Why does everyone say “skip Edmonton” when visiting AB?

[u/Zestyy-Gold]

I’ve seen a lot online where tourists will ask for a Alberta itinerary, which I understand they are excited to see mountains…but people would add the extra “skip Edmonton” line even as if there’s nothing to embrace here. I have never been to Edmonton, but as the capital of Alberta, is there really nothing to see as a traveller? I read that there is an interesting food scene, cool museums (Reynolds, Telus World of Science, Royal Alberta Museum, etc), chill neighborhoods like Whyte Ave, and a big ass shopping mall? Do people say this just so the city wouldnt be clustered with tourists or is the city really that skippable? I don’t think anyone expects it to be a Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto…but I’m sure it still has it’s charm?

[u/lucygoosey38]

The mall seems to be the biggest grab. We do have loads of amazing festivals though and our river valley is amazing, but ya, the mountains are hard to beat

[u/franciswei → u/lucygoosey38]

The mall isn't even that cool compared to many malls in Asia, that's why Edmonton is usually a hard pass for most foreign visitors.

[u/superdas75 → u/franciswei]

The Mall is definitely showing it's age.

[u/Sinsley → u/superdas75]

Nah... the mall has been corporate white washed and is bland these days. It used to be fun and whimsical, but all that charm is long dead.

[u/gmez3 → u/Sinsley]

i remember growing up in GP we used to go down to edmonton 4-5x a year for my tournaments and west ed was always so fun, and we moved out to quebec and my parents went back last year after 10 years and they showed me how it looks now and it definitely lost some of its charm

[u/Civil_Perspective98 → u/lucygoosey38]

Is our river valley “amazing” lol…

[u/FrostyTheSasquatch → u/Civil_Perspective98]

The largest urban park in the world? I think that’s pretty amazing.

[u/Civil_Perspective98 → u/FrostyTheSasquatch]

I would never travel to Edmonton from another country to see our shitty brown river that’s gotten backed up with raw sewage multiple times but I guess bro. 😆

[u/Johnoplata → u/Civil_Perspective98]

You'll need to provide a source on that because it sounds like you're the one full of shit.

[u/Civil_Perspective98 → u/Johnoplata]

You must be someone that moved here yesterday, welcome! It takes all of 3 seconds to google the plethora of times (CSO) has happened in the North Sask river not to even mention the numerous bodies they have found both in the water and on the trail (we’ve been the homicide capital of Canada a few times). It’s quite literally mentioned on the city of Edmonton website and EPCOR. Not to mention the amount of times I’ve personally seen diapers floating down the river. 😆

https://www.epcor.com/ca/en/ab/edmonton/operations/water-wastewater/wastewater-collection/combined-sewer-system.html

I love my city because it’s home, but I’ll never lie to tourists about its realities.

[u/Johnoplata → u/Civil_Perspective98]

You're conflating so many things to make whatever your point is. The river has never been "backed up with raw sewage". Our river has a silt bottom so it looks brown. Do you honestly think that a Rocky bottom river like calagary means the don't find bodies sometimes? You're just showing that you have never traveled or at least paid attention to any other city. Go splash around in the rivers of touristy cities like Paris, New York, LA, or London and let us know how tourism equals clean water. Your entire point was responding to someone saying our river valley is amazing and you jump to water quality. Hate on the city all you want, but no one has lied to tourists about anything here.

[u/Civil_Perspective98 → u/Johnoplata]

It has quite literally been backed up by raw sewage after numerous storms. I won’t argue with someone who won’t acknowledge the most basic facts about our glorious river.

[u/spyxero → u/Civil_Perspective98]

You seem to not know what "backed up" means. That means the river is stopped due to something blocking  the entire (or most of) the flow of the river. Raw sewage has never stopped the river from flowing. It has never been backed up by raw sewage

[u/Civil_Perspective98 → u/spyxero]

“CSO outfalls are designed to reduce the risk of system-wide overloading that could otherwise increase the likelihood of widespread sewer BACKUPS and flooding within the collection system.

EPCOR’s ongoing work focuses on reducing CSO frequency and volume through infrastructure upgrades, stormwater management, and sewer separation where feasible, with the long-term goal of improving system resilience and protecting the North Saskatchewan River.”

[u/Johnoplata → u/Civil_Perspective98]

And I won't argue with someone who doesn't know what words mean. Enjoy drinking from the Hudson River, champ!