Long-form stories from Taproot Edmonton
Inside the Rossdale Power Plant
A look at the past and present of a River Valley icon as the city seeks pitches for the future
Paul Collis remembers a time when the Rossdale Power Plant was filled with steam, noise, and life.
Controversial casino licence changes hands in $5.8M deal
See where the candidates stand on a new casino in Edmonton but not for Edmonton
The licence for a casino set to be moved from Camrose to south Edmonton, while still sending charity proceeds to rural Alberta, has been sold in a $5.8-million deal.
Mayor lauds anti-racism efforts amid acrimony
Committee in charge of Edmonton's strategy dissolved against its will, work now in administration's hands
Mayor Amarjeet Sohi has been highlighting the city's anti-racism efforts, even travelling to Berlin to speak about it. But the committee charged with shaping that work has been paused, raising concerns about a lack of community involvement and delays in implementing the city's anti-racism strategy.
For Edmonton, a sustainable future depends on trees
Edmonton is counting on trees to help it lessen its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the effects of climate change
Even though a council committee has put off passing a bylaw to protect trees on private property, the Tomorrow Foundation for a Sustainable Future is encouraged to see progress on a file that is vital to the city's ability to lessen and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Downtown daycares in danger of succumbing to pandemic
Fewer families need the service now as they work from home, but child care may not be there when they return to the core post-COVID
As Edmontonians weather a fifth wave of the pandemic, the prolonged closure of many downtown offices has left daycares in the heart of the city struggling to stay open.
How public washrooms help make a city work well
As Edmonton's strategy slowly progresses, most candidates agree we need more places to go
Most candidates for mayor and city council agree that Edmonton needs more permanent public washrooms, a move that is vital for a city to work for everyone, says consultant Lezlie Lowe.
City aims for Edmontonians to 'live more locally' with 15-minute districts
The 15-minute city is an urban design strategy that the current city council adopted as part of the City Plan at the end of 2020. The next city council, and its successors, will make the decisions that either help bring this plan to life or leave it to languish. As the municipal election approaches, this is a good time to examine what this concept means for Edmonton.
Countdown to 2050: Explaining Edmonton's carbon budget
The city wants to be carbon neutral within 30 years. This is how it plans to do it.
The devastating effects of climate change have become more clear than ever over the past few years, urging Edmonton and other cities around the world to aggressively curb their carbon emissions. In April 2021, city council approved a plan with an ambitious idea — what if Edmonton budgeted for carbon emissions the same way it handles its money?
This social-services experiment is working — could there be more?
The C5 North East Community Hub serves an area that needs it, but its future is not guaranteed, and its replicability is untested
The C5 North East Hub is unique in Edmonton, as a collaborative and comprehensive source of social services in an area that needs them. So far, it appears to be a success, but continued funding is not guaranteed, nor is it certain that there is an appetite for funding similar hubs elsewhere. That will be for future city councils to decide, which is a reason to take a closer look at the C5 experiment ahead of the municipal election on Oct. 18.