Where it's at

I’m posting some photos taken by my friend James Birkbeck who has captured Edmonton at its finest. These were taken on Canada Day. They are a timely reminder to me that, current council shenanigans notwithstanding, there are some things that the city has done well. Chiefly, the river valley, and the skyline that presides over it.


Below is an Edmonton oddity that people often make fun of: the High Level Bridge waterfall. I don't know the full story, but I gather that the waterfall was supposed to operate during all of the temperate months, but the engineers somehow messed up, because the system can only use treated water, not water from the river itself. Therefore, it's enormously expensive to operate, and hence is only turned on for very special occasions.


I say bugger the naysayers. I think the waterfall rocks. We need more weirdnesses like this and fewer mockers.

Also in the river valley is the neighbourhood of Rossdale, one of the nicest neighbourhoods in town. Rows of delightful terraced housing, in brick, built to last. I just don't know why Edmonton didn't continue developing in this kind of scale. It all looks so welcoming and liveable. Once you get out to, say, Terwilliger, the sterility of the place is unsettling. The city centre is definitely where it's at.