The City of Edmonton Will Totally Catch You By Surprise - Business Insider (NY, NY)

[GreenSPACE]

"The drive in from the landing strip was filled with industrial operations blowing steam and smoke, motels, and a lot of truck traffic all under a steel gray sky. Not the most picturesque place.

Looking at downtown from the hotel it was hard to be impressed and the drive to the city center was filled with strip malls, a handful of strip joints, and massage parlors. Prostitution is legal in Canada, and the parlors are now open 24 hours a day though new legislation is trying to change that.

As I crept toward the city I passed the historic district, a farmers market, and before I knew it I was on a road overlooking the North Saskatchewan River and the city of Edmonton seeming to hang off a bluff on the far side, hundreds of feet above the water."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-c...#ixzz1tBCoqEYQ

[jdk13]

That's some pretty terrible writing, even for the internet

[Alex.L]

ugh that picture from his hotel is so unflattering. The ones of downtown from the river valley are nice though. Too bad he wasn't here in summer. Maybe if he is he'll do a follow-up story.

[sundance]

"The Edmonton airport was small, and walking from the jet to the door I couldn't help but thinking how it made the Williston, ND airport seem almost cosmopolitan"

Considering Sloulin Field International Airport (Williston ND) has two scheduled destinations (Denver and Minneapolis) yah I'm sure it is wayyyy more cosmopolitan than ours.

This is the city's webpage for the airport, I couldn't find a site for it at all;
http://www.cityofwilliston.com/Depar...tID=WND.CW.AIR

[GreenSPACE]

Lol, I'll be interested to see what his follow-up is like. Ya, the weather is pretty terrible for taking photos and only gonna get worse.

[PJC]

I'm wondering which airport he flew into? Sure sounds like it might be YXD.

However the description of his drive matches the one from YEG.

Maybe the author flew in on a charter to YEG and not to the main terminal?

[Alex.L]

Maybe he flew in on a Canadian North charter or something. Pretty sure they've got a separate building, which would explain the impression he got. There's no way he walked through EIA and thought it was small.

[GreenSPACE]

^journalistic license? ya, it's weird

[Chmilz]

I don't expect much more from Americans that barely learn about their own country, let along those next door. We're spoiled by our education system and knowledge of other countries. Most Americans could only name a couple Canadian cities and provinces, and couldn't correctly identify anything on a map without looking at the names.

I don't dislike Americans for being American, I dislike them for being ignorant morons.

[Dialog]

Why do these visits always happen at the worst time? Imagine the same shots in two weeks—leaves budding—on maybe a partially overcast day.

*sigh*

[Chmilz]

Like Google street view? Always at the worst time.

[PJC]

However, the article is far from all negative. What he says is not entirely untrue. (Ugly drive in, then some pretty remarkable neighbourhoods (Strathcona), views and vantage points as you come upon the river valley.

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

Like Google street view? Always at the worst time.

they were at the top of cameron road in riverdale at the beginning of this week...

[The_Cat]

I think it would be nice to see more work done on Gateway Boulevard to improve aesthetics. The trip into downtown looks like a real junkyard until you hit Strathcona. Surely some of these businesses like the hubcap shop could improve their look. Also, I think the curve before 63 Avenue could be smoothed out, like the one done near the Low Level Bridge.

[Dialog]

Originally Posted by kcantor

they were at the top of cameron road in riverdale at the beginning of this week...

*whimpers*

[Medwards]

Google maps comes when there is the least foliage for a reason... Foliage tends to block the view... Clearly looking at many other cities on google maps shows this

[mediabug]

Originally Posted by Medwards

Google maps comes when there is the least foliage for a reason... Foliage tends to block the view... Clearly looking at many other cities on google maps shows this

Yup...and unfortunately, I saw Google's Street View car this afternoon...

[SP59]

How many years does it take Google to actually update their street views?

[soycd]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

I don't dislike Americans for being American, I dislike them for being ignorant morons.

Canadians (for the most part) are not much better. I dislike Canadians that seem to think they are so superior to Americans because they can name a couple state capitals.

[JamesL]

I hosted a buddy of mine from NYC last summer here in Edmonton, and have hosted other Americans in the past -- most people in Edmonton are pretty chill, but you do see a few Canadians who react in surprisingly shrill and immature ways when they find out that someone is from the U.S.

[Chmilz]

Originally Posted by soycd

Canadians (for the most part) are not much better. I dislike Canadians that seem to think they are so superior to Americans because they can name a couple state capitals.

Your average Canadian could name most state capitals, even if just by chance. Your average American couldn't find our province on a map, even if it had words.

[Medwards]

"Is that near Toronto" is the common question I've heard when saying I'm from Edmonton, or Alberta even... to our friendly folks south of us.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Most Americans I've met knew all about Edmonton, Calgary, Banff and Jasper...and even asked about some of the things to see and do. Then again, I only associate with intelligent people.

[edmonton daily photo]

Most of my close friends are Americans or expats living here... there direct and frank communication as well as there overall outlook on life is refreshing to the passive aggressive nature of Canadians.

All of them know exactly where Canada is..

[kkozoriz]

“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don’t have to buy from a foreign source,”

Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/20...-canadian-oil/

[Jeremy]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

Your average Canadian could name most state capitals, even if just by chance. Your average American couldn't find our province on a map, even if it had words.

Some of us even know the correct pronounciation of Montpelier (VT).

[sundance]

Originally Posted by Chmilz

Your average Canadian could name most state capitals, even if just by chance. Your average American couldn't find our province on a map, even if it had words.

I was in Detroit (this is just across the river from Canada) visiting a friend, we went to one of their casinos downtown, I got carded, which in someways felt nice. But the problem was the security guard had no clue where Alberta was. The conversation went something like this after he looked at my driver's license;
Me: I'm from Alberta
Him: Uh Alabama
Me: Alberta its in Canada its like Ontario next to you same thing as a state
Him: Huh, Alabama?
After about 5 minutes of trying to teach him about geography I gave up and said I'm from Alabama, Edmonton is near Mobile, and he let me enter.

[edmonton daily photo]

^ and you don't think there isn't ignorant Canadians

[Sonic Death Monkey]

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

^ and you don't think there isn't ignorant Canadians

Ignorant about grammar, for starters!

[sundance]

Of course there are ignorant Canadians, I do think though we are generally better schooled than Americans. Intelligence isn't racially or culturally significant, however some cultures value education or particular study habits more than others.

Say I was to write an article for the Business Insider, I would do a bit more research, he must have known he flew on a charter rather than a scheduled airline. If he would have done a two word google search (Edmonton airport) YEG would is at the top of the list. Does Edmonton have endless strip malls, not quite, but we have too many, he may have seen a strip club, but I doubt he saw one hooker while he was here.

[PJC]

Without checking Wikipedia, name the third largest city in Belgium or their current leader. Belgium is about a tenth the the size of Canada and we know almost nothing about it. Does it have states, provinces, regions? I don't have a clue and I'll bet few people here do either.

My point is we are a tenth a size of America; Belgium is a bit smaller than a third the size of us. Americans know as much about Canada as we do about Belgium. And spare me the "most important trading partner" stuff. The EU is a huge partner of ours and guess where their capital is?

Yes, the casino example is a particularly egregious one but I'm sure there are many similar Canadian mental giants.

[Hilman]

^ Belgium isn't bordering the USA nor is one of their biggest trading partners, FAIL.

[24karat]

Originally Posted by PJC

Without checking Wikipedia, name the third largest city in Belgium

Trying to think about that one. I'm thinking either Liege or Brugges, but not sure. Brussels would be the largest, followed by Antwerp, I think.

Can't say who the leader is though.

Brussels is the headquarters for the European Union.

How did I do?

[sundance]

Belgium isn't 1/10th the size of Canada closer to 1/300th the size of Canada

Its GDP is about 500 billion (30th in the world) compared to Canada's 1.7 trillion (11th in the world)

A better comparison for Belgium would be the state of Massachusetts.

A fair comparison to Edmonton would be to similar cities of about a million people
New Orleans, Raleigh NC, Salt Lake City, Buffalo NY, Birmingham AL, and we compare quite favorably to most of them except for weather (although Buffalo and us would be tied for weather.)

[PJC]

Originally Posted by Hilman

^ Belgium isn't bordering the USA nor is one of their biggest trading partners, FAIL.

Guess you didn't read the whole post:


And spare me the "most important trading partner" stuff. The EU is a huge partner of ours and guess where their capital is?

[PJC]

Originally Posted by 24karat

Trying to think about that one. I'm thinking either Liege or Brugges, but not sure. Brussels would be the largest, followed by Antwerp, I think.

Can't say who the leader is though.

Brussels is the headquarters for the European Union.

How did I do?

Every bit as good as an urbane American.

[PJC]

Originally Posted by sundance

Belgium isn't 1/10th the size of Canada closer to 1/300th the size of Canada

Its GDP is about 500 billion (30th in the world) compared to Canada's 1.7 trillion (11th in the world)

A better comparison for Belgium would be the state of Massachusetts.

A fair comparison to Edmonton would be to similar cities of about a million people
New Orleans, Raleigh NC, Salt Lake City, Buffalo NY, Birmingham AL, and we compare quite favorably to most of them except for weather (although Buffalo and us would be tied for weather.)

In terms of poplutation it's about 30% the size of Canada and from your numbers, so is their economy.

[Hilman]

Originally Posted by PJC

Guess you didn't read the whole post:


And spare me the "most important trading partner" stuff. The EU is a huge partner of ours and guess where their capital is?

I did, still doesn't change the fact that it was a horrible comparison.

[GreenSPACE]

All his recent Oil Sands articles are listed on this page

http://www.businessinsider.com/author/robert-johnson

[Vincent]

It's pretty obvious why we as Canadians know a lot about the U.S. In fact, most of the world knows a lot about the U.S. For starters, it is a very important nation in world affairs and anything they do makes headlines around the world. Secondly, most of our movies and television shows are set in the U.S. which makes it easy for us to learn about the U.S.

It has nothing to do with our "superior education system" or "ignorant Americans".

[edmonton daily photo]

Originally Posted by GreenSPACE

All his recent Oil Sands articles are listed on this page

http://www.businessinsider.com/author/robert-johnson

Its a neat look into the world of Fort Mac...

Its a bit on the amateur side but I like the exposure.

[PJC]

Originally Posted by Hilman

I did, still doesn't change the fact that it was a horrible comparison.

Good job of never letting the facts get in the way of making a point.

Use Mexico instead then. We're in a free trade agreement with them. We may know marginally more about them than Belgium but tourist issues aside, we have little or no knowledge of the ins and outs of that country either. Certainly way less knowledge than you expect Americans to have about Canada.