[edm13]

A couple of years ago, I spoke with an impressive business undergrad from Edmonton who moved to Vancouver and without asking him, he said that not one person in his graduating class intended to stay in Edmonton. In the end, everyone in his circle went elsewhere. It wasn't just the lack of jobs, it was because of Edmonton compared to everywhere else they could go. In terms of both work and personal lives, there was nothing in Edmonton attractive enough to keep them there.

I'm stunned by the number of senior business people I've met in Vancouver that hailed from Edmonton. No regrets was a common theme.

Including myself, and members in my extended family, and wife’s family, there are about 10 of us who graduated from u of a business school. All of us have great jobs in a range of business areas, from institutional money management to working remotely for large multinational Canadian and american companies to start ups. Not saying Edmonton provides the best opportunities but it does provide some

 

[Foolworm]

It depends on the industry and stage of career development too.

The Vancouver transplants in Edmonton I've talked to all have a few years of experience under their belt -- a common theme is that the large cities attract new graduates, but they inevitably look elsewhere when thinking about buying a starter home and settling down.

Senior folks that stayed in those cities either bought way back before prices took off, or they make enough to afford it anyway.

 

[Stevey_G]

It's time folks returned to the office for more days of the week, while still offering flexibility and you still retain a WFH day (or two).

What's wrong with asking folks to physically be in the office?

Reasons that come to mind are efficiencies to be had all around. A mom can stay home and look after a kid and save on daycare, the environment benefits by reduced emissions, energy prices drop due to reduced demand, the business benefits from less toilets flushed and keurigs used, etc etc.

There are better metrics to gauge worker productivity in the modern world rather than just ensuring they're "at their desk". And I think it does a disservice to the employee, the environment, and the business and it's investors to force people back to work when many jobs have proven it isn't necessary.

 

[IanO]

Philips Lofts new windows, but please tell me they are not white frames?!??! Good god.

 

[Tropical]

Reasons that come to mind are efficiencies to be had all around. A mom can stay home and look after a kid and save on daycare, the environment benefits by reduced emissions, energy prices drop due to reduced demand, the business benefits from less toilets flushed and keurigs used, etc etc.

There are better metrics to gauge worker productivity in the modern world rather than just ensuring they're "at their desk". And I think it does a disservice to the employee, the environment, and the business and it's investors to force people back to work when many jobs have proven it isn't necessary.

I would also like to add the dignity of agency over working conditions that make you healthy and happy. If some individuals are much more able to thrive in an at-home environment (or in an office), we need policies that encourage employers to provide that. Work is half of our waking lives, thus health and wellness indicators justly deserve to be paramount.

 

[ADob]

I've been WFH since the pandemic and it saves me ~5 hours a week, gas, insurance (small difference but still), and I get to wear comfy pants. Each yearly review I make it a point to be super thankful for this set up. I don't do much that's client-facing, and I work on a wide enough variety of projects that choosing which of our locations to put me in would result in confusion, and I have my monitors, keyboard, mouse, assorted crap organized so I can go as soon as the computer is on. If I had to work in an office part time, since it's all hoteling arrangements these days, it would likely take me at least half an hour to get myself set-up and ready to go. If they force me to go back to work full time (or even part time) I will seriously look for something else. This has been a game changer for me and it makes my quality of life so so sooo much better. I realise it's not the same for everyone and some people love the flexibility of hybrid, while some enjoy going in to work. This works for me and I'm thankful I have the opportunity. It's nice to be able to do a load of laundry at lunch or hop on my bike and hit the river valley as soon as I clock out.

 

[_urbanite]

Philips Lofts new windows, but please tell me they are not white frames?!??! Good god.

View attachment 655990

They are. But tbh, I don't think it looks that bad

 

[Avenuer]

They are. But tbh, I don't think it looks that bad

It's a designated Municipal Historic Resources so those new windows would have had to been given the green light by the City's Heritage team. I imagine they are wood frames painted white (OR) the white is a protective covering over natural wood frames.

 

[Coprolite]

I've been work from home since 2019. It was great because even though I like wearing actual pants and have some seriously impressive options in that department (and not to mention full grain leather belts which I make myself), I got to work with glorious nerd farms in completely different time zones without having to pack up and move despite having just signed a lease. Plus it's kind of nice from a productivity standpoint when meetings that should have been an email are actually an email. Now I'm a consultant so it's really the most rational option and I just make occasional forays out to meet with clients or do fieldwork.

My other half's studio has been remote since it was founded in the early 2010s and is working for her for all sorts of reasons. She's really happy to not be working for EA/BioWare anymore because (gestures at absolutely everything about BioWare for the last decade) and their new RTO policy is an absolute mess that has people who were laid off then picked up by different EA studios going in to the office that they were laid off from so that they can have their remote meetings with the various other EA studios that picked them up and all talk over each other in their cubicles. All just in time for a new and rather unpleasant SARS-CoV-2 strain to land (all strains are admittedly unpleasant with a slough of long term effects including impairment of cognitive function, which is definitely a choice to embrace when your employees are all knowledge workers).

But, yeah, if anyone wants me to come in to an office, they can give me an actual office with walls and a door that locks, because no, having to hot seat at a table with 18 other people doesn't actually drive my productivity.

 

[buildings]

MacEwan partners with Qualico to provide student housing: https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/art...eed)&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

 

[northlands]

^ AND MacLab apparently

"The off-campus housing pilot program will begin in summer 2025, offering students discounts on select downtown rentals that are close to campus.

Students who are interested in accessing the housing initiative can do so by contacting select property owners to learn what units and lease terms are available. A lease on an eligible unit must be signed before Sept. 1, 2025, to qualify for the discount.
Participating properties with available units are The Switch at 10465 101 Street and The Parks at 10135 108 Street."

 

[Barnaby]

Probably a good way to test the waters.

 

[MacLac]

^ AND MacLab apparently

"The off-campus housing pilot program will begin in summer 2025, offering students discounts on select downtown rentals that are close to campus.

Students who are interested in accessing the housing initiative can do so by contacting select property owners to learn what units and lease terms are available. A lease on an eligible unit must be signed before Sept. 1, 2025, to qualify for the discount.
Participating properties with available units are The Switch at 10465 101 Street and The Parks at 10135 108 Street."

This is huge and should accelerate the next Phases!

 

[IanO]

Maybe.

The MacEwan Expression of Qualified Suppliers was a very odd document with an initially low test #.

But either way, this is a positive first step that hopefully* will see 1-2 bespoke student residence towers built. Maclab owns the old funeral home on 108/102ave that says 'student residence coming soon'.

 

[Stevey_G]

Maybe.

The MacEwan Expression of Qualified Suppliers was a very odd document with an initially low test #.

But either way, this is a positive first step that hopefully* will see 1-2 bespoke student residence towers built. Maclab owns the old funeral home on 108/102ave that says 'student residence coming soon'.

Would be nice to start adding some density along 102.