Cheryl Probert and her late husband knew they wanted to live downtown when they moved to Edmonton in 2018.
“We’re big into the food scene and live music events, and we wanted to be able to walk to the things that we wanted to do and see,” she says.
Downtown Edmonton offers a vibrant mix of entertainment, business, education, government and community in the heart of the city. More than 12,000 people live in the core, from students to office workers to artists to entrepreneurs to young families, making it one of the city’s largest neighbourhoods.
Cheryl and her dog, Finnegan, live in a condo near 104 Street, which is lined with restaurants, cafés, bars, and Rogers Place, a state-of-the-art arena for concerts and the Edmonton Oilers. The Arts District, which includes the Citadel Theatre, Art Gallery of Alberta and Winspear Centre, is a short walk away.
“I hardly ever leave downtown because I don’t need to,” she says. “Everything I need is within walking distance.”
Cheryl is president of the Downtown Edmonton Community League(external link), which helps connect downtown’s condo and apartment dwellers. The league hosts pub nights, seasonal socials and Confetti Fridays, a series of summer events in Michael Phair Park. The league also runs the community garden in Alex Decoteau Park, which features 36 plots and a dog park.
“People who haven’t been part of a community with high-density housing might have a sense that because you don’t have a front porch, there isn’t any way to connect,” says Cheryl.
“Those of us who are part of the community league are very passionate about helping people build those connections with our events. Plus, dog parks, splash pads, the fountains at City Hall—these are also places where it’s easy to start a conversation and make a connection.”
Here are some of Cheryl’s favourite downtown destinations:
Wayne Jones is a longtime downtown resident.
He moved to the core in the 1990s when he managed one of the city’s top music venues, known as The Rev at the time. (It’s now The Starlite Room(external link).)
In 2013, he married Susan Forsey, another veteran downtowner. Together, they own two bars: Cask & Barrel(external link) on 104 Street, and Rocky Mountain Icehouse(external link) on Jasper Avenue. The couple live in a nearby condo. Wayne’s mom recently moved in with them, too.
“A house just wasn’t conducive to our lifestyle,” says Susan. “If ever anything happened in the bars and the odd alarm would go off, we’re only a few steps away. We don’t have time to do yard work, so it’s actually perfect for us to stay in a condo.”
Wayne and Susan love the camaraderie of downtown’s hospitality industry. They say it’s only gotten stronger since COVID threatened the livelihoods of many independent entrepreneurs..
“[Bar and restaurant owners] were close beforehand, but now we’re even closer,” says Susan.
Levi Binnema moved downtown to be closer to work—and extracurricular activities. He’s the manager of Audreys Books(external link) on Jasper Avenue, one of the city’s oldest book stores.
“I like being near the pulse of the city,” he says. “I like knowing that if I want to pop out at 10 p.m., I can go for a drink or go for a walk. It’s nice to have those adventures so close at hand.”
Levi lives in a condo at the bottom of a steep hill, just off 106 Street and close to the North Saskatchewan River and Walterdale Bridge. He likes to get around on foot—it takes him about 10 minutes to get to work. He also appreciates downtown’s proximity to the river valley and strollable neighbourhoods such Glenora, just west of downtown.
Here are some of Levi’s downtown recommendations:
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