Municipalities ought to check search image

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but you don’t need much more than a few to describe the image that popped up when you Googled “Edmonton.” Drab, industrial, old. The defining image on the search engine was the defunct Rossdale power plant and its 10 smokestacks.

That doesn’t scream “visit” or “do business here.”

Cheeky Calgarians — long rivals to Alberta’s other major city — might like to think it’s an appropriate icon for their northern blue-collar neighbours.

But, really, that city has evolved from infamous meat plants and Refinery Row to a thriving arts and culture burg.

Why not use a photo of the North Saskatchewan River valley trails, the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald or the iconic High Level Bridge?

Edmonton officials wondered, too, and clamoured for a change. Google listened and the shot has been changed to a dusky skyline view and the Muttart Conservatory pyramids.

A few other cities received the same short shrift, such as Cardston, Alta., (a bleak winter view of angled parking on main street), the Alberta towns of Acme and Whitecourt (entry signs), and Halifax, which

A cursory search shows most Canadian cities have postcard-pretty images on their Google pages.”

doesn’t even warrant a photo — it only gets a lame pixelated map.

A cursory search shows most Canadian cities have postcard-pretty images on their Google pages.

Calgary has a sunset view of downtown and the Bow River.

Even steeltown Hamilton shows a decent downtown.

And the page for Fort McMurray — ecoactivists’ whipping boy — sports an idyllic aerial shot of a suburb surrounded by boreal forest (most likely pre-wildfire).

Toronto, somehow, earned a six-photo collage.

As Alberta slowly crawls out of a crushing recession, anything that can play even a small part in making Edmonton, and the province as a whole, more attractive to tourists and business is a good thing.

It’s good to see Edmonton get a digital facelift and move past the tired old stereotype.