Go Edmonton!!!

I've lived in Vancouver ( ocean, beaches, mountains, mild climate).
I've lived in Calgary ( 15 minutes to Banff, chinooks that bring warmth to cold winters).
I presently live in Edmonton ( um......my home town).
Recently Edmonton has had one of the wildest, rapid rises in housing costs that I have ever seen!
We bought our little bungalow about 6 years ago. Two years ago if we sold our home we would have made about $100,000.00. If we sold it today we'll have made about $350,000.00-$500,000.00 !!!!!
Yes, Edmonton. The average house is selling for over $400,000.00.
We have no mountains, we have no beaches, winters are cold, summers are hot with thirsty mosquitoes...why is this happening? Why are we more expensive than say parts of Vancouver Island?
Well, we have -
- oil( there are big wars fought over that stuff!).
- lots of land to build more homes.
- lots of jobs
- some of the best arts opportunities in Canada -opera, symphony, theater, and gallery art, a top notch School for the Performing and Visual Arts for grade K-12 ( seriously, I read that in Macleans or something!)
- the finest in health care ( our research facility developed Cold FX...a possible cure for the common cold!!!!, pancreas transplant, stem cell research, etc etc).
- clean air.
- blue sunny skies ( most of the time)
- no traffic ( a 40 minute drive home from work is considered a traffic jam)
- friendly people
- all the amenities of a really big city with the attitude of a small town ( we are the Capital City of Alberta ya know!)
What we don't have
- threat of earthquakes
- big city traffic
- days and days of rain or no sun
- dangerous bugs ( ok mosquitoes don't count!)
- PST
- mold growing on our sidewalks and roof
- bad pollution
Edmonton's not too shabby. No, it's not the most beautiful or metropolitan of Canadian cities out there but it's my home town and worth every cent I paid 7 yrs ago!!!!