Every single time you tell people you’re going to Lethbridge, they warn you that it’s going to be windy. And they are right because Lehtbridge is SO windy. As was explained to me, the wind comes over the Rocky Mountains in a certain way that high pressure systems are formed resulting in pretty regular windstorms. I’d hate to see any city defined by its weather but I’ve been to Lethbridge half a dozen times and at least one day per trip its been so windy that it impacts what you do, if you walk outside, etc. People say you get used to it.
Lethbridge looks like a lot of other prarire towns. There are wide roads and most of the buildings are only four stories or less. Like a lot of other towns, there is also a whole strip of big box stores that seems to have taken over most of the shopping. Lethbridge is technically a desert because of the dry air and if you go for a walk you might even see a wild cactus. When I first visited Lethbridge, I didn’t know about the coulees. They are these sort of curvy canyons that cut the city in half. I’m a bit surprised that Lethbridge doesn’t have more tourism for them, the way that Drumheller and the dinosaur badlands do.
Lethbridge seems to have two big groups of people: senior citizens and students. There are old folks homes along the hills and the restaurants have a lot of elderly people sitting and chatting. I’ve heard that when people from Calgary retire, a lot of them sell their house and move to Lethbridge to stretch their money even further. There is a University of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge Community College. I hadn’t heard of either of those schools in Ontario, but the university seems to be growing in size quite a bit. When you look at the university from the other side of the river it looks like a boat riding waves of earth. I never really see that many students but apparently they mostly stay on the side of city near the university but my hotel and meetings are on the opposite side.
If you have spare time I highly recommend a run or walk in the river valley. Most of the city is kind of yellow but the river valley is green with interesting combinations of plant life. There are kilometers of trails that are pretty easy to follow. A few of them could use better signage but if you stop and look around you can always see which direction to head. I think Lethbridge must have the most runners per capita in Canada. During my Sunday long run I saw so many people that I thought there must have been a race or a fun run or something. But no that’s just the way it always is there which is great to see.
Next time I’m there I’ll pay closer attention to tourist things and I’ll do another post.
By Nicholas Paul Hanson
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