Does anyone on here live in Edmonton?
If so can you please give me some general info on what it's like- weather, cost of living, you know the score......

Hi, hericho.

Do word searches for S t o n y P l a i n and S p r u c e G r o v e.

They are satellite towns. A trick I have learned around here is that searching for satellite towns brings up threads that are relevant to the nearby city.

If you do a word search for the city's name, you find too many threads in which that city was mentioned only in passing.

Will do that! Many thanks

Weather did someone say weather.

Anorak on.

Here you go these are the average temps and precipitation etc, etc on a month to month basis at the Edmonton City Centre Airport and these are for the Edmonton International Airport which is about 30 kilometers south of the downtown core.

Anorak off.

The rest, well I'd do as Judy suggests. I'd also search for St. Albert and Sherwood Park.

We live 20 mins outside of Edmonton, in Sherwood Park.
Weather = a real mixed bag. Summers are fab as a rule. Long and hot. Can be nice from April right thru to Oct. Loads of sunshine, some cracking thunderstorms, plenty of mozzies in the first part of the summer, fine now.
Spring is a non event. They think its spring when the grass goes from brown to green. Autumn goes by quick too. The leaves turn, drop then it snows.
Sometimes it snows befroe the leaves drop, as it did last yr.

Winters can be long, and cold, but you also get respite. It isn't bitter for 6 months of the yr as some people make out. Yes, we can get down to minus 30 and thats taters especially when you add on wind chill, but other times you may only get minus 5 or 6 and that feels 'mild'. With the blue skies it does anyway. Winter can start from Oct and last thru until April. A reasonable amount of snow, but it can come and go. (Last yr it didn't, we had snow on the ground for the duration) Loads of sunshine all thru the winter too.
Very dry here, doesn't rain much. Lovely to hear the first rain of the spring on the windows after getting only snow for months.

Cost of living = a lot higher than it was we we landed in terms of house prices. Cars, electrical goods all cheaper. Food on a par, but some things like Dairy produce will set you back more. Swings and roundabouts.
Only pay GST here and not PST so good in that respect.

Away from the mountains and foothills, its pretty flat in Alberta.
People are friendly and appear happier with their lot. Then again, we live in middle class surburbia, so maybe I have a different impression to other parts of the city.
Edmonton is easy to get around as cities go. It has a grid road system, so if one road is blocked can just buzz across to the next one going in the same direction.
We have a stunning river valley, loads of amenities, great facilities for children. There are grotty parts as with every city. Lots of light industry.
Not many decent lakes around here. I believe you have to go way up north for those. The Rockies are 3 to 4 hrs away. We go in as often as we can.

I'm trying to give a balanced view. We like living in Sherwood Park very much. Its a wonderful family community. If we could just pick up the Mountains and bring them closer, we'd be happy as pigs in muck !

Just to add a few more points and to emphasize some others!

We live West of Ed. It's very rural around here which is great if that's what you're looking for - house prices increasing here though too. Average family home is now around $450,000 I believe. A lot of people here seem warn out! Most families need 2 breadwinners and many people have at least a couple of jobs. This is changing a bit as more oil workers set their families up here and then go north to work for a month at a time.

However, on the plus side, the people are very friendly (initially in a restrained Canadian sort of way which then changes to solid friendship over time). Complete strangers have gone out of their way to help us out - especially in times of need. The rural folks are also very proud of their country and are very happy to show you around we found.

The lakes are kack unless you want to go further north or into the mountains - a lot of them look stunning (or at least very attractive) and if you want to kayak then you'll have lots of options. I wouldn't eat the fish though (apart from Lac St Anne and Lake Isle maybe) and there are a lack of good swimming beaches. If you go just 1.5 hrs north though - you'll find good fishing/swimming lakes - and then you're into the beginning of the wilderness which in places is stunning.

Jasper is close for all year round (just 3 hours if you're not pulling anything) and is a lot quieter than Banff. You can ski, snowmobile on proper trails or x-country at your own risk, skate etc in winter - most communities have public skating rinks (many in Edmonton itself). ATV trails in summer too.

Edmonton is also called the festival city - that is exactly right in the summer -festivals for everything. They also spill out to surrounding districts - Blue Grass and Cowboy Poetry in Stony - childrens festival in St Albert etc. I would also add that there are public conventions (or expositions as they're called) here practically every weekend - Motorbike shows, RV shows, Home shows, Pet shows etc etc.

Shopping's ok - as long as you don't want the latest spring fashions or designer furniture. Lots of big box stores and discount places. The mall is big, brash - with hundreds of stores but they are all much of a muchness.

I think, overall, what Edmonton lacks is "quaintness" and decent architecture. The river valley is a lovely asset with miles of trails running right though the city, but I still yearn for some brick buildings, history, and scenic cafes etc. Think I need to go to Quebec for that maybe.

Hope that helps

I've only just moved here, (been here a month now) but am happy to start posting about cost of living stuff as soon as the bills start rolling in

I'm living in the West end (we are renting) and the average house around here is $500,000, but compared to a lot of the newer areas I have seen, the houses here have lovely big gardens and are surrounded by gorgeous trees, which I am really liking.

My take on things is a little bit different as I've just been living in Texas for the last few years, so Edmonton looks very green and inviting to me as Dallas was fairly bland and flat.

So far, I am really liking Edmonton, the weather has been lovely, a good mix of heat and thunderstorms, the people have been very friendly, and it looks like there is a lot for us to do with the children. There has been some kind of festival or event advertised every weekend while we've been here.

We can't wait to get across to the Rockies, and of course, as newbies, we can't wait to see the snow, but I'm sure that will wear off once I have to start shoveling it

Hello there Leah
Sounds like you are settling in well so far. Edmonton IS a nice city, and despite some criticisms it has a lot going for it. There are many plans in the pipeline for development, and as you can see from all the construction, much is going on right now.
You 'must' check out Strathcona Wilderness centre for a spot of family X-country skiing or snowshoeing. Its so cool and so cheap. We hired all the gear and got the trail passes and had our first go last yr. They even do beginners lessons, which was a must for us !

Oh, and you'll need a decent snow shovel...................you'll soon see why !