Field School: Day 7: 118th Ave (Alberta Avenue)

118th Ave conjures up different images to different people. For myself, 118th Ave brings about mixed visions of Portuguese egg tarts, Mexican food, cute lamp posts and newly paved sidewalks, decrepit storefronts, and people waiting at bus stops. 118th Ave is not foreign to me. For some reason or another, among my many random solo adventures through the city, I have found myself on the Avenue several times before. I'm sure they were primarily related to my attempts at seeking out some of the unique food related establishments this neighborhood has to offer, as is the focus of many of my other adventures.

Our day started off with an introductory movie on the history, challenges, and current efforts to revitalize 118th Ave. I thought the movie was inspiring and was pleasantly surprised by the level of community effort involved in revitalizing the area. I had always associated the development of the Avenue with City of Edmonton initiatives such as the Façade Improvement Program, crime prevention initiatives, and sidewalk/road reconstruction programs. I had never once considered the level of community support and involvement within these processes.

Our discussion at The Carrot with two of the key community leaders featured in the film made what we had seen in the movie even more real. The level of patience and dedication these women, along with many others in the community displayed was admirable. It was particularly interesting, yet disappointing, to hear about the amount of resistance and lack of cooperation that so many businesses along the Avenue have in regards to revitalization and efforts to clean up the community. Slum landlords, shady business owners, predatory businesses, and those with a sincere disinterest in anything beyond their business are a real hindrance to the efforts being made to make this neighborhood welcoming and attractive. Alberta Ave really seemed to suffer from a lack of passion and investment from business owners, unlike that of 124th Street.

I thought the community's choice to refrain from playing the "shame game" was interesting. I posed the question of shaming to the two women and respected their, and their communities decisions on how to address problematic businesses and households.

Our brief tour around the neighborhood was informative and provided a detailed background of the initiatives and developments happening down the Avenue. Buildings and streetscapes are like books. You really can't judge them from the surface. There is so much more behind the scene that contributes to the overall story.

One of my favorite things to see on the Avenue were businesses that have taken advantage of the Façade Improvement Program. I hope that more businesses will see the value in investing in their properties because one by one they can slowly improve the Avenue.

Alberta Avenue has so much potential to once again be a popular commercial district. They have the bones to support small local businesses with their great street front retail buildings. Many of these buildings need major renovations of course, but with improvements I feel that it can have a similar look and feel to 124th street.

While our tour highlighted some of the revitalization achievements of the Avenue, it also pointed out many of the challenges that have yet to be overcome:

• Excessive garbage on the streets
• Lack of pedestrian traffic
• Open spaces between buildings with low to little surveillance which are perfect for drug transactions or criminal activity
• Lots of unoccupied buildings/stores
• Dirty storefront windows
• Many businesses with junk in front of their windows (limiting eyes on the street)
• Dead space
• Blank walls

Blank walls of the Avenue Theater



Gaps or narrow roadways between builds which have no lighting, windows, or other forms of survailance

Run down businesses and buildings

Meanwhile, we did see some attempts made by the community to clear up some of the blank spaces by putting up murals and other forms of artwork.

Great use of murals along an alley way to liven up the dead space

Artwork on the side of the Alberta Avenue Community Center

I look forward to coming back Alberta Avenue for their Kelido Festival this summer. It looks like a wonderful event that supports not just the arts but the community as a whole.