HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-28
DOWNTOWN ACTION & ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
January 28, 2016 CITY OF KITCHENER
The Downtown Action & Advisory Committee met this date, commencing at 4:00 p.m.
Present: Melissa Bowman, Chair; Erin Atchison; Craig Beattie; Andre Chin; Councillor Frank
Etherington; Amina Gilani; David Harmes; Zenia Horton; Councillor Sarah Marsh;
Christine Michaud; Kevin Muir; George Trihenea; Frank Voisin; Brad Watson; Mallory
Wheldon; Linda Zenser; Mike Farwell, Janice Lee
Staff: Cory Bluhm, Manager of Downtown Development
Monika Grau, Downtown Development Officer
Emily Robson, Arts & Culture Coordinator
Sandy Curzon, Committee Administrator
1. Introduction of New DAAC Members
Newly appointed DAAC members, Craig Beattie and Frank Voisin, representing downtown
building owners/developers, were introduced.
2. 2015 Artist in Resident
J. Lee, Folk Artist and Story Teller was appointed the Artist in Resident for 2015. Ms. Lee
project Folk Myths of Kitchener gathered stories from the community featuring Kitchener Market,
Kitchener Libraries, The Iron Horse Trail and Downtown Kitchener. The conversations she had
with these groups turned into video poems. Two of these films were presented today Libraries
and Downtown click here to see all four
films.
3. Neighbourhood Strategy
M. Farwell, CoChair of the Neighbourhood Strategy Project Team provided a status update on the
Neighbourhood Strategy. The definition of a Neighbourhood Strategy will help neighbours
connect and work together to do great things in their neibourhoods. The strategy will celebrate
successes and become a living/working document.
A Infographic was created, which summarizes responses to a survey (2,000 were distributed). To
assist with marketing and communication efforts a hashtag (#lovemyhood) was developed. Top
10 Frequently Asked Questions were also developed, which are posted on the website.
As part of the community engagement process a Family Activity Book will be distributed to schools
and an Adult Colouring Book, will be featured on March 9, 2016 at THEMUSEUM. Mr. Farwell
commented that many areas/neighbourhoods in the City are in need of a spokesperson.
Three streams of engagement include Creative, Conversational and Online. You can get involved
history May to August 2016.
DOWNTOWN ACTION & ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
January 28, 2016 - 2 - CITY OF KITCHENER
Stakeholder groups, that have already been identified, were reviewed by DAAC members.
Additional suggestions included students, retirement homes, and community foundations.
ways of engagement.
One of the largest obstacle to-date - how do you identify a neighbourhood? There are currently 40
neighbourhood. There are neighbourhoods that overlap (boundaries) and there are politics within
neighbourhoods. The challenge will be to help these various neighbourhoods establish their own
vision and strategy by focusing on their unique assets.
4. Awesome Arising
rd
C. Bluhm presented the 3 edition of Downtown Awesome. The main focus of the report, and
on data analysis. The report uses six key indices: King
Street Social Experience; King Street People Activity; King Street Physical Experience; New
Urban Neighbourhoods; Innovation District and; Collaborative Community. Over the last three
years of analysis, we can identify which areas are improving and which ones need attention.
Areas of focus for 2016 include but not limited to, increasing direct promotion of social events;
increasing the number of King Street patios; increasing the number of enhanced storefronts; Civic
District weekly programming opportunities and collaboration of various festivals and events to
facilitate overlap.
5. Other
C. Bluhm asked DAAC members what they would like to focus on over the next 10 months. The
following topics are suggestions that were put forward:
Social Issues assist/support social agencies in dealing with those who are marginalized
(panhandlers, etc.)
Start-ups (tech friendly) find ways to bring them together and get them engaged
Connection there is a disconnect between downtown businesses, property owners and
employees vs out of town and suburbanites
Downtown neighbourhoods use these resources to advocate on behalf of downtown.
Understand why neighbourhoods outside the downtown are not coming downtown
City owned lands we need to discuss what we are doing with vacant lands i.e. Bramm
Street
Create a Positive Experience - getting the word out that businesses are growing,
downtown is changing takes time to evolve
Perception understanding why people feel unsafe will be a challenge. We need to
is it multigenerational? The student population and event attendees are
opportunities to make a first impression. Provide the opportunity and reason for students
to make Kitchener their home once their education is completed.
DOWNTOWN ACTION & ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
January 28, 2016 - 3 - CITY OF KITCHENER
get small groups together to identify problems and brainstorm ideas
to resolve them
6. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 5:32
S. Curzon
Committee Administrator