Jamieson Place is in the west of Edmonton, bounded to the north by Callingwood Road, to the east by 184th Street, and to the southeast by Lessard Road. It’s a relatively new area with construction beginning a few decades ago in the early 1980s and steadily continuing since then. Jamieson Place was named after Frederick Charles Jamieson (1875–1966), a prominent lawyer and politician who arrived in the Edmonton area in 1895.

Nearly 95% of the residential units here are single-detached homes, with a series of loops and cul-de-sacs linking it all together. Almost all of those units are owner-occupied, with only about 3% being rental units. It’s a lovely place to settle down and raise a family.

When you are busy packing and planning for your holiday, burglars are preparing for one of their busiest seasons, too: the long summer months when residents leave their homes empty for extended periods of time while on vacation.

Don’t be the next target. And don’t do these tell-tale things that signal to burglars that your home is empty.

• Don't draw all the curtains tightly closed. Instead, leave your home looking natural and as it would usually on a summer afternoon. If you live on a ground floor and are concerned about burglars peering in, consider using privacy curtains instead of full blinds.
• Mow the lawn and have someone collect your mail. In the same vein, don’t let an overgrown garden or pile of mail on the porch indicate that no one has been around in days.
• Don't leave extra keys outside. Anywhere that you hide an extra key, a burglar can find it. Every year in Canada, thousands of burglaries happen because the thief has easy access to a home from a spare key. Leave it with a neighbour, if you must have a spare.
• Fix weak doors and windows. Replace or reinforce any entrances that are easy to break in through – like a weak door or an unsecure window – to make sure that a desperate burglar can’t easily enter.
• Set up an alarm system. If you have an alarm system, make sure you set it before you leave. If you don’t yet have one, now is a good time to get a system. A quality alarm system is one of the best defenses against burglaries.
• Be cautious with social media. Don’t post about your holiday plans and updates until you are back. If you must share daily photos of your trip, do so only with a select group of family and friends that you trust. Save the public photos for later.

The biggest take-away is to make sure your home is secured, with no easy ways to break in, and that you have not announced to the world that you’re not home. Rest easy on your vacation without worrying about what’s happening at home!

A “walk score” is a numerical value that is assigned to neighbourhoods or areas based on how easily assessible amenities are by foot. It’s an important consideration because it has ties to public health, community building and urban planning, environmental concerns and personal happiness.

The most commonly referenced organization that looks at walkability in Canadian cities in Walk Score, which is now owned by the real estate company RedFin. Walk Score assigns a number between 0 to 100 as a measure of walkability, with the following breakdown:

• 90-100 = Walker’s Paradise (Daily errands do not require a car)
• 70-89 = Very Walkable (Most errands can be accomplished on foot)
• 50-69 = Somewhat walkable (Some amenities within walking distance)
• 25 – 49 = Car-dependent (A few amenities within walking distance)
• 0-24 = Car-dependent (Almost all errands require a car)

Walkability is tied to better health, with the average resident who lives in a walkable area weighing up to 10 pounds less than those who live in car-dependent neighbourhoods and having better cardiovascular health. It’s also good for the environment, as more than 85% of CO2 emissions come from burning fossil fuels – walking is the perfect zero-pollution transportation! An area that’s known to be walkable also tends to have a great sense of community and is linked to higher levels of arts and culture organizations.

So, what does this mean for the value of your home?

One point of Walk Score is worth up to $3,250 of value for your property, according to recent research. That’s because the homes are considered more desirable, based on the aforementioned reasons. Around two per cent of active listings in major cities are considered the highest level “walker’s paradise” but more than half of millennials and 46% of baby boomers indicate that they prefer to live in a walkable area.

If you are curious about the walk score your neighbourhood or area you are looking to purchase in, you can type the address into Walk Score’s search bar and find out the number.

The most walkable neighbourhoods in Edmonton are: McCauley, Downtown and Alberta Avenue.

Athlone is a residential neighbourhood in north west Edmonton, with a majority single-family dwellings as well as row houses and duplexes.
Athlone had been a large parcel of land north of the Canadian National Rail Line but was annexed to the City of Edmonton in 1913. The neighbourhood was named after Alexander Augustus, Earl of Athlone, who was Canada’s Governor General from 1940 to 1946.

Now, it’s a quiet and family-friendly area to live with plenty of community facilities such as a community league, an elementary school, and two junior high schools.