(DT) A Vital Downtown- Walk-ability

Downtown success in the 21st Century requires that it be pedestrian- friendly. No one is inspired to walk from store to store at the Corral Centre- we've all had that near death experience! The quality of life downtown is attractive because it was built in the pedestrian age. And downtown's walkability is one of its competitive advantages.

Ensuring that the streets are walkable is critical to a successful redevelopment downtown. The vitality of any downtown is proven by crowded sidewalks. Empty sidewalks make the downtown look dead.

Walkable means comfortable, safe, interesting, and enjoyable. People like to window-shop, walking from store to store. Past efforts at downtown renewal in Brandon have included at least some attention to making the streets pedestrian friendly. The BIA investments in landscaping, decorative sidewalks and lamp posts, the NRC's storefront improvement grants, the City's flower baskets have made strolling downtown Brandon very enjoyable.

The piece that's missing in downtown Brandon are the destinations. We need interesting places to walk to! Walkability suites the economics of commercial development downtown where niche boutiques, restaurants, and entertainment venues are well suited to the smaller storefronts. Imagine strolling along a revitalized Rosser Avenue or up 10th Street to Princess past a complex mix of retail shops, hotels, grocery stores, housing, offices, artist studios, pubs, and theatres. A critical mass of these pedestrian-scale venues must be established as quickly as possible. Making sure that a pedestrian has something to do for 4-6 hours, that residents daily needs can be comfortably met, that rent and sale prices justify new construction and renovation, are all key to a successful downtown renewal.

The walkability of our downtown streets is a critical piece to this economic development. The more a person walks, the more storefronts they encounter, thereby increasing the pool of customers. The next piece of the downtown renewal puzzle then, is filling the buildings with viable commercial enterprises.

This post is part of a series on revitalizing downtown Brandon. The next blog post will look at economic development efforts that other communities are using to renew their downtowns, and what opportunities they may present to Brandon. Further posts will discuss zoning, regulatory issues, and parking amongst other components of successful renewal results.