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The Calgary Farmers' Market confirmed on Wednesday it won't be making a move downtown.
Despite the obvious agricultural links between the local organic market and the stampede, one issue in particular seems to have taken the Calgary Stampede grounds out of consideration for the new market location: parking.
In his article Our Adolescent Downtown Plays Show and Tell with the Big Cities in last week's Swerve, Richard White offers some intriguing comments about the Downtown in the wake of Calgary's hosting of the International Downtown Association conference back in Sept 2008 which brought 750+ delegates from around the world to town.
Based on the comments he heard from visiting urban planners, architects, designers, downtown association members, marketing and event professionals, and politicians, White put together the Good, the bad, and the Ugly about our Downtown and centre city.
Here's a few excerpts:
By mid-2009, Plan It Calgary will develop a long-term plan for Calgary’s land use and transportation networks. This plan will be developed under the 11 sustainability principles that were created from ImagineCALGARY, City policy and Smart Growth principles.
Plan It Calgary is hosting a free 2-day summit on November 14 - 15, 2008 at the Calgary Round-Up Centre. Come be involved in the future of Calgary.
Is that even possible? I mean, we live a stone’s throw to the Rockies on the west and the vastness of the Prairies on the east. I think our cityscape is one of the most impressive in North America, but as a citizen I realize it takes time to put up those shimmering towers. So, what do we do in those times of construction to keep the city looking its best? Perhaps the answer lies in good partnerships and abstract thought.
When you take a construction project, a good idea and leadership, willing youth and shake them all together the result may be surprising. What started as a conversation between Maggie and Janet of the Calgary Downtown Association and I has evolved to become the Community Boardworx Project. The idea is to use those unsightly boards that surround construction sites (commonly called “hoarding”) as artistic playgrounds to allow something more appealing to be displayed.
Stephen Avenue has played an historic role in Calgary, being not only Calgary’s first retail high street, but one of the central spines of Calgary’s original downtown core. With its primary role as a retail attraction for the past 100 years, the Stephen Avenue Mall Retail Area has grown into a vibrant area with a pulsating energy, promoting pedestrian activity, interaction and diversity.
On October 6, 2008, Calgary City Council unanimously approved the expansion of the Stephen Avenue Mall Retail Area eastward, by one block in order to provide a seamless stream of vitality right up to City Hall.
Over the last year, The City has undertaken a number of pilot projects to determine the best way to provide additional public washrooms downtown, and some have been more successful than others.
The pilot automated public toilet in Tomkins Park on 17th Ave. SW received a great deal of publicity when it was installed last year. Since then, it has won over local residents and business owners and now provides a beneficial service to the area. The City would potentially like to put a few more of these high tech toilets downtown and is currently looking at better and cheaper ways to do it.
The Cecil Hotel has been in the news for the last couple weeks, as The City has entered into negotiations with the owners about acquiring the property.
Here's an interesting article from today's National Post that gives context to the ongoing proceedings:
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