Public Feedback on Downtown Rehabilitation

Early this week, I was in City Hall observing the Corporate Services Committee meeting.

I noticed this poster. It was the summation of public feedback collected at the beginning of our Downtown Revitalization Efforts.

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As I compare the efforts downtown with this information, here is what pops out at me:

• Commercial business: I think we have more to do after normal business hours. But I have spent a lot of time talking to businesses downtown, and many are nervous about surviving construction. We need to do everything we reasonably can to help keep them going.
• Urban design: we have more patio space. Downtown is certainly more attractive, but I don't know if it has any "unique identity" yet. How could we generate that?
• Transportation: The only change I notice here was the bullet point of  "maintaining street widths." I do believe that we actually decreased them, partly to make pedestrian crossings safer. Does anyone know of any other changes?
• Community: we haven't had much time to see if the changes will draw more people downtown. Do you feel that they will? How do you think they will shake out for festivals and other events?
• Architecture: we had a lot of storefronts get redone, with more in progress. This is looking good! But we still have a big abandoned hotel in the way. I'm excited about some of the new development coming down the pipes (for example, checkout the development for the old York Hotel and Germain Park sites (http://www.mygrandeprairienow.com/.../three-mixed-use.../). 
• Green Space: I think it will look more green when all is said and done. Certainly the Mamawe Concourse helps with this. I do love that they are installing soil cells and irrigation lines for the new trees- they actually have a shot of becoming fully mature.
• Other: some store owners mentioned to me that some old grates on the sidewalk created issues with snow plows. They appear to be going away. Any other changes here?
  
  What do you think of our efforts downtown?
  
  If you have a Facebook account, I would encourage you to checkout the GP Round Table. This post garnered some AWESOME discussion, mostly around how the City collects public feedback. You can find the group by clicking here.