A few weeks ago, High Prairie South Peace News was contacted regarding a story released about the 10 Worst Places to Live in Alberta.
We were told High Prairie ranked seventh and Slave Lake ninth. A search ensued and we found an artificially generated list. High Prairie did make the list at eight but Slave Lake was nowhere to be found. Same for Falher, McLennan and Peace River.
Perhaps another list exits but let’s focus on this one.
In the interest of disclosure, this writer is from High Prairie. In a preamble to publishing the list, it said the following: “The ‘worst’ places to live in Alberta are highly subjective and usually defined by localizing high crime severity index scores, economic dependence on the volatile oil and gas sector, or limited access to major urban amenities.”
Well, that eliminated only Edmonton and Calgary! How convenient! Stating from worst to tenth, the list is: Wetaskiwin, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Cold Lake, Lloydminster, Fort McMurray, St. Paul, High Prairie, Grande Prairie, and Whitecourt. Note most of these are cities or large towns. In fact, High Prairie has the smallest population in the Top 10. Interesting!
Wetaskiwin is noted for property and violent crimes, Red Deer for high rates of property theft and break and enters, and Lethbridge for violent crime and high property crime rates.
High Prairie was mentioned for limited healthcare resources (despite the new $200+-million hospital – figure that one out!), lack of economic diversity, and social issues tied to remote isolation.
Wow! Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie and Lethbridge isolated? Only if you do not live in Edmonton or Calgary! Does that mean Calgary is isolated because it is not near Toronto?
Every community has its problems. High Prairie has high crime. But read the newspapers the last few years and one quickly realizes Slave Lake and Peace River are not exactly crime-free. Both hired extra help to deal with their crime. Maybe that’s why they did not make the list?
High Prairians must also consider and realize each of the communities rated higher cited crime. It is not meant to pooh-pooh the list but to point out High Prairie is not immune to high crime.
High Prairie has alot going for it. Advancement in recreation and the new hospital is ready for additional services when the bean-counters in Edmonton finally get around to it. Lesser Slave Lake is nearby with its excellent beaches and other recreation opportunities such as fishing and boating.
Lists are fun to read and examine. No list is perfect. This list ignores the many positive facets of life that exist in each community.
Home is what you make it. Don’t like it? Move or work toward making it better!
Take the list for what it is! Like Horoscopes, for entertainment purposes only!
Chris Clegg