When I exited my Uber at the corner of 76 Avenue and 95 Street, I was certain the driver got it wrong. I was standing on an Edmonton street corner I’d known my entire life, but nothing looked familiar.

“Where are we?” I asked my friend Mike. He shrugged in reply, before consulting with his phone to confirm that yes, we were in the right spot.

We were meeting people for dinner in Ritchie, a neighbourhood just southeast of trendy Old Strathcona. Back in my university days, I didn’t even know the area even had a name. All I knew is that was a good spot to park if you were going bar-hopping on nearby Whyte Avenue.

That’s why I’d been expecting a strip mall restaurant tucked into between warehouses. Instead, there was a new brick building, wide clean sidewalks and, most notably, people out enjoying their evening.

Ritchie’s recent transformation is courtesy of Ritchie Market, which opened in 2017. The collaborative, multi-use building turned the area into a culinary and community destination, nabbing Edmonton Urban Design Awards in the process. New facades on the street’s existing buildings also help to give the ‘hood a facelift. However, for me, it was the October 2019 opening of Little Duchess — Duchess Bake Shop’s second location — that truly announced the neighbourhood’s arrival.

If you’re planning your own visit to Edmonton, here’s where to eat, shop and visit in the walkable Ritchie neighbourhood.