Edmonton's Population

[IanO]

Unreal.

 

[EdmTrekker]

Unreal.

A more useful chart would be which cities the migrants went to in Alberta. A map would be great to see or the raw data.

 

[Munanyo]

A more useful chart would be which cities the migrants went to in Alberta. A map would be great to see or the raw data.

Agree. I would love to see a detailed breakdown of how many people fled to which cities in the province. I would also be really curious to see how many moved to the mid to smaller sized cities in Alberta.

 

[JuliallThat]

Agree. I would love to see a detailed breakdown of how many people fled to which cities in the province. I would also be really curious to see how many moved to the mid to smaller sized cities in Alberta.

The next national census is definitely going to be very interesting.

 

[ChazYEG]

Didn't know where to post this, but this thread seems appropriate.

I have recently met a girl who moved from Toronto to Edmonton about a year and a half ago, and it was interesting hearing her perspective on Edmonton, and our DT, with comparisons with Toronto and Calgary (where she lived for a few months before getting a job here).

She misses the vibrancy and more people walking around the city, both here and in Calgary, compared to Toronto. Her comments around the perception of safety, especially due to homeless and drug addicts is that there's really no difference in the amount of these, but they're more visible in the Albertan cities, due to overall smaller amount of people on the streets.

She pointed out one thing that we complain here time and time again: upkeep, especially in Edmonton, is horrible. DT is not particularly ugly, but it's poorly maintained. The roads are horrible, sidewalks need more regular cleanup and maintenance, greenery needs to be better treated, etc...

Both Edmonton and Calgary suffer from having very poor advertising of entertainment options. Edmonton fares worst than Calgary on this, according to her comments, but fares better in terms of ACTUAL options. But it is hard, and annoying, having to dig through dozens upon dozens of small social media accounts to find the good (and frequent) stuff going on. None, obviously, have as many options as Toronto, and that gets frustrating, but the lack of advertising of what is there to do makes it all that much worse.

She sees A LOT of potential in the city. Good bones, nice places, good food scene, the River Valley, the amount of greenspace, in general.

She WANTS to want to stay here, and see the city come closer to it's true potential, but there seems to be a lack of actual movement towards improving the city, especially here.

Like her, I'll bet that a LOT of people coming from TO and Van feel somewhat the same. We know everything we need to do keep these people here and, honestly, I believe having them move can actually change the city for the better, if they start pressuring more, but those who are already here, and have connections with the city already, need to start this movement.

 

[Avenuer]

Thing with Toronto is that it has more money for a smaller geographic area to maintain and also has a much milder climate, so it’s WAY easier to maintain infrastructure to a higher standard than here. We have a lot going against us in that regard.

 

[ChazYEG]

Thing with Toronto is that it has more money for a smaller geographic area to maintain and also has a much milder climate, so it’s WAY easier to maintain infrastructure to a higher standard than here. We have a lot going against us in that regard.

Agreed. On the other hand, things are not that much different from Calgary, and yet they manage to do a MUCH better job than we do. We also prioritize our resources very poorly, in that regards.
One example is: why on god's green earth did 23 Ave need a full repaving between Parsons and Millwoods, just a couple of years ago, while Oliver and Downtown roads look like the friggin' moon? Same goes for 137 Ave, and several other roads in the suburbs. The amount of money spent in these two avenues ALONE would've been enough to repave about half of Downtown.

 

[David A]

That is very good feedback from the person who moved here. We can improve and need to, but it is not as bad as some of people here (who I feel sometimes get too caught up in negativity and comparisons with larger places) sometimes portray it as.

I have a other few thoughts, first it is really up to all of us to make it better, however we can, including the person who moved here. Second, our downtown being smaller, I think was hit harder by COVID and also the tough economic few years that preceded it.

However, we do have some great assets, such as the start of an entertainment district downtown and that will help the recovery that I see is already happening and now gaining steam. I also feel the addition of people from larger places will bring a new vibrancy and a desire to be better. So hang in there, I feel things will improve a lot in the next year or so.

 

[ChazYEG]

first it is really up to all of us to make it better, however we can, including the person who moved here.

Couldn't agree more. Funny thing is that this was one of her questions to me, when I mentioned this forum as a source of good debate with like-minded people: "so what CAN we do to change something?"

And she's right. I know that a lot of us here, individually, do something, in smaller or larger scale, but honestly, I get somewhat frustrated that very few of the incredibly good ideas we have floating here ever get heard outside of this forum. I wonder if we can't do more.if we organize ourselves, tbh. As much as we disagree on specific things, we all share a vision of a better Edmonton, and deeply care for the city and its future.

 

[ChazYEG]

Also, she might join us here, if she's not already lurking around

 

[tkoe_]

For all the handwringing and calls for us to make Edmonton better, I think it is worth acknowledging that Calgary has revenues that were about $700 million greater than Edmonton in 2022. There's many reasons for that disparity, but when it comes down to it better infrastructure and improved maintenance is mostly about money.

 

[ChazYEG]

For all the handwringing and calls for us to make Edmonton better, I think it is worth acknowledging that Calgary has revenues that were about $700 million greater than Edmonton in 2022. There's many reasons for that disparity, but when it comes down to it better infrastructure and improved maintenance is mostly about money.

But even on that front... Not so long ago, the disparity in revenue (and GDP, household income, etc) was a lot smaller.
Edmonton proper has been attracting proportionally less investment, with most of the big ones being in the CMA, but adding little to zero revenue to the city itself.

As I said, most of us, in a way, do something to change things here. Just to name a few, Ian has dedicated a lot of time to the DBA in the past, Ken has a company which has employed people and generated economic benefit for many years (and saved historical buildings in the process), Dave was very active in the Bonnie Doon/Strathearn discussion over the ToD development, etc... As small as it is, I'm happy to say that I'll contribute by bringing my company's HQ here in May/June.

Call me delusional, if y'all want, but I do feel like somehow there's more that we can do, collectively. Not sure what, or how, but ffs, I dare you to find a group of people so passionate and full of great (albeit not always feasible) ideas than this. I'd sincerely LOVE to see someone from here on City Council, tbh (and we have a few that 100% have the profile for it).

 

[SMayo]

I've known lots of young people who, once they've gotten to a point where they can leave Edmonton, they've chose to move to Calgary, and the main reason they always state isn't because of the cities job market or because its a nicer city or it's run better etc. They almost always say its because its less than an hour from the mountains.
There's definitely a compounding effect with having more young people move to Calgary in terms of economics and the vibrancy of the city that's widening the gap between them and us, but in my opinion the biggest advantage Calgary will always have over Edmonton is having the mountains on their doorstep.

 

[SMayo]

Agree. I would love to see a detailed breakdown of how many people fled to which cities in the province. I would also be really curious to see how many moved to the mid to smaller sized cities in Alberta.

Lots has changed since the last census, but aside from the Edmonton and Calgary CMA's, pretty much everywhere else in the last census saw very little or no growth in population which is a big problem if the goal of the province really is 10 million people.

 

[IanO]

I've known lots of young people who, once they've gotten to a point where they can leave Edmonton, they've chose to move to Calgary, and the main reason they always state isn't because of the cities job market or because its a nicer city or it's run better etc. They almost always say its because its less than an hour from the mountains.
There's definitely a compounding effect with having more young people move to Calgary in terms of economics and the vibrancy of the city that's widening the gap between them and us, but in my opinion the biggest advantage Calgary will always have over Edmonton is having the mountains on their doorstep.

I never really understood this until moving to Canmore and seeing it firsthand now; it's a very attractive option.