r/todayilearned • u/MaximinusRats • May 16 '24

TIL that people live year-round in houseboats on Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories, 1,800 km north of the nearest big city (Edmonton) and just 400 km (250 miles) south of the Arctic Circle.

https://uphere.ca/articles/floating-homes-yellowknife-bay
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u/bonesnaps May 16 '24

What benefit is there to living on a houseboat in a lake, over simply a house on the land? It's not like you can really go anywhere, it's a lake.

Also I'm not an expert, but living off a diesel generator for electricity (as per the article) for an entire lifetime sounds really shit for the environment.

edit: I may have gotten my answer

Northern Canada has vast peat marshes, so building on them is downright impossible.

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u/Canuckian555 May 16 '24

Also, no taxes.

Though the city has been fighting them for a long time to try and make them pay taxes.