Kelowna new downtown

[JoePlanner]

How many people here complaining about parking ever actually went downtown anyway? How many seniors actually spend significant sums of non-discretionary money in the economy? Should we line all of Bernard with handicap stalls, or maybe we could stop this pretense that no one at any age can walk any distance at all ever? How many of you couldn't be bothered to turn down a side-street and spend 30 seconds looking for a spot? How many of you drive by the store you want to visit, see that the 2 spots immediately in front are occupied (common), and announce defeat?

And the real kicker: Why does everyone pretend that parking at the mall is right in front of the store? Why is only downtown held to this standard, that you somehow have to be magically accommodated within 100 ft of the store. Next time you're at the mall just pause and think about how far you are walking from the parking lot to the stores you frequent, and then compare that to a 1-2 block journey downtown.

*Mar's Attacks head explosion*

[grammafreddy]

I don't shop at the mall, either.

Soooooooooo ... in order to have any degree of consideration by the city's planners, one must "spend significant sums of non-discretionary money in the economy", eh?

Good to know where the city's priorities are, I guess. Got oodles of money to spend downtown, then we'll cater to you. Got none, starts with an F and ends with an F. Sounds to me like an elitist kinda attitude.

[Fancy]

JoePlanner you've posted the same thing already:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=47528&p=1374067#p1374067

grammafreddy is right - how many buildings in that vicinity actually are built below ground level? None that I can think of.

[Joe Public]

Each lamp post is worth $14,000, plus another $5,000 to install.

[GreyGoose]

I don't shop at the mall, either.

Soooooooooo ... in order to have any degree of consideration by the city's planners, one must "spend significant sums of non-discretionary money in the economy", eh?

Good to know where the city's priorities are, I guess. Got oodles of money to spend downtown, then we'll cater to you. Got none, starts with an F and ends with an F. Sounds to me like an elitist kinda attitude.

The City hasn't spent a penny downtown since the early 80's.....30 years and counting..

If you wanna see a downtown that used to thrive and is now neglected, dark, empty and looks like a dump, look no further than Prince George. It used to be great, but the city let it slide and is now a ghostown.

I am very impressed by the City of Kelowna's actions and all the associates involved in helping grow and keep downtown alive.

[grammafreddy]

The City hasn't spent a penny downtown since the early 80's.....30 years and counting..

Well, that simply is not true.

[GreyGoose]

The City hasn't spent a penny downtown since the early 80's.....30 years and counting..

Well, that simply is not true.

I should have not been so vague.....I should have said "major pennies".....Bernard is major.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

I don't think Stuart park, and the bike path from Bankhead school were free,just to mention a few things .

[Neroicco]

Looks like the new work on Bernard is finally open - will be interesting to see if it makes as big a difference to downtown as the City is touting...

[damngrumpy]

First of all it will give me a reason not to shop downtown. No parking, the main problem with
downtown was there was no parking. Oh I know the city is trying to get people out of their cars.
Not going to happen folks this is a vehicle city and people want parking close to the downtown
stores. Parades several blocks from the shopping hub won't cut it.
I for one will not waste my time looking for parking space downtown its why I tend not to shop there
now, and it means I will shop there even less in the future.
The downtown core has not central theme it has the old idea of soaking people for parking when the rest
of the city is much different. Rutland has better parking the malls have better parking and so doe the
Mission. There is nothing downtown to draw people, oh there are a million places to eat, financial institutions
and then there is night clubs. All these places and no parking.
The environmentalist elites must be so pleased they have provided the green revolution too bad the small
merchants will pay for it in the off season.
Kelowna screws it up once again.

[KingCreole]

Oh brother....the whining about parking downtown is nauseating. I've never had an issue finding parking downtown, even during busy days. It may take a little driving around for a bit, but I always find parking within a reasonable time and reasonable distance to my destination, if I have a specific one that is.

Also whining about the cost???? Really? It's dirt cheap to park in downtown Kelowna!

Reasons to go downtown? Many. Lakeside setting, outdoor window shopping, great people watching, nice and unique shops, good coffee joints, decent restaurants, close to entertainment/art venues etc etc.

I shop and frequent both downtown and the various malls around town. Sometimes I end up having to park much further at the mall than downtown. But for me, both have their place and I've never had issues accessing downtown. People are just fatass lazy if they can't drive around the block once or twice to find a spot or walk a block or 2.

[Ken7]

I went for a hike and ended up downtown yesterday.

I was not for the spending of this money as a tax payer when the talk of it came to be.

However in saying that, it is looking very nice and good they spent the time and money. I wish I only had the answers to how can you entice people to come back down town. I really wonder is there a answer, other then those who spend there vacation here and wish to walk around.


It is looking much cleaner and more safe to walk on a level sidewalk!

[fall]

1

[fall]

Dont know about the changing colors of the new street lamps, the posts are nice but the changing colors seem a little tacky in my opinion just a nice white may have been nice. Kind of vegas, carnivalish. Otherwise it looks way better and there is always parking somewhere.

[Joe Public]

Oh come on people, get with the program.

Contrary to these discussions, the downtown renovations are not intended to draw residents back downtown. As well, parking, or the lack of parking, will not be an issue.

Have you not read the reasons for the renovations? The renovations, expensive as they are, and the reduced parking, are intended to be attractive to people who wish to live downtown, people who wish for a reduced vehicle and more pedestrian friendly venue. For the past decade, the city has stated that the goal of cleaning up downtown will be accomplished by increasing the number of people who live in the downtown core.

So there it is folks. Your tax dollars are being used by the city to make the downtown core more attractive for people other than yourselves, to live in. And who will benefit directly from this expenditure? Developers and downtown businesses of course.

It feels so good to subsidize developers with your tax dollars, doesn't it?