Neighborhoods in Brief

Originally a patchwork collection of smaller cities, Edmonton can be hard to get a handle on. And while it's walkable in pockets, distances between those pockets tend to be large, and hampered by steep riverbanks on either side. Still, the in-between neighborhoods offer a nice opportunity for meandering, and are different enough to suit almost any stroller's inclinations.

Downtown

Edmonton and its environs count more than a million people, but its downtown feels like it belongs to a city not even half that size. A victim of the boom/bust economic cycle of an oil town, through the '80s Edmonton's downtown was a wasteland: With oil at an all-time low, the economy in the toilet, and the massive West Edmonton Mall drawing every potential shopper, local or otherwise, away from downtown, empty buildings nearly outnumbered those that were occupied. Property owners went so far as to knock down some of their buildings, as the property taxes for a vacant lot were significantly less than for the buildings they couldn't seem to get even a quarter full.

Much has changed since those dark days. The oil business is booming and Edmonton's downtown, during the daytime, is a busy corporate center. But it remains a tad impersonal, and without a critical mass of housing to support much of a restaurant or bar scene it often feels quite vacant in the evening hours and on weekends.

Still, some of the better chain-brand shopping in town is to be found here, anchored by the local outlet of the posh Holt Renfrew chain, and a concentration of the city's major art institutions, such as the Winspear Centre, home of the Edmonton Symphony and the Citadel Theatre, which serve as anchors to the Downtown Arts District. When the new Art Gallery of Alberta opens in late 2009, it should give another reason to go downtown.

Old Strathcona/Whyte Avenue

This is where Edmonton comes to play. This historic district used to be a separate township, but was amalgamated with Edmonton in 1912 and still contains some of the best-preserved landmarks in the city. It's best seen on foot, guided by the brochures given out at the Old Strathcona Foundation.

Undoubtedly the heaviest concentration of restaurants, bars, boutiques, and theaters to be found anywhere in the Edmonton area, the main drag through Old Strathcona is called Whyte Avenue (no relation to the Banff Whytes or, unfortunately, to me), and on a summer weekend night there's a sense of barely controlled social chaos. Streetfront patios of dozens of bars and restaurants spill out onto the sidewalk, Harley riders and muscle cars with booming stereos cruise the half-dozen-block stretch over and over (and over again), and the sidewalks are packed with a game bar-hopping set looking for the next hotspot. During the day, Whyte, with its historic streetfronts and collection of eclectic boutiques and cafes, is a pleasant, busy, urban stroll. Whether you want to stick around for the evening's inevitable descent is up to you, but in a new-seeming city where the car is king, Whyte Avenue is eminently walkable and filled with texture -- local history with a layer of the contemporary in nice harmony.

This is also where you'll find a surfeit of independent local theaters and theater companies, as well as the Old Strathcona Farmers Market, at 83rd Avenue and 103rd Street.

From downtown, get to Old Strathcona on bus 46; get off around 82nd Avenue, between 103rd and 105th streets.

124th Street/High Street

Between Jasper Avenue (aka 101st Avenue) and 110th Avenue on 124th Street is Edmonton's High Street district (though the colorful signs that line the boulevard call it, somewhat uninventively, "The 124th Street Area"). It's a low-key stretch of shops and restaurants stretching north and west of downtown, with a cluster of older homes just off the commercial strip. While nowhere near as bustling and active as Whyte Avenue, most who choose to spend their social time here would agree that this is a good thing: There's no pounding music from wide open bars or late-night revelers hollering at high volume after the bars close. A few nice pubs and a handful of boutiques make High Street a pleasant, if low-key, place for an evening out, or just an urban stroll during the day. And happy little secrets can be found here, too -- like the Blue Pear, one of the most interesting, innovative (not to mention delicious) restaurants in Alberta, if not all of Canada.