I have had it with living in this province. I was born in Edmonton, have lived here most of my life and had no intentions of leaving....until now. It has become so ridiculously expensive to live here I see no future for myself in this city. My rent has gone up 3 times in the last year and just a couple of days ago I just received a notice that it is going up again. This is an apartment that normally costs 650 dollars a month and is now well over 1000 dollars a month and climbing. We have no rent control in this Province so there will be no end to the rent increases. Why? because allot of people have no choice, no money saved so they cannot take on an expensive move to a cheaper province so at 0% vacancy most lanlords know they can charge whatever they want. At the same time housing is beyond insane, where my parents house (1100 sqft 50 yr old very average not fancy bungalow) was worth 160k a few years ago it is now worth 450k. I wouldn't even consider purchasing a house in Edmonton at those prices because this is Edmonton, prices that double in one year can also very easily lose that same amount in one year, it has happened before in the past with devastating financial implications to families. A recent poll done showed that 70% of Albertans have not only not seen any benefit from the current boom but consider it a negative impact on their lives . The other 30% are probably fast food workers who have seen their wages go fro 7 dollars an hour to 10 or 11 dollars an hour. My wage (high tech field) has not budged as have most other peoples wages. they remain stagnant while prices and cost of living soars. Yea, this is what we refer to as the Alberta Advantage? That term was coined by the few big wigs in the oil industry who have benefited from this boom!
I'm LEAVING Alberta !!!!
- Thread starter Jsan
- Start date
ROFL, Sorry. I told many people not to go to ALberta. It is a spongue it will take all you have, and live you dry as a desert.
I have lived comfortably in Rural Saskatchewan most of my life where it costs literally pennies to live in comparison to Alberta. Yet all the young kids see now days is the huge hourly wages in comparison to Saskatchewan. It's funny to see and hear from them later about moving back home or working two and even three jobs to make ends meet.
Saying that I moved to Western Australia recently and have entered a market that would compare to Alberta. The economy here is booming and people are having the same problems with housing. Prices have doubled in the last two to three years and many can no longer get into the realestate game.
Saying that I moved to Western Australia recently and have entered a market that would compare to Alberta. The economy here is booming and people are having the same problems with housing. Prices have doubled in the last two to three years and many can no longer get into the realestate game.
Exactly, the province should have reigned in and controlled some of the growth but instead they flung open the doors to oil companies and gave them HUGE incentives to build and the ramifications are beginning to show. Even the oil companies are being squeezed by huge construction costs due to labour, materials and booming inflation. What's going to happen is not only will people quit moving to this province because it is ridiculously expensive but people will begin to move away in droves driving costs even higher and higher. Oil is not the only reason there is a boom it is just an overall boom in everything that comes with growth that is really fueling the economy. When you have thousands and thousands of people moving anywhere it will create a boom in construction, retail etc. You have to understand that the vast majority of people's jobs in this province have NOTHING to do with the oil industry and even though their wages are not climbing their cost of living is going straight through the roof. Runaway inflation and an exodus of workers will kill that growth. For me the most telling indication of how overpriced Alberta has become it is now more expensive to rent in Alberta than it is to rent in Vancouver. Gee, where would you rather live, the flat praries of Edmonton with 6 months of winter or surrounded by mountains and beside and ocean with virtually no winter in Vancouver......yeah, really tough decision!
Overall I've found that there are many, many downsides to the booming economy, some of which you've already mentioned. In addition, my wife and I are also finding that it's hard to teach our teenage daughter the value of having a part-time job, and being on time and ready to work hard every shift. Many teens are adapting a mentality that they won't get fired from their job because there's a shortage of workers, and even if they do get fired the jobs are a dime a dozen. Related, we're finding that when we walk into a store, service is atrocious and employees have a devil-may-care attitude. Contractors for residential renovations can basically name their price.
We've found a silver lining, though, living here in Edmonton. We moved here 9 months ago and we were quite blessed to buy one side of a duplex here for about $168k. It's nice to know that our property has appreciated significantly, and at any time my wife and I can pay off my student loans and put a hefty downpayment on another house. Of course, finding another house is a whole different problem............
We've found a silver lining, though, living here in Edmonton. We moved here 9 months ago and we were quite blessed to buy one side of a duplex here for about $168k. It's nice to know that our property has appreciated significantly, and at any time my wife and I can pay off my student loans and put a hefty downpayment on another house. Of course, finding another house is a whole different problem............
You should leave Alberta go cry in another province like BC there are a lot of socialist crybabies there.
If you cannot afford to live in Edmonton the land of milk and honey where the streets are paved with gold then you must be a person who does not know how to cash in.
The city of Edmonton had a lot of boom times in it’s history from the gold rush era to the oil boom in the mid seventies to the early eighties when the Prime Minister changed the tax rules.
Edmonton always seem to have the ability to bounce back from any hardships
In the gold rush era people came from allover the world to stake their claim and retire in luxury.
The money is flowing fast and hard and you got to pull out your money bag and catch all that you can before it all blows away.
If you are not making enough to pay your ever increasing rent then you should be working for yourself and cash in and live that Canadian dream.
Do some research on where all that money is coming from and going to and set up your business to catch the riches.
If you do this then you become the success story.
If you cannot afford to live in Edmonton the land of milk and honey where the streets are paved with gold then you must be a person who does not know how to cash in.
The city of Edmonton had a lot of boom times in it’s history from the gold rush era to the oil boom in the mid seventies to the early eighties when the Prime Minister changed the tax rules.
Edmonton always seem to have the ability to bounce back from any hardships
In the gold rush era people came from allover the world to stake their claim and retire in luxury.
The money is flowing fast and hard and you got to pull out your money bag and catch all that you can before it all blows away.
If you are not making enough to pay your ever increasing rent then you should be working for yourself and cash in and live that Canadian dream.
Do some research on where all that money is coming from and going to and set up your business to catch the riches.
If you do this then you become the success story.
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wow...i didn't know all that about alberta. I've always wanted to go visit alberta/edmonton, and maybe even live there. Well after reading above, i think i will need to rethink that. My dad used to live in calgary which he said was a very nice place. Someday i wish to move there 
.
DOes any1 have some info about calgary, like is this stuff about edmonton the same with Calgary?
.DOes any1 have some info about calgary, like is this stuff about edmonton the same with Calgary?
Yeah, Albertan's have it hard. I have visited the province twice in the last year and have a hard time understanding how the province will sustain itself.
You summed it up very well, indeed. I cannot afford to buy a house in my neighbourhood, and trust me, the houses in this neighbourhood are not nice. The guy next door just sold his house for close to 350,000 bucks. It is NOT worth that kinda money. The house needs alot of work. Prices just keep going crazy...and like you said, my wages aren't increasing along with it. We have been lucky though...we have great landlords who, throughout all of this, have not increased our rent once in the 4 years we have lived in this house. I'm greatful.
Not only that, but trying to get service in this province? Forget it. Even places like IGA or Walmart don't have enough staff, and the staff they have get overworked and end up not being overly friendly. Trying to get any work body work done on your vehicle? Get on the waiting list. Contracting....renovations? How many months have you got? Infrastructure is rotting around us in the city, while houses sprout up like dandilions on the outskirts, creating an urban sprawl mess.
It's not all buns and roses here in Edmonton. It's a nice city, it's a decent province, but this boom is brutal for most folks.
How encouraging. :roll:
I was going to respond to this earlier with stats about housing shortages & the lack of rent control, but I think you should just take off your rose coloured glasses. Your synopsis of Edmonton's history is irrelevant to the current problems the region is facing. Alberta may be a land of milk & honey, but what good is it if the droves of people coming into the province can't afford the milk & honey?
sad, eh?
The problem is that you have a demographic of people moving to Edmonton who want to live in houses with the dog, kids and suburb thing. I guess it makes sense since it is mostly blue collar labour, but we should be building up rather than spreading out. If only labour weren't so stressed some proposals would be happening... Sadly, I think it's the same situation no matter where you go in Canada. Even Lloydminster, SK is seeing ridiculous housing prices (compared to middle America). That said, as a university student I know a lot of young Albertans are seriously considering moving to the US to start out in comparatively cheaper, liberal cities like Seattle (*gasp*) and Austin, TX.
The problem is that you have a demographic of people moving to Edmonton who want to live in houses with the dog, kids and suburb thing. I guess it makes sense since it is mostly blue collar labour, but we should be building up rather than spreading out. If only labour weren't so stressed some proposals would be happening... Sadly, I think it's the same situation no matter where you go in Canada. Even Lloydminster, SK is seeing ridiculous housing prices (compared to middle America). That said, as a university student I know a lot of young Albertans are seriously considering moving to the US to start out in comparatively cheaper, liberal cities like Seattle (*gasp*) and Austin, TX.
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Well here in Ontario the housing market is a changing, the inflated appraisers of the past are obviously gone to Alberta ,that said, Ive seen a drop in house prices up to thousand in my area
yes the bow has broken and now we suffer,its coming pain and suffering --up go interest rates
its was a nice game while it lasted -house flipping was the best occupation in the world for 1-2 years
yes the bow has broken and now we suffer,its coming pain and suffering --up go interest rates
its was a nice game while it lasted -house flipping was the best occupation in the world for 1-2 years
Your right, Alberta is allot like the Gold Rush days. Anyone who knows anything about any Gold Rush in history knows that the vast majority of people who pack up and head in search of their riches came back broke and destitute. And just like the Gold rush days, the people who made the money were the established merchants who sold them the supplies at ridiculously inflated prices. And also, just like the Gold Rush days, people parked their common sense at the door and made very unwise decisions because they were caught up in the frenzy. I would suggest anyone who would purchase a house in Edmonton today for 450K that was only worth 170k a couple years ago are not thinking clearly. The vast majority of people moving here seem to think that money is just growing on trees but the reality is the wages are probably no better than most parts of the country unless you are willing to take a job that requires you to live out of a camp most of the time or one that offers allot of overtime. Either way you have to sacrifice for the money, it always comes with a catch.
Alberta and Ontario don't get anything from the Feds (equalization stuff)...both provinces have enough natural resources...Alberta...gas and oil....Ontario ...Hot Air and Queens Park.... to ensure that the wealthy of both provinces create a climate of exclusivity....hardly a suprise...
if only we could have teleportation. we could all live in newfoundland and work in alberta and the commute would be seconds
he's just being a rebel. it gets you popularity out there. Your average newfie knows canada is something they need to be part of, but dreams of the republic still sparkle. So far in my travels it's the most different province i've come across... with the most singular culture ("unique" is an on/off state so "most unique" is a nonsense... does the same apply to singular?)