Portage and Main was nominated last week as one of Canada’s Great Places.
That’s no small feat, considering the intersection isn’t even open to pedestrians. But just imagine how much better our famous intersection and the surrounding downtown could be if our political leaders took the advice of some local urban planning experts.
Forget condo bribes: the five ideas these experts support are palatable to taxpayers, politically viable, and reek of common sense. They won’t be the magic cure-all that instantly makes our downtown vibrant, but it’ll help.
1. Stop looking past empty fields
Rubber-stamping far-flung developments like the upcoming Ridgewood South ignores the cost savings of infill development, says Christopher Leo, a retired urban studies professor from the University of Winnipeg.
“If the city were to insist that land adjacent to existing neighbourhoods be developed before more distant tracts of land are opened to development, the poor, overburdened taxpayer wouldn’t have to foot the bill for the extension of water and sewer lines — and a host of other city services — past empty fields, where little revenue is being generated to pay for them,” Leo said.
But it could send people running to the suburbs, he cautioned.
There’s a solution to that, though, said Brent Bellamy, an architect with Number 10.
“Instead of giving us Waverley West, (look) at creating a capital region that taxes the leapfrog development beyond the Perimeter proportionally to the damage they cause and the civic services they use.”
2. Parking lot tax
In 2010, Montreal put a tax on surface parking lots. Two years in, the program had so little downside they doubled the tax.
Considering our city hasn’t met a tax it didn’t like in recent years, wouldn’t it make sense to follow Montreal’s lead?
“It significantly increases the cost of owning a downtown surface parking lot, which provides incentive for development, makes demolition less attractive, and increases parking rates, making transit more attractive,” Bellamy notes.
If it happens, Leo said, it would need to be coupled with incentives to develop the lots. Manitoba Public Insurance is currently processing proposals it sought to build on a few of its parking lots downtown.
Mayor Sam Katz pitched something similar on the campaign trail in 2010, vowing to temporarily freeze property taxes for any lot owners who develop the land. It’s time he followed through.
3. Small biz zoning
If surface parking lots need to be a thing of downtown’s past, what kind of developments should replace it?
Mike Petkau Falk, co-founder of interest group For The Love of Winnipeg, said three- to five-storey mixed-use buildings, complemented by better zoning and incentives for small businesses, are the answer.
“Imagine a downtown filled with stores and apartments and condos rather than wasted space with parking lots,” Petkau Falk said.
Bellamy said that’s a solution we can afford.
“We have some of the highest construction costs in the country because our climate makes building envelopes costly, our soils make foundation costs far higher than most places, and we have a serious shortage of skilled trades reducing competition in the construction market.”
4. Downtown corporate tax breaks
Halifax and New York reduce corporate taxes for companies that locate downtown. Winnipeg’s approach is piecemeal.
“Making taxes lower in the downtown than in the suburbs provides incentive for infill growth and densification of the downtown,” said Bellamy. “In New York, companies that locate downtown receive grants per employee, lower electricity rates, and lower business and rent tax.”
Slash all the red tape and keep it simple to attract newcomers, so every business that locates downtown gets a break.
5. Tax incentives for heritage
Most of the city’s museums took a big hit in the 2013 budget. At the same time, year-after-year dedicated funding is neither an incentive nor sustainable. Enter tax breaks, instead.
“Get the federal government involved in providing grants and tax incentives for heritage preservation. It has proven to be very effective taking that burden off cash-strapped civic governments,” Bellamy said.
Read the full story here: https://winnipegsun.com/2013/08/19/good-fast-and-cheap-five-ideas-to-fix-winnipeg-that-could-actually-happen/wcm/fe595f72-dfb4-491b-8b84-bbb1a93aa9cb