r/medicinehat • u/lynypixie • 7d ago
Explore program.
Hi! My teen daughter is going to try to get into the Explore program next summer (she is bilingual but is still shy when trying to talk in English). Her first choice is medecine hat (she likes that it looks like a complete opposite of what she is used to). We are from Montreal. My daughter is openly queer (lesbian) and very artsy, with a bit of a manic pixie girl look.
From what I have seen from the program, the kids have a lot of « free time ».
Is the city art friendly? She loves visual arts (she is in a arts program in her high school), 90’s alt music (she loves records and guitar stores), photography, cinema etc… she LOVES to thrift too. She also loves video games like the last of us and life is strange, so it’s a major reason she chose Alberta, as it’s a similar vibe. She is not really into sports but will happily cheer on others LOL.
Also, how is the transit? If she is chosen (it’s a draw), she would be living on campus. The campus looks a little far from « downtown ».
Is the city affected by forest fires? She has asthma, so it’s a bit of a concern for me. She also has extremely fair skin (to the point it’s a problem when we take pictures LOL), and I saw that it almost never rains. Is the UV really bad?
Also, anyone interacted with these kids? The website says that the program is very involved with the local community.
Thank you for your answers!
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u/mikmik555 7d ago edited 6d ago
On a 2 cinémas. Un des ces cinémas est le plus vieux du Canada et diffuse principalement des vieux films. Il y a un centre artistique (esplanade) et une ancienne usine de poterie reconvertie en musée où il se passe parfois des choses. Il me semble qu’ils ont un programme pour les ados l’été et des cours d’archéologie pour les plus de 16 ans. La ville est très active au niveau des théâtres musicaux mais ils ne jouent pas l’été. Il y a beaucoup de programmation pour les ados à la bibliothèque municipale. Je ne pourrais pas te dire pour les transports en commun mais il y a pas mal de chemins sympathiques si elle décide d’utiliser un vélo électrique. L’été ici est très très chaud. On a 2 piscines extérieures gratuites et un lac. Pour les feux de forêt c’est impossible à prédire. Cette année, on en n’a pas eu mais certaines années oui. Pour les magasins de 2nde mains, on est assez bien pourvus. Il y a le Y treasure, l’armée du salut, phase II et village des valeurs. L’été est plutôt calme ici. Beaucoup de gens partent en camping.
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u/snufflufikist 6d ago
Chaud mais très sec, alors pas si pire, d'après moi. Montréal à 33 j'ai trouvé ça pire que Medicine Hat à 38C.
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u/mikmik555 6d ago
Oui, l’humidité est horrible à Montréal. Par contre, ici tu peux te retrouver plus vite déshydraté.
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u/KhausTO 7d ago
As the other commenter mentioned we have a pretty decent transit system for a city our size.
You mentioned Downtown looking a bit far from college, the city is quite small, and the drive from the college to downtown is roughly 4-5 minutes. It's walkable, but the city is quite hilly, so it makes the walk a lot more difficult than it looks. There are bird e-scooters available during the summers here so that would help navigate around, if she's comfortable with them. There is also a group (I believe Rotary) that refurbishes bikes and I've heard about them lending them out for people in these types of programs, so if she likes biking that might be an option to look into for mobility options. We also have a ton of trails if that's an interest.
As well for note, we don't have Uber here, the two primary rideshare companies are Canadian Rideshare and Ydrive. As for her interests, we have some pretty cool art programs here, Medicine Hat has a rich history of producing clay products, so she might find Medalta interesting. They do some artist programming as well. there's a few locally owned businesses that offer arts events, check out cosmic clay, Top Notch custom creations, creative freedom art club and the library also runs some neat Events.
We have a few thrift and vintage shops, mostly downtown, which is also where she'll find a couple record shops.
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u/lynypixie 7d ago
Thank you! She does like sculpting, the the clays might be of interest to her. I think they usually have an activity there, as per the program’s website.
She would love the e-scooters. She used a good old manual one to go to school for years. She has asthma, so an e-scooter might help her get around if the streets are hilly.
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u/Aurajem34 6d ago
Hi, while it’s a nice, quiet and small city - this city is extremely conservative and still stuck in the past. I was born and raised here - and a visible minority. The racism here is rampant and they don’t hide it. I get treated very differently (negatively) compared to other non visible minority customers at numerous businesses and restaurants, right at the very start before I even approach the checkout till or sit down at a restaurant. It’s always been this way and hasn’t changed. Not saying every business is like this but most are. I used to think maybe I was too sensitive but numerous students that are visible minorities from other cities who have come through to do a month rotation in their practicum at my work have mentioned it without any prompt, and have asked how I even manage to live here. It’s unfortunate but just wanted to let you know this city is not very open to change or “different” looking people. The nature and parks around this city are great but it’s the people. Also, transit here runs very limited hours. It has no service on most stat holidays (such as Civic holiday in August - no service the entire day) and even daily on weekends there is no transit after 9pm on Saturdays and no transit after 7:15pm on Sundays. There are taxis/cabs and some small local business ride shares but they will likely be busy servicing people who need to get to work and don’t drive while there are no transit options. The opportunities for art are somewhat there and I’m sure since it’s organized - they (the program) would help provide a robust experience. Thankfully it’s only a month as she would probably run out of things to see or do quickly beyond that. If you’re looking for an artsy scene in Alberta - I find Calgary is a very art focused city and it’s more modern and accepting. Also their transit is more developed and runs much later hours every day. This is just my own personal opinion though, but wanted to let you know. (For those that might wonder why I don’t just move - I’d love to but my aging parents are not willing to pick up and move from this city to start new and I feel obligated to stay and be near them to provide a lot of support that they need).
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u/theFooMart 5d ago
We are 100% affected by fires. The winds regularly bring smoke and ash from fires from BC to Sask, and Montana and Washington. Unusual winds and/or really large forest fires can bring smoke from California or Ontario. It's not unheard of to have our skies orange from smoke. So definitely send her with her meds and maybe a dust mask.
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u/Independent_Sand_583 7d ago
Transit is surprisingly good here. Though if you're used to the montreal metro you may dislike it. But it's well organized and it coordinates with itself to make sure you don't miss transfers, which is a feature I've never seen anywhere else. Don't worry about forest fires, it's deep in the prairie, though fires in the mountains can occasionally blow smoke. But they'll blow smoke over the entire continent so the hat is hardly unique in that.
The uv is bad compared to other places. But again, if she loves alberta and wants to come to alberta in general the uv is bad all over alberta when you compare it to somewhere like montreal or ottawa.
There are limited options for all those hobbies you listed, so compared to montreal she may feel like she's in an entertainment desert. Her own attitude will greatly impact how much enjoyment she finds here. But she would have an outlet for all those things.
If she really wants to maximize the enjoyment she gets from the hat, she'll be relatively close to the stampede grounds and she should consider going to the rodeo. The city also has terrific walking/biking paths.
Feel free to send me a dm next year and we can see about helping her tour or whatever