Today ~100 business and community leaders gathered to rally support for change.
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PRESS RELEASE
Downtown Recovery Coalition sounds the alarm on our struggling downtown
September 29, 2022 (Edmonton, Alberta) - Today, the Downtown Recovery Coalition launched its website and released a list of specific actions that can be taken to improve the current state of our downtown.
Downtown Edmonton is the beating heart of our city. It is a centre for business, finance and professional services, an exciting entertainment district, and the seat of government for both the Alberta Legislature and Edmonton City Hall. It is home to 13,000 people and a workplace for 60,000. Less than 1% of the geographic area of Edmonton is downtown, but the land there comprises 10% of the municipal tax base.
Any downtown has an outsized role in shaping how a city is perceived by locals and visitors alike. It is critical that the issues facing the downtown Edmonton area are addressed in a holistic and comprehensive way so that all Edmontonians feel safe, secure and proud to be a part of the action when they visit downtown.
The Downtown Recovery Coalition is a group that has formed organically and independently to advocate for solutions for our downtown. Ideas that the Coalition is putting forward in an effort to identify solutions are:
Creating better patrolling and security enforcements at LRT station entrances.
Developing more community and solution-oriented policing.
Repairing crumbling infrastructure including sidewalks, roads, benches, trees and garbage cans.
Accelerating the removal of construction material so it is not sitting on our streets and sidewalks.
Creating better crisis diversion response times so that those experiencing crises are attended to as soon as possible.
Developing transitional spaces for those struggling with addictions on the street to bridge the gap between homelessness and permanent housing.
Beginning to develop long-term recovery spaces.
Quotes:
“I haven’t seen this amount of leadership from the community in over a decade. I’m incredibly proud of the commitment the 25 members of the DRC have shown on advocating for collaborative solutions. We have developed a set of short-, medium- and long-term actions, and will work with decision makers to solve them. Downtown is too important to the success of our city. We’re asking both City Council and Administration, as well as other orders of government, to prioritize our core and ensure it’s safe and welcoming for everyone,” says Coalition Chair Alex Hryciw.
“I’ve lived and worked downtown for many years, and it brings me no satisfaction to be a critic,” says Coalition Vice-Chair Anand Pye. “But things have gotten to a point where we need to talk about this as a community and focus on solutions. Our Coalition developed because we all care about downtown and want it to be better. We need support from the community and those who share our passion to pull together. We will be communicating with the public through the mailing list you can sign up for on our website, and letting people know when we need them to step up, speak up, come to council meetings, and any other items that could help downtown thrive,” said Pye.
Members of the Downtown Recovery Coalition Steering Committee are:
Alex Hryciw, Coalition Chair, Director of Strategy, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce
Anand Pye, Coalition Vice-Chair, Executive Director, NAIOP Edmonton
Cheryll Watson, Coalition Secretary-Treasurer, Chief Connector, STEM Collegiate
Chad Helm, Founder, The Helm
Chris Buyze, President, Downtown Edmonton Community League
Dave Young, Executive Vice President, CBRE
Devin Pope, Partner, Gather Co.
Henry Edgar, Partner, EDGAR
Jan Fox, Executive Director, REACH Edmonton
Jenny Adams, President, The Adams Agency
Jim Brown, Partner, Sherrick Management
Kalen Anderson, Executive Director, UDI Edmonton-Metro
Kevin McKee, CEO, Pamgman Developments
Lisa Baroldi, President and CEO, BOMA Edmonton
Puneeta McBryan, Executive Director, Edmonton Downtown Business Association
Robert Black, Partner, MLT Aikins
Robert Seidel, National Managing Partner, DLA Piper (Canada) LLP
Sean Kirk, General Manager, Edmonton City Centre
To learn more about the Downtown Recovery Coalition and stay up to date on its work, please visit
www.yegdowntown.ca.