Thoughts on downtown; Detroit Windsor Tunnel deal and Canal Queries

There will be no blog for Thursday or Friday, so enjoy these extras.

A community that plans together stands together

I won’t take credit for this maxim – credit goes to the City of Fresno –  but I felt it had great relevence to the ongoing debate regarding downtown revitalization – marred by years of political tinkering – in my opinion.

Fresno asked it citizens four not so simple questions regarding their downtown:

1. If you could choose one location in the downtown where investment should be targeted, where would it be? Why?
2. What is the single most important barrier to more people coming downtown?
3. What do you think would give downtown a competitive advantage over other regional shopping centers, such as Fig Garden, River Park, or Fashion Fair?
4. What do you think you can do personally to start the movement downtown? What is preventing you from starting that?

Downtown Windsor, as with many other urban centres, has struggled – and some would suggest that would be an understatement - with the recession only compounding the problem.

But it was question four that really got me thinking.

Over the past few weekends I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering with a great group of people in the Downtown Market.  By and large the response has been very favourable – as indicated in survey responses from regular shoppers.

It’s safe to say these individuals want to see downtown prosper and see initiatives such as the farmers’ market as one more step towards that goal.

And the beautiful thing about the market is that it is resident driven in partnership with the City, the Downtown Residents’ Association and the Downtown BIA.

Residents had a goal and saw it to fruition – not as an end but as the beginning of something - and that is important to note. 

For far too long far too many projects have been heralded as “the” solution to the ambiguous goal of “downtown revitalization,” begging the question of when is downtown “revitalized?”

In other words, what is the tangible goal for the downtown core? 

We can all, myself included, point to a myriad of problems in the core – some of which are real and others perceived – but what is it that will result in the stamp of approval that says Mission Accomplished:  Downtown Revitalized?

“Hoping” a said project will attract investment is not good enough which essentially says, our elected officials do not hold the answers – try as they may to tell us otherwise and provide a “consultant’s report” which always seem to back up their claim(s).

But the above four questions posed to Fresno residents seems to hold the key which a recent article in the Londoner appears to back up.

…The big picture, Mr. Foster says, would see the eventual construction of big draws like the London Convention Centre, the Covent Garden Market, the downtown library and the John Labatt Centre (JLC)…

…“When I was first scouting for locations I looked at foot traffic in the downtown, the day was fairly steady, but the night was pretty dead. But the JLC was there and it was having an impact, it became the foundation for that restaurant. The concerts, games, it’s visibility, it made sense to be near it,” Mr. Phimphrachanh says. “Slowly you could see things beginning to turn. I saw a lot being down there. There was a mix of people coming downtown, students, hockey fans, concert goers. There was a buzz building and I never doubted that would grow.”

Not to dwell on the topic, but in Windsor we oust the original downtown market, build an arena on the Tecumseh border, slash funding to our libraries and herald a casino expansion with a primary goal of keeping its customers inside for obvious reasons.

It’s no wonder some – including myself – have little confidence in decisions made from on high with unrealistic statements such as a project will attract 1,000,000 tourists every year.

Which brings me back to my original point.

What can we each do to help our downtown core? 

First – we can support grassroots initiatives such as the farmers’ market for with continued support it can only grow. 

And while we’re at it we can grab a coffee at one of the downtown cafés, have lunch or dinner at some of the fabulous restaurants, take a stroll through a bookstore or wander through some of the other shops that are (albeit scattered) downtown.

As for our politicians with pie-in-the-sky visions of grandeur – as the saying goes – keep it simple stupid.

Since we appear to have a contingency fund being utilized to accelerate some capital projects – some $42.3-million (August 25, 2009, Windsor Star)  –  not funded through federal infrastructure funding; we apparently have had the funds readily available to offer the plethora of incentives that the City of London has in their arsenal (PDF p. 25) which include:

• Façade Improvement Loan Program
• Upgrade to Building Code Loan Program
• Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Grant Program
• Forgivable Façade Improvement Loan Program
• Awning, Signage & Lighting Grant Program
• Non-Street Front Façade Improvement Loan Program
• Forgivable Upgrade to Building Code Loan Program
• Tax Holiday Grant Program, and
• Heritage Building Assessment & Heritage Building Improvement Grants.

As for the rest – ask the residents – afterall it is our downtown.

And for you and I – we need to put our money where our mouth is (as we are able) and support what our downtown does have to offer.

Windsor-Detroit Tunnel deal still an option?

This is the first thought that came to mind when reading the Detroit News today:

But Beckham said the reality is that the city cannot continue to operate without cuts.

“Frankly, all our revenue projections have been in the wrong direction,” Beckham said. “We are still, quite frankly, in financial crisis. There is no question of that.”

Beckham said in addition to bus cuts and wage concessions, the city is considering a deal involving the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.

Back on January 30, 2009 the Windsor Star reported that Windsor was the “sole entity” for discussions, according to lawyer Cliff Sutts:

Lawyer Cliff Sutts, who has been the lead tunnel negotiator for Windsor, said he heard from Detroit officials a couple of weeks ago about reviving discussions.

He received assurances Windsor is the sole entity for any discussions about the fate of the U.S. side.

So what “deal” is the City of Detroit “considering?” 

Don’t ask the Tunnel Commission – its meetings have been cancelled more times than Elizabeth Taylor’s marriages.

The question is very simple:  Is the City of Windsor or any other municipal entity, involved with negotiations with Detroit regarding a “deal”  that Detroit is considering “in addition” to other budget cuts?

Canal Queries

Some more information that raises questions regarding the canal proposal from earlier this year.

On August 20, 2009, the Durham Region News had an interesting article regarding infrastructure funding to municipalities.

Referring to a letter sent to GTA municipal officials in July, the reporter stated that John Baird advised municipalities that infrastructure money would soon be flowing after an agreement had been reached with the Province of Ontario.

But apparently that hasn’t stopped the Durham Region from tendering out the projects:

Mr. Anderson said Durham didn’t wait for the federal government.

“We got a letter from (Ontario infrastructure minister) George Smitherman about a month ago, a month-and-a-half ago” saying the Region could safely tender projects,” Mr. Anderson said from Ottawa, where he’s attending the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario convention. “Those not out to tender will be out shortly.

However what I found interesting was the following paragraph in the story:

The federal government said it won’t consider projects that haven’t gone through an environmental assessment.

So why then did  MP Jeff Watson on May 11, 2009 state “Windsor’s canal project could qualify for the program since it may create economic stimulus for the community,” acknowledging he had the business plan that isn’t a business plan weeks before city councillors did.

…But he did say federal government authorities have had a good look at the mayor’s plan.

“I did tell them of having the business plan in Ottawa for several weeks,” Watson said.

If Mr. Watson had read the plan, he would have realised that environmental assessments needed to be done with respect to the canal – so should have the Mayor and council since the Region of Peel acknowledged this in their report to councillors dated April 29, 2009.

Section 5 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Actmakes it quite clear projects receiving federal funding of any kind are required to undergo an assessment – something both the Mayor and council should be quite familiar with considering the lengthy joint Provincial-Federal Environmental Assessment with respect to the DRIC.

So what was the canal drama really all about then?