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Edmcowboy11

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I thought about this when reading one of the most recent posts on the gondola proposal here in Edmonton. What will attract people to our city. "Do cool shit"

So I thought why not have one thread just talking about cool, weird, wacky, strange, etc...that Edmonton could or should have that would benefit our citizens but also could further attract tourists.

What strange/fun ideas do our collective brains have of things we could have in Edmonton.?
 
formalize the MTB trail system in the valley. there's hundreds of km of trail down there (only about half is on trailforks, including a lot of the most spectacular runs, trails, and viewpoints) and it has almost zero acknowledgement. it's a natural asset, would cost almost nothing to build out or maintain (all of that is already done illegally/by EMBA volunteers) and would be a unique feature in both its nature and scale.
MTB is usually something you have to leave the city to do, something reserved for mountain towns or other natural areas. having easy access to good trails in the heart of the city is unique, and given the amount of it we have, if it were all mapped and officially designated or whatever paperwork has to happen, we would probably have some kind of national/continental record for most trail in an urban area. That kind of record/bragging right is great for publicity and catching investor attention. Even if they don't ride, they can walk the trails, ski them, whatever. or maybe they don't use them at all, but it's still a 'feather in the cap' when pitching the city to others.
IDK, i see that as a ready-made record/bragging point we could be pitching to potential newcomers if admin got its duckies straight.
 
case in point (I swear I made my post before seeing this) GMBN (a large MTB social media content creator) is doing a sponsored tour of Bentonville, Arkansas. The town is marketing itself as MTB capital of the World (watch the vid, i'm not making that up). below is the youtube video. sponsored, of course. but it's still a full review.
GMBN video for Bentonville, AR
It's stuff like this that can have surprisingly good reach. GMBN is global, branching even beyond the anglosphere. people worldwide will see this and see all the great things about this otherwise nondescript city of ~500k people. Bentonville is a small city, corporate headquarters for Walmart. not much to write home about. One of the key points are that trails are accessible from downtown. I WONDER IF WE HAVE ANY OF THAT??? jk. we do. we just suck at marketing.
 
The trail system is great, No all of it illegally built. EMBA does work with the city to maintain the trails. Its why we can't use chain saws to clear dead fall. And I personally can say that most of the trails in Terwilligar were developed with the cities knowledge. back in the 80s and 90s. some we just used a lawnmower. But the trails can be used almost year round. just not after a rain or spring thaw.

There is some press getting out about how good riding is here but it is not getting pushed by tourism. and if you don't have Trailforks or Strava you have to hunt them out.

There is a small but very organized group that are working on a cycling event that is hoped in 5 years to have a World cup even here. We've already had a Canada Cup Mountain bike race here. why not more.
 
A cool thing to see would be a full-scale redevelopment of the Rossdale powerplant area including some unconventional entertainment and stuff that would add to the skyline.

Imagine a big-ass Ferris Wheel, in the lines of the London Eye, for example, that gave you panoramic views from the River Valley and the city.

Surrounding it, new developments (as already planned), the power plant redeveloped into something like the Quincy Market in Boston, change the Riverboat dock to this side of the river and integrate it all with the Gondola station.
 
I would like to see zip lines (of various lengths) added at Snow Valley, to add to the existing Aerial Park, and work towards a larger “Outdoor Adventure Park” in spring, summer and fall. And maybe some glamping facilities at the campground.
 
Zip line from LMP to Rafters over the river please and thank you:)

This would be great. I would love to try that.

Also, I once thought up an idea of running a zip line underneath the High Level Bridge going end to end, but don't think that would have much of a chance of getting off the ground (no pun intended) 🙂
 
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Just got back from a weekend in Calgary. First time in quite a few years being there just for fun and being touristy. 2 things I loved:

1) we did the downhill karts at the Olympic park, basically go karts with gravity. It was so fun. Not that we need to directly copy, but it would be cool to have a similar type attraction that activates and showcases our river valley. And it was pretty affordable vs stuff like our snow valley high ropes.

2) their waterfront is so much better than ours. It’s nothing much fancier than our touch the water proposal. But it’s just so convienent. We need to develop our edge on all sides and make it a connected network. Imagine a super clear loop that took someone around all the edges of our Central Valley. I think vancouvers sea wall is so well used because it’s clear and easy to navigate. And then activated and busy throughout. What if we made tawatina to high level and back a more distinct route and attraction? Lot of our valley edges don’t even have paths and are just residential streets. Or we don’t allow sight lines in the name of not cutting down trees, which I get to an extent, but some areas I think should be kept clear. And all of rossdale should get developed, along with the gondola and HLL. These are key image building projects.
 
Just got back from a weekend in Calgary. First time in quite a few years being there just for fun and being touristy. 2 things I loved:

1) we did the downhill karts at the Olympic park, basically go karts with gravity. It was so fun. Not that we need to directly copy, but it would be cool to have a similar type attraction that activates and showcases our river valley. And it was pretty affordable vs stuff like our snow valley high ropes.

2) their waterfront is so much better than ours. It’s nothing much fancier than our touch the water proposal. But it’s just so convienent. We need to develop our edge on all sides and make it a connected network. Imagine a super clear loop that took someone around all the edges of our Central Valley. I think vancouvers sea wall is so well used because it’s clear and easy to navigate. And then activated and busy throughout. What if we made tawatina to high level and back a more distinct route and attraction? Lot of our valley edges don’t even have paths and are just residential streets. Or we don’t allow sight lines in the name of not cutting down trees, which I get to an extent, but some areas I think should be kept clear. And all of rossdale should get developed, along with the gondola and HLL. These are key image building projects.
I've often thought about the downhill go-karts. I've been to Skyline Luge in Calgary and both locations in New Zealand. The two best ones are in Rotorua NZ and Calgary which have ~100m elevation drop. The one in Rotorua is especially good because it winds through an old growth forest. The one in Queenstown NZ is only ~60m drop - it's shorter but still fun. From Google Earth it appears our river valley is only 50-60m deep.

I think that if Skyline were to built something in Edmonton similar in scale to the Queenstown location it would be very successful. Redeveloping the Kinsmen Pitch N Putt would be a great location - downhill go-karting through the forest. Combine it with a zip-line and "lazy river" slides similar to Whitecourt's Rotary Waterpark or Red Deer's Discovery Canyon. There would be a chair lift to take customers up the hill. The amenity building / launch point at the top of the hill could be located near the 109st / Sask Drive intersection and include a restaurant overlooking the city skyline. Kinsmen Field House has the parking capacity to accommodate this.
 
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I thought about this when reading one of the most recent posts on the gondola proposal here in Edmonton. What will attract people to our city. "Do cool shit"

So I thought why not have one thread just talking about cool, weird, wacky, strange, etc...that Edmonton could or should have that would benefit our citizens but also could further attract tourists.

What strange/fun ideas do our collective brains have of things we could have in Edmonton.?

SILENT GLOW IN THE DARK DISCO PARTY! Where everyone gathers in parks at night with headphones on to dance but with no actual music playing besides your own via headphones... so that it doesn't upset the neighbours...

When I was at the Northlands Racino a local weirdo wanted to open his own silent strip club along the same lines where you listen to your own music while someone silently strips... I mean to each their own and it's kind of a genius idea TBH if slightly distasteful if not certainly creepy. But then again different strokes, yo!

Civic Museum of Edmonton complete with large skyscraper diorama that you can walk around like they have in most Chinese cities...

Outdoor Food Truck/Cart Court... Portland's Washington Street has a pop up market with 40 vendors who open daily around the fringes of a small city valet parking lot. $10 for 2 hours of parking and so many cheap foodie options you could never ever ever get bored. And the best part? All local family owned mom and pop cafes... Just think of how many families fortunes could be saved/turned around with a food truck that makes cash? A lot which is why that trend really took off mid 2010's and didn't look back.... except for you know... and even then... Being open air...
 
I've often thought about the downhill go-karts. I've been to Skyline Luge in Calgary and both locations in New Zealand. The two best ones are in Rotorua NZ and Calgary which have ~100m elevation drop. The one in Rotorua is especially good because it winds through an old growth forest. The one in Queenstown NZ is only ~60m drop - it's shorter but still fun. From Google Earth it appears our river valley is only 50-60m deep.

I think that if Skyline were to built something in Edmonton similar in scale to the Queenstown location it would be very successful. Redeveloping the Kinsmen Pitch N Putt would be a great location - downhill go-karting through the forest. Combine it with a zip-line and "lazy river" slides similar to Whitecourt's Rotary Waterpark or Red Deer's Discovery Canyon. There would be a chair lift to take customers up the hill. The amenity building / launch point at the top of the hill could be located near the 109st / Sask Drive intersection and include a restaurant overlooking the city skyline. Kinsmen Field House has the parking capacity to accommodate this.

Open A chair lift at the Edmonton ski club as a quick way to get up that massive hill in a hurry. I went walking up it a few weeks ago to snap skyline shots and I only got about 1/3 up in one go before I took a breather. Not saying I couldn't do it but it could/should/would be a good option for those less mobile than myself... Also was struggling with asthma and long-covid at the time like many of us... I honestly thought there was one, but I guess it's just T'bars and surface lifts...
 
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Urban vertiport for eVTOL aircraft reusing the old Municipal terminal and abandoned parkade as the launch site. Coventry is the pioneer in this of course. Coventry being the home of the old British car industry and apparently the whole reason my family is in Canada. My great-grandpa was a mechanic in the early UK days then immigrated to Lamont and later Minburn County. Also why the name Warwick exists north of Vegreville. Our old home region...
 

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