(Excerpt from The Tomato - July/August 2011.  Page 21, writer Karen Virag)

As much as any creature from sci-fi, neighbourhoods are shape-shifters, morphing as the generations pass, falling into and out of popularity as demographic and economic conditions change. One day, you might look around and realize that a former cute little mum-and-pop store has been replaced by a multinational chain or that the alternative video store is now called Pussy Cat Video (which is an alternative of sorts, I suppose). And so it was with 118 Ave — also known as Alberta Ave.

Running through some of the oldest parts of the city, Alberta Ave (hereafter referred to as The Ave) saw some hard times over the last couple of decades. But now, thanks to some imaginative residents and a neighbourhood renewal project called the Avenue Initiative, the area from NAIT to Northlands is being transformed. Arts on the Ave, a grassroots group that promotes neighbourhood revitalization through the arts, has helped breathe new life into The Ave, and the area is now home to the largest number of artists in Edmonton as well as an eclectic mix of immigrant communities.

And where there are arts and ethnic communities, there is food. And what food there is!

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