Flin Flon, Manitoba... What?

[Sulley]

Hi guys,

Do any of you know anything about Flin Flon, MB and what it's like? I have a friend who is taking a job up there. All I know is that it's the 9th largest city in Manitoba and is quite... removed from civilization.

Anyone ever been?

[Greco Roman]

It is a nice little city settled in the Canadian Shield surrounded by gorgeous and plantiful lakes. It is a very scenic town with a huge mining industry. I have relatives up there. The city also has some of the steepest sloped street in the prairies; it almost makes you feel like you are in San Francisco or something. I like that city.

The Pas, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. I lived there for 3 month on a government contract, and I couldn't wait to get out!

[Sulley]

What's it like to get there? How does it feel to be so... isolated?

[ibz]

Ahh Flin Flon, home of above ground sewers, a GIANT smelter stack and of course Flintabbatey Flonatin



Nice scenery, but it really really really is in the middle of nowhere

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by ryanE

Ahh Flin Flon, home of above ground sewers, a GIANT smelter stack and of course Flintabbatey Flonatin



Nice scenery, but it really really really is in the middle of nowhere

You want to talk about the middle of nowhere? Let's talk about Fort MacMurray, Alberta. A city with absolutely no culture and no towns around it for hundreds of kilometers; an area that is tearing up every square inch of forest around it. From space it's beginning to look like a giant moonscape. Flin Flon is in an area that isn't as isolated, plus the outdoor life is to die for in the shield country, IMO. It's easy to get to. Just go up Highway 10 from Brandon about 7 hours.

[Western Spaghetti]

Originally Posted by Albertaboy

You want to talk about the middle of nowhere? Let's talk about Fort MacMurray, Alberta. A city with absolutely no culture and no towns around it for hundreds of kilometers; an area that is tearing up every square inch of forest around it. From space it's beginning to look like a giant moonscape. Flin Flon is in an area that isn't as isolated, plus the outdoor life is to die for in the shield country, IMO. It's easy to get to. Just go up Highway 10 from Brandon about 7 hours.

Have you actually been up to Fort MacMurray?? There are a couple of spots where the tar sands are that are open and torn up, but outside of that, it just miles and miles of forest and nothing but, throw in some lakes and some sand dunes and actually the outdoor life is very similar to Flin Flon

As far as remoteness, well, it is remote for sure, but it's a lot closer to a city than Flin Flon is. Fort Mac is 3 1/2 - 4hours from Edmonton.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by Western Spaghetti

Have you actually been up to Fort MacMurray?? There are a couple of spots where the tar sands are that are open and torn up, but outside of that, it just miles and miles of forest and nothing but, and actually the outdoor life is very similar to Flin Flon

As far as remoteness, well, it is remote for sure, but it's a lot closer to a city than Flin Flon is. Fort Mac is 3 1/2 - 4hours from Edmonton.

Yes I have, and I was referring to the fact that there are no immediate towns around fort mac that are of any significance. Around flin flon, you have The Pas, Thompson, Hudson Bay SK all within a 2.5 hr drive, and if you want to go the distance, even Prince Albert, SK . Have a closer look; you can see that those areas around FM are more disturbed than you think. And with the proposed expansion of the tar sands, this will only get much much worse. Man tries to hide it, but there are tell tail signs that they have made their mark.

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by Albertaboy

Yes I have, and I was referring to the fact that there are no immediate towns around fort mac that are of any significance. Around flin flon, you have The Pas, Thompson, Hudson Bay SK all within a 2.5 hr drive, and if you want to go the distance, even Prince Albert, SK . Have a closer look; you can see that those areas around FM are more disturbed than you think. And with the proposed expansion of the tar sands, this will only get much much worse. Man tries to hide it, but there are tell tail signs that they have made their mark.

So in Flin Flon, The closest towns are towns like The Pas, and Thompson, and they're 2.5 hours away....doesn't that seem remote to you. To me that's the dictionary example of remote.

[Arriviste]

Originally Posted by Albertaboy

You want to talk about the middle of nowhere? Let's talk about Fort MacMurray, Alberta. A city with absolutely no culture and no towns around it for hundreds of kilometers; an area that is tearing up every square inch of forest around it. From space it's beginning to look like a giant moonscape. Flin Flon is in an area that isn't as isolated, plus the outdoor life is to die for in the shield country, IMO. It's easy to get to. Just go up Highway 10 from Brandon about 7 hours.

You can't even spell Fort McMurray correctly, and for that you are discredited. I have never been to Ft McMurray, but do know that you not a credible source regarding it.

Back on topic, the lakes will be pretty, but I'm betting the mosquitoes will eb out of control for the relatively short summer. But thats Canadian shield for you. Pretty lakes with some overcomable setbacks. Tell him to get a snowmobile. The best purchase a person can make when moving to an isolated Canadian town. They provide countless hours of fun through the LONG and snowy winters.

[psych1]

Originally Posted by Arriviste

You can't even spell Fort McMurray correctly, and for that you are discredited. I have never been to Ft McMurray, but do know that you not a credible source regarding it.

Back on topic, the lakes will be pretty, but I'm betting the mosquitoes will eb out of control for the relatively short summer. But thats Canadian shield for you. Pretty lakes with some overcomable setbacks. Tell him to get a snowmobile. The best purchase a person can make when moving to an isolated Canadian town. They provide countless hours of fun through the LONG and snowy winters.

You spelled "be" wrong, what does that say? Seriously... not knowing how to spell it doesn't mean he or she has never been there or that they are not credible.

[psych1]

I have been to Flin Flon and my opinion is that the surroundings are pretty, but culturally it is much like most resource towns, pretty rough and tumble and what some might call "redneck". Not necessarily bad, and nowhere near as bleak as McMurray but not my taste.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by Arriviste

You can't even spell Fort McMurray correctly, and for that you are discredited. I have never been to Ft McMurray, but do know that you not a credible source regarding it.

Yeah, because there are never any spelling mistakes made by anyone except myself right? You are so bloody perfect? Loser.

As for not being a credible source, you can believe what you want. As I've stated before, my double major that I am persuing includes Land Reclemation of natural landscapes, especially those concerning the Oilsands projects up around Fort McMurray (is that better, Einstein?) so yeah, I do happen to know a little about it.

[drew]

Flin Flon is actually not bad. It's smack in the Cdn. Sheild and it doesn't get nearly as cold there as it does in Thompson...

My Dad grew up there and still refers to it as "god's country"...

[1ajs]

from the peg go up the number 6 and then cut over to the 10 on 60.

[Sulley]

What do you do if you need gas on the way to Flin Flon? Is there absolutely nothing around on Highway 10?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the area. It just seems out in the wilderness...

...and above ground sewers? Que?!

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by Sulley

What do you do if you need gas on the way to Flin Flon? Is there absolutely nothing around on Highway 10?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the area. It just seems out in the wilderness...

...and above ground sewers? Que?!

There are gas stations in Cranberry Portage, Wanless and The Pas (TP), and a few small no-name stations along the way between FF and TP. The ones outside town probably close at around 9-10pm.

Between The Pas and Swan River, the only gas station on the hwy that I am aware of is in Mafeking. After Swan River you are in a more populous area with your typical hwy/town/gas station ratio.

In the more remote areas outside towns, just plan your trip accordingly to make sure you don't drive during times where stations are closed. It's very easy. This is all along Highway 10 in western Manitoba. Along highway 6 is more remote.

Where are you coming from anyway?

[vid]

Originally Posted by Sulley

...and above ground sewers? Que?!

In a lot of Northern Communities, the ground in permafrost, so they build sewer lines, etc. above ground. Iqaluit is probably the largest city that has them. They can't build them underground, and in many cases buildings are on stilts as well. I didn't know Flin Flon was like that though.

Flin Flon is where the government proved it doesn't know how to grow pot.

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by vid

In a lot of Northern Communities, the ground in permafrost, so they build sewer lines, etc. above ground. Iqaluit is probably the largest city that has them. They can't build them underground, and in many cases buildings are on stilts as well. I didn't know Flin Flon was like that though.

Flin Flon is where the government proved it doesn't know how to grow pot.

I didn't think it was so much a permafrost issue as the fact that its built on a rock. It is quite interesting to see.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by flatlander

I didn't think it was so much a permafrost issue as the fact that its built on a rock. It is quite interesting to see.

Yeah, Flin Flon is basically like the moon, but with a few trees. The pictures I've seen remind me a LOT of Sudbury back when Inco had pretty much no pollution controls. (It's taken decades to recover. Driving by Sudbury in the early 90s was interesting, to say the least - the trees just got shorter and shorter as you approached town, until they were barely a foot high.)

Flin Flon is more of a "natural" moonscape, and actually has some big trees, but either way - the town is built up on solid granite bedrock. You don't run sewer lines through that, unless you're VERY rich. Permafrost, incidentally, is not an issue with granite - although there may be parts of town that have enough actual soil that this could become a concern, I doubt Flin Flon is anywhere near north enough to have much permafrost. It's about the same latitude as Edmonton, and gets similar temperatures throughout the year.

The vignette in question, or at least the one I remember, described how the town was named after one Flintabbatey Flonatin (bet I spelled that wrong!), a character in an old science fiction novel. It's one of a very few places named after a science fiction character.

In terms of moving there, I hope you enjoy small town life. It's one hell of a trip to any city. Beautiful area, though. As for cellphone coverage, there's service in town, but not GSM (Rogers), and service on the highway up is practically nonexistent. MTS's site is buggered so I can't confirm for sure, but it is remote enough that it's worth doing your homework on.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by freeweed

The vignette in question, or at least the one I remember, described how the town was named after one Flintabbatey Flonatin (bet I spelled that wrong!), a character in an old science fiction novel. It's one of a very few places named after a science fiction character.
.

It was a dime store novel called The Sunless City by the Victorian pulp novelist J.E. Preston Muddock. The story is briefly recounted here. Only one copy of The Sunless City shows up on bookfinder.com and it is a bound photostatic reprint published by the Flin Flon library (at over $200).Link.