IanO
Superstar
It's embarrassing. Period.
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- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
bodsbods9090
Senior Member
Sucks for Downtown.
Not bad for others in Edmonton, which isn't terrible for the economy as a whole.
IanO
Superstar
This IS a real problem and makes our city look and feel like Grande Prairie vs. a modern capital city of 1.6 million and MUST be addressed.
ChazYEG
Senior Member
Okay, while I agree it's a problem and must be addressed, I feel like that is a bit of a reach. I do think there is more demand for retail downtown and adjacencies, and there should be a more concerted effort by city officials and other groups to bring in some catalysts that could drive foot traffic and spur more retail in the area (a CT, for example, like Calgary has, or a Home & Hardware/Home Depot, etc...).
AntonK
New Member
Edmonton will get there but it takes time. Getting more residents in the downtown is a big part of the solution, and it's happening, albeit not as fast as I'd like, but it's happening. Something that throws off the stats for retail spending in Edmonton is all the shoppers coming places like Fort Mac, Lloydminster, and other areas around northern Alberta. When I lived in Fort Mac, everyone made trips to Edmonton 2-3 times a week, sometimes weekly to shop. they always had a lot of money to spend, but they would hit WEM, Cabala's, Costco or some place like a mattress outlet. Sadly nobody ever seemed interested in going into the downtown. Those adventurous enough to go to a cafe, would track down a Starbucks.
David A
Senior Member
Time is up! It has been over 5 years, so those slow moving people at the city or wherever need to get off their buts and deal with this now.
People who live and spend a lot of time downtown are tired of being treated like second class citizens. We are a large city not a big suburb, time for Edmonton to pull up its pants and act like one.
Glenco
Senior Member
Our brand is downtown not an outlet mall. It is a real problem that so many people brush off.
johnnyboy
Active Member
I applaud the stat, lament the issue of downtown retail, but fail to see this as the City's problem to address directly.
Romanov
Active Member
Missing the point. I am not singling out any single development. Its great that we have a super regional attraction at WEM. But why cant we also have interesting retail downtown and on high streets? The fact is, like Ian has noted, our overall retail offering skews wildy to suburban box stores. SEC, currents at Windermere, brewery district, skyview. There are many reasons for this and it has happened over decades. Going forward there is no easy solution.
Every major city has people driving in from all over, and we can cater to their needs, but comparatively we do not have much to offer in terms of urban retail attractions. It is a real issue for the City's image and attractiveness.
David A
Senior Member
The city approved developments that took away activity from downtown, the city is responsible for policing, safety and cleanliness issues downtown which it was slow to respond and inadequate to respond to.
City revenue suffers from the decline in downtown property values. I could go on, but these are three important aspects of the problem directly related to the city. Abdication of responsibility is part of the problem too.
ChazYEG
Senior Member
I couldn't have said better
johnnyboy
Active Member
We appear to have different meanings of directly.
IanO
Superstar
Edmonton is the laughing stock of major cities right now.
What do you want to do? Become? Be known for?
What do you want to do? Become? Be known for?
Offworld
Active Member
Right now? You're known as the place where investment goes to die. At the latest Toronto RE forum, during the CEO roundtable, they were bullish about much of Canada, except for Edmonton. The LITERAL statement from one CEO was "Sorry Edmonton, but not going there." The rest of the CEOs at the roundtable? Nodding heads, knowingly. Edmonton was the only city called out for being a place that big investors had zero interest in.
johnnyboy
Active Member
Everyone on here agrees that the City owns the baseline - cleanliness and safety are the table stakes for downtown revival. Well, maybe free parking too. But there's a massive amount of hypocrisy in demanding the City 'fix' downtown while private sector landlords, investors, and business associations largely sit on the sidelines waiting for a risk-free environment. If Edmontonians are spending more per capita than anyone else in Canada, why aren't our business leaders capturing it?
- As long as we are a regional shopping hub for northern Alberta, big-box retail will stay where the highways are. The City can't police its way out of the fact that a family from Fort Mac isn't going to navigate downtown construction for a Cabela’s or Home Depot run.
- It’s easy for the Chamber, the DBA, or DRC (and a few folks on here) to point fingers at City Hall. It’s much harder for them to incentivize their own members to take a chance on innovative urban retail formats or to reinvest in their own tired facades.
We keep talking about the City 'pulling up its pants,' but the business community needs to put some skin in the game too. If the demand is there, and the money is there, but the stores aren't, then the direct problem just might be a lack of entrepreneurial courage and realistic property management, not just a lack of beat cops.
- As long as we are a regional shopping hub for northern Alberta, big-box retail will stay where the highways are. The City can't police its way out of the fact that a family from Fort Mac isn't going to navigate downtown construction for a Cabela’s or Home Depot run.
- It’s easy for the Chamber, the DBA, or DRC (and a few folks on here) to point fingers at City Hall. It’s much harder for them to incentivize their own members to take a chance on innovative urban retail formats or to reinvest in their own tired facades.
We keep talking about the City 'pulling up its pants,' but the business community needs to put some skin in the game too. If the demand is there, and the money is there, but the stores aren't, then the direct problem just might be a lack of entrepreneurial courage and realistic property management, not just a lack of beat cops.