Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• “What once was a city struggling with identity and self-esteem is transforming quickly into one filled with aspiration and conviction.” Here’s how you can help.
• The City of Edmonton broke ground on its new office tower on Thursday. Slated to open in the fall of 2016, the 27-story tower will allow the City to consolidate much of its staff into one location (the City will lease about 60% of the building).
• Congratulations to TEC Edmonton on being named “Incubator of the Year” at the 2014 Startup Canada Awards. Edmonton’s Randy Thompson was named Investor of the Year, and a number of other local organizations and individuals received honourable mentions.
• The City released its 2012/2013 Report on the Environment this week. Last year, approximately 15% of the City’s electricity came from green sources.
• From Frugal Edmonton Mama, here’s a list of the Top 10 Playgrounds in Edmonton.
• A new report shows a 4% drop in fatal and injury collisions in Edmonton between 2012 and 2013. Following too closely was the most common cause of collisions last year.
• The University of Alberta’s Board of Governors unanimously approved the establishment of a land trust to leverage land assets as a funding source for academic and research activities. There’s still a lot of work to do, but this decision paves the way for the U of A to follow in UBC’s footsteps.
• Former mayor Stephen Mandel and his wife Lynn were among the Edmontonians inducted into the City of Edmonton Hall of Fame for 2014.
• The Government of Alberta has released Alberta’s Economic Development Framework to outline our province’s future economic growth.
• Nominations are now open for the second Edmonton Music Prize. The deadline is September 29.
• A new report from KPMG shows that businesses pay lower taxes in Edmonton than in any other city in Canada.
• Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference was named this year’s recipient of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, awarded to the NHL player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and office the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.
• Barry Travers is the new board chair at EEDC. Former chair Peter Silverstone is retiring from the board, and Angela Fong and Maria Holowinsky are joining.
• The Devonian Botanic Garden has been named Botanical Garden of the Year as part of the Canadian Garden Council’s Garden Tourism Awards.
• If you’re looking to learn more about the original plans for Blatchford, check out this radio documentary from Lana Cuthbertson.
• In the mood to create a video? Why not record a clip for Adam!
• The Oilers have announced their 2014-2015 season schedule. They’ll start the regular season at home against the Calgary Flames on October 9. They have also announced the 2014 Pre-Season Schedule.
• What are you doing on July 19? You could help to plant a food forest!
• I was very sad to hear that a fire has once again destroyed the Bissell Centre Thrift Shoppe.

Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Rachel Notley launched her campaign to become leader of Alberta’s NDP this week

Upcoming Events

• Edmonton is hosting the CityAge Western Cities Summit on Monday and Tuesday this week.
• The Works continues all week at locations throughout the downtown. The main festival site is Churchill Square.
• Also continuing this week is the Edmonton International Jazz Festival and Improvaganza. From The Local Good, here are the top ten reasons to check out Improvaganza.
• Join the Edmonton Food Council on Tuesday night at Northlands Park (in the Paddock Theatre) for a panel discussion on community gardens featuring Travis Kennedy, David Prodan, Rachel Feroe, Brad Armstrong, and Carla Meyer.
• The Edmonton Centre federal Liberals are hosting a Pints & Politics event at The Druid on Wednesday.
• Thursdays are always busy nights in the summer. This week, check Latitude 53’s Patio series, the 124 Street Grand Market, Dark Matters at the TELUS World of Science (plus the Yelp Party), and the Edmonton Grads International Classic, among other events!
• Kicking off on Thursday is the 2014 Found Festival.
• Head over to Beaver Hills House Park on Friday for Night Market Edmonton.
• Saturday is Family Day at Northlands Park from 1-4pm.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Cool shot of the train at Fort Edmonton Park by Paul

Happy Father’s Day! Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The Edmonton Public Library has been unanimously named the 2014 Library of the Year by Library Journal magazine, the first time a Canadian library has received the award. Congrats and well deserved!
• City Council approved the Blatchford redevelopment plan this week (you can read my take here). They also moved one step closer to creating an arms-length development company.
• Edmonton is mentioned in a new Fortune article called The New Metropolis: The New Urban Pioneers. It seems they like our approach to municipal planning (The Ways).
• You can catch up on all the other urbanism news in Edmonton at Spacing Edmonton.
• Congratulations to WinterCity on being recognized with a 2014 Award for Planning Excellence (a merit award).
• Sounds like Southgate Mall is getting a bike station. Still no word on a walkway from the LRT station into the mall.
• Don’t miss this episode of The Press Gallery podcast which focuses on The Wildrose efforts to target urban voters.
• Edmonton’s Pride Centre has received an injection of cash from the Province to provide mentoring opportunities to LGBTQ youth in Edmonton. Great news!
• A new report recommends that Edmonton spend $1.4 million on an urban beach in Louise McKinney Riverfront Park.
• A different report would have the City spending more than $150 million on upgrades to Fort Edmonton Park to better highlight the City’s past. I think Fort Edmonton Park is a great attraction, but I’m not sure I want to sink another $150 million into it.
• The Edmonton Oilers have brought Bob Nicholson on board as vice-chairman of the newly formed Oilers Entertainment Group. OilersNation tells us what it all means.
• The City finalized its submission on the new Municipal Government Act this week. This is really just the first step as the new bill isn’t expected until 2018.
• Have you seen the lights on the High Level Bridge? Testing is underway, with the Light the Bridge project on schedule for the official debut on Canada Day.
• Wondering what’s coming up for Taste of Edmonton this year? Liane has a preview.
• On the topic of food, it sounds like chicken bylaws are a popular research question at the City of Edmonton Archives.

Managed to catch a beautiful sunset on the way home tonight

Upcoming Events

• BoingBoing’s Mark Frauenfelder is in town Monday and Tuesday, and the EPL is featuring him at two events.
• On Monday evening, interVivos presents its second annual Citizen Edmonton event at The Common.
• Looking for a date? Rendezvous Club presents its next speed dating event on Tuesday.
• The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event takes place at the Edmonton Journal on Wednesday during lunch. The panel will be discussing the shift from freelancer to entrepreneur. Here’s a recap of their last event.
• Improvaganza kicks off on Wednesday at the Citadel!
• The Works Art & Design Festival starts on Thursday at locations throughout downtown.
• On Friday, the Edmonton International Jazz Festival gets underway.
• Edmonton Opera presents its annual Opera al Fresco on Friday night at the Devonian Botanic Garden.
• Want to have your say on the Evolving Infill plan? The next public meeting is Saturday at the Central Lions Seniors Centre.
• The Hershey’s Track & Field Games take place on Saturday at Foote Field.
• Saturday is an extremely busy day! There’s also the Travel Alberta Instagram Meetup, Zoo Fest, another Big Bin Event, the Highlandia Festival, and the Graffiti Run.
• Head down to Hawrelak Park on Sunday for Pets in the Park!
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Thanks to everyone who came out to What the Truck?! on Friday!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The world’s first industrial-scale facility to produce biofuels from municipal solid waste opened in Edmonton this week. Own and operated by Enerkem, the facility will enable Edmonton to increase its diversion rate of waste from landfill from 60% to 90% by 2016. The news got Edmonton onto the front page of Reddit this week!
• The Wildrose Party announced its transit platform this week and pledged $1.2 billion over four years for LRT expansion in Edmonton and Calgary. That may sound like a lot, and it’s a step in the right direction, but in the world of LRT, “at least $50 million a year more…than they are in line to receive from the PC government” isn’t really that much.
• Have you seen the Stealth buses driving around the city? ETS is testing two new electric buses, known as ETS Stealth buses, for four months as part of a pilot project to determine the suitability of the buses. The two buses are free to board, as long as you complete a survey.
• Mayor Don Iveson and Edmonton Oilers Captain Andrew Ference teamed up once again (seriously there’s a bromance developing there) on Wednesday to declare Clean Air Day in Edmonton.
• Here’s a look at the return of hustle and bustle to Edmonton’s downtown – before shovels even hit the ground for the new arena.
• From Enterprise Edmonton: The Data-Driven Case for Infill Policy in Edmonton.
• Congratulations to the recipients of this year’s Charles Labatiuk Awards for Environment Excellence.
• Could Telus Field be altered or demolished to make way for condos? It’s one of the many options being considered for the West Rossdale redevelopment project. The Prospects play there now, but it’s generally empty. But if the City gave the Edmonton Capitals a five year lease, they’d resume playing, say the Oilers.
• The Province says it has expanded service delivery of Alberta Supports in Edmonton, with another four locations set to open in our city next year.
• Edmontonians can now call 211 to access information about seniors’ programs and services. This is basically an addition to the existing 211 Edmonton service, geared toward seniors, a growing part of our population.
• Anticipating criticism over plans for the Blatchford development, Mayor Iveson asks, “what kind of city do we really want to build?”
• Transcend Coffee is returning to downtown at the Mercer, but now also at Mother’s Market (which is slated to open June 20).
• Speaking of great businesses coming downtown – Earth’s General Store announced this week that they are moving into the former Pangaea Market space on 104 Street!
• Don Braid in Calgary: “The early race to be premier boils down to this: They’d do the same stuff, but without airplanes.”
• If you haven’t already done so, fill out the EFCL survey on civic engagement here. It supports the development of EFCL’s new five year strategic plan.
• Looking to keep up-to-date with the City’s recreation centres? Now you can, on Facebook.
• Want more bicycle infrastructure in Edmonton? Too bad, we’re just going to talk about it for another two years. At least we still have Edmonton Bike Polo.
• If you tried to get Folk Fest tickets but were disappointed by the website crash, you may be out of luck – the unsold tickets were given to Ticketmaster for resale. (They never go down, that’s their value proposition.)
• I came across this abandoned but painted bicycle the other night – turns out it is part of a public art project!

Another amazing photo of Edmonton by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

• Indulgence takes place on Monday night at the Delta Edmonton South.
• The Pride Festival and Nextfest both continue all week at various locations.
• Capital Ideas Edmonton is hosting a special event on Wednesday morning at the Edmonton International Airport on building an international business from Edmonton.
• Edmonton Opera’s annual golf classic takes place on Thursday at the Glendale Golf & Country Club.
• It’s that time of year again: Latitude 53’s popular patio series kicks off this Thursday!
• Join us on Friday evening at McIntyre Park in Old Strathcona for our second What the Truck?! event of the season! You can see the list of participating trucks here.
• Also Friday, it’s the fifth Meet the Media tweetup!
• The Eskimos will play their first pre-season game at home against the BC Lions on Friday evening.
• TEDxEdmonton takes place on Saturday at the Royal Alberta Museum.
• On Saturday evening, check out Hawkers Market at the Mercer Warehouse!
• Also happening on the father’s day weekend is Porkapalooza, at Hawrelak Park.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Pecha Kucha Night 19 took place on Thursday, June 5. Here’s a recap!

Can you believe it is already June?! Time flies.

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• The Valley Line LRT extension received another big boost of support this week with the announcement that the Government of Canada is adding another $150 million to its contribution. The sooner this project gets started the better!
• Congratulations once again to the Oil Kings on their Memorial Cup win. The City held a celebration for the team on Wednesday during lunch, and the Oil Kings have posted a look back at the season.
• The City of Edmonton has received the Age Friendly Alberta Recognition Award from the Province. Edmonton is the second municipality to receive the award – Strathcona County was recognized last June.
• When it comes to lists, too often Edmonton is left out. Here are some thoughts from Liane on Edmonton being left off a recent list of the 50 best restaurants in Canada.
• Want a recap of what the Edmonton Eskimos were up to in the off-season? Here’s a timeline. Their 2014 training camp kicked off today.
• The minimum wage in Alberta will increase to $10.20 as of September 1. That’s not great, but at least it’s going in the right direction.
• The City has released its four-year Bike Lane Infrastructure Plan. It’ll be discussed this week by the Transportation Committee. Some feel the proposed plan needs further discussion.
• BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk is the first executive director of the new Alberta Small Brewers Association. The organization will advocate for the province’s craft beer industry.
• PSA: If you received a phone call about travel vouchers from EIA, it’s a scam.
• Here’s a recap of the International Responsible Hospitality Conference that took place in Edmonton recently.
• Here are the latest urbanism headlines from Spacing Edmonton.
• If you love Remedy Cafe, you’ll be happy to hear that the southside location on 109 Street will be expanding in August into part of The Movie Studio’s space (I guess that means they are finally going the way of Blockbuster?).
• Here is U of A President Indira Samarasekera’s latest weekly update. She wrote an op-ed in the Globe and Mail this week that has resulted in quite a bit of discussion.
• It’s really ugly and difficult to read but if you’re willing to slog through it, David Staples has posted a seven part series on “The Great Edmonton River Valley Debate”.
• Happy belated birthday to Mayor Don Iveson, who turned 35 on Friday, just a day after taking a selfie with Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi and Mississauga’s outgoing 93-year-old mayor Hazel McCallion. Here’s an interview he did recently with the Journal’s Gary Lamphier.

Celebrating the Edmonton Oil Kings

Upcoming Events

• June is Bike Month! The Bikeology Festival has events taking place all month.
• Hundreds of public administrators are in town this week for the IPAC National Conference.
• DECL is holding its AGM on Tuesday night.
• Pecha Kucha Night 19 takes place on Thursday in Churchill Square.
• On Friday, the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival kicks off at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• Also Friday, it’s the Mercer Summer Super Party! Should be a fun time on 104 Street.
• The Edmonton Pride Festival kicks off on Friday, with the Pride Parade taking place on Saturday.
• If cats are your thing, don’t miss the first ever Edmonton International Cat Festival, taking place at NAIT on Saturday.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Turtle Rock Effigy Labyrinth by Jeff Wallace

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

90 Ways to 90%

The City of Edmonton has launched a new campaign called 90 Ways to 90%. It aims to encourage Edmontonians to participate in the effort to divert 90% of Edmonton’s waste from landfill (a figure that currently stands at around 60%). Here’s a short video I made about the campaign:

Headlines

• Congratulations to the Edmonton Oil Kings on winning the Memorial Cup! They defeated the Guelph Storm by a final score of 6-3. What a great way to end a great season.
• The Freedom of the City is the highest honour a municipality can grant a military unit, and that’s exactly what the City of Edmonton granted the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in recognition of the regiment’s 100th anniversary.
• Keep an eye on your mailbox this week: property owners will start receiving their 2014 property tax notices in the next few days.
• To better leverage its substantial land holdings, the University of Alberta is proposing the creation of a land trust. The plan will go before the board of governors in June.
• The City posted a year-in-review for Edmonton Fire Rescue Services this week. In 2013, they responded to more than 39,000 calls for service, including 3,278 fires and 25,510 medical calls.
• It’s going to take some investment, but Mayor Iveson still feels the City should move ahead with the ambitious plans for the Blatchford redevelopment.
• The Edmonton Police Service’s latest Citizen Satisfaction Survey shows that 93% of Edmontonians have confidence in EPS.
• Speaking of the police, they say they are going to crack down on noisy motorcycles this summer. I’m fine with people riding motorcycles, but the noise does get really annoying.
• The Safer Parking Initiative has come to Edmonton. The first two parking lots to be recognized are Main on Whyte and the University Hospital’s East Parkade.
• Congratulations to all of the Edmontonians and organizations recognized at the annual Mayor’s Awards.
• Thomas Lukaszuk is the latest to throw his hat into the ring as a PC leadership candidate.
• Check out Karen’s latest post to see what Edmonton bloggers have been up to.
• Here are Spacing Edmonton’s latest Urbanism Headlines.
• If you can afford the $250 ticket price, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be speaking in Edmonton on June 18.
• I absolutely love this tweet:

Mayor @doniveson & @EEDC you’ll love this student’s reflection! #yegdt pic.twitter.com/N6YondvBUe

— City Hall School (@CityHallSchool)

May 24, 2014

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Upcoming Events

• The International Children’s Festival starts this week!
• Jenny Smith is speaking at the Art Gallery of Alberta on Wednesday night for the Ad Club of Edmonton’s next Cultivate event.
• On Wednesday evening the 2014 RISE Awards take place at the Edmonton Expo Centre.
• The following evening, IABC’s Capital Awards Gala takes place at the Old Timers’ Cabin.
• I’ll be at the Shaw Conference Centre on Thursday evening, where I’m hosting a poverty simulation with Omar Mouallem.
• Did you miss this season’s grand opening of the 124 Street Grand Market? Check it out every Thursday from 4pm to 8pm.
• The Good Hundred Experiment is back! The event takes place at Rundle Park on Saturday and Sunday. Sharon and I are looking forward to participating this year.
• Environment Week kicks off this weekend!
• Heads up: NextGen Month will kick off at Latitude 53 on June 4.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first What the Truck?! of the season. It was a busy, fun evening! Save the date for our next event: June 13 in Old Strathcona.

I am in Toronto until Thursday, on a mini break with Sharon and her sister. Having fun so far, but the weather is colder here than it is back home! Happy Victoria Day!

Here are my weekly Edmonton notes:

Headlines

• City Council has established its first women’s advisory group called WAVE. The group’s first fifteen members will focus on engagement through networking, leadership through mentorship, and learning from best practices.
• Is Edmonton the next great Canadian city? Jim Beyers highlights some of the cool things happening in our city in the Toronto Star. Some found the article condescending, others were thrilled that Edmonton is getting some attention out east. I think we need to stop making such a big deal out of attention like this.
• Another ring road around Edmonton? I don’t even know how that’s a possible consideration at this point. Mayor Iveson says we should spend that money on transit instead. Agreed!
• Lots of Fire Rescue Services news this week! The service welcomed its 140th recruit class this week, welcomed “Grover” to the K9 unit, and announced that its inaugural Fire Cadet class will start training school this fall.
• This is a great story on the Transforming Edmonton blog. Neil Ganske, who works for ETS, is an inventor who created a tractor-like sweeping vehicle that has saved the City more than $700,000 per winter!
• For the third year in a row, EPCOR has been named one of Canada’s Top Employers Young People.
• We’ll have to see if people in the industry like this change, but the City claims it has streamlined the process for acquiring major development permits by setting up pre-application meetings.
• You may or may not enjoy this video of a crazy fight on Edmonton’s LRT.
• A second open source street art free wall has been opened in Edmonton. It is located on Whyte Avenue at the Tirecraft building just west of 99 Street.
• Here are the latest urbanism headlines from Spacing Edmonton.
• When you go to cut your lawn this summer, go bagless!
• For those of you wanting to see the speed limit on Whitemud Drive raised, it’s not looking good. A city report recommended against the higher limit, and it seems much of Council agrees.
• Wait, so are we a track city or a basketball city? Edmonton will host Brazil in the the first annual Edmonton Grads International Classic this June. The news release says Edmonton “is well on its way to establishing itself as the Centre of Excellence for basketball in Canada.”

Elms and The Pearl by Jeff Wallace

Upcoming Events

• The International Responsible Hospitality Conference takes place in Edmonton this week on Wednesday and Thursday.
• The next Capital Ideas Edmonton event is on mentorship and it takes place at the Edmonton Journal on Wednesday.
• On Wednesday evening, the Ad Club of Edmonton is having its AGM at the Mercer Warehouse.
• It’s outdoor market time! The 124 Street Grand Market returns on Thursday.
• Also Thursday night, the interesting fundraiser known as Everything Edmonton takes place at the Yellowhead Brewery.
• The big food/hospitality conference Host Edmonton takes place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• On Friday evening, WinterCity is hosting an appreciation event at Latitude 53.
• Interested in open data? Don’t miss the hackYEG hackathon at the Stanley Milner library on Saturday.
• Our first big What the Truck?! event of the season takes place on 104 Street on Saturday evening!
• Also Saturday evening is the AGA’s Road Trip Refinery.
• For more upcoming events, check out ShareEdmonton.

Edmonton LRT by iqremix