On the Streets of Edmonton: A Late Spring Meditation
- Ivan Dawkins
- May 26
- 3 min read
As I sit on a bus stop in Edmonton's Old Strathcona Heritage Area near the corner of Whyte Avenue & Gateway Blvd, I drift off into wide awake reverie. Who is Alberta? Is she someone's heavy set Big Mama sitting on the front porch rocker, sipping on iced tea that's far too sweet? Or is she a royal diva, the Princess who lent her name to both the District and later the Province of Alberta? Either way, I now have a hankering for a glass of that tea.
May 26, 2025; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - Old Strathcona Heritage Area - Photo Credit: Ivan Dawkins-BS3 Network
Here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada the streets seem to blur the line between urban grit and gentle enchantment. It’s when the poplar trees begin to shed their seeds, and the air becomes a snow globe of soft white fluff. These tiny, floating tufts drift lazily through intersections and over cracked sidewalks, swirling in the heat shimmer like something out of a childhood dream. But this is no fairytale—this is Whyte Avenue (82nd) in late May, and it smells faintly of exhaust, pavement, and possibility.
Walking these streets, you notice everything and nothing. A teenager in a retro Oilers cap is slouched on a bus bench, sipping a warm can of Canada Dry. Not ginger ale exactly, but Canada Dry. The brand matters here. There’s a ritual in the crisp carbonation, a comfort in its predictability. It bites gently, reminding you that some classics are stubbornly resistant to change, even as everything else morphs around them.
Beside him, a corner store’s bright signage flickers. Inside, the shelves are stocked with snack food that somehow tastes a bit off. It’s still salty, still neon-bright in its packaging, but there’s less junk in the junk food. Less artificial, fewer chemicals, more air and buzzwords about “real ingredients.” It’s healthier, sure, but it lacks the wild abandon of the chips and candies you used to devour on nights when the streetlights blinked on and you were still young enough to chase them.
Edmonton isn’t a city that tries to impress you. It doesn’t flirt or dazzle. Instead, it’s the kind of place that shows its soul in small, ordinary ways: in the worn-down brick of old coffee shops, in the sound of skateboard wheels on asphalt, in the way strangers nod at each other without speaking. And above it all, those poplar seeds floating freely, transient, aimless. A reminder that even in the city, nature finds a way to be poetic.
Here, you’re not quite sure what you’re looking for, but you keep walking. The breeze picks up, and a swirl of fluff dances past your face. You take another sip of whatever you’re drinking. It could be Canada Dry. It could be the memory of a spring long gone by.
The vibrant, bohemian vibe where historic buildings seamlessly blend with youthful energy, making Old Strathcona one of Edmonton's trendiest neighborhoods! Edmonton doesn’t give you answers. But sometimes, it gives you moments. And if you’re paying attention, that’s more than enough.
I slowly make my way back to Jasper Avenue, in Edmonton’s downtown, where dreams renew, aboard the High Level Bridge Streetcar. A relic of time, a moving memoir along the former Canadian Pacific Railway line. The approximately 112 year old streetcar clanging and banging shakily over the High Level Bridge made of titanic steel. It shakes and sways through history's maze. This old vessel of lore, carries whispers of journeys, tales of yore. Between the girders, high and proud, overlooking Kinsmen Park and the North Saskatchewan River, nature’s shroud. The river flows, a mirror of time, where the past still glows. The world’s tallest active streetcar bridge crossing where they promise, or threaten to throw any Dallas Stars fan overboard. As the laughter echoes, they hold no fear. Twenty minutes, a fleeting embrace, I arrive back at Jasper Plaza, my starting place. The ride a reminder, each clatter a song, to distract the longing for the heart of the city, where I belong.
Ivan Dawkins is a journalist for bs3network.com - because someone has to make sense of this madness. Follow him on X at @ikingdawk before he tweets something he can't take back.
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Nice read!
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That is a well written article. Great job!
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