I've lived in Edmonton my whole life. I pretty much agree with dood on everything he said, though I don't think the bad parts of town in Edmonton are any different than any other major city. If anything, the lack of gentrification works both ways, and so the seedy areas are not so bad. I lived in the Boyle Street area for a time, which is considered to be one of the worse parts of town, and it was fine. Just use common sense.
Edmonton is a major city, and so we pretty much have all the amenities of any other city in Canada. The difference between Edmonton and say, Vancouver, would be variety. For example, we only have one luxury clothing store (Holt Renfrew), two BMW dealerships, maybe two fine dining restaurants that could hold their own in the world-class category.
Edmonton is a better city to live in than to visit, as their are not many tourist attractions (ie., places that are so unique you wouldn't find them in other major cities). That being said, the air is clean, the commutes are usually pretty short, and the people are nice. I find over the long run that makes the most difference. Ask someone from Paris how much they go to the Eiffel Tower, or someone from London how much they go to Buckingham Palace. It's the day to day that means the most.
And the pooning's excellent too for a city of this size.