Life North of 60

Many have asked what life in Yellowknife is like, so I thought I'd post a little, just to let everyone know we're not living in igloos, taking dog teams to work...

• we have a Wal-Mart. I know...sad that this tops my list but I am an addict. It's a small one though, so not as much selection as most other Wal-Marts. However, this in no way slows the masses that flood the place. That place is busy any time of day or night. We even have 3 self-check outs


• we have a mall - a real mall, not real big, but under two downtown towers, with a few dozen stores. Unfortunately, no Cotton Ginny (my friends know that addiction), although they used to have one but when CG did their reorganizing several years back, they didn't reopen this location. Our mall has no benches however, as we have quite a transient population of alcoholics who fill the malls in winter to keep warm...so they don't want to give them anyplace to perch. We also have about 4-5 security guards that prod them on...


• we have several food chains...Mc Donalds, KFC, A & W, Boston Pizza, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Tim Hortons, etc.


• We also have several specialty shops, and an M & M meat shops. Two liquor stores, Canadian Tire, Home Hardware, True Value Hardware...


• We have a huge multi-plex for sports, and another arena and a pool. There are several work-out gyms, and a wide range of sporting instructions offered in things like karate, tai kwon do, yoga, etc.


• There are several parks for walking...however they are only able to be used about 3-4 months of the year at best...the rest of the time they are covered in snow.


• A big portion of housing here is in the form of trailers/mini-homes/modular homes (WHATEVER) and there are streets upon streets of them instead of segregated trailer parks. Many have nice yards, and are more modern trailers with fireplaces, huge kitchens, and whirlpool tubs. Granted it is too cold to use the fireplaces (they SUCK the heat right outta your place in these temps). There are also dozens and dozens of apartment buildings, all with their own names so when someone asks where you live, you just tell them the name of the building. We also have several high rise apartment buildings, which is unlike Whitehorse, where they have a building limit of 4 stories.


• Our airport is busy with dozens of flights a day, heading south and all over the arctic


• rental prices are high - the average 2 bedroom apartment rents for about $1300 plus hydro. Most include the heat and hot water as they are heated by hotwater radiators. If you want to rent a house/trailer, rents are upwards of about $1800 or much more. I got lucky and rented an older 2 bedroom apartment for $1070.


• We have two major grocery stores - a large Extra Foods and a large Co-op. We also have a smaller Extra Foods downtown, where I often go for a couple of things if need be. This one is often frequented by the transient alcoholics that are asked to leave the mall...prices at all three are quite reasonable for the north...a gallon of milk runs about $5.49.


• We have several gas stations and our gas prices are usually similar to the east coast prices, give or take a few cents. Gas was very expensive in Fort Resolution, but much more reasonable up here.


• Downtown is a busy spot - high rise office buildings, coffee shops, stores, galleries, post office, the usual. Lots of traffic, lots of pedestrians. Come quitting time at 5pm, it clears out and after 6pm, there isn't much going on.


• Yellowknife is not an attractive city...lots of pre-cambrian shield (ROCK) and not a lot of trees...what few there are look haggard and deformed. The lake is quite pretty in the few months of the year that it's not covered in ice. I much prefer the landscape of Halifax - big old trees, hovering over the streets, steep hills running down into the harbour front.
• There are several houseboats out on the lake, and people live in them during summer and winter. They can drive out to them in their trucks during winter, and use a boat in summer.
• There are no outskirts to Yellowknife - once you leave the city, you are in the middle of the wilderness...for miles and miles. We do have a tiny village not far from here, called Dettah. Check last year's posts for photos from there.

I've only been in Yellowknife once during the summer, while the rest of the time was during snowtime, so haven't gotten much chance to take photos of a snowless Yellowknife, however will take care of that this summer. The photo posted here was taken from the web.