{"id":1167,"date":"2022-03-11T09:16:06","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T16:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.century21yk.ca\/blog\/?p=1167"},"modified":"2022-03-13T09:32:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T15:32:53","slug":"the-8-most-surprising-things-about-yellowknife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.century21yk.ca\/blog\/2022\/03\/the-8-most-surprising-things-about-yellowknife\/","title":{"rendered":"The 8 Most Surprising Things About Yellowknife"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people who are thinking of moving to Yellowknife have never contemplated a move this far north.\u00a0 For them, “Life in the Knife” is a bit mysterious.\u00a0 When they arrive they are often surprised at what they find.\u00a0 Here is our list of the top eight most surprising things about Yellowknife.<\/p>\n

#1 – It is Easy to Meet People Here<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yellowknife is a relatively transient city.\u00a0 A lot of people move north to \u201cfast track\u201d their careers, and while some stay and become “Lifer Knifers,” many others return to their provinces of origin after 5-10 years.\u00a0 Yellowknife is also a place that attracts adventure seekers – those who want to live on houseboats, fly float planes, and live, work and play under the northern lights.\u00a0 As a result of these two tendencies, when people move here, they come into contact with a lot of other people who have either just moved here, or did so only a couple years ago.\u00a0 They instantly have a something in common – a shared northern adventure.\u00a0 It is pretty normal for these groups of newcomers to form close bonds.\u00a0 And the locals who have lived here for a lot longer also tend to quickly integrate with these groups, because they were once in the same situation, and many of them are gregarious adventure seekers themselves.<\/p>\n

#2 – We Have a Lot of Amenities<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are some things that Yellowknife does not have, like a Costco, but there isn\u2019t another city of 22,000 in Canada that has the number of amenities that Yellowknife has.\u00a0 We punch well above our weight class when it comes to franchises big and small, department stores, restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, municipal facilities, health services, things for kids to do, etc.\u00a0 If we fall short in any one area, it might be in tourist amenities.\u00a0 But that is changing as our tourism sector grows.<\/p>\n

#3 – Yellowknife Looks Like a City<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>With a population of 22,000, Yellowknife certainly qualifies as a \u201ccity,\u201d but most people who move here presume that it’s more of a large town.\u00a0 When they arrive, however, they quickly notice that it looks like a much bigger place.\u00a0 This is mainly because we have more tall buildings than other cities our size.\u00a0 There are three reasons why we\u2019ve gone vertical over the years.\u00a0 The first is that most of Yellowknife is built on Precambrian shield, which is very expensive to level, and so developers prefer to build up rather than out.\u00a0 Secondly, our downtown is hemmed in on all sides by lakes.\u00a0 If we had more room to work with, like Whitehorse does, we would probably be a flatter, more spread out city.\u00a0 Thirdly, for the development community in any town or city to be able to justify the construction of tall, expensive buildings, you have to have a very predictable source of tenants who are willing to sign long-term leases.\u00a0 There is no better source of such tenants than the public sector, and Yellowknife is nothing if not a government town.<\/p>\n

#4 – Your Kids Will Be Very Busy Here<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yellowknife is a very compact city – most people live within five or ten minutes of pretty much all of our recreational facilities.\u00a0 When the pool is only five minutes from school and two minutes from the arena which is 200 feet from the indoor soccer field and ten minutes from the ski club, kids spend less time being driven around to stuff and more time doing stuff.<\/p>\n

#5 – Nature Truly is at Your Doorstep<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It goes without saying that cities that are not very large and which aren\u2019t surrounded by other cities are physically close to nature, but what makes Yellowknife unique is that you can be having very urban \u201cbig-city-like\u201d experiences one minute, and then be in the middle of nowhere, experiencing the power, beauty and solitude of nature ten minutes later.\u00a0 And by “solitude,” I mean real solitude.\u00a0 If you decided to just start walking in any direction, you would not encounter humans, probably ever. That\u2019s a feeling that is hard to explain. \u00a0Nature is close here, and very powerful.<\/p>\n

#6 – The Midnight Sun<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Canadians all know what long summer days are like, so it\u2019s not like people can\u2019t visualize or imagine what it would be like for it to be light outside at midnight, but yet, it still really surprises people when they experience the midnight sun for the first time.\u00a0 It is pretty safe to predict that people who move to Yellowknife from the South will at some point say something like \u201cwow, the sun really does stay up late here doesn\u2019t it?\u201d\u00a0 If you move here, you too will eventually hear people say this, and it will make you chuckle.<\/p>\n

#7 – It’s a Dry Cold<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There is no denying the fact that Yellowknife has cold winters, but what surprises many people who move here is that you can quite easily dress for the cold and go on about your business.\u00a0 In some parts of Canada, no matter what you do to keep the cold at bay, humidity carries it right through your clothes and chills you to your very core.\u00a0 We don’t have that here.\u00a0 Ours is a dry cold.\u00a0 You can dress for it.<\/p>\n

#8 – The Dancing Northern Lights<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yes, they dance.\u00a0 They move really quickly.\u00a0 But not all the time, which is probably why it\u2019s so amazing when they really start to move.\u00a0 Most of the time they very slowly change shape and slice their way through the sky.\u00a0 These slower displays are beautiful and almost hypnotizing. But then when they put on the afterburners and bring out the bright greens and pinks, it truly takes your breath away.\u00a0 It’s a sight that never ceases to impress.\u00a0 You never really get used to it, no matter how long you\u2019ve lived here.<\/p>\n

Honourable Mention<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This section is for surprising things about Yellowknife that we didn’t think of, but which readers pointed out on Facebook:<\/p>\n

– “We are a very multicultural city with our residents coming from all over the world” – Amanda M.<\/p>\n

– “Despite being a winter city, Yellowknifers are obsessed with gardening! There are community plots all over town, greenhouses in backyards, and locals share gardening ideas and inspiration all year long online.” – Aey Jay<\/p>\n

Welcoming newcomers to Yellowknife is the best part of our job here at Century 21 Prospect Realty.\u00a0 If you have a house-hunting trip planned, please reach out to us at prospectrealty@century21.ca and we’ll connect you with a member of our team<\/a> who will provide a great city tour and assist you with finding a home to buy or rent.<\/em><\/p>\n

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