Expedia.ca recently released a "10 of Canada’s Coolest Downtowns" list and, to the surprise and delight of Moose Jaw, we managed to place third on the list.

"When I walk downtown it's something that you just get this feeling of joy, and it's safe, and it's fairly open and people talk to you on the streets," said Mayor Fraser Tolmie. "You know we're known as the Friendly City. We're welcoming, we're hospitable."

We were placed for our outdoorsy, artistic, how easy it is to get around downtown, and how friendly our citizens are. To top it off, Moose Jaw was also the only Saskatchewan location to be on the list.

To put our placing in better perspective, we managed to place just after Toronto's downtown.

Mayor Tolmie also answered if he found downtown cool.

"Absolutely! You know, just recently we were able to highlight that on the Country Music Television One Horse Town [concert], which is going to be televised across Canada so we're excited about that," said Mayor Tolmie. "I think we should be thanking Expedia for confirming what we already know about our historic downtown."

The website not only highlighted our downtown's atmosphere, but also our local businesses.

It called Brown's Social House the "taste of the town" and said Cask 82 is where the night life is at.

People downtown also shared what they enjoy about it.

"I really like the vintage quality of a lot of the buildings. Things like the Mae Wilson and even City Hall, it's very nostalgic," said one person.

"I like the tight knit feel of the downtown area. Everyone seems very well together," said one resident.

"Everybody is wonderful, we haven't had anybody be rude or impolite or not helpful, it's been great," said women passing through.

Whether their favourite thing downtown was the lights, the murals, or the businesses, it usually came back to a few things.

Our history, the downtown scenery, and our friendliness.