Engaged public means success
By Gerry Klein, The StarPhoenixApril 22, 2010 3:14 AM
It wasn't what Jennifer Keesmaat told a Broadway Theatre audience on Monday that was so impressive so much as to whom she said it.
Keesmaat is an Ontario-based city planner and partner with Office of Urbanism, a firm that specializes in developing plans for innovative urban areas.
For example, her company recently completed a plan for downtown Regina that -- if adopted and successful -- would change the area from an intensive working centre whose occupants return home at 5 p.m. to a place that not only accommodates some 25,000 day jobs but also provides intensive opportunities for residences and a vibrant cultural and retail environment.
Keesmaat was in Saskatoon for a presentation sponsored by Great Places, a forum established by local architects and the University of Saskatchewan's geography department.
I estimated at least 200 people took in Keesmaat's presentation on this unusually warm April evening. She pointed to various things that Saskatoon has done right over the years and cited reasons for optimism.
The downtown has developed a vibrancy that continues late into the evening. Saskatoon has been able to maintain a significant portion of its heritage through original architecture. There is a growing and diverse residential population in the centre of the city. And the placement of art makes it clear that culture is alive and well. All this in addition to the beauty of the river valley and Saskatoon's downtown parks.
Things like this don't happen by accident, Keesmaat pointed out. They are the products of far-thinking planners and councillors, and a great deal of public consultation.
This is not to say Saskatoon's downtown doesn't need work. It's just that there continues to be a lot to work with.
I've lost count of the meetings I have attended where Saskatoon's downtown was parsed. Some were frenetically exciting, others riotously angry. Some presented unrealistic and now unrealized visions, while others were overcome with the descriptions of challenges and too-limited possibilities.
Almost all, however, were well-attended. Many of those at Monday's meeting had been at some of those previous meetings. They attend such meetings because they have concerns or dreams about Saskatoon's future.
I have always been amazed that so many people remain engaged in a lengthy process such as downtown redevelopment without getting discouraged about the time it takes and the compromises that must be made to achieve results.
There are always some who can't let go of their disappointment. The debate over building a new art gallery at River Landing reflects the frustrations of those who refuse to let go of their vision. Instead, they accuse others of fomenting conspiracies or recklessly building empires rather than looking for the good of the whole.
Those gathered Monday in the Broadway Theatre, however, struck me as a collection of people willing to discuss possibilities rather than conspiracies. Mixed in among all the grey-heads was a healthy spattering of young people.
Perhaps two dozen of the young people were from the university's regional and urban planning course, according to its chair, assistant professor Ryan Walker. But they weren't there for credits, he hastily added. The school year is over and they were there only because they were interested in the talk.
If Saskatoon's downtown -- and by extension, the city -- is to succeed, it won't happen because of such things as whether the Lake Placid development is completed, the live-and-work Ecovillage in Riversdale gets a LEED certificate, the Art Gallery of Saskatchewan can match or blow away the Art Gallery of Alberta or if a secret formula is developed that's even more successful at getting people to live in the core.
It will hinge on the continued interest and involvement of the people -- particularly the young people -- who turned up to hear Keesmaat's talk.
Over the years I have seen plans that I thought would really enhance the downtown. I recall interviewing engineer Henry Feldkamp, now president of March Consulting Associates, about building a cover over 21st Street and Second Avenue to make them more pedestrian-friendly year round.
The development, which Feldkamp showed me were both financially and structurally sound and could be phased in over some years, would have profoundly changed the downtown and the way people see Saskatoon.
It never went ahead.
I also worried about the city's determination to build the Galaxy Theatre in its heart. I saw these complexes in mall districts in other cities and neither liked their looks nor had confidence they would attract people. I may not like the looks of the theatre now on Second Avenue and 20th Street, but there is no doubt about the impact it's had on Saskatoon's nightlife.
All of which is to say that there is no silver bullet to make a downtown successful. The formula will vary with each city.
But if there is an essential ingredient, it's the kind of public interest and involvement that brought more than 200 people out to hear Keesmaat speak. As long as that exists in spades in Saskatoon, we have little to worry about.
© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix
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