Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:
- Winter returned with a dump of snow this week, but the temperatures have remained relatively warm. With spring essentially here, the City is accelerating its 2012 pothole repair program. But not before the sand trucks hit the road again!
- According to MoneySense magazine, Edmonton is the 8th best place to live in Canada.
- Neil Calhoun, a senior partner with Cushman & Wakefield, predicts that Edmonton will add a million square feet of retail space this year. That’s roughly the size of Kingsway Mall.
- Travel Alberta would like to increase tourism in the Edmonton area by $200 million by 2017, an increase of about 20%.
- West Edmonton Mall’s Deep Sea Adventure submarines, launched in 1985, will soon be dismantled. They were last in operation in June 2005.
- Last year’s Graffiti Vandalism Audit recorded 1133 incidents of graffiti in the top 20 neighbourhoods affected, a drop of 43% from 2010.
- There hasn’t been much arena news lately, but there was some discussion this week about the “pedestrian plaza”.
- Coming soon to the corner of Jasper Avenue and 100 Street: Underground Tap & Grill, a new bar that will be located underneath The Treasury.
- Downtown was a lively place on Saturday afternoon as an anti-racism rally and a white pride march clashed. EPS apparently followed the white pride group all around the city.
- Nominations are open for Avenue Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 for 2012. The deadline to nominate someone is May 13!
- I had no idea that Edmonton is home to a $1 billion auto dealership chain, but that’s how much revenue AutoCanada reported for 2011.
- A new housing program called Welcome Home officially launched on March 22 and will be administered by Catholic Social Services.
- The Edmonton Combative Sports Commission handed out its 35th annual awards for excellence in combative sports and outstanding achievements and commitment to those sports. Congrats to all the winners!
- Just 2332 property assessment complaints were filed last year, down significantly from the kind of numbers the City saw in 2008 and 2009. More than half of the complaints were filed online.
- Edmonton’s Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society has launched a new welcome program for aboriginal people moving into the city. That’s important, as Edmonton will soon be home to Canada’s largest urban aboriginal population.
- Starting Sunday, about 1400 census workers will be knocking on doors throughout the city! Remember, all census workers wear photo identification, they never phone residents, and they don’t ask for names or addresses.
- Check out the updated renderings of the Walterdale Bridge Replacement:
Here are some upcoming events:
- The Blue Man Group is at the Jubilee Auditorium on Tuesday evening!
- If you get some time this week, check out the Student Design Association’s exhibit at Enterprise Square, called Sweat of Our Brow. It runs Wednesday through Saturday.
- The Oilers host the Stars on Wednesday evening, and the Kings on Friday.
- Western Canada Fashion Week kicks off on Thursday at the TransAlta Arts Barns.
- There’s a public information session on the Central LRT Station Rehabilitation taking place on Thursday at Enterprise Square.
- The Farm & Ranch Show kicks off on Thursday the Edmonton Expo Centre. And that evening is the start of the Canadian National College Finals Rodeo.
- Hard to believe there have been fifteen already – the next Social Media Breakfast Edmonton is happening on Friday morning.
- On Friday evening, Brittney is auctioning off her 50,000th tweet! The money raised will go towards the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation. Should be a great party!
- The Edmonton Rush are back in action at Rexall Place on Saturday evening as they host the Minnesota Swarm.
- Anna Marie Sewell, our city’s Poet Laureate, is the keynote speaker at the Never Ending Learning Conference on Sunday.
- Head over to the Shaw Conference Centre on Sunday for the Edmonton Collectible Toy & Comic Show.
- For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.
Rooftop Panorama by Darren
MasterMaq's Blog 