Between construction, graffiti and unwanted social interactions, Edmonton isn’t as clean or appealing as other North American cities, council’s executive committee heard Friday.
Downtown is seeing more businesses staying or relocating to the city centre, but Edmonton lags behind other communities in many other ways, said Ian O’Donnell, executive director of the Downtown Business Association.
“Vis à vis other cities, we are not making the grade. Period,” said O’Donnell, who was at committee to discuss a report on how the city is doing at retaining businesses in the downtown core.
He has heard from investors and business people from Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary who have related their negative experiences and impressions from walking only a few downtown blocks.
“The overall experience — the look, the feel, the cleanliness, the beatification, the level of care — is far below almost any city I go to.”
O’Donnell noted the billions of dollars invested in buildings and projects in the city are getting overshadowed.
“You can have a shiny tower but if you’re walking by and you get harassed, that’s the experience you’re taking back.”
Most of Coun. Scott McKeen’s ward is downtown. He said the issue isn’t new.
“I almost wonder if it’s cultural as well,” he said. “Frankly, we didn’t invest in our downtown for 40 years.”
O’Donnell referred to Seattle as a success story, pointing out that teams clean key areas every day and use power washers to clean the streets.
Part of the negative experience is due to an overwhelming number of construction projects and resulting closures of roads and sidewalks, he noted.
Construction is ongoing on the Valley Line Southeast LRT, the main branch of the library, and the civic plaza in front of City Hall and the Law Courts. There are upcoming projects slated for the Winspear Centre and the Citadel Theatre.
Altogether this year, there are 21 projects around Churchill Square, he said.
Social disorder on the rise
O’Donnell was also at Friday’s meeting to present the Downtown Business Association’s annual report and financial statements, along with representatives from Old Strathcona, Kingsway and Beverly.
O’Donnell noted that social disorder downtown is getting worse and Cherie Klassen, executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association, agreed the issue was a concern in Old Strathcona as well.
A public washroom on Whyte Avenue and 104th Street is often used for drugs, she said. The homeless population is growing and there’s aggressive panhandling.
One of the newest concerns is the destructive graffiti or tagging, Klassen said.
“It is out of control,” she said. ‘Many of our property owners and business owners are finding they comply with cleaning up the graffiti just to find it literally the next day tagged again, and so we’re starting to feel defeated.”
Klassen said some property owners have made use of the Capital City Clean-up graffiti clean-up program, but have maxed out on the $750 limit for the year.
Heritage buildings made of brick and stone have taken a hit.
“They are pretty much damaged beyond repair,” Klassen said. “We are seeing some of these heritage buildings have these permanent marks, or scars as we’re calling them.”
Klassen said the business association is working with police on the tagging but she would like the city to explore options for helping more.
Mayor Don Iveson said the city is also frustrated with the tagging rituals but said ultimately it’s up to the police to address.
Social disorder complaints aren’t new, he added. He said homelessness is a factor and said more investment in adequate permanent supportive housing could help.
Backstreet renewal
Klassen and O’Donnell both asked the city for more investment in fixing main streets and back alleys.
Iveson proposed a motion to explore options for making street and alley renewal a priority around business improvement areas.
“We’ve got alleys crumbling all over the city,” Iveson said.
He pointed out that 0.3 per cent of taxes collected in Edmonton are invested directly to alley renewal in the next four years.
Businesses pay half of the cost to revitalize residential roads and alleys, Iveson added.
“I think it’s absolutely time for business to see results from that investment, to see a return on their dollars.”
Administration is expected to report back with alley renewal options by Sept .30.