The city of Owen Sound is inviting residents to participate in an online residents' survey about its downtown.
This is the fourth step in a the Downtown Revitalization program offered to communities across Ontario by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The program for municipalities under 100,000 population has a number of components involving support not only for economic development, but leadership and management, marketing and promotion and physical improvements.
Communities chose the components that best suited their needs. According to City Manager Wayne Ritchie, some of the initiatives have already been done in Owen Sound, so the focus was put on getting a current, comprehensive snapshot of the city's downtown.
Step one, completed in 2016, was a survey of business owners to determine what goods and services they provide. The survey of building owners was a little more challenging, Ritchie admitted, but now they feel they have a better handle on the built inventory downtown.
The third step was a "customer origin" survey – involving interviewers stopping people on downtown streets to ask "where did you come from today and what are you in town to do." This current piece, an on-line survey of Owen Sound residents, seeks to capture the trends and interests of the community. The information gathered in the whole project will be publicly available, and will be shared with people bringing development ideas to the city. Ritchie says the City wants investors to see the possibilities, "that if they bring their investment here, they will get it back and more."
Downtown is already beginning to see changes, Ritchie pointed out, with a major renovation and some re-design of city hall, and the building of The Sydenham condominium building. The Riverfront Precinct plan, to which Ritchie says the Council is completely committed, will redevelop the Sydenham River area block by block over the next decade or so, making the whole area more inviting.