Edmonton Alberta 1986

[garycalgary]

i see the royal trust tower.

In 1986 I fantasized about Edmonton since I lived in northern alberta and wanted out. It was a fantasy place full of opportunity for me

[Retrodude1985]

I was 1 year old in 1986 and boy Edmonton sure changed today.

[2pacalypse25]

lol our citys fucked now

[UncoolNegated]

This video was actually shot the exact month I moved to Edmonton, the summer between grades 3 and 4 for me. I share the nostalgia a lot of people share here and I think the city is now different, for the worse.

[YouFkdLumbergh]

Cool video. Manulife looks sooooo out of place (i.e. too modern for the rest of the skyline at the time).

And to the people whining about the most recent oil boom causing grief get a grip. Edmonton has always been a town that rode the wave of economic boom and bust. What do you think it was like during the gold rush?

[beingcpm]

what is the music in this video?

[Tommybouchard2007]

you can see at 2:00 the original churchill square that city hall was demolished in 1990

and replaced with the new one in 1992

[Tommybouchard2007]

thats old the original churchill square and original city hall

[EdmDude]

Growing up in St. Albert in the mid 80s, I do remember many thing about DT Edm, where my Dad worked Downtown. I remember the Air Canada office at the base of the AGT Tower, I remember the LRT, i think ending at Corona, the bridge at 109th street cos the trains still ran thru there! and the grassy area around the gawd-awful city hall building, man i hated looking at the old building! My sister went to the old Music Collage building, i forget where it was, near the Masonic building

[cantroos]

You do notice that there really haven't been many towers added over the past 25 years. They're building that new one near the CN building on the north side of downtown which apparantly will be the tallest in the city. So I think Edmonton has a long way to go and they should focus on building up, revitalizing downtown, we don't need things spread any further out. You can drive from the south to north side in about 35 or 40 minutes, any more is like Toronto area, going from Brampton to Ajax.

[OddManOut13]

I was six in the summer of 86 :) Man, say what you want about Edmonton, but I love that town. It gets a bad rep, but in the summer if its clean, its a super nice place to drive around and waste time on a sunny weekend. I miss my home........

[quacka101]

@OddManOut13 dude, i complete agree with you. i would move back there in a heartbeat if i could

[OddManOut13]

@quacka101 Same. I just saw that I counted the years incorrectly. I was 8 in the summer of 86. Either way :)

[omega4chimp]

I wasn't even born yet .

[TeaBagger5000]

ah yes, the golden years in Edmonton. This was the year they built west edmonton mall. I wish i could relive the 80's. Edmonton sucks now. To many people.

[MrManfly]

i used to go up there all the time in those days.

[marknetwork]

Wow this video is amazing, thank you for posting it. It almost made me cry to see how our city has grown so much, those roads look so empty!

[GhettoDiner]

Wow 1986! I was still in Diapers when this video was shot. Excellent video!

[hoppywild]

I love "E" town we are the best of the best! I was born here and I'll die here...

[toontownworld123]

Im goin to edmonton in a few dayyyys!

[acewing29]

THATS WEST ED?!??!?! Almost looks like florida a lil bit

[cflisthebest]

look how High the river is then! wow.

[oookostik]

Does looks like it now

[roxyrollerusername]

i hate that there are so many people here now - i hate trying to go shopping or to the restaurants, crowds all of the time

[SPS148669]

@roxyrollerusername

You think Edmonton Population is bad then go to Tokyo where there is 30 Subway/LRT lines and all of them are so full that security has to push you in.

[missbean1997]

Its weird to look at the city now and its SO much bigger

[longboardguy]

ya it would have been neat to live there in this time though!

[sexyshit88]

Gosh I had to watch this again. Makes me cry that our city has grown soooo much. I remember these days so simple

K.

[brucevideobrain]

If you think 1986 was simpler days, take a look at my Edmonton in postcards video.

-b-

[sexyshit88]

I did and I remember Westmount Mall looking like that and that darn traffic circle too.

K.

[ClubCrew]

@brucevideobrain Thank you so much for these videos! :D

[datalal624]

I was still a kid when they built the current city hall, so that's all I remember. It's so weird seeing the old one there in the vid.

Wow, thanks for posting this! :)

[damonster5000]

i can see west edmonton mall

[arsoys]

Ah, Edmonton 1986. The depths of the oil bust, no jobs, stores closing, buildings burning down, river flooding, and people moving out.... But the sun shines.

McDonald Hotel in the middle of an endless renovation gone wrong. LRT goes to Corona station. Fifth street viaduct over the rail yards still in place. Old city hall known to be a wreck, but new one six years away.

[datalal624]

What "went wrong" with the McDonald Hotel renovation? Or maybe it's not that interesting a story? Sorry, I didn't move to Edmonton till 1989, and I was only 4 1/2 then, so I'm curious. :)

[arsoys]

The MacDonald closed in 82 or 83. As soon as they demolished the 1950 extension and created another gaping hole on Jasper, the local economy collapsed completely (15% official unemployment in mid 83), all work was halted and stayed halted for years as CN tried to figure out what to do. Eventually CP bought the Mac, and managed to complete a renovation in late 91, ALMOST TEN YEARS LATER. But for most of that time, the Mac was just a boarded up heap of rocks in a dead zone.

[windsofchange345]

wkrp in cincinnati....

[ralphbuttawitzonline]

Music really fits, kinda reminds me of watching an opening for the news or some TV show in the 80's.

[geodacius]

ahhh, it is nice to see Edmonton as it was back then. The city was a much nicer place to live in those days. With our recent oil and population boom we have unfortunately adopted many more unsavory citizens than could have been imagined previously. Nicest view of downtown imho is going west down 98th avenue towards the james macdonald bridge.

[justschr]

I was two when this was taken,,, grew up in the Edmonton area and now call the city home... it's interesting that city hall hadn't yet taken it's current form? And it's weird not to see a lot of the skyscrapers with their current corporate branding and such it would be nice to have a public viewing area.... Edmonton really needs something uniquely Edmonton in it's skyline...

[RoboSabs]

no LRT bridge to the UofA yet, does anyone know how far the LRT got in 1986?

[YamiPoyo]

The stations were

Everything between Bay and Clareview.

It stayed that way till recently

You know the stations underground that were free to ride between, They were all made at the same time and finished in the mid 80's.

[YamiPoyo]

Sorry corection Everything From Clareview to Corona.

[brucevideobrain]

take a look at my latest posting...

[yuneses]

not much changed.

[g0tKrunk]

0:55 Laronde resturant :DDD

[WhatevaULike]

Wow, Not much has changed lol! Still love this place tho! I'll never move:)

[riverratt101]

I was born and raised in Edmonton. I was 15 yrs old and making my first forays independently exploring the world around me when this video was made. I crawled over ever inch of my hometown in these days. I must be getting old cuz this video damn near brought tears to my eyes. Thanx. That was an awesome thing to see.

[colemckelvie]

you know what, Calgary is technically a nicer looking place with the mountains and shit, but the majority or the people there are douche bags, and you're comment proves my theory

[sexyshit88]

WOW I was only two at the time. Born and raised in Edmonton. I still think it is a lovely city today. It has seen alot of growth in the past 10 years. I remember being on that top floor a few times for school trips in my younger years. Memories.

K.

[AquaRibbon]

Wow! My hometown before I was born! cool! :D

[Byks82]

Just like a Calgarian.  Always having to prove your superiority to yourself. It's an inferiority complex if you ask me.

[brucevideobrain]

You said what everyone was thinking, but give the guy a break, he's from Calgary!

[hygocan]

lol beaumont is better

[mrshinyshoes]

Nice video! I live in Edmonton, so it's nice to see this, when I was only 11 years old. Nice memories.

[doom0d1]

lol the music reminds me of capitalism 2. but holy hell the city's gotten a lot more populated since then. lol at the year after being the tornado year. don't get me wrong, the tornado was devastating but if edmonton was as big as it is now as it was then, it would've been a helluva lot worse

[cbyhette2009]

i was only one at the time lol

[boss429stang]

Wow, that is a great view of the City. It's a shame public viewing spaces such as Vista 33 are no longer around and Downtown space is now viewed as a financial commodity. I was far too young back then to remember Vista 33. Thanks for uploading this video.

[NiceGuyAC]

This makes me feel old lol. This is the year my dad bought our house for 46 grand.

[GeneralLexus]

LOL the music reminds me of Remington Steele!! LOL nice

[trolleywire]

Cool, it is neat to see old footage like this! 1986, the year I get into punk rock in Edmonton. I have not lived there for years (since '93) and it has changed sooo much!! I still Love Edmonton.

[babywu48]

where do u live now? just curious

[ttrendxyz]

so funny how the only new buidlings now are commerce place, and the new city hall. ahaha.

[netook8]

1986.

-The year i was born.

-The year before the tornado

- and the year when Edmonton was half the size

Something like a 500,000 metro population at the time, now it is over 1 million

[funkyspice]

colin you werent even alive in 1986. you have no idea what it sounded like. lol

you should go back brian and do this again and see how it changed.. LOL

[colintupper]

love the music... suits the era