Oil City

Sitting just east of the centre of the province and at 53 degrees latitude, lies the Albertan capital city of Edmonton. Built and growing as a gateway to the oilsands, Edmonton is home to tradesmen, truck drivers, and a large population of east coast Canadians like me, who moved west to find work and cash in on the black gold that keeps the province thriving. It's industrial and functional, and although the downtown core is currently being revamped into something that promises to be amazing, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who would describe Edmonton as being "pretty". That is, unless you ask about the river valley.

Downtown Edmonton is built on the Saskatchewan River. Its core stands tall over the north bank and its commuters daily traverse the span via the numerous bridges and LRT crossings that lead directly into the heart of the city. I took a day to investigate the valley created by the river over thousands of years and was elated to discover this charismatic, beautiful, and substantially less 'oily' part of Edmonton.

 

 

 

 

 

I stumbled on the Alberta Legislature and its grounds quite by accident.

 

 

and took a long walk along a boardwalk that was surprisingly gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

 

The residential areas of the river valley are equally as stunning.

 

 

 

 Gardens,

 

 

 

 

 

 public artwork,

 

 

 

and, as always, my favourite: people just doing what they do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I was fortunate enough to have had my first experience really exploring Edmonton occur on a warm sunny day in the midst of an amazing array of fall colours. But I suspect that a summer morning, or a snow-covered winter day in the river valley might also be enough to convince anyone that there is so much more to Edmonton than just oil.