Downtown

I still consider downtown as part of the heart and soul of our community and this is why we should be committed to making downtown work.

FREE PARKING DOWNTOWN

Although many initiatives had been tried to make the important Queen St District a success, I still believe free parking should be offered downtown.

All the expensive parking kiosk equipment that has been installed by current council is keeping us and the businesses down there poor. The amount of parking revenue generated downtown is small and additionally paying for an enforcement officer to patrol is not making us money. It would make more sense to take the parking payment kiosks out and sell them or put them where we can make money like down by the tourist areas. Have a 2 hour free parking limit downtown.

City Council needs to take a more proactive role in making downtown succeed as this is a very important district in our city.

I would like to see;

  • Post-Secondary Institutions downtown

  • a presence of Public Art downtown

  • Heritage District Strategy Consider making the downtown a heritage district so that we can attract more diversified investment such as boutique hotels, condominiums, shopping, restaurants and cafes, Arts & Culture and entertainment. An exciting place for locals and tourists alike

  • A strategy needs to be formulated around the train station and we could start by commissioning public art ( affordable artful banners and gadgets on poles ) strategically placed on each side of the tracks for our incoming Toronto visitors to experience when they arrive. The area around the train station has to be addressed and a heritage district will mandate the necessary restoration worked needed. Current council & mayor have many years to address this but continue to fail us.

The downtown could be a place where people live, work, study and play.