By Chris | March 6, 2008 |
Downtown Pttisburgh, Pennsyvania has reached a state of crisis
with a downtown commercial vacancy rate of 20% and is experiencing mass appeals of tax assessments because of it in the hopes of revitalization.Know where Windsor sits on the vacancy rate scales?
Just about the same. As we watch our commercial investment oppourtunities
sprawl out to the sub-urbs, in essence duplicating our existing downtown, what is city council proposing to do about it?
With the available and successful tax policy options before us, what is it going to take before this city gets serious about revitalizing our downtown core in lieu of sinking more cash into the money-pit that is the sub-urbs?
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Tags: Downtown, economic development, revitalization, statistics, trends
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To answer your last queston first, putting money in sprawling sub-urbs is throwing good money after bad as this city seems bent on doing, and I, like you and many others here are just not getting it either. I also suspect our city planning department is walking around banging their heads on doorways! They’re are as much aware of what is happening round the world as we are but to use this word as pun instead of referring to another of your posts, there appears to be a distinct disconnect and no empathy for what they try to do verses the decisions of city council to ignore their work and recommedations.
Why must everything is this city be done with knee-jerk actions, we have done enough knee-jerking to qualify for the healthist city in the world!
From the votes that have been taken and the actions of council I would get the impression that they are going to do…nothing at all!
What I don’t understand is why this city doesn’t offer tax incentives? If it is against a provincial law (I haven’t been able to find one yet which has taken a lot of time to look into) thenI would suggest the cities of Ontario band together to force the province to change their ways just as they did wit hthe gas tax from the Fed’s who have NO jurisdiction in cities (they are a provincial mandate).
Dave, I know how we can solve that! Let’s hire a consultant and comission a study!
I read the article on Pittsburgh as linked, and I’m thinking that their problems are our problems.
Pittsburgh was once known as Steel Town USA, much as Windsor was the Automotive Capital of Canada, both had the lunch box images, with strong out spoken unions etc. and basically the strong labouring middle class based on darn good wages but one is no longer THE Steel Town, and has now been totally gutted of that image, as Windsor is now going through the same thing. A lot of similiarities between them and us.
My thought is this. Is it the old perceptions that both cities developed and lived with that makes it so hard to overcome, that regardless of what actions we or they take , it won’t overcome that national/international image that we are unfortunately living with. And no thanks to Lewenza Senior and our mayor (and I hope Pittsburgh doesn’t anyone like those two!), in perpetuating that image, for the lack of development and investment coming to our cities, thus creating ennui and a downward spiral of entropy.
Oh! and the actions that spurred my above comment, came from overhearing a table of four (as I learned later from Chicago) last night in a restaurant downtown, “Who would imagine that Windsor had a sculpture garden, for such a small town!”