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I disagree, I think safety and design go hand-in-hand. Most businesses and event organizers (event as in festivals as opposed to hockey games) won't want to set up shop in a downtown that's dead, depressing, and has bad pedestrian volumes. Nor would people want to live there; why would they when driving there offers a superior experience anyway? But as well as safety, people won't want to linger in an area that's hard to navigate and feels too unsafe or inconvenient. The city shouldn't try to address crime and perceptions of safety first, just to hold off on these improvements until they think there's enough traffic there. That just means the work will disrupt even more people. These are all tangible things which people here have called for, and studies and statistics show can improve public perceptions of, and time spent in downtown. Protected bike lanes, wayfinding signs, expanded sidewalks, etc. There's no reason this stuff shouldn't be invested in now. It's like that old saying about dressing for success: We should design our downtown around the experience we want it to offer, not the experience that we think it does offer.None of that matters if people are afraid to be there in the first place and be walking at various times of the day and night.
The funny thing is that I either look scarier than the criminals, or there is a lot less crime than you actually want us to believe. I walk around downtown almost daily, throughout several areas and different times of the day (and so does my wife), I have been doing this for the past two and a half years, and I haven't once been victim, or witness, to any crime, unless you count crazy people yelling at you (boooooooo) or asking for money.None of that matters if people are afraid to be there in the first place and be walking at various times of the day and night.
Obviously hand-in-hand and some good work on a variety of fronts but we must improve the level of safety/experience or folks simply won't want to come, linger, spend, relocate, expand or travel to, period.I disagree, I think safety and design go hand-in-hand. Most businesses and event organizers (event as in festivals as opposed to hockey games) won't want to set up shop in a downtown that's dead, depressing, and has bad pedestrian volumes. Nor would people want to live there; why would they when driving there offers a superior experience anyway? But as well as safety, people won't want to linger in an area that's hard to navigate and feels too unsafe or inconvenient. The city shouldn't try to address crime and perceptions of safety first, just to hold off on these improvements until they think there's enough traffic there. That just means the work will disrupt even more people. These are all tangible things which people here have called for, and studies and statistics show can improve public perceptions of, and time spent in downtown. Protected bike lanes, wayfinding signs, expanded sidewalks, etc. There's no reason this stuff shouldn't be invested in now. It's like that old saying about dressing for success: We should design our downtown around the experience we want it to offer, not the experience that we think it does offer.
For those who think that the downtown malaise applies only to Edmonton (and there are a couple on this site) you can be thankful that you are not doing business in Ottawa...
'Last chance they have': December a make-or-break month for Ottawa retailers
On a recent weekday afternoon in Ricardo Fleuraguste's menswear store, Vivati, the lavishly dressed mannequins greatly outnumbered the customers.ottawacitizen.com
Time for you to read Jane Jacobs' "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" -- and, if you have read it before, it is time for a reread so that you won't end up looking like the stray calf that got lost in the blizzard.Obviously hand-in-hand and some good work on a variety of fronts but we must improve the level of safety/experience or folks simply won't want to come, linger, spend, relocate, expand or travel to, period.