Discussions

Welcome, Braden  
 
Firstly, I want you to know that you have taken on huge task and I give you kudos.  
I know where you come from with your family work ethic and I knew you when you were a little gaffer way back when (sorry). I was pleased to see it was you taking charge of this task - it's a huge mountain to climb and a lot of pressure on your part.I applaud your efforts.  
 
The first positive task is indeed reaching out to the citizens of this City on forums such as ebrandon.ca to have feedback from people that live and work here. You will surely garner opinions that are worth listening to here. Great move.  
 
My first thoughts on downtown Brandon comes at a cost, but what doesn't? The City of Brandon and the Province of Winnipeg...errr..sorry..Manitoba need to be sourced at every level to secure funding to keep our Brandon Downtown viable. If Winnipeg can secure huge funding for a Community Centre among other community projects, where does Brandon fit in? Where are our MLA's and where is our City Council in this issue? Why has our downtown come to such a sad state? I find it very sad as a lifelong resident of our fine City. Downtown should be the revived as the "Heart of the City", but ours is almost at the point where Heart Shock is the choice intervention. (Wah-wah..I remember such lovely times as a child in this great City downtown).  
 
Many Cities our size put downtown revitalization as a first priority when urban sprawl started to take place in the late 1980's and early 90's. We are lagging behind here in a big way, as almost every Canadian City has experienced this and have become proactive, albeit things take time. We have tried, but nothing really has come to fruition as yet.  
 
These are only my personal thoughts of where I see downtown.  
 
1) I agree with a vision. A vision that may span 15-20-25 years, as it will never happen overnight and nobody should expect this. There is not a ONE SIZE - FITS ALL approach. We must concentrate on our personal regional demographics, our natural environment and the City we've come to love for this to become successful. We have a vibrant young University crowd, a demographic of older people and new, exciting culture which needs to be embraced as well as a fantastic history steeped in our Prairie City that crept up almost overnight. What a great mix! We need to keep young people here, satisfy the older demographic and encourage new culture with our changing City.  
 
DOWNTOWN?  
 
1) People. Working, living, breathing and productive people bring life to any community. Developer incentive should be top priority..for middle class, working people. Our City should be on board here with this, but I see no movement.  
 
There are similar Cities like ours that maybe had 500 derelict rental units downtown and then introduced an incentive where existing (NOT razing Historic) properties are built and introduced something like 1500 units for young families and couples who maybe cannot afford a home and need starter accomodations. These incentives took down ugly eyesore buildings that lack aesthetic appeal and erected buildings that fit into the core in a design pleasing way, providing affordable housing for young couples and working families all the while looking the building belonged there forever. Again, I am not talking about historic property, but albatross buildings that have seen better days in the last 30 years. Young families and people desperatley NEED accomodation. I speak from experience as our own kids have left the City and yes, they would have stayed here in a vibrant community with decent accomodation had downtown been a place they could see themselves being.  
 
 
2) Business Tax Incentive. Old and beautiful historic decaying buildings are sitting empty. WHY? Why not encourage tax and Manitoba Heritage incentives to create business and restore buildings? Maybe, once again, politics come into play, but it's a no-brainer and should be top priority. We are at a crisis downtown. What harm is there in providing breaks for young entrenpreneurs from City coffers? I am up for it and am willing to pay for generous incentives that make our City a better place to live.  
 
3) Linking our downtown to the Riverbank.  
It's all right there. The South riverbank is sitting there, all ugly on Pacific Avenue with rail tracks and awful debris. Why not create a fantastic market complete with a boardwalk with the CP Station on Pacific being the main deal? This is our history. It's what Brandon was built on! It would be classy and well done on my wish list. Entrepreneurs may even have a Riverboat ferry, taking them on a Riverboat tour and explaining history, eventually to land up at a quaint shopside by the River. We are given this, why not appreciate it? Biking, hiking trails, a skywalk to South Riverbank. Sort of a mini-Forks, but keeping the environment in check and making it a fantastic experience and different from the 'Peg? It's so right there..why can't we make a feature of the South Riverbank, bypassing the tracks in a nice way, which is another opportunity in itself as that is what this City was built on..Railroad and River.  
 
* Downtown needs  
 
-Incentive from the City and Province  
- Cultural activities  
- Housing for working couples  
- Keeping historical importance  
- A pedestrian environment - linking to the Riverbank that is well-done and not piece meal  
- Keeping it's unique presence in our landscape  
- Transit nearby (already there)  
 
I do love Brandon. I want to to see our downtown be preserved and I want young peeps to stay and enjoy, as I have seen former schoolmates (1980's) and my own children leave as they think it's not that vibrant.  
 
Hats off to you, Braden.  
You have a lot of work ahead of you and through no fault of your own.  
 
I hope and pray that this Brandon I love will once again become vibrant and happy downtown.  
 
Michelle