Map time

I've been thinking about Edmonton maps, and wondering why there weren't awesome maps like we looked at in class for our city, when I realized there are very few maps that I've ever looked at for Edmonton, since I live here. Then I realized that when I need to go somewhere in the city I either look at a) the lrt "map" b)a bus route "map" or c) google maps. So I'd like to talk about these maps and how they affect my life.

Well mostly I just want to talk about the lrt map, which is located in the actual train itself and at the stations on the walls; it's sooo silly. For those who don't know, it's a perfectly straight line representing the trajectory the train follows, with blue dots for the stations which are labelled. Um...that's it. There are good and bad things about its simplicity. It's easy to read, I suppose, and tells you basically how many stops til yours and the order of the stations, but it leaves out so much. The line it follows certainly isn't straight, it gives a very inaccurate depiction of distance between stops and it gives you no indication as to where you'll be coming out above ground (except for obviously named stations like "University"). It's really very little help, which is scary and interesting. How would non-Edmontonians read this map?

My Edmonton

Hi everyone :) Edmonton, to me, has always been "the city." As a kid, from ages 5 to 8, I lived in Griesbach, which was an area where military families lived and there was even a K-12 school. It was recently converted into a nice little civilian neighbourhood, but my old house is still there. Edmonton is the first city I remember moving to; before then I had moved around a lot but didn't really remember it. When I was 8 we moved to a new subdivision, Skyview, which is not far from Griesbach and everything around there was just developing then (right off 137 ave, near North ed Cineplex).

Then six months later I moved to Wainwright, which is quite a small town two hours south of here. This turned Edmonton into "the city" I think, since it was pretty much the closest big city, and people from Wainwright would go there for shopping, WEM, etc. I mostly remember coming back to go to Ikea lol. Then when I was twelve my family moved to St. Albert. This didn't really change my perception of Edmonton as "the city" because for most of my teen years I didn't really leave St. Albert that much. Edmonton, however, was where I went anytime I had a concert, ballet, play, opera or festival to go to with family or friends. My high school choir often performed in Edmonton. So music is really tied to Edmonton's identity for me.

As for my limits within Edmonton, I've always stayed mostly on the North end. Griesbach, Skyview, St. Albert and Clareview (where I currently live) are all here, and I pretty much never go South. Since being in university I've also inhabited Whyte, Jasper and downtown a lot more, and since I learned to drive (about a year and a half ago...lol) that has also really expanded my movements in and around and even out of Edmonton. I hope this class helps me to really get to know and own Edmonton.