Hero Of The Downtown 2008: Office For Urbanism

By Gregory Beatty

Our choice for Downtown Hero was a no-brainer this year. Not that previous winners -- local businessman Robert Gardikiotis (2005), the Regina Folk Festival (2006) and downtown residents (2007) weren't deserving nominees for the commitment they've demonstrated to an area of the city that, for decades now, has fought a losing battle to remain relevant to Reginans enthralled with living and shopping in suburban enclaves populated by big-box stores and fast-food outlets.

Despite their efforts, Regina's downtown remains very much a work-in-progress. There are signs of hope. All you have to do is take a stroll down 18 and 19-block Hamilton St. to realize that.

But we still have a long way to go before we can truly say that we have a dynamic downtown.

No one knows that better than our 2008 hero of the downtown -- Toronto-based Office for Urbanism.

Yeah, that's right. We're giving this year's award to a company from Toronto. And like I said, the decision was a no-brainer.

Since being contracted by the city in August 2007 to develop a plan to revitalize the downtown no individual or organization has been a more passionate advocate for an area of Regina that, slogans about it being the supposed heart of the city notwithstanding, has been subjected to unconscionable abuse and neglect by city powerbrokers.

Over the last year, I've had the pleasure of covering this story for prairie dog. In the process, I've attended several OFU-hosted public forums on the downtown, and conducted five or six interviews with project head Jennifer Keesmaat. Along with her colleagues, she's been an indefatigable champion of progressive urban planning ideas that, if the political and economic will can be found to enact them, will transform Regina.

During a mid-October interview, Keesmaat said that OFU was fine-tuning the plan before submitting it to the city's planning commission in early November.

If all goes according to schedule, it will be presented to City Council at its Dec. 15 meeting.

Following months of discussion and analysis, Keesmaat added, the key recommendation that OFU will make will be to boost residential growth in the downtown. "There needs to be a critical mass of people in order for a whole series of other great things to happen related to night life, cultural activities, and getting the kind of pedestrian counts on the street to make it feel safer after business hours."

No surprise there. As one of its "big moves" at an April planning forum, OFU proposed building high-density housing on Broad, Saskatchewan Drive and Albert St. bordering the downtown. "What we've done now is created a built-form framework that shows what some of that development ought to look like," says Keesmaat. "We've also tied to that a recommendation that 25-per cent of Regina's growth on an annual basis should be directed to the downtown."

Currently, municipal guidelines provide that 25-per cent of growth should be infill within existing city limits. According to city surveys, ten per cent of Reginans are interested in living downtown. At present, only 1500 do. So there's definitely potential for that number to grow. But with most of the building stock either devoted to retail or office space, or else already converted to condos, the only way that will happen is if new residential construction occurs downtown.

Since OFU's last visit in mid-June, economic prospects in Regina, while still strong, have been darkened somewhat by the global financial crisis.

But Keesmaat doesn't feel that this should hinder city officials in implementing the plan.

"In some ways, when an environment is very hot, it's difficult to do planning well because there's tremendous pressures that sometimes warp the way you think," she says. "The plan has longevity as a vision and policy framework regardless of the market conditions."

Indeed, the crunch may even prove beneficial to downtown development by reinforcing in people's minds -- both residents and business owners alike -- the importance of remaining realistic in terms of our future prospects, and not mindlessly embracing a pattern of relentless suburban expansion that already is proving unsustainable economically and environmentally.

Once OFU presents its plan to City Council, says Keesmaat, that won't necessarily mean the end of the firm's relationship with Regina.

"We're likely going to remain involved by assisting with the plan's implementation, particularly related to reviewing urban design components to ensure that proposals that come forward are consistent with the vision."

Regina's downtown won't be transformed overnight. But we're not looking at a multi-decade time-frame, either.

"I think it's possible to transform the downtown in 10 years," says Keesmaat. "To do that, we need to emphasize the importance of concentration, of not expanding downtown's boundaries, and focussing all the energy in a [30-block area].

"If all the private and public stakeholders are on board, significant change can happen in a relatively short time," she adds. "There'll be a snowball effect. But if the approach is to try to tinker at the margins, it will take a lot longer. It's like the old saying 'You get what you give.'"

What are Reginans prepared to give to get a transformed downtown? That's a question that will be answered in the weeks, months and years to come.

And prairie dog will be there every step of the way, because we think this is something worth fighting for.

© 2008 Prairie Dog. Used with permission.