[TAS]

The Hear-No, See-No, Speak-No Evil Monkeys Statue

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil Monkeys Statue. A classic Japanese proverb brought to life in this charming statue of three wise monkeys. A thoughtful gift or a beautiful addition to any home.

www.designtoscano.com

We all share our share of criticisms or shed light on where there are deficiencies - hopefully in the spirit of highlighting where we need to do better. Some certainly share more criticisms than others. Sometimes the volume from some can have the opposite affect of what the author may intend - and it just drags the spirit down.

Kudos to those who are out there trying to make an active difference in our city.

 

[IanO]

Kudos indeed.

 

[NateTheUrbanist]

City Centre Mall (Downtown Edmonton in general) needs a Rec Room.

 

[David A]

holts leaving is a loss for the city and somewhat embarrassing. holts had been historically in edmonton for a long time, them leaving shows a canadian national high end retailer does not believe in investing dollars here. it was also another bad blow for downtown edmonton despite what the DBA or council says.

I believe they also closed their store in Ottawa, which is a similar sized city to us. So, I think their strategy at the time was to focus on larger cities only.

They really needed a larger space here, but despite the abundance of downtown space (even several years ago) they couldn't seem to pull that off, so I think the embarrassment is as much if not more for them. Some of the comments around the time indicated there were a lot of luxury brands in West Ed and that was getting to be a competitive problem for Holts. Obviously it is not good for downtown when a business leaves, but there are a variety or reasons and it doesn't always as much to do with us or downtown as one might think.

Perhaps their upcoming expansion in Calgary might be a sign of their rethinking their downsizing approach, but I don't know.

 

[David A]

... and yet feels 10x busier than YEGDT with 500% more offerings.

Edmontonians need to get out of Edmonton more often; I'm not talking Vegas or Cancun.

Oddly I think lots of Edmontonians actually do get out and travel to many places that have more vibrant downtowns and they actually enjoy visiting them.

When them come back it seems like many slip back into a very suburban mentality. They see everything, yet learn nothing.

 

[thommyjo]

Oddly I think lots of Edmontonians actually do get out and travel to many places that have more vibrant downtowns and they actually enjoy visiting them.

When them come back it seems like many slip back into a very suburban mentality. They see everything, yet learn nothing.

Part of this is the difference of living vs visiting. Most people love downtown Vancouver, but far fewer want to pay 2500-3500 for 400-600sqft 1bdrms.

I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like visiting Edmonton, but come to love living here eventually. It’s a great city for families and schools, active outdoors and community events. Good rec centres and affordable housing. But few of those things matter when you’re in town for a week.

 

[Dubas]

City Centre Mall (Downtown Edmonton in general) needs a Rec Room.

would be great, but with Banquet nearby, not sure how it would do.

 

[BrettB]

Part of this is the difference of living vs visiting. Most people love downtown Vancouver, but far fewer want to pay 2500-3500 for 400-600sqft 1bdrms.

I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like visiting Edmonton, but come to love living here eventually. It’s a great city for families and schools, active outdoors and community events. Good rec centres and affordable housing. But few of those things matter when you’re in town for a week.

100%

 

[Gronk!]

Unlike the Mayfield area, there are already quite a number of medical offices in the area. The downtown office tower I am in is chock full of them, many have long term leases and retail space is usually more expensive, so I really don't see this as working well.

However, I think restaurants may be a better idea. Many years ago there was a nice good size Earls on the second level of Edmonton Centre (City Centre east). At one time there was also a nice restaurant near the south entrance of Eatons Center (now City Centre West). It would be good to have a few good size restaurants in City Centre again.

Another thing which might help would be if they got a gym/fitness club again. Either in the old World Health space (not really the mall's fault on this one - the company went broke maybe due to COVID) or in another space such as the Sport Check space. which could also have exterior access. There are only two gyms downtown now, not long ago there were four, so there probably is enough demand for at least one more right now.

I've noticed quite a few Planet Fitness locations cropping up lately, most notably at Bonnie Doon Mall, at Mayfield Common, and on 137 Ave east of 127 St. Planet Fitness can open a new downtown location at ECC. They could take over the Sport Chek/Atmosphere space c/w their own street level entrance or they can just move into the old GYMVMT space.

 

[Tbone84]

Part of this is the difference of living vs visiting. Most people love downtown Vancouver, but far fewer want to pay 2500-3500 for 400-600sqft 1bdrms.

I think that’s why a lot of people don’t like visiting Edmonton, but come to love living here eventually. It’s a great city for families and schools, active outdoors and community events. Good rec centres and affordable housing. But few of those things matter when you’re in town for a week.

Actually, there are people that like visiting Edmonton, just do a YouTube search of people's vlogs. People mostly come here for the West Edmonton mall. But I've seen a lot of vlogs about Whyte Ave, Fort Edmonton Park, the u of a botanical Garden, ice district, elk Island, the River Valley, the many festivals and the restaurants.

Edmonton has things to offer to visitors. It's the locals that sometimes shit on the city. I know a lady who came here for a visit from Toronto and she absolutely loved the city, now she lives here.

The city has challenges, but it also has a lot to offer

 

[thommyjo]

Actually, there are people that like visiting Edmonton, just do a YouTube search of people's vlogs. People mostly come here for the West Edmonton mall. But I've seen a lot of vlogs about Whyte Ave, Fort Edmonton Park, the u of a botanical Garden, ice district, elk Island, the River Valley, the many festivals and the restaurants.

Edmonton has things to offer to visitors. It's the locals that sometimes shit on the city. I know a lady who came here for a visit from Toronto and she absolutely loved the city, now she lives here.

The city has challenges, but it also has a lot to offer

Oh, totally! There’s lots of examples of people enjoying visiting here. But when we zoom out to surveys, travel patterns, hotel usage, tourism numbers…it’s clear that Edmonton is not a leader for visiting. Part of that is perceptions, part of that is also reality. Our city is at a very different level of “maturity” vs the other big cities in Canada in terms of connectivity, transit, quality hotels, entertainment options, downtown beauty/attractiveness, etc.

Many of the things that matter to visitors (hotels, entertainment) are less important to residents and vice versa when it comes to schools & affordability.

 

[Tbone84]

Oh, totally! There’s lots of examples of people enjoying visiting here. But when we zoom out to surveys, travel patterns, hotel usage, tourism numbers…it’s clear that Edmonton is not a leader for visiting. Part of that is perceptions, part of that is also reality. Our city is at a very different level of “maturity” vs the other big cities in Canada in terms of connectivity, transit, quality hotels, entertainment options, downtown beauty/attractiveness, etc.

Many of the things that matter to visitors (hotels, entertainment) are less important to residents and vice versa when it comes to schools & affordability.

Yeah, that makes sense.

 

[David A]

Actually, there are people that like visiting Edmonton, just do a YouTube search of people's vlogs. People mostly come here for the West Edmonton mall. But I've seen a lot of vlogs about Whyte Ave, Fort Edmonton Park, the u of a botanical Garden, ice district, elk Island, the River Valley, the many festivals and the restaurants.

Edmonton has things to offer to visitors. It's the locals that sometimes shit on the city. I know a lady who came here for a visit from Toronto and she absolutely loved the city, now she lives here.

The city has challenges, but it also has a lot to offer

Its good to be more positive, but I notice City Centre or Downtown are not positive things mentioned in peoples posts.

 

[David A]

This is an interesting letter, not your typical complaining about scary homeless people or crime, but the bigger more relevant problem we need to eventually face - when you go downtown there is not much left to do unless you are going to a hockey game or concert. At this point, not many stores left and the pedways are sometimes locked down.

Yeah Fort Edmonton and Elk Island park is great, but when are we going to face up to reality and try fix this?

Tuesday's letters: Downtown outing was a bust

I had a dental appointment in town last Tuesday. It’s a bit of a trek from my place, so I thought, as I shelled out $15 for three hours of indoor parking, why not m…

edmontonjournal.com

 

[cmd uw]

I agree with some of their comments as it pertains to the shopping experience but the fact that they couldn't find a decent latte after walking by Rosewood Foods befuddles me. And if they missed that place they had Lui-Chi's and Credo a short walk down.

That being said, I think we'll be hearing some announcements as it relates to the repositioning of ECC East/West soon.