I’m off to Norwalk, Connecticut early tomorrow morning for work, then to Toronto on Friday to meet up with Sharon for the weekend. That means I’m missing some good stuff here at home, but it’ll be nice to have a change of scene!
Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
- The weekend turned out to be lovely, but we’ve definitely had our share of rain lately. The weather has apparently had an impact on housing starts, has hampered road construction, and has helped the mosquito population soar. It also affected the Street Performers festival, but not everyone was scared away! It sounds like the trees are happy about all the rain however, given that last decade’s drought wiped out a variety of species at four times the normal rate.
- The Walterdale bridge has been in the news lately. Could it be a pedestrian walkway lined with cafes and shops? Could it exist alongside the new bridge?
- The discussion of keeping the old bridge seemed appropriate given the old Bank of Montreal building will now certainly be demolished.
- I’m in favor of some development in the downtown area of the river valley, so I was quite pleased to hear there is a new café in Louise McKinney Riverfront Park.
- Edmonton has been selected to host Country Music Week and the Canadian Country Music Awards again in both 2013 and 2014.
- Speed-on-green enforcement resumed in Edmonton this week, so watch your speed!
- According to a Colliers International study, parking rates in Edmonton have jumped by 28.6% over the last year.
- The City is looking for the best designs in Edmonton to be featured at the four biennial urban design awards.
- Here’s an article by urban planner Tom Young on the need for vision when it comes to our city’s urban planning.
- The Oilers traded Andrew Cogliano to the Ducks this week for a second round pick in the 2013 entry draft.
- The City of Edmonton launched a new open data catalogue this week, and a few new data sets too such as mosquito counts!
- Land developer Irv Kipnes caused a stir this week when he said that The Way We Green could cause “bedlam” and could “stop Edmonton in its tracks”.
- Northlands wants to replace 8000 seats in Rexall Place at a cost of $770,000, one of the four additions to its capital budget that City Council must approve.
- This piece on the Scona Road construction basically boils down to unacceptable public consultation.
- For more headlines from the past week, check out theedmontonian.com.
- This is a cool timelapse video of the setup for Shakespeare in The Park.
- Heads up: starting tomorrow there are speed limit and lane reductions on the northbound lanes of the QE2 between Leduc and Edmonton. The work will take place during non-peak daylight hours until July 26.
- The Mayor will officially proclaim this week Race Week in Edmonton tomorrow at City Hall. The street festival starts Wednesday, and there are all kinds of activities throughout the week.
- The Edmonton Indy runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at the City Centre Airport. Miss Edmonton was crowned this weekend. The Grand Marshall for the race is Boston Bruins defenceman Johnny Boychuk.
- City Council’s final meeting before the summer break takes place on Wednesday.
- A Taste of Edmonton starts on Thursday and runs until the 30th.
- Edmonton The Musical starts on Thursday evening at Avenue Theatre.
- This year’s Capital Ex Parade takes place Thursday morning downtown. Capital Ex itself gets underway on Friday.
- New Music West takes place on Saturday at the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel.
- The Capitals are back in action at Telus Field on Saturday and Sunday against the Chico Outlaws.
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
Lightning over Edmonton by Nelson Webb
Last week’s SOS Fest crowd by Brittney
Captain Capital!
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