My Living Environment
Subadhra RAI (Canada)
I am a Singaporean who lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton is the capital of
the province of Alberta andis located in the north. I live in an apartment in downtown

Edmonton. There were many reasons why I chose to live downtown. One reason was therelative ease of access to public transportation such as trains and buses. This isimportant to me because I do not own a car nor do I drive. Most Edmontonians drive
because the city is spread out and services are generally located elsewhere. A secondreason for living downtown is that it is convenient for me to commute to my place ofwork. I teach in a nursing programme called Bridge to Canadian Nursing which islocated in a converted heritage building in downtown Edmonton.

I can either take thebus or walk (when the weather allows) to work. A third reason is that there are anumber of services in downtown Edmonton such as the public library, supermarkets,book shops, shopping malls, restaurants, the symphony, an art playhouse and the art
gallery. The local government is working very hard to rejuvenate downtown Edmonton
so that it becomes a vibrant and attractive place for people to live.
The real estate boom in Alberta has also led to a number of condominiums being built in
downtown Edmonton. This has created a more concentrated and dense living in an
attempt to reduce the carbon footprint. The end result is that we are seeing a different
group of the population moving to downtown—a group that has a buying power, giving
rise to a number of local and innovative businesses to meet the demands of this group.
But downtown also has disproportionate numbers of individuals who are homeless.
These are individuals who have no fixed address and live on the streets or in shelters.
Many of them earn ‘income’ by going through rubbish dumps to collect bottles, cans,newspapers or any other recyclables to sell. Many homeless individuals have history ofmental illness or come from an abusive home environment. Many of them are unable towork due to health issues while some homeless individuals are victims of difficult
economic times. It is difficult to imagine that such things exist in a country as
well-endowed as Canada or in a province as rich as Alberta. However poverty does exist
here and nowhere is it more visible than downtown Edmonton.
The signs of poverty become more acute especially during the holiday season such asChristmas—a time of giving and receiving. Retailers everywhere have started to enticepeople tospend and buy by giving massive discounts and free gifts. For thoseindividuals who are living on the edge, this season is particularly painful. Charities
such as the Edmonton Food Bank and others encourage Edmontonians to give so that
all can celebrate the festive season. Many downtown businesses partner with the Food
Bank and encourage their employees to organise and donate non-perishable food to theFood Bank while big supermarkets donate frozen turkeys for Christmas dinners.
Shelters for the homeless also cook and serve Christmas dinners either on Christmas
Eve or Day. This is possible because of a group of dedicated volunteers. It is times likethis that Edmontonians pull together and show their spirit of sharing and giving. It is
this that makes this city a wonderful place to live.
What I like about living downtown is the vibrancy of the place. A few metres away, I canwalk along the river and be part of the green lung, and yet I am not far away from any
amenities. If I decide that I want to listen to a symphony, I can simply take the bus andreach the Winspear in no time. Edmonton is a city of contrasts but it is also a city thatallows community-building. Edmontonians do complain about the cold. I suspect this ismore of a conversation topic rather than an actual complain because if you ask anEdmontonian what he or she thinks about the city, the answer would probably be thatthey do not want to live anywhere else but in Edmonton. For me, downtown Edmonton
reflects the diversity of Alberta.