Improving Kerry Park

[John Zeger]

I admit there are vagrants and transients that hang around Kerry Park and the RCMP is doing their best to keep them moving, but the answer to the problem isn't to pave it over and put a highrise on the site. Perhaps the City could expand on its Parks Alive concert series so that they are held not only in July and August but from June to September. In addition to evening concerts there could be weekend afternoon concerts and weekday noon hour concerts -- nothing too noisy but just enough to add some extra ambience to the waterfront and attract more people to the downtown. It would probably also be well-received by tourists. There would an extra cost to the City but it would pay dividends in increased tourism and a more pleasant waterfront for residents without replacing green park space with concrete.

[cathy]

I agree that the park itself should not be a site for highrises. The idea of extra adding entertainment to add "extra ambience to the waterfront and attract more people to the downtown" is definitly a step in the right direction. However, if people are having to come from the edge of the city, Parks Alive concerts can only go so far in attracting a long-term audience. I agree it would bring more people into the area, thus relieving the numbers of drug users, etc., but I believe more development in the area, (not on the park site itself), would do more than regular concerts. No matter how long the concert season is, there won't be something going on there all the time, while more residences and businesses would mean a constant coming and going of people and a more active and vibrant area. It would also mean more people available to attend open-air concerts in the park, and the increased number of tax payers would help with the "extra cost to the City".

[John Zeger]

Have you been at the waterfront recently? There are a comfortable number of people strolling there. If an extra 1500 residents were added to the area, it would be overcrowded and would result a crush of humanity pushing and shoving to get by one another on the waterfront, which isn't my way of spending a leislurely Sunday afternoon.

On your point of extra residents downtown providing extra tax revenues, some studies have shown that the tax revenues that they bring in are surpassed by municipal expenditures on them in terms of increased politicing, fire protection, etc.

[prodevlp]

"A Kensington or Lawrence (indoor) market would draw more people to the downtown..." (This you are for)

"If an extra 1500 residents were added to the area, it would be overcrowded and would result a crush of humanity pushing and shoving to get by one another..."

You need to get it straight. You want more people in downtown, but you don't want more people in downtown?

[John Zeger]

A Kensington-style market would be on Leon Ave. and not on the waterfront at the foot of Bernard. This market would attact local people and tourists to the downtown but would not add to the population of Kelowna and while some people from that market would wander over to the waterfront, there wouldn't be an extra 1500 people perched on the waterfront most of the time. And if you have more comments on a Kensington-style market, please put them under the appropriate thread.

[prodevlp]

So you are saying that all the people of Lawson's Landing will be on the waterfront all at one time? And, they wouldn't wander any where else?

[John Zeger]

You wouldn't need all of 1500 people to be on the waterfront at the same time to result in overcrowding. Anyway with the design of Lawson Landing as is the waterfront between Bernard and Queensway will become the private enclave for the residents of L.L. for all intents and purposes pushing the remainder of Kelowna residents away from that area. It might as well be a gated community because the psychological barriers certainly will be there.

[prodevlp]

I hardly believe that. Many people, including myself, will frequent the park, boardwalk, and marina that will be built.

Maybe you won't, but others will.

[cathy]

I was lucky enough to see the Tall Ships in the inner harbour in downtown Victoria this weekend. For the three days they were there, more than 200,000 people were expected to attend the various activities at the harbour. The streets were definitly busy, since the crowd extended to all parts of downtown, not just the harbour, and people took the oppertunity to shop and have lunch, etc. However, despite the relatively large number of people, there was plenty of space to walk, and no "pushing and shoving". The sidewalks are designed to accomodate the usual steady coming and going of pedestrians, and were plenty large enough to provide comfortable walking space during this event. There was limited vehicle access, but many people, living nearby, chose to take the bus or walk.
I'm sure Kelowna could accomodate a much larger number of people at the waterfront without feeling overcrowded. It certainly has a long way to go, atleast, since most of the time Kerry Park seems to be virtually empty.

[John Zeger]

Kerry Park is a small park. Would you want it packed with people all the time? The idea of a park is to have some space and enjoy a bit of the outdoors. Or is your idea of a successful park more like a parking lot or a football stadium?

[prodevlp]

No that's why the developers want to create a bigger park. And, I'm sure that it would at least be used for the "right purposes." But, that said, not everyone of Lawson's Landing would be in the park. They have other places to be instead of being in a park all the time. Also they would be a skip and hop to City Park. It looks much better now that's its cleaned up a bit.