Creating a New Urban Hub

By Joe Couture

An artist's rendering of a new 20-year vision for downtown Regina.

REGINA -- Twenty years from now, Regina's downtown will have a transformed look and feel, if a recently released master plan for the area is implemented in full.

Office for Urbanism, a consultant hired by the city, began its work in 2007 and released its final report, entitled Downtown Neighbourhood Plan: Walk to Work, last week. The City of Regina's planning commission and council will look at the study at upcoming meetings.

"It has a big vision for the city, but it also has very specific recommendations," consultant Jennifer Keesmaat commented. "This isn't just a pie in the sky exercise. This is an implementation plan. With no doubt, this city, with limited resources, can achieve this plan."

Due to consultation processes during the past two years, citizens are already aware of some of the key ideas, she said.

One example is the well-known WOW project, which will see 12th Avenue adjacent to Victoria Park made into a public square. Construction will begin next year, according to Bob Bjerke, the city's director of planning and sustainability.

Bjerke's department has also acted on the report's recommendation to create a branch responsible for implementing the plan and overseeing initiatives related to the downtown. The manager of the new City Centre Branch will likely take office this June, Bjerke said.

Should the report be embraced by council, its recommendations will inform city operations on an ongoing basis, Bjerke explained. Any changes requiring significant capital investment -- and the plan suggests several -- will have to go through the standard processes of approval, according to Bjerke.

In its approximately 250 pages, the plan paints a picture of a vibrant centre with activity on the streets all the time, every day of the year -- the kind of urban hub that Regina youth sometimes leave the city to find, said Keesmaat. Key to achieving that is increasing the number of people who live downtown.

The first among eight "big moves" the report advocates is "walk to work." Part of that idea is directing 25 per cent of the city's residential growth to the downtown. That means the downtown will need 5,000 new residents over the next 15 years in order to sustain the level of activity envisioned by the plan.

The plan relies on decades worth of past work done to build a strong downtown employment core, noted Bjerke.

"Now we can complete the other pieces to the puzzle," he said. "It is doable. There's no question that it's going to take some work and some focus . . . It's certainly aspirational, but it's realistic."

The study's ideas are grounded in extensive research and analysis, he said.

The rest of the "big moves" involve redesigning streets, sidewalks, building fronts and other systems to encourage travel by foot, bicycle or public transit.

The first routes that might be changed are 11th and 12th avenues, with two-way traffic flow and improved bus stop facilities among ideas on the table. The report details specifics for how each of the downtown streets could look, with more trees, wider sidewalks and revised parking encouraged along every route.

Keesmaat said the plan offers lots of detail on how growth and development in the downtown should work, including specifics on how buildings should look.

"A successful downtown is complex by nature," she said. "In some ways, what we're doing is adding more complexity. That complexity needs to be viewed as a positive, not a negative."

While the plan seeks to create more options without negatively affecting traffic, it does take the focus away from travel by personal automobile, she said.

"Implementing the downtown plan is everyone's responsibility," she said noting developers and the public have expressed excitement about the concepts. "It absolutely requires a cultural shift."

Various aspects of the plan are proposed to unfold simultaneously. As the area is improved and becomes a "complete neighbourhood," its value and investment interest in it will rise, Bjerke said. The public can now weigh in on the plan by accessing it online at the city's website (www.regina.ca), he added.

© Copyright 2009 The Leader-Post. Used with permission.