Downtown

[David A]

In the wrong places? You can't force businesses and shoppers to go somewhere they dont want to be. WEM is a huge economic engine which provides retail options for Edmontonians and visitors alike. On any given day it welcomes many visitors to our City, and those visiting spend lots of money. The non Downtown portion of our population, has larger family units, drives retail spending.

Yes, WEM is huge, but it hasn't really expanded in decades. Likewise all our other malls. For a city with supposedly so many malls, the only new one built in decades here has been at the airport, while the city population has grown considerably. Our downtown is now severely under retailed, partly due to the closure of the old department stores which all had downtown locations. I think this will start to correct itself over the next several years.

 

[IanO]

It's embarrassing. Period.

 

[bodsbods9090]

It's embarrassing. Period.

Sucks for Downtown.

Not bad for others in Edmonton, which isn't terrible for the economy as a whole.

 

[IanO]

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]

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.

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]

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]

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.

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]

Sucks for Downtown.

Not bad for others in Edmonton, which isn't terrible for the economy as a whole.

Our brand is downtown not an outlet mall. It is a real problem that so many people brush off.

 

[johnnyboy]

I applaud the stat, lament the issue of downtown retail, but fail to see this as the City's problem to address directly.

 

[Romanov]

In the wrong places? You can't force businesses and shoppers to go somewhere they dont want to be. WEM is a huge economic engine which provides retail options for Edmontonians and visitors alike. On any given day it welcomes many visitors to our City, and those visiting spend lots of money. The non Downtown portion of our population, has larger family units, drives retail spending.

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]

I applaud the stat, lament the issue of downtown retail, but fail to see this as the City's problem to address directly.

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]

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.

I couldn't have said better

 

[johnnyboy]

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.

We appear to have different meanings of directly.

 

[IanO]

Edmonton is the laughing stock of major cities right now.

What do you want to do? Become? Be known for?

 

[Offworld]

Edmonton is the laughing stock of major cities right now.

What do you want to do? Become? Be known for?

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.