DeeMB

It might be a good idea to visit to see if it's for you. It's difficult for people to give you an unbiased view and only you will know if it's a place you could live. I live in MB and lots of people have had negative comments about it, but I love it. It's subjective!
Good Luck.

Shirtback

No, some of us are just pointing out things you might not have thought about/various pros & cons to consider.

I wouldn't (move to Edmonton), personally, but then lots of people here wouldn't dream of moving to where I live, either .

Piff Poff

I think that land mass rather than terminal size.

Former Lancastrian

Too much violence on Whyte Avenue on a Friday/Saturday night

Vulcanoid

No, not at all. To sum up: Go see it, and see what you think.

I can't think of a city anywhere in Britain or Canada that doesn't have both its attackers and defenders. If you decide not to move to Edmonton because some people here don't like it, then you also shouldn't move to Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, or Quebec, etc etc.

Read Wikipedia articles, drive through it virtually on Streetview (at different times of year), browse real estate ads to decipher what they mean. There's a wealth of information available. But ultimately, if you decide to move or decide not to move there without visiting, it's going to be semi-blind, and a leap of faith.

Liz marshall

Thank you great advise

cheeky_monkey

its the usual people who dont live here..slag it off often never actually being to a place...i wouldn't read anything into comments from people who have never experienced Edmonton first hand.

DandNHill

If it's like the municipalities I've worked for in animal control there are usually ways of applying for an exemption.

Former Lancastrian

I think we can say the same about any city/town in any country. Its not the place itself its the people who live there and sometimes the geographic location also is at fault.

So lets concentrate on Canada and pick a few places and lets stereotype them.

Vancouver ; Bloody expensive. Very scenic but its location is limiting growth as there is nowhere to expand. Its population is full of granola eating hippy type lets save the planet and only eat organic food.

Calgary ; Full of rednecks racists and cowboys. If not working in the oil and gas industry then you will struggle. A relative new city that hasn't found its identity yet but also is near to pretty scenery.

Winnipeg; A nothing city stuck in the middle of a flat frozen piece of tundra and is absolutely soulless. People must be idiots to choose to move there. Seriously if not born in Winnipeg why would anyone with a brain cell move there.

Toronto ; Come on who doesn't hate those arrogant pricks from the concrete jungle that is the GTA. Nothing exists outside of the GTA and we are the centre of the Universe.

bert07

St. Albert is voted one of the best places in the country regularly (can't remember the exact phrase). It's about 15-20 mins into downtown Edmonton not in rush hour prob closer to an hour in rush hour. New highway recently opened making commute to the east side a lot quicker. Also has a lot going on the area.

Edmonton is a nice enough place but it really depends on what you like doing - sports facilities and clubs are plentiful, arts and culture less so from my experience.

Re pets - coming into Canada you can fly them as excess baggage but check the limitations to that (icelandair was £150 instead of £1500 using pet transport for 2 cats).

In the summer (may to October) west jet fly direct Gatwick to Edmonton 9hrs . Rest of the year it's icelandair via Reykjavik about 12 hrs or west jet via Toronto 15 hrs.

Weather - cold in winter, changes in the matter of hours. Also very dry so whilst it's cold it doesn't feel it until it goes below -20, at -15 I was warmer than U.K. At -2 because I'm dressed appropriately and it's not as wet.
Summer, big storms sporadically but very warm and dry - we had cracking sun tans last summer (I'm back in uk at the moment for work). The city comes to life for the summer and lots of festivals and events on most weekends.

bert07

May - October flights with westjet are direct lgw-yeg 2-3 times a week

Shirtback

This is one of the things I love about BE: the sharing of experiences . Mine, on the municipal side, has been the opposite of yours.

Then again, I don't live in AB .

Liz marshall

Bert07 thank you for you info. Could you possibly give me a little more info on how you did the cat, containers. And checking ect. Think we may use company for the dogs but do the cats ourselves. Thanks

bert07

We used the freight company at £1500 in the end as 3 young kids plus 2 cats plus lots of luggage was going to send me over the edge but it was all planned until the last fortnight when I freaked out!

Paperwork - make sure it's all as per government guidelines on their webpage. (Vet check, vaccinations and microchips etc)
Carriers - must be iata approved (a few options via google) were about £50 - loads of information and guidelines on the internet for this.
Then, speak with your airline about excess baggage - we just booked it in advance with icelandair and then would have paid on the day when we checked them in at the airport - you check them in as luggage and then they are collected by animal welfare and put on the plane in the hold (same as cargo animal transport would be). At the other end you have to collect them from the animal centre - that was one of my reasons to not do as it was too much with the 3 kids trekking back and forth between terminals and customs and reception centres. Had it just been me and oh we would have done it this way for sure.

Liz marshall

Thanks for this really helpful. Did the cats cope with it ok ?

Liz