The wrong kind of scaling down in Downtown
Unfortunately, we’re watching Windsor’s Downtown scaling down before our eyes.
As businesses move towards Ouellette and the corners of Pitt and Chatham we see more vacancies left behind. Maybe I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth as this condensed downtown benefits my businesses but I fear for the areas that are left behind.
The DWBIA needs help, Others and I will be spending 4-5 hours this week on an ED search when I’d rather be spending that volunteer time coming up with marketing strategies for all the different districts within downtown. There isn’t enough volunteer time to address the issues that need addressing. (The shortstaffed DWBIA fumbles with the basics of getting LED lights working, gum removal and taking dated banners off) Ouellette)
We talk about downtown strategy but we need to have a strategy for every area within our downtown. I’m proud of the dozens of hours spent coming up with identities for the downtown districts but its frustrating to see little progress implementing the vision for each district.
I doubt our vision of Pelissier street village can be realized as long as massage parlors and after hours clubs remain in an area unsuitable for them. The DWBIA has proposed and submitted an amazing streetscape proposal that would see this area become a postcard for Windsor but nothing is really being done to promote and pursue this opportunity. An effort to create work/live spaces for artists and art incubators would do well. The completion of an expanded sustainable downtown CIP beyond residential to include commercial tax breaks could assist this area. A buyin from our city into the DWBIA’s vision could help draw residents.
The Avenue South is seeing the loss of many entertainment venues. There are some interesting prospects such as Bentley’s change into a Haunted house which I think could be fun if it could be sustainable year round. (even some seasonable haunted attractions). Several buildings are papered up and I hear the Chubby Pickle is struggling which is unfortunate for live music. The Blind Pig is the newest incarnation of the Roxy or O and I wish it well. This area needs a marketing effort to appeal to retail for young people that are open later at night. I believe if American Apparel opened up in this area clustered with like businesses they’d be thriving to this day. The creation of the HRP (by the DWBIA) managing hospitality issues could retain and draw residents to this area.
The Arts District awaits the seemingly never ending final judgement of the Capital Theater. That could pave the way for the College to propose a use for this bldg along with the old Salvation Army bldg that would see set design and a rationalization of box offices with the Chrysler theater. As long as the past users of the capital theater were protected, it makes financial sense. Residential could be promoted by dealing with crime in the area and adjacent (other side of Wyandotte) and marketing the proximity to all of the arts venues
The Avenue is seeing the most positive action with the TD bank bldg announcement. I always had the idea that the CBC headquarters could be moved to the Candarell bldg main floor seeing activity as well as an inevitable benefit of increased media coverage of our downtown. Its unfortunate that the attitude the Conservatives of CBC combined with 4th place party representation will doubtfully see this realized. Incentives to convert 2nd floor commercial space to residential could help in the long term but we should concentrate our residential efforts on the other districts
The Square needs to see the creation of attractive well lit corridors from Casino/Arena/Convention Center to the other districts. That means dealing with the Bus station (Farmers market), Goyeau parking garage beautification, streetscape of Chatham. Other than that I just regret the design guidelines or lack thereof that allowed the cold, sterile and menacing Concrete and Glass Police station to be built. Marketing the Riverfront lifestyle to those who work in this area could draw more residents
But downtown strategy remains on hold. With all this work to do, no one is assigned responsibility, no resources are allocated. We have so much to do to reverse the scaling down of our downtown instead of the desired outcome of scaling down our city into our core.
Post Feedback
The DWBIA is in a sad state, Mark. You’ve been without an ED for how long? What kind of skeleton crew is the DWBIA running with these days?
And THEN, your president decides he needs more media-love and decides to run for the Liberals in this election against Brian Masse? What’s up with that? Not only does he pull your acting-ED along for the ride, but he spends most of his campaign time beating up on the MP who he’ll most likely need to work with when he goes back to his regular day job. All this for a futile exercise he can never win. Not that bright, if you ask me.
It’ll be nice when you get some new blood at the healm of the DWBIA. When’s Horwitz’s term up, anyways? It can’t be soon enough.
Mark,
I’ve told you many times, if I could just get my hands on that old bus depot, the things we could do with it..oh the things we could do!
With the overhang, empty lot and the building itself, it is already perfectly setup for a market with a mixture of farmers goods, local artisits, florists, etc.
If you recall to a Scale Down post from October 2007, Chris showcased an idea I had about the reuse of the old bus depot.
I don’t care who does it, just please, someone act on the idea and create a much needed link from the casino to the rest of our downtown!!
Adriano, I took a walk by the old bus depot site today and you are so right about it being a perfect site for a public market. I would just change the business plan to farmers/flea market during the day and entertainment market at night (see link to Richmond night market below).
http://www.richmondnightmarket.com/home.html
I had the same thought a while back about turning the parking lot on Caron into a public market. It is the parking lot next to the rail cut that is to be the marina in the canal plan. My thought was about building a walking path along the rail cut to connect it to the riverside park.
I would love to have a marina I could walk to but I can’t afford to buy a boat today. Maybe we can’t afford to build the marina either at this time. Maybe the canal and a simpler more affordable way of creating a destination in my part of town is all we can afford.
Really, I would love to see a public market no matter where.
Adriano, Mark did you see this story in the Windsor star about the Ottawa market. The idea of a public market along with turning the downtown core into a pedestrian only area in Windsor should really be studied.
Curbing traffic key to Market future-http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/features/bywardmarket/story.html?id=a31a01c1-045a-4f02-b9a6-11beb29c9fe7
I love the market area in Ottawa and often wonder why we don’t do this in Windsor. If it is people we want to attract to the core why not cluster and vary the destinations. Why not make it more friendly for them to walk around and explore.
byward market-
http://www.byward-market.com/en/index.htm
We have a part time Interim ED that basically can put out fires and has repaired some of our relationships.
The Chair’s term ends this year but there’s always a but, we’ll see what happens in the next 30 days
Whats frustrating to me is that we’ve adopted a very good strategy and we’ve shifted our priorities from advertising to beautificaiton, streetscape decoration and programs like the facade grant. We’ve done so much of the background work such as districting and funding for HRP, we just need to follow through.
Oh well next year I will leave the position of Past chair and depending on who’s the next chair and the next ED I’ll decide how much time to invest.
That bus station works on so many levels, could you imagine getting the province to change whatever regulations they need in order to have an exclusive essex county wine store between downtown and the Casino????
The DRA also supports the use of the old bus terminal as a downtown farmer’s market as well. I believe they are working with the DWBIA to make this idea become a reality.
It is interesting to see that both University Ave and Chatham St are two of the nicest looking streets downtown, with lots of businesses and yet the streetscaping is something to be desired. In fact, those two streets have the best vintage architecture downtown.
Knowing the city, maybe we should just leave that area well enough alone because we have seen the city completely ignore the guidelines of the DWBIA with the previous Ouellette Ave streetscaping.
What I don’t understand is why the city refuses to listen to the DWBIA? Can anyone shed any light on that problem? Is it ego’s? Hate towards certain individuals? One would think that the city and.or DWBIA would do what is best for the area and not what is best for any one individual?
I thought that it was just that the city didn’t listen to _anyone_.
Mark, I hope you will still be involved with the DWBIA. Your attention and expertise to our downtown is second to none. Our downtown will suffer without your help. That I can guarantee.
I second what ME is saying, Mark. Your eloquence, intelligence and leadership is what this city and the DWBIA needs to stay relevant in the coming months and years.
Its not just the city’s fault. the DWBIA having no ED means it has all these good policies and benefits that it does not communicate at all to the city.
For instance, try the new WIFI near the office, it is working. Do you know we have a formal policy asking for rezoning of massage parlors out of downtown. We have design guidelines that we’d like to see used to upgrade sign bylaws downtown. All sorts of policies and programs that we desperately need to communicate to the public and even our members
I’m putting in 8 hours this week of volunteer for DWBIA on the week before Film Festival which I’m spending time selling as many tickets as I can.
Mark, I’d like to echo ME and Brendan and thank you for your service and investments to the downtown. I’m sure the job is overwhelming but DWBIA has made great progress and is headed in the right direction. Don’t get discouraged now. I think you will find that things will start to get better rather than worst.
The casino expansion is one reason. I think this will prove to be one of the best investments for our city in recent history; not only because the money invested, or because of the direct jobs created, but because it will prove to be a tremendous subsidy to our local economy during hard times such as what we face today.
If you build it they will come! As you know, this type of business is a very high fixed cost very low variable cost business. Basically, the costs are almost the same whether the casino, convention area, and hotel rooms are empty or full. So, once it is built management will make sure it is as full as possible even if it means practicably giving away rooms and convention space at little more than variable costs. This will act as a tremendous subsidy to downtown businesses during hard times, luring visitors and injecting our economy with precious outside dollars.
The canal plan also gives me hope. I think this proposed development is consistent with other major projects that are slowly revitalizing the downtown. It will expand the downtown tourist area and help attract new businesses and residents.
The casino expansion is a great investment from the province. We see the impact on event nights. However, it should be judged by how much we leverage that investment, and there are tremendous opportunities we haven’t taken advantage of.
Example, what is being done to recruit casino employees as new residents?
What is being done to recruit businesses that will cater to convention center clientelle?
I’m not pointing any fingers here, these are items teh DWBIA should be focsing on.
Mark, we are not taking advantage of so many opportunities that it drives me up the wall. There is a fear to think outside the box. A good example is Henderson’s article last week about using the Chrysler downtown building as a call centre if Chrysler moves out. Come on! Is this all we can come up with? Automotive or a call centre; we are selling our selves short.
I have argued about the importance of an Aerotropolis for the region before but I think people have misunderstood me as to why this is so important for Windsor and downtown in particularly. Major airports attract the type of businesses we want. High-tech workers travel by air 400% more than other workers. We complain about big-box sucking money out of the community, but regional corporate headquarters and major distribution centres are particularly attracted to locations with major airports. The hospitality industry needs to be able to cheaply bring people to town from all corners of the earth.
So, with the world’s 22nd busiest airport here (Detroit DTW); why don’t we take advantage of this? Why don’t we promote this asset more often? Why don’t we have public transit from downtown to Detroit DTW?
We have all the elements to attract high-tech firms and corporate headquarters to downtown.
Mark, it sounds like the DWBIA needs more volunteers. Does it and how can we help?
I also cringed when I read the idea of a call center. CBC headquarters, College or University campus would be the best.
Its not as much as a misunderstanding as laying more of the groundwork to show the interdependence of the Airport with the rest of the city and how it can still contribute in a future that may involve Peak oil.
Its like the Automobile, many on this site want to see a future with less dependance on cars but that doesn’t mean cars won’t have their place in the future.
The reason I haven’t talked about the airport is that it would be like jumping 4 steps ahead of ourselves. I hope I can speak for all of Scaledown when I assert that we will only become attractive to outsiders and corporate headquarters when we make our own citizens believe in our city. People will never visit a place that no one wants to live in. When you recall the downtowns you envy the most, in the back of your mind you think “I could live there”. I think sometimes our citizens want to jump ahead without doing the required hard work that will get us to those goals.
We have many of the elements to attract high-tech firms and corporate headquarters to downtown but not all. We need to benchmark survey our own citizens to find out what would make them come downtown. Corporate headquarters normally don’t locate adjacent to massage parlors or an area that doesn’t manage its hospitality industry
We need to work on the 170+ items of incremental change that will prepare our downtown for corporate headquarters.
This isn’t negative, we’ve come a long way, the districting and downtown mosaic branding gives us a vision not only for the entire downtown but for the areas within it. This vision can be communicated to visitors and residents alike. Facade grants are now in place and soon you’ll see a number of buildings transformed which will go a long way to help perception. to be continued
Right on Mark! The city has NEVER asked the question “Would you move downtown and why?” Or “What would make you want to live downtown or visit downtown?”
I can’t believe we have NEVER asked our own citizens. But at least we have money for cute little drawings.
The other thing our city needs to do is get rid of the anti-business mentality that many people believe is rooted in city hall. Green Shield was thinking of moving downtown but they wree getting such a runaround by city hall and of course the issue of parking came up (rightfully so). City Hall time seems to run in a different dimension. Time is money to business and we can’t sit around and wait for the mayor or council or the bureaucrats to get moving at their leisure. As many small businesses have said…CUT THE RED TAPE!
I am not blaming any one group but the perception is there for all businesses to see.
The other issue is yet another perception. All the downtown businesses that used to be on Ouellette but moved to Tecumseh and LaSalle have all stated…”that is where the money is at”. Hogwash! But if the downtown looks like used toilet paper, people will view it and treat it as such. That is why facade grants, cohesive blocks are so important.
Mark, I appreciate the 1,000’s of items of incremental change that the dwbia has accomplished in the past and the need to tackle the 170 items on the list now. But, there will always be a list of things that need improvement. We cannot by-law the downtown we want either. We need to get to the root cause of the problem and deal with that first. The root cause is an economic and population decline. We need to reverse this fact, before we will see things improve. I think, attracting new businesses is the most important thing we need to do. More jobs will attract more residents. More residents and more businesses will crowd-out the massage parlors and teen nightclubs.
So, let’s look at the opportunities. We have unmatched affordability. We have the human capital. We have the available commercial space. Most importantly, we have the world’s markets at our doorstep.
Let’s re-brand Windsor from “the automotive capital of Canada” to “North America’s gateway to the world.” I think we wear our bankrupt brand of “the automotive capital of Canada” like a scarlet letter highlighting our past errors. It does not help us diversify our economy. So, what strength can we build on? What branding captures our promise? What communicates that Windsor is Ontario’s other major metropolis, North America’s gateway, and that we have the world at our doorstep? What can help us attract new innovative businesses? The answer: re-branding to “North America’s gateway to the world.”
Let’s bring venture capitalists and entrepreneurs together and encourage them to start-up new businesses in this city. Imagine new energetic, innovative businesses filling the vacant commercial spaces in downtown. Creating new jobs in the downtown. Luring residents to the neighboring communities. Well, I think we have all the major elements to accomplish this. All we need to do is build on them and to bring the major players together. Let’s benchmark best practices. Let’s lure the venture capitalists and the entrepreneurs will follow. Let’s believe we can!
I don’t have a business downtown so the DWBIA wouldn’t be interested in talking with me anyway but it just boggles my mind how Windsor’s downtown has deteriorated so much. At a time when even Detroit is trying to draw more people back into the downtown core area we go and build the brand new arena for the Spitfires way out in the middle of nowhere.
The Chamber of Commerce based on my dealings with them has been quite inept to say the least too.
Sad…
Don’t get me wrong I’m not criticizing the DWBIA. No other organization in the city is more of a champion of rebuilding the core than the DWBIA. No other organization understands and communicates the problems and solutions better than the DWBIA. But, it is an association of the businesses that are in the downtown today (mainly hospitality and retail). In speaking for the empty 2nd floor lofts, the disserted office space, the boarded-up commercial buildings off the avenue, and the businesses that could occupy those spaces tomorrow.
oops! should read:
… I”m speaking for the empty 2nd floor lofts, the disserted office space, the boarded-up commercial buildings off the avenue, and the businesses that could occupy those spaces tomorrow.
Hey, No worries, I didn’t take it that way at all. Downtown has its challenges and its successes. Whats peculiar is I was explaining in an ED interview today that the perceptions of the DWBIA are far from reality. the organization is strong where perception is we are weak (strategic plan and vision) and …. well I guess our true weakness are perceived as such (lack of admin, unified voice) Anytime I explain to a concerned member what our strategy is, they buy into it wholeheartedly. We’re just shitty at communicating our strategy and vision properly.
Our activist board is viewed as a weakness when it should be viewed as a strength.
as an aside Did you see the post on the Detroit aerotropolis on
http://smartcitymemphis.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html
October 31st archive if the link doesn’t work
Great article Mark thanks for bringing it to my attention. I totally agree with everything it says.
What?!? How can I reconcile the two seemingly opposing futures; one of Aerotropolis as an economic driver the other of peak oil negatively effecting air travel? The dream of creating North America’s low-cost gateway at the Windsor Airport sounds more like a nightmare in a future of peak oil! Hitching our future to the Detroit Aerotropolis sounds like another colossal mistake!
Well, I think the article hints at but failed to fully explain two key points that help connect the dots: 1) the benefits of an Aerotropolis and 2) the true weak link in a future of peak oil.
Benefits of Aerotropolis from Airport Cities: The Evolution, by University of North Carolina professor John Kasarda:
“Aerotropolises are emerging because of the advantages airports provide to business in the fast-paced, globally networked economy. Today’s most competitive manufacturers, for example, use advanced information technology and high-speed transportation to provide fast and flexible responses to customers’ unique needs. Such firms build agile production systems that connect them to their suppliers and customers, allowing them to source parts and ship assembled products as needed.
A manufacturer’s ability to meet customer demand also depends on the existence of a comprehensive ground-to-air shipping network of air cargo carriers, trucking companies, freight forwarders and logistics providers. This network has been strengthened as demand for time-sensitive manufacturing and distribution grows. Made possible primarily by proximity to an airport, a ground-to-air shipping network allows manufacturers to minimise their inventories, shorten production-cycle times and quickly access novel inputs for custom products that create additional value.
Like time-sensitive goods processing industries, the service sector has increasingly found airport areas to be an attractive location. Airport areas have become magnets for regional corporate headquarters, conference centres, trade representative offices and information-intensive firms that require executives and staff to undertake frequent long-distance travel. Business travellers benefit considerably from quick access to hub airports, which offer greater choice of flights and destinations and more flexibility in rescheduling as well as often avoiding the costs of overnight stays.
Firms specialising in information and communications technology and other high-tech industries consider air accessibility especially crucial. High-tech professionals travel by air 400 percent more frequently than workers in general, giving rise to the term ?nerd birds? in the US for commercial aircraft connecting ?techie? capitals such as Austin, Boston, Raleigh-Durham and San Jose. Many high tech firms are locating along major airport corridors, such as those along the Washington-Dulles Airport access corridor in Northern Virginia and the expressways leading to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. In this sense, knowledge networks and air travel networks increasingly reinforce each other.
Lastly, commercial services of all types have begun relocating to airport areas in order to attract a dual customer base of travellers and locals. Clusters of hotels, restaurants, big box retail, health, wellness and fitness centres as well as entertainment facilities are forming along airport corridors. As these offerings grow, areas within five miles of major airports are adding jobs much faster than suburbs located at similar distances from downtown city centres, but not near an airport. Such job growth stimulates residential projects – further fuelling aerotropolis development. And airports regions are even developing their own brand or location identity to promote themselves. Examples here include the ?Amsterdam Airport Area’, ?the O’Hare Area’ and ?Dulles,’ the latter Washington, D.C. suburban airport area containing almost as much class A office and retail space as downtown District of Columbia.
In brief, by offering speedy distant market connectivity to aerotropolis businesses, the airport provides important value to these businesses. Aerotropolis businesses, in turn, generate additional passengers and cargo for the airports, resulting in reciprocal benefits.”
This last point about the virtues circle major airports create is the key; after reaching a large enough size major airports fuel themselves. They attract businesses because the value they offer – new businesses mean more passengers and cargo. You either have the right size and will survive and grow or you don’t and will fail. And oh baby we have the right size. Detroit is already one of the biggest airports in North America and as the article suggests Detroit has perhaps the greatest opportunity to become one of the few world class Aerotropolis. Thus, Windsor airport too has a great opportunity to become Detroit’s secondary airport. In a future of peak oil, Airport size will be even more important. There will be very few winners and very many losers. But we would be among the winners - reaping the benefits from the virtues circle that major airports create.
One last point about peak oil, who is the weak link in a future of peak oil? Is it businesses or consumers? Let’s look back a few months to when we stood at the precipice of peak oil. Where was the most pain being felt? Who faced the biggest adjustment? I would suggest it was the consumer. Businesses passed on the higher energy prices but, we were the ones that had to change our ways. Smaller cars, more public transit, and walking! Scaling down our energy use at home. Rearranging our lives so as to LIVE-closer-to-where-we-WORK-closer-to-where-we-PLAY! It sounds a lot like the SD vision to me.
Mark, I hate to throw more stuff on the plate of the DWBIA but, I really think DWBIA should spearhead this recruiting of VCs and entrepreneurs. How about approaching Windsor native son Mike Lazaridis (CEO of RIM) to be the public head of the campaign? Then organizing an innovations summit, in Windsor, where we bring together VCs and entrepreneurs from Windsor, Canada, the US, and all over the world. We showcase our downtown, warts and all, and encourage them to consider starting up their new businesses here. These are people of vision they will look past the small flaws and see the opportunities we offer. At the very least, this would be another event for our city. What do you think about idea?
In a future where air travel is projected to triple from a current 2.2 bilion passengers by 2040,(most of that growth is from India) I don’t see WIndsor capturing much of that market unless it has a city worth travelling to. I applaud your efforts in your time spent creating job growth in our city but I have decided to dedicate my efforts with scaledown into how any future growth will look and feel to Windsorites.
THat means that unless we focus our efforts on upgrading our design guidelines. The aerotropolis future you describe will be a bleak one. One that is similar to the costco badlands over on Walker road.
I strongly oppose the mono-use culture that your post implies if not outright says. dedicating an area to office/commercial with no residential is not desirable.
Hypothetically, if I ever supported an Aerotropolis plan
My efforts would be on ensuring that WIndsor’s role in any Aerotropolis plan included the creation of an “aerotropolis district” in Windsor that was mixed use. Of course that would probably be difficult if not impossible with the noise created by the airplanes themselves. And if the “aerotropolis lands” are solely populated by transients then we need to have a top notch transit system that allows ease of access by a workforce..
Look, we need any jobs we can to pay for the type of beautification I want to see, which I very much understand and appreciate. But rule #1 in improving the city is sort of like a doctors hypocratic oath. First do no harm. Well I say First, don’t create Blight in an effort to reduce it.
As far as the DWBIA. We are following the business recruiting guidelines set out by the IDA panel. That includes a focus on retailers and residents to restore a better balance in our downtown.
THe DWBIA has created a facade grant program (a program found in most other cities. This is always funded through a partnership with the city instead of making the BIA do it alone). This is done to attract main street tenants
I just came from a IDA business recruitment day session where I came back with the best practices of BIA’s/(Called BID’s in the U.S.).
They all focus on attracting smaller retailers, “Chain-lets” as the large corporations and national chains almost always follow demographics rather than be a part of changing them.
The best thing A BIA can do to attract corporate headquarters is create a district and atmosphere that they’d want to locate in.
Mark, we already have a mixed use “aerotropolis district” in Windsor. It is strategically located between the Windsor airport, Detroit DTW airport and downtown Detroit. It is called downtown Windsor. All we need to do is connect it to the two airports by rapid public transit.
You are focusing on the last of the list of benefits only. This relocation of business should not be allowed to occur in Windsor. We need to rebuild from the core out.
Accept it or not we are at the center of the continental gateway. Where North America comes together and connects to the rest of the world. We can either get involve and shape the effects this has on us or we ignore it and let blight grow.
Edwin,
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again.
We here in Windsor need to stop looking towards America for the answer.
The US is becoming more and more isolationist. The border will continue to tighten before it ever losens up.
Plain and simple going to the USA regardless of if you are a Canadian or an American is a pain in the ass.
Whatever Metro Detroit is doing, good for them, but we are not going to ever be included in those plans. The sooner Windsor Essex get over their American fixation, the better.
America is not the answer.
Is the DWBIA planning to have some kind of town all or public forum event that anyone can attend to voice their 2 cents?
Most people don’t have the time or bother to post anything here but their opinion is just as valuable as everyone else’s.
This forum should never be thought of as a replacement for sharing your insights through the “official” sources. Whereas viewpoints shared here do make their was through certain channels, they are not officially logged and accounted for like, for example, a call to 311 would be.
I suggest people do both!
However, if people can’t take the 5 minutes to voice their opinion here, what are the chances that they’ll make their way to a meeting or forum downtown? We need people to get involved and are actively trying to bring as many people into the discussion as possibile, but sitting around making excuses won’t help anyone’s case.
We have a different idea of mixed use, but don’t mistake what I’m saying for opposing anything that creates jobs. We need our citizens working on a variety of ways to improve WIndsor. This is just the path that is right for me.
Not Obama (strange call sign)
Currently the DWBIA is considering the 2009 budget, (We’ve spent the 2008) The Marketing committee that I am on is proposing that we include multi year benchmark surveying within our budget.
I’ve been proposing this for the past 2 years but it has not made it through the budget. I personally feel that any program the BIA undertakes is useless without this type of feedbck
Example. We have a clean team. Benchmark surveying would tell us whether it is having an impact and exactly how much more we need to add. Clean is a relative term, not absolute.
Safety is the same. People say its safe or not safe. What we need to know is whether they think its more or less safe than the year before.
Right now our BIA uses anecdotal evidence from town halls when we really need to look at empirical evidence that would be far better for decision making.
I think the DWBIA over the past 3 years has done more to be responsive to the Residents of downtown than in any previous board. I’m very proud of that. Clean and Safe programs have risen to 25% of our budget from the former 7% of our budget when I joined the board.
Streetscape, decoration of streetscape (Led’s in the trees, flowers) and Facade programs and make up the majority of the rest of the budget. I believe we’re very much where we should be.
When we finalize 2009 budget, I want it posted so the public knows what we’re doing. I think that would be the best thing to do before we ask for feedback. I think The DWBIA does a piss poor job of communicating what we’re doing and what our vision is and thats what I’d like the organization to get better at
My idea of mixed use is a COMUNITY where you LIVE, WORK, and PLAY!
COMUNITY -
https://scaledown.ca/2008/03/03/emathy-the-arts-and-community-building/
LIVE -
https://scaledown.ca/2008/10/04/the-death-of-the-front-porch-and-the-sidewalk/
WORK - ???
PLAY -
https://scaledown.ca/2008/10/28/keep-windsor-weird/
I don’t mean to offend (maybe provoke but not offend) but, I think your idea and SD’s idea of mixed use is idealistic and thus flawed. It ignores the work element of mixed use. Walkerville could not have been built and sustained without Hiram Walker. Focusing only on residents and retail is like having one person dig a hole while another person fills it in. Yes, both are busy but at the end of the day nothing got done. Frankly, it is the same failed logic you oppose when developers claim that a new green-field commercial development will create jobs in the city – digging a hole outside the city limits and filling it with dirt from the core will not produce anything.
I don’t think you are advocating we scaledown all the way to subsistence living like the Amish or like in many poor areas of the world.
So, I think the critical question to ask is: What type of work do we want to emphasize? Do we want to industrialize or do we want to use our human capital? Connecting Windsor to the world is how we emphasize human capital (if that’s the route we wish to follow).
Oops. In addition to arts and culture, tourism is an important part of the PLAY picture.
Add:
PLAY -
https://scaledown.ca/2008/08/05/whats-wrong-with-windsors-waterfront/
Makr, you are absolutely correct in saying the DWBIA has been and is responding to residents in the downtown area. We see it and hear and the DWBIA has been central in trying to help both business and residents.
I for one have really noticed it within the last year but it is near impossible to fix our downtown without the help of city hall. By that I mean they must be on the same page as the DWBIA AND RESIDENTS. However that has NOT been the case thus far. It seems city hall has their agenda and the DWBIA and residents have their’s. So why doesn’t city hall come to us? After all, we elected them and we are the taxpayers so give us what WE want.
We just have to keep moving forward!
I don’t think our idea of mixed use is flawed, in fact I highly recommend building manufacturing and distribution centers into a neighborhood. The way to do that is through design guidelines.
For example every one of the big box chains have urban versions of their stores that can be built into neighborhoods. Windsor just doesn’t require it when many other cities do. Ei. Q, sobeys express, chapters, walmarts, canadian tire all have versions of them that fit nicely. Windsor has just prostituted itself out to the lowest cheapest versions. While those who don’t like national retailers would say that anyone who allows them is prostituting their community, Windsor would be a crack whore to other cities high priced call girl.
The problem is that the distribution centers you describe in an aerotropolis are not high priced jobs. (which is fine in itself) The workers who work at them will unlikely be able to afford cars to drive in to work. Scaledown’s philosophy is that if we provided them with nearby housing and great ow priced transit, they won’t be spending an hour to get to work and could even bike to work allowing them to lead healthy, high quality lives even though they don’t make high wages.
Whats wrong with that? If thats two idealistic, then I’m guilty as charged.
I am guilty too! Your idea of mixed use is not flawed because it is wrong but because it is idealistic. It images a future where we LIVE to PLAY only. It is human nature to do this. Image yourself in the future…(really take a minute and do this). Did you image yourself living and enjoying your life? How many imagined yourselves getting up at 5am to brave the cold and catch the bus to work. Enduring 8 hours of boredom at work. I suspect not many. But without the WORK part the LIVING and ENJOYING is not possible.
I ask again, what type of WORK do we want to encourage in Windsor? What type of WORK will better integrate itself into the community we would like to shape? Industrialization divides our community and results in sprawl because no one wants to live next to a big industrial area. Knowledge and creative workers need to leverage what they produce by reaching a broader market. Connecting Windsor to the world by the most efficient way possible (walking, cycling and public transit at a local level; rail and high-speed rail at a regional level; and shipping and airports at a continental and global level) is how we attract knowledge workers. This type of WORK integrates well into our community. These are small firms and light manufactures that fit nicely into where we live and play.
Yes quality of life is foremost but I don’t believe its dedicated to live and play. Being able to have a lifestyle that allows you to work at a variety of jobs is key to bringing those jobs into the city.
I had thought I answered but I’ll repeat. The type of jobs that an aerotropolis and/or transportation hubs bring are distribution centers. This is loading and reloading and is not traditionally high paying jobs.
You mention tech centers but according to Researchers such as Richard Florida, these jobs follow the employees vs. Friedmans “the world is flat” .
In fact Richard florida wrote an article entitled “The world is spikey” really really spikey and those highly creative workers number one determining factor as to where they decide to live is the “aesthetic” of a city.
We at scaledown believe that LIVE and a distantly second PLAY will determine where and what type of WORK we get.
Building universities and college campus’ downtown will do more to retain graduates in our city than servicing greenfield sites.
I agree, that reshaping the city into the kind of city we want to live and play is an important part in attracting new jobs too. The problem is this is a PASSIVE strategy! Frankly, we are in the sh*t hole so deep that we need to ACTIVELY pursue new jobs.
If the choice was between Building a new university and college campus downtown or servicing greenfield sites at the airport I would chose the university and college every time. But, that is not the choice, the choice is whether to passively wait for new jobs or to actively pursue them.
Mark, on your original post you wrote: ”As businesses move towards Ouellette and the corners of Pitt and Chatham we see more vacancies left behind. Maybe I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth as this condensed downtown benefits my businesses but I fear for the areas that are left behind.”
With a population decline and a 10.1% unemployment rate focusing on anything else other than creating NEW jobs and REVERSING the population decline is like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic. At this time, I think, we should concentrate our efforts on plugging the huge hole on the side of the ship.
The low paying loading and unloading types of jobs you describe are the direct jobs produced by an Aerotropolis. These jobs will mostly be produced at the airports in Detroit; and maybe to a much smaller expend at the Windsor airport. You are ignoring the much more important catalytic, indirect, and induced jobs that an Aerotropolis produces. These are the NEW jobs that we could locate in our downtown.
From: Routes News October 2008
Air Routes as Economic Development Levers
By: John D. Kasarda, PhD
Route Economic Impacts Are Immense
The annual economic impacts of airports and air service on a metropolitan region’s economy have been well documented. Depending upon which impacts are included in the study (direct, indirect, induced, and catalytic), the amounts vary, but for hub airports they are huge, often reaching between US$20 billion and US$60 billion annually. Direct effects measure the economic impact of personnel employed by the airport or on airport property. Indirect effects are those of off-airport employees and expenditures linked to air service such as lodging, taxis, and travel agencies. Induced effects are additional employment and business revenues generated by the expenditures of those directly and indirectly employed as a result of the air service. Catalytic effects are the employment and business revenues generated by firms which locate in the greater airport region because of the accessibility air service provides to the firm’s suppliers and customers. Some studies also classify in-bound tourism as a catalytic effect.
In 2005, consulting firm SH&E computed the direct, indirect, and induced effects of a single daily flight to Denver International Airport from three foreign sites: Mexico, Europe, and Asia. The flight from Mexico would generate $25.7 million annually for the Denver region; the flight from Europe $90.6 million annually, and the flight from Asia $142.4 million annually. The differences were due largely to the size of the aircraft serving Denver.
When catalytic effects are included, the regional economic impact of international flights jumps considerably. A 2007 study by consulting firm LAED of the impact of LAX overseas flights on Southern California’s economy revealed that each Asian and European flight in 2006 created, on average, 3,126 jobs in the region, $156 million in annual wages, and $623 million in annual revenues to the region’s businesses.
Today I spent the morning exploring the canal in Oklahoma City and just though I share my initial impressions.
First, wow what a wonderful place; the sights, the sounds, the smells, the power for beatification and transformation, and the pride of the residents in their small Garden of Eden. I hope to elaborate and share some poor quality photos later when I find some more time.
Second, what a tremendous wasted opportunity. The entire bricktown area is one giant mono-use tourist trap. While I was there (mid-morning) the place was deserted. I only encountered three other groups during my walk, an elderly couple from town out for a walk, another resident with a friend that was visiting from the Philippines, and a man that works there. They all drove to the area. The only example of mixed-use development I could find was a low-rise stucco clad, starbucks housing condo. The rest of the development was all retail and hospitality. It is totally isolated from residential communities by expressways, rail tracks, and another mono-use downtown business area.
I’m sure that if I came back in the evening, or on the weekend, or when some event is taking place it would be a different picture. There are some great elements in this project but the mono-use design is definitely not one of them.
And their canal is much longer than Windsor’s utilizing century old buildings.
In Windsor they will level an already existing (and the last existing, in decent shape downtown neighbourhood with houses hardly changed in a century) with residents making between $30,000-$200,000+ a year incomes to build fake “old looking” buildings or at the very least a stucco clad paradise.
Take the proposed $60 million and spread it around downtown (I have put out what I thought would be great for downtown a few times here). That will have a much greater impact than a silly 4 block canal ever will and will cost much less to maintain.