I think Edmonton's biggest weakness is in the downtown core, although there are some surprisingly vibrant neighbourhoods nearby. It has been an ongoing issue for years, but when you are stereotyped as being a blue collar city with a cold climate that doesn't seem to attract many of the large corporate offices that typically fill empty downtown spaces. However, although Calgary has managed to carefully avoid this image until now, their core seems a bit sterile and dead. It looks like a big city with appropriate big buildings, but minus much of the street level retail and bustle.
I agree there is an opportunity for Edmonton in the future, perhaps more so than in Calgary, if we are smart. Some people still do want to live in more central locations for various reasons and I think that will come back after COVID. Over the years a number of vacant lots downtown have been filled by residential development and I think that will continue. If we are smart, we should try to ensure there is a good mix of development that accommodates different types of families and income levels, and good access to nearby amenities, not just the vertical gated communities that dominate some city centres.
I don't think the city planning department here is particularly forward thinking. There is a conservatism often innate in the bureaucracy and unfortunately I don't think our municipal government attracts or encourages forward thinking either. Lastly there isn't much leadership by our current city council, who govern more as administrators than leaders. The last one can be changed, but I think as always it is up to citizens to take the initiative at times and put the pressure on the city to do more.
