As you can see from reading this week's Journal, the hot topic is what the heck to do with the downtown.
It was clear just by Melanie's article that everyone has an opinion; no matter if you're new to the city or you're a life-long resident, there's just something about the downtown area that you'd like to talk about.
So that being said, I myself have opinions too. I know, I know, I've only been here since May and therefore am not allowed whatsoever to make even the slightest criticism of Humboldt until I'm 81 years of age with liver spots but hey, I have to live life on the edge.
One thing that the downtown of Humboldt is missing is a coffee shop. Think about how addicted people are to their morning injection of caffeine to get them through the day; every morning, the line-up at the Tim Hortons drive thru snakes out through the parking lot. Wouldn't it be nice to have a trendy coffee spot on Main Street for those of us who work closer to that area?
I vote yes to that.
Secondly, an unfortunate part about Humboldt is that Main Street is narrow and so are the sidewalks. Because of that, there simply isn't room for a sidewalk patio for people to chow down on café sandwiches and sip cocktails in the summer time. That's a bummer, for sure. Unless the City decided to raze a whopping chunk of Main Street to widen the sidewalks so people can get buzzed at happy hour, it's probably not going to happen.
Then I decided to poll my office here at the Journal in a completely democratic, unbias environment. I asked my co-workers what is something they'd like to see in the downtown core, and it should be mentioned that we have an eclectic staff here, made up of life-long residents, Albertans, Torontonians, newbies to the city, farm dwellers and me, the elitist city girl from the Nation's Capital who is, I've been told, "wet behind the ears."
I digress.
"The post office corner needs to be fixed ASAP," was one gripe. And there has to be a smaller grocery store downtown, since many of us (like my co-worker here) miss having a cheap soup and sandwich from the Co-op when it was just across the street.
"There needs to be incentives for retail, not just office space," was another idea. "It creates a reason for people to be downtown. Business owners need to work with the Chamber and BID in a collaborative way to beautify and increase traffic to the downtown. Residents should be trying their best to support the local stores and businesses around Humboldt before taking off to Saskatoon to shop."
Another pondering was "Would it be prosperous for a law to be passed (like in other cities) where all the professional companies (law firms, dental offices etc) occupy the second floor of buildings, to allow merchants the bottom half?"
And, it was added, something needs to be done about the train tracks. "I'm sure there are some drivers who avoid Main Street for fear of being 'held up' by the train."
Rooftop patios, specialty shops, a small entertainment section and even having music playing outside of the music store on Main Street would drum up business and be entertaining, were a few other suggestions.
"There should be street light advertising for shows or events to prove that things are actually happening around the city," was added. "And better signs. Parking already sucks on Main Street, but when you go around to park behind buildings, it's not clear which is private parking and which way the lane is going."
To that, it was also added by someone else that there needs to be more parking for employees, so additional businesses can set up shop downtown.
"I think downtown should have more green space - trees, patches of grassno one wants to look at concrete all day."
Another co-worker suggested a store like AG Foods on Main Street, which is a grocery store but much smaller, to which another co-worker echoed that sentiment, saying that the local convenience stores charges an arm and a leg for a jug of milk, plus it'll cut down on the amount of time people drive to the west end of town just to pick up something simple, like milk or bread.
"Buskers in the summer and maybe an ice cream stand," another one suggested.
There you have it, the Journal has spoken.
What do you think?
CM
