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About time and thank you!
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City dedicates $2.5 million to increase downtown clean-up and beautification efforts
May 4, 2023

The City of Edmonton has announced $2.5 million in funding towards an initiative to enhance clean-up and beautification efforts in the downtown core. The Clean City Initiative will run from May 2023 to February 2024.

“Our city’s downtown is the heart of the Edmonton region. A strong downtown is vital to our economy. Our City’s success hinges on our downtown’s success,” says Deputy Mayor Andrew Knack. “We know that for a downtown to be successful, it must be safe, clean and vibrant.”

The Initiative will dedicate resources, including additional staff, to increase services such as:
Garbage collection and removal
Greenspace maintenance
Litter pick up
Graffiti clean up

“The residents of downtown, along with those who work, study, play and visit here, deserve a community they can be proud of,” says Councillor Anne Stevenson. “These clean-up efforts won’t just make our downtown spaces look better but it will make them feel better.”

This project will also help streamline and unify services related to cleanliness and maintenance in the downtown area. This will help staff respond to requests for services with more agility and efficiency. The City will be conducting a survey to understand Edmontonians’ experiences visiting or living in the downtown area. These results will help measure the success of this initiative and to develop additional tactics aimed at increasing downtown vibrancy.

“Both the Edmonton Downtown Business Association and the Downtown Recovery Coalition have been working closely with the City of Edmonton to ensure that Edmontonians and visitors are having positive downtown experiences that enable economic recovery and a renewed confidence and vibrancy in our core,” says Puneeta McBryan, Executive Director of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. “Our downtown is for everyone, and everyone deserves a clean and beautiful environment. We applaud the City for these significant investments and operational changes that are already transforming the downtown experience, and the EDBA is proud to be a partner in delivering this project for the downtown community.”

This initiative is one of many projects underway in the downtown area. The City will continue to work with partners on projects that create a renewed sense of vibrancy in downtown. Visit edmonton.ca/downtown to learn about other projects and the City’s vision for the downtown core.


For more information:
edmonton.ca/downtown

Media contact:
Courtney Bettin
Communications Advisor
Communications and Engagement
780-288-5922
 
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i wonder how "this" fits in with "that"? IMG_7320.jpegIMG_7319.jpegIMG_7322.jpeg
 
I really hope all of that makes a difference. I have to say I sometimes get defensive when people criticize our city. I am very proud of it but sometimes I take the criticism too personally. In any event rather than watch the game on TV I listened to it on the radio and went for a walk downtown. It was a beautiful warm night and because of the game there were many people around. But I have to say especially east of 102 street that the city was filthy, with graffiti everywhere and garbage strewn about. Also saw lots of drug paraphernalia etc. It was very disappointing to see. The saddest thing was to see so many people in various states of consciousness/distress. I must’ve seen 20 people either sitting on street furniture or huddled into doorways passed out or freaking out or actively doing drugs. Very sad to see. My heart was broken when I got home. What happened to our city…
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The area in the first picture you show is on the radar of everyone involved. I've mentioned it a couple times that the open drug use on Jasper between 100-102 St is unacceptable and that area needs special attention in terms of cleaning and graffiti removal. I'm hopeful we'll at least get the latter done. There's millions of dollars in property taxes right there and it can't be left to decay.
 
I walked from the Chateau Lacombe stairway and along 101 St to Commerce Place yesterday - the majority of the people I passed by resembled extras from a Mad Max movie. And this was a just a few hours before the Oilers playoff game.
 
Greenspace said:
^Given that Von's is opening is the former State & Main location hopefully some of those folks will move on.
Click to expand...
Why would they move on? There are tents behind the the Dub brewery building in the flats and garbage strung out. … the staircase is the pathway to the liquor stores and drug suppliers up on Jasper and 101.
 
Greenspace said:
^Given that Von's is opening is the former State & Main location hopefully some of those folks will move on.
Click to expand...
I doubt they will move on much, unless the more fundamental problems are addressed, but it is good to see some more funds and efforts to try clean things up. It will help some.
 
I'm happy about the extra $2.5 million investment for clean up and beautification efforts. I think that money and extra staff will make a big difference, because right now downtown is a patchwork of relatively well-maintained and clean streets/sidewalks and what Oliver_William posted.

Cleanliness and safety in the core will go a long way in having peoples perceptions change about it being an unsafe, unkept "dump". The key though is staying on top of it, because I've often seen crews cleanup a corner, only for it to look like no work was ever done 2 days later.
 
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