Saskatoon Construction

[prairieguy]

Shmakin,
I think you have made some really good points (many difficult to argue with!) HOWEVER (you knew there had to be a 'however', right??). Your reference to the new communities being developed in Calgary and other major cities that are basically 'self-contained' is absolutely true. The difference in Saskatoon being that we are still a small city that has the opportunity to avoid the trend of 'satellite communities in the suburbs. Even Rosedale will only be a 20 minute bike ride downtown, so I doubt that it will truely be a community where its residents do not go downtown. This brings me to the second unique factor of Saskatoon versus many other major cities, and that is how vibrant our downtown is.

The downtown in Saskatoon is still a central gathering place for residents because of the beautiful river valley, trails and parks. One quick look at the number of festivals and events held downtown (especially in the summer) demonstrates how our city still embraces its downtown. Also, head dowtown on a Friday or Saturday night and you may be amazed and surprised to see the number of people! Whether its dining, pubs, movies or events...the dowtown continues to attract its citizens.

This combined with the "slow but methodical" re-development and investment in downtown that is occuring boads well for Saskatoon's core to remain really an exception to the trend of downtowns dieing out.

So....there you go...a response to your post. You made many excellent points, and I hope I have also contributed to the discussion.