In Town.

Iqaluit cannot be accused of pretence. The place gets the job done: it serves as the territorial seat of government (the patch of road immediately in front of the Territorial Legislature features one of the only bits sidewalk in Iqaluit):

Nunavut's Territorial Legislature, with sidewalk.

There are schools (elementary and junior high schools, a high school, and even a French language school):

Nakasuk Elementary School (perhaps designed to resemble blubber?).

There is a fire department, a new (and expanding) hospital, and an imposing RCMP building:

Iqaluit's RCMP Detachment.

There are two to three grocery stores (depending on how you count), an incredibly busy post office and a shawarma place (I'm told it serves the most northerly baclava on the planet):

Northern shawarma.

There is a soon to be opened aquatic centre, brought to us in part for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities:

Iqaluit's new Aquatic Centre, under construction, at dawn.

One of Iqaluit's two bike racks (that I've found) is perched in front of the Government of Canada Building (the other is found in front of the Iqaluit Centennial Library, both see occasional traffic):

The bike rack is just to the right of the bench

Iqaluit's current, bright yellow, airport terminal is being replaced by a $300 million terminal (this time in red, and a public private partnership). The new terminal will feature baggage carousels, and an international gate:

Current YFB Terminal (Patrick Nagle/CBC).

Future YFB Terminal (Stantec.com).

It's a busy town. There are notions of "traffic" throughout the day. It's estimated that there are now 8,000 Iqalummiut bumping along Iqaluit's roughly 25 km of (mostly unpaved) road. And it's a growing town, it's taken just about 20 years for the population to double.

It can be easy to forget, with the "traffic", construction and constant change happening in town, that we are in an absolutely spectacular part of the country. It's important for me to leave town, when I can, to help maintain perspective.

Amazing things are found just a short walk from town.