Days parade and tens of thousands of people and families it brings to the core to celebrate the city and region's origin, history and to celebrate the place.

Oh wait.
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Back in the 70's sure - K-Days parades rocked! But are they even relevant anymore? YYC has one cause without the parade what would be the point in buying the same generic 10 gallon white Stetson that symbolizes Cowboys chasing Indians? Surprised that the "Stampede" is still called that and also goes for the Stampeders (a white privileged dude with a stache chasing Indians in his stage coach).
 
IanO said:
Not too often unless the Oilers are playing, but I can tell you firsthand that the reputation is disheartening. I regularly chat with folks from the Bow Valley/Calgary and many are new to Canada/Alberta here on work VISAs or PRs. They ask what there is to do there as they are often told (unsure by who) that there is not point in going north of Calgary as Edmonton is a smaller, lesser form of it and 'much more dangerous'. Sadly, this is a very common conversation and needs to be addressed and overcome.

Now before folks jump on me for the above, it's something I try to dispel and share a variety of reasons to go to river city.
Click to expand...
Maybe mostly told to them by someone in a city to our south, I doubt those at the centre of the universe really have enough awareness of Edmonton to form strong opinions about safety. Although I suspect they do believe Edmonton is a much smaller city like Winnipeg or Saskatoon.

However, between the recent hockey series which regularly shows shots of the tallest building outside of Toronto here and more of their family, friends and neighbours moving here I suspect some of them are starting to think about us more and are beginning to realize we may have been under rated.

Perhaps in time our own self confidence will catch up some too. I understand excessive bravado and pride has seldom been fashionable here, but I don't find lack of confidence appealing either.
 
I remember my mom and dad taking us kids to the K-Days parades when we were kids. Somewhere along the way, restaurants and businesses started ripping people off, and downtown later crashed.
 
IanO said:
Not too often unless the Oilers are playing, but I can tell you firsthand that the reputation is disheartening. I regularly chat with folks from the Bow Valley/Calgary and many are new to Canada/Alberta here on work VISAs or PRs. They ask what there is to do there as they are often told (unsure by who) that there is not point in going north of Calgary as Edmonton is a smaller, lesser form of it and 'much more dangerous'. Sadly, this is a very common conversation and needs to be addressed and overcome.

Now before folks jump on me for the above, it's something I try to dispel and share a variety of reasons to go to river city.
Click to expand...
Eh, I don't care what people from Calgary or anywhere else think of Edmonton. Personally, I have lived in both Calgary and Vancouver and hated them both, would rather those folks not come here. I love living in Edmonton and am quite happy with it being our own high quality of life secret.

The thing that annoys me is when people who live here whine about it because they have internalized those viewpoints. My personal piss off is when they say "There is nothing to do", Edmonton has more things to get involved in, festivals, clubs, parks, family activities, etc than anywhere else I have lived, and it doesn't cost a million dollars to do those things.
 
Boyle Street makes Edmonton look very run down. That entire area would be better off as SFHs and duplexes than it's current state (gravel parking and fabric structures). Gradual improvement in rundown areas has proven to be difficult in New York City with parts of Dumbo just recently becoming desirable. This isn't New York, and leaving this to developers to take punts on might not work. Parking lot alley surrounding Kinistinâw Park is going to require an Ice District level mega project to make people feel safe being some of the first to move in. It needs to be everything at once or this spot will continue to stagnate right next to a majority of DT Edmonton's hotels.
 
Barnaby said:
Boyle Street makes Edmonton look very run down. That entire area would be better off as SFHs and duplexes than it's current state (gravel parking and fabric structures). Gradual improvement in rundown areas has proven to be difficult in New York City with parts of Dumbo just recently becoming desirable. This isn't New York, and leaving this to developers to take punts on might not work. Parking lot alley surrounding Kinistinâw Park is going to require an Ice District level mega project to make people feel safe being some of the first to move in. It needs to be everything at once or this spot will continue to stagnate right next to a majority of DT Edmonton's hotels.
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Just look at how hard is is to rejuvenate the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver - an area with much higher real estate prices and they still can't breathe life into large parts of the community.
 
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