On Friday over at Scaledown.ca, I got into debate with someone about the state of downtown. Many others also argued with him, all with the same lack of success or resolution.
On Sunday (yesterday), I decided to head out and do a full walk around the area used as a playground/toilet weekly by the bar crowd, along with an associate. I wanted to see if it was as lousy as I was claiming. I looked around, and I couldn’t find my “rose coloured” filter for my camera lens, so these photos might be what the mayor and other blind cheerleaders might consider “negative”.
Sometimes the truth hurts.
The Building that housed “Ye Olde Steakhouse” is for sale. The 1st floor that housed the restaurant is vacant.
Looking right…
…and left. Nothing there.
* Photo from the collection of the Municipal Archives
This is what used to be there, only a decade ago, this block was a viable commercial strip with high occupancy.
Wolley Bulleys. Vacant and for lease.
“So let’s put a mural in the parking lot of what used to be here before this was a parking lot”. I hate to say it, but I think the core area has about reached the mural saturation point.
Vacancy door #1…
Vacancy door #2…
Or vacancy door #3?
The broken sign on this still operating business is shameful, and helps with the overall crappy look of downtown.
* Photo from the collection of the Municipal Archives
Here’s how the block looked above in the 1970’s.
Convenience store, vacant coffee shop, and a rub n’ tug. Great “amenities” on this block.
Just the results of a little harmless vandalism following a weekend of use as a playground/toilet, for those that don’t live downtown.
More to come…
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Wow, is KING EDDIE blind? The core is falling apart more, and more with each passing day!
I really wonder how many other business's are going to bail, before something drastic is done, I mean what will it take?
If I was KING EDDIE, I'd sure as hell be ashamed to be called the City's Mayor, and to be responsible for allowing our downtown to dwindle away to it's current state.
I don't know if any of you were able to review this BLOG written by Alan Halberstadt, but it sure points out KING EDDIE's lack of concern. In my opinion we have to start at the top, and that would be the Mayor. This was copied from Alan's Blog on his site. Thought it might be interesting as we are discussing the downtown demise.
Mayoral Flip Flog
Written by Alan Halberstadt
Tuesday, 05 February 2008
My confidence in Mayor Eddie Francis was shaken like never before last night when it became obvious that he worked feverishly behind the scenes to derail a bylaw to impose a 3 a.m. closing time on downtown bars.
Just a month ago, Mayor Francis indicated to me in his office that he supported my motion to draw up a bylaw to impose the 3 a.m. closing time on entertainment lounges. He didn't like the idea that an exemption policy to the 3 a.m. closings be developed and executed by a Hospitality Resource Panel (HRP) involving the Windsor Downtown Business Improvement Association (DWBIA).
In deference to his wishes, I changed the second part of the notice of motion, giving the responsibility for exemptions to the city's Licensing Commision rather than the HRP. Both parts of the motion were approved by Council on January 14th
Last night, when the 3 a.m. bylaw came back for final approval, Council reversed the decision in typical can't get'er done fashion. Mayor Francis (who doubles as chair of the Police Services Board) had the retiring police chief and his two top deputies show up flashing their brass. Glenn Stannard (in my view, an excellent chief who is having trouble letting go) was lobbed predictable beachball questions by Councillors who opposed the bylaw three weeks earlier
Chief Stannard said the 3 a.m. closing would likely spread the problem of after hours violence elsewhere, noting that strip clubs (excluded from the bylaw) have already started opening their doors to the after-hours bar crowd.
It has become obvious to me that the police want to see the drunken, violent behaviour concentrated in one place because it makes their job easier. Unfortunately, it has created a ready-made battleground for drug users and gun-toters and it is destroying the reputation of downtown. Windsor Police Services and the mayor are acting very selfishly in this instance.
Mayor Francis again donned his lawyer's hat last night, to reverse his original position and denounce the bylaw. He preached that he feared a threatened lawsuit from the owners of the bad boy After Hours Club, the Box Office. He based his argument on the premise that, by exempting the strip clubs, the city was discriminating against bars.
Funny, when we met in his office in early January, Mayor Francis expressed no concern to me with the exemption of the strip clubs.
Your pictures kind of remind me of the new book out "The World Without Us!" Maybe downtown Windsor can be one of the sets when the book is turned into a movie!
Just so you know the other side of the story, the rose colored lense can be viewed on the video at the lower left side of http://www.downtownwindsor.ca
My argument wasn't that downtown windsor was the best Windsor has to offer, it wasn't that it was perfect, only that the rest of windsor has even less to offer.
As downtown rises and falls, so does the city of Windsor
Just so you know the other side of the story, the rose colored lense can be viewed on the video at the lower left side of http://www.downtownwindsor.ca
My argument wasn't that downtown windsor was the best Windsor has to offer, it wasn't that it was perfect, only that the rest of windsor has even less to offer.
As downtown rises and falls, so does the city of Windsor
Sweet a slick marketng video for a fake-ass brand.
Giving an area catchy name, and producing a slick video doesn't do much for me... As someone who lives down here no amount of slick marketing and spin can can make up for what the area doens't have.
I find it offensive that a lot of money was obviously spent on this very misleading video.
The wonders of effects and editing.
While I applaud the efforts of the DWBIA's video to bring people and perhaps business to downtown. I am wondering if it may have the another affect. When I see something interesting or made out to be much more than it is and then I see the real product I am only to be let down even moreso.
The sad reality is that yes Mark, you are correct when Windsor is down the downtown suffers. But I don't see any suffering going on in LaSalle, Tecumseh/St. Clair Beach, all of the big box stores on Walker Rd. I also don't see the suffering in Detroit where things are much worse. In fact I don't EVER recall seeing downtown in the plight it currently is in even with the recession of the early 1990's (much worse than it is today) or the early 1980's.
What makes me grit my teeth in anger is that the city has done relatively nothing to change the dynamics of downtown in the last 8 years. What about the high taxes in downtown? What about the vandalism? The perceived lack of parking, though there is plenty? Massage parlours (other cities used by-laws to remove them why not Windsor? We take to court everything else?) The attraction of a few larger stores; Other cities have told big-box stores where to build, why not Windsor? Why the continuing stalling of the REAL urban village for the City Centre West lands (no, not another school but decent houses that fit the landscape with mixed used retail)?
The streetscape is fine and good (except why did the DWBIA remove the stamped crosswalks when we had the Western Hemisphere State Conference in 2000?). Instead of asphalt why not use pavers for Ouellette? But what is needed is more retail for the people that live in the downtown area. How are we trying to lure business downtown and what type of business oare we trying to attract? It all seems so piece-meal.
Andrew! This is excellent! The pictures tell the story! the Downtown is obviously moving away form being pedestrian friendly with the steel/glass and vacancy dead zones. This is likely the hurt we need until we collectively leave behind the car-centric mindset. I hope it doesnt last long.
Mark, you can put a Cadillac hood ornament on a '74 Duster but it's still going to be a '74 Duster.
If the wasteland that is downtown is the "best Windsor has to offer" then we're all in BIG trouble, as evidenced by this I.M. photo essay (and the installments to follow this week). The only area that services its residents worse than downtown is the Drouillard district, which has long suffered for reasons beyond its control, despite its best efforts in the face of another recession. And even it does a better job overall showing civic pride in the face of all its challenges.
That right, if an area - downtown - that has virtually nothing for its residents is the "best Windsor has to offer", someone needs to do a little touring around other more prosperous areas of the city that feature a good mix of retail, services, restaurants, etc. and get outside that downtown bubble of apathy that continues to lead to its continued demise.
Now this is not to say I would discourage patronizing those few businesses that are trying to make downtown a better place. We need to reward the businesses that ride the straight and narrow and that do not contribute to the 'shitification' of downtown. There's no denying that.
I think what the DWBIA needs to ask itself is - does it want to continue with downtown as a "entertainment district" (fancy way of saying kiddie bars, strip joints, massage parlours) or does it want a safe and clean mixed-use district that is equipped to service residents with a strong arts & entertainment component. Insisting that it's at that point already is patently false and all the propaganda in the world won't change that. Skillfully edited videos don't fool eyes that can see as they walk around downtown.