#aph lethbridge

The Lethbridge Viaduct, also known as the High Level Bridge, was finished in 1909. It is the longest and the tallest steel trestle bridge in the world!

Lethbridge is the self proclaimed irrigation capital of Canada. Irrigation is so important to the region that trees barely existed outside of the river valley until citizens began to plant them.

Apart from the generous amount of sunlight Lethbridge receives year round, it is also boasts one of the warmest winters in Canada due to the arid climate and chinook winds.

Despite its reputation, Lethbridge is only the eighth windiest city in the country. The city website advises residents on how to keep their recycling bin from blowing away accordingly.

Lethbridge's Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden was a project for Canada's 1967 Centennial. The garden is designed to celebrate the cultural contributions of Japanese-Canadians as well as the beauty of Lethbridge's natural geography.

Lethbridge had numerous names in its history and was was briefly known as Coalbanks when it was established as Alberta's first coal mining community. The name of the area in many First Nations languages also describes the rich deposits of coal here.

Mid-Sized Cities: Lethbridge and Red Deer

At first glance, it's hard to tell whether trying to fit Lethbridge and Red Deer into the major city rivalry mold is either productive or relevant. The two cities are distribution hubs of their respective regions, have closely competing populations as well as a growing post-secondary community, and are both hitting their stride in representing parts of Alberta that are typically overshadowed by its larger urban centers. There were "no hard feelings" between the two as Lethbridge's stability and its position as a city uniquely independent of the oil and gas boom/bust cycle allowed it to once again surpass Red Deer in size. It seems that there's a long history of commonality and always just enough room to share the third place podium

Website Round Up Premise

While I was revisiting these character profiles, I took a look at how cities represented themselves on their municipal sites and tourism sites rather than how cities were represented in the news or in stereotypes, as the latter already tend to live in the back of my head. I was interested to see who the target audiences for each city were, what they considered their strengths, and how much effort each city put into putting its own identity on display. I was also interested into what ideas sort of fed into any pre-existing confirmation bias I had about each city's personality as well as interested in what narratives might be used to counteract negative stereotypes.

The first thing I tended to notice was the overall information architecture of each city's website. How easy were they to navigate? What kinds of information did they have? How did they organize it? How did they communicate that information?

Municipal: Out and About

Lethbridge's information architecture leaves a little to be desired... instead of the obvious first tab "Living Here", the "About Lethbridge" page was hidden under "Things to Do" (in an ever extending sidebar reminiscent of older web design). The city portrays itself as a "central" location despite being the last major stop before the U.S. border, which is an interesting contrast to Red Deer's "true" central nature. Still, as southern Alberta is the true "birthplace" of the modern province, the city's pride in being the centre of the South is well earned. The About Page includes a lot of geographical and climate statistics and also helpfully defines words such as "coulee" and "chinook" and "viaduct", which are integral to understanding the environmental context. Lethbridge makes up for what it lacks in organization by being the only city to offer a downloadable colouring book on its about page. Underneath this page is a separate City Identity page for city emblems and symbols, with brief explanations and images of each. There are also a couple pages about the history of the city.

Lethbridge also has a page in their "About" section for visitors, linking them to the tourism pages of the city, the region, and suggesting their own "Top Ten" suggested activities for visiting families.

Red Deer has its "About" section as the first tab on its site, although the large number of categories provide different pieces to the puzzle rather than directing a visitor to a single page. Emblems, symbols, facts and trivia are all squirrelled away under "History" (although many of the facts are short of a little context). The "Moving to Red Deer" page has a more general overview, describing the city as "easy to get around" but with amenities of a larger city. There's also a "Downtown Red Deer" page which describes the three districts of the city centre with six themes: great streets, great places, great connections, vitality, authenticity, and sustainability. Finally, there's a section called "We Are Red Deer" with a promotional video and statement about the city, emphasizing "real" (work-life?) balance, a can-do volunteer attitude, and a city that is the ideal blend of urban and rural.

Red Deer also has citizen-contributed stories and i was Entranced by The Case of the Bolting Bovine in which a cow just. got loose in a suburb. great video.

Overall, both city sites struck me as accommodating and trying to be welcoming and accessible, even if those goals weren't always reached. Lethbridge tended to focus more on environment while Red Deer tended to focus more on the welcoming temperament of locals. I also got the initial impression that Red Deer had put a little more thought in their branding than Lethbridge in both organization and self-description; the site was more oriented to new residents than Lethbridge's as well. However, Lethbridge has an excellent "internal" brand in its promotion of its colouring book and the adorable illustrations and animations I found scattered here and there. They also refer to their history through mural art, which strikes a unique contrast with the extensive archival material featured on Red Deer's deep historical pages.

Neither city had a particularly strong guide for prospective residents, but neither city is as concerned as smaller municipalities might be with attracting them.

Tourism: Staycation Destination

Finally, both cities also have tourism pages.

Both cities are providing regular COVD-19 updates and encouraging local tourism. Lethbridge encourages the hashtag #YQLocal while Red Deer suggests #ExploreRedDeersBackyard.

Interestingly, both tourism pages feature "Ask A Local" or "Local Insider" stories and tips that are very cute. Red Deer has a panel of local experts which visitors can direct questions to, such as "What should be the city's motto?" or "What is an iconic Red Deer dish?". Lethbridge structures an entire section of the website as "Insider Tips", which includes frequent blog updates about local events, an "About Lethbridge" page, but most interestingly includes an "Authentic Lethbridge" page. This page features links to sites like TripAdvisor and Twitter where visitors can explore the reviews and hashtags for the city outside of their tourism page, which struck me as an interesting option considering that it was the only tourism site that encouraged looking at information or opinion that was not curated to paint a 'sunday best' portrait of the city.

Tourism: We’re Headed Downtown

Both cities describe themselves on distinct pages.

Lethbridge has an impressive about page in the sense that less is more, a large image of the viaduct sets the tone for the short description below, which is concise if not vivid or particularly unique. It feels as if the site is confident that Lethbridge speaks for itself.

Red Deer's about page is a little more informative, but you'll have to scroll down and squint or you might overlook it. The description is very warm and genuine, painting the city as the heart of a beautiful agritourism destination filled with active and friendly volunteers (which echoes Calgary's Olympic branding...). It also bolds the sentence "We are fiercely proud of our community and the quality of life it affords." and for some reason it sounds just a tiny bit threatening?!

Tourism: Hitchhiker’s Guide

Both cities have downloadable guides.

It's kind of adorable that Lethbridge takes full advantage of having a digital guide and embeds teeny tiny YouTube videos on the cover and throughout the pages. This year's guide also basically admits straight up that 2020 kind of sucks, and I respect that.

Red Deer's guide is from last year and has a beautiful, colourful design. The theme of this guide is "Adventure" from cover to cover, and the image/text balance is well employed.

It's interesting to see the different priorities of each guide. Lethbridge tends to focus more on museums, galleries, cultural experiences and interpretive centers before looking towards the great outdoors, dining, and sport. Red Deer's guide launches right into extreme sports and the local food scene, which are similarly reflected as the top two draws on their website. It is pretty interesting that this is very often the case for other analyses I've made: Southern Alberta seems to be more concerned with arts and culture while Northern Alberta is a little more sport and recreation. (And since the major cities are the only ones left and I have an Edmonton bias, I'm interested to see how my own tourism site is going to spin what I think I know to be true, haha.)

City Info

City: Lethbridge

Nicknames: The Windy City,

Region: Southwest (Grassland)

Population: 100,000+

Founded: 1869

Incorporated: 1890 / 1906

Motto: Ad occasionis januam "Gateway to Opportunity"

Other: Alberta's third biggest city

Character Info

Name: Lilith Sheran (she/her)

"Birthday": November 29 (Sagittarius)

Height: 5'4″

Heritage: [American + European (British + German)]

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Light blue

MBTI: ISFP

Symbols

gemstone

greeting

tartan

flower

crest

Personality

Lilith's polite and demure demeanour masks a wild streak, an adventurous spirit, and a bit of a checkered past. She tends to keep her cards and ambitions close to her chest, but keeps her friends and rivals just as near.

History

Calgary / Calvin

Lilith, unknown to Calvin, was his arch rival during his earliest years when she represented the American whiskey traders he had vowed to wipe out. Although he didn’t recognize her then, the two have a mostly friendly relationship to this day and share a taste for drink and a propensity for chinook-induced migraines.

Medicine Hat / Madeline

Lilith and Madeline have always been close neighbours and collaborators in representing southern Alberta. As the larger of the two cities, Lilith tends to be more ambitious and take on more responsibility, but always listens carefully to Madeline and advocates on her behalf.

Edmonton / Edward

Lilith is taking a more active role in her relationship with Edward as a university town and now as the third largest city in the country. The two also share some political inclinations which have put them in closer contact in recent years.

Red Deer / Red

Lilith's "rivalry" with Red is more cooperative than it is serious, the two enjoy partnering on issues that concern the mid-size city club and it is rarely important who is ultimately in charge. Lilith tends to tackle the more abstract elements of a project while Red is more hands on, but they are sure to get the job done.

Banff / Eleanor

Eleanor is, rightfully so, the one person Lilith feels totally comfortable letting her hair down around, spending time together is a reprieve from more than the weather. Lilith appreciates Eleanor's spontaneity after a long week of mundane routines.

Grande Prairie / Josephine

Lilith looks at Josephine with a little fond amusement and maybe a nostalgia for a time when she was a little more headstrong and reckless herself. Although they aren't yet as close as they could be, Lilith looks forward to taking a more active mentorship role.

Fort McMurray / Mac

Lilith notices in the few times she and Mac are in the same room that he tends to clam up when speaking to her directly or cleans up his language. She's generally patient with him and never teases in the hopes that he'll open up.

Other Relationships

Lilith maintains a close relationship with American cities as the last major stop before the Canada-US border between Alberta and Montana. Although she no longer identifies as American, she still maintains a close kinship with and concern for her American neighbours.