Nicest/Worst Places In Alberta

[Antithesis]

Worst:

Wetaskiwin
Hobbema
Brooks

Best:

Calgary
Millarville and area
Kananaskis

[pope04]

Originally Posted by flamesdyehard

1.) Wainwright: There is nothing good about this place. Ugly setting, dirty oil town and I find it very unfriendly and depressing.

Funny, I've got nothing but good childhood memories of Wainwright, the town my grandparents lived in. Mind you, other than a few funerals, I haven't spent much time there in close to thirty years.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Azure

Porcupine Hills are amazing. We had cows up there one summer and it was incredible going up there to round them up.

Pincher Creek ain't shabby either.

If you come in from the south into the forest reserve, just before you go over the cattle guard you will see an old ranch house that is half fallen down. My grandpa owned that house and a quarter section just out side the reserve.

[narbeZ]

I LOVE

1) Nordegg
2) Drumheller
4) Jasper

I HATE

1) Hobbema
2) Edmonton
3) Hanna

In a weird way I kind of like Oyen a bit though. Mostly just the drive there in the summer, FLAT and all one color. Kind of interesting actually.

The reason why Alberta is the best place in the world to live though, through my experience, is the people. The people (non-immigrants) are unbelievable.

[Deelow]

oh boy.

[DFO]

Best:

Jasper & most every other place in the foothills & mountains

Worst:

Red Earth
Provost
Valleyview

[Regulator75]

[Regulator75]

Nm

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

Provost is pretty bad, what with the cross burning, and the fact that you're an hour and a half drive to anywhere else in the world.

meh, there was a cross burning in 1991. Big deal. It was like 25 Klan members who had traveled from all sorts of places. No worse than the fact that I get called Jew-lover and threatened by skinheads when I walk around with my best friend in Kensington or sometimes on Stephen Ave. I'm sure it's a crap town, but it struck me as odd that you would use that as one of the reasons to dislike it.

I guess I'm much more of a city person than most here. I cannot comprehend why anyone would rather go freakin' skidooing rather than go to a fun dance party, randomly sample a few bands, take in a good beer or scotch tasting, etc. etc. and all on the same night. On the other hand, I do understand why people like the country, but I'd much rather be somewhere like New York or Toronto than even a nice small town. The amount of stuff to do is just way beyond what a small town offers. I guess Calgary is at that frustrating mid-point, though, where there might not be enough to do to justify the cons of the urban experience (which, for someone like me, are positives, but I understand why others dislike them).

My favorite place in Alberta is, hands down, Waterton. I have avoided the smaller places and desolate crapholes, so I don't really have a worst. Edmonton really is an ugly and depressing city, though.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by narbeZ

I LOVE

1) Nordegg
2) Drumheller
4) Jasper

I HATE

1) Hobbema
2) Edmonton
3) Hanna

In a weird way I kind of like Oyen a bit though. Mostly just the drive there in the summer, FLAT and all one color. Kind of interesting actually.

The reason why Alberta is the best place in the world to live though, through my experience, is the people. The people (non-immigrants) are unbelievable.

Immigrants are fine if they just blend in....

Apu: (Trying to blend in) Let's take a relaxed attitude toward work, and watch the baseball match. The Ny Mets are my favorite squadron

[ResAlien]

Nigel Powers: All right Goldmember. Don't play the laughing boy. There's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures and the Dutch.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by narbeZ

I LOVE


The reason why Alberta is the best place in the world to live though, through my experience, is the people. The people (non-immigrants) are unbelievable.

my god, you are such a prick.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

I guess I'm much more of a city person than most here. I cannot comprehend why anyone would rather go freakin' skidooing rather than go to a fun dance party, randomly sample a few bands, take in a good beer or scotch tasting, etc. etc. and all on the same night.

Haha, you like the dance parties, eh? Meet the ladies, get your groove on? Work your magic?

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Haha, you like the dance parties, eh? Meet the ladies, get your groove on? Work your magic?

that was funny. Poor choice of words on my part, I guess. I mean things like the Factory Party that has been happening at the Uptown every now and then. Fun crowd, nice people (despite outsider perception of 'elitism'), good bands, lots to drink, and hot chicks in quirky fashion. What's not to like? You don't get a 1000+ people in a movie theater and attached bar having a good time with lots of art to look at and what not in small towns.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

that was funny. Poor choice of words on my part, I guess. I mean things like the Factory Party that has been happening at the Uptown every now and then. Fun crowd, nice people (despite outsider perception of 'elitism'), good bands, lots to drink, and hot chicks in quirky fashion. What's not to like?

Haha, I know, I was just razzing you.

[Berger_4_]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

meh, there was a cross burning in 1991. Big deal. It was like 25 Klan members who had traveled from all sorts of places. No worse than the fact that I get called Jew-lover and threatened by skinheads when I walk around with my best friend in Kensington or sometimes on Stephen Ave. I'm sure it's a crap town, but it struck me as odd that you would use that as one of the reasons to dislike it.

I guess I'm much more of a city person than most here. I cannot comprehend why anyone would rather go freakin' skidooing rather than go to a fun dance party, randomly sample a few bands, take in a good beer or scotch tasting, etc. etc. and all on the same night. On the other hand, I do understand why people like the country, but I'd much rather be somewhere like New York or Toronto than even a nice small town. The amount of stuff to do is just way beyond what a small town offers. I guess Calgary is at that frustrating mid-point, though, where there might not be enough to do to justify the cons of the urban experience (which, for someone like me, are positives, but I understand why others dislike them).

Haha honestly it isn't that big of a deal to me (that sounds bad, but you know what I mean). The cross burning is just something I bug a couple friends about. It's not a terrible town, except for the distance from everywhere.

In regards to the skidooing and stuff...it's still possible to go to a 'dance party', or randomly sample a few bands...all you need to do is drive to the city for a night, or just have somebody with a bunch of music on a laptop.

It's possible for people out of town to do everything in a city (albeit with a bit more planning) but the freedom out there more than makes up for it. You never see cops, you can be as loud as you want till as late as you want, plus the trust factor with people is huge. We never had locks on school lockers, hardly locked vehicles or houses...I feel so privileged to have gone to school with the same people for 12 years, and knowing pretty well everyone in my school and community, from kindergarten up till graduation.

It all has to do with where you were raised (with some exceptions). Do I love Calgary? Sure. It's awesome to be able to go downtown with some friends and see a random band, walk Stephen Ave, or drink on Kensington or 17th. But as much fun as that is, it's nowhere near as great as riding sleds, being able to go fishing/camping whenever and all that kind of stuff. Does it get boring out there sometimes? No doubt. But so does living in a city, when you're just another body going about their business.

Sure, good beer out on the farm is Pilsner or Canadian, and scotch means Crown Royal or Bacardi, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I can't wait to get back out there.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by flameswin

Immigrants are fine if they just blend in....

Apu: (Trying to blend in) Let's take a relaxed attitude toward work, and watch the baseball match. The Ny Mets are my favorite squadron

right. I'm going to take this way too seriously again, but I just feel I have to say this.

I know you are just kidding, but there is this sentiment that immigrants don't assimilate at all that I find to be fairly false. At least among those outside the NE.

I am an Albertan, my parents are Albertans, and my grandparents adopted Alberta as their home. To say that my grandparents did not act foreign or seem foreign on occasion would be to fudge the truth, but surely that is true of the grandparents and great-grandparents of many people of Ukranian origin or from other non-French or British areas in Europe.

I don't really know anyone my age of Arab origin who has grown up here or lived here most of their life that does not act pretty much like a Calgarian. Yet that often isn't the perception among other people. It's not really racism, it's just a weird sort of notion that your skin color prevents you from being part of a culture with a different skin color. The fact that I smoke hookah, eat hummus and falafel, and occasionally wear a keffiyeh around my neck does mean that to an extent I embrace my Arab heritage, but does not indicate a rejection of being Albertan or Canadian more than a Jewish person observing Yom Kippur does, or more than a Celtic person playing the fiddle does. There seems to be this sort of notion that if you're not from a particular category of ethnic origin, you have to abandon more of your heritage to be considered 'Canadian'. People are much less tolerant in general, I'd say, of an Indian family celebrating Diwali, than numerous other observances.

It just seems like a lot of people want non-whites to conform to some sort of unfair, absurd standard they set, which appears to be behaving like an average Walmart patron.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

Haha honestly it isn't that big of a deal to me (that sounds bad, but you know what I mean). The cross burning is just something I bug a couple friends about. It's not a terrible town, except for the distance from everywhere.

In regards to the skidooing and stuff...it's still possible to go to a 'dance party', or randomly sample a few bands...all you need to do is drive to the city for a night, or just have somebody with a bunch of music on a laptop.

It's possible for people out of town to do everything in a city (albeit with a bit more planning) but the freedom out there more than makes up for it. You never see cops, you can be as loud as you want till as late as you want, plus the trust factor with people is huge. We never had locks on school lockers, hardly locked vehicles or houses...I feel so privileged to have gone to school with the same people for 12 years, and knowing pretty well everyone in my school and community, from kindergarten up till graduation.

It all has to do with where you were raised (with some exceptions). Do I love Calgary? Sure. It's awesome to be able to go downtown with some friends and see a random band, walk Stephen Ave, or drink on Kensington or 17th. But as much fun as that is, it's nowhere near as great as riding sleds, being able to go fishing/camping whenever and all that kind of stuff. Does it get boring out there sometimes? No doubt. But so does living in a city, when you're just another body going about their business.

Sure, good beer out on the farm is Pilsner or Canadian, and scotch means Crown Royal or Bacardi, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I can't wait to get back out there.

I get what you're saying. Sometimes I feel sorry that I didn't have that life. Heck, I moved around so much in my childhood (even to other countries!) that I've made and lost too many friends over time to count. And I have Asperger's, so it's tougher for me than the average person to handle those transitions. But I've always lived in cities, and while I can dig the laid back vibe of smaller places from afar, I don't think they're suited for me. You're probably right, it probably has quite a bit to do with where you grew up.

Despite being a beer snob, I have a Pilsner t-shirt, and even wear it sometimes. Go figure.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

In regards to the skidooing and stuff...it's still possible to go to a 'dance party', or randomly sample a few bands...all you need to do is drive to the city for a night

Sure, but then you need to drive back.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by SebC

Sure, but then you need to drive back.

Yeah, but if you're drunk enough, the ride back can be fun.