What was actually said...

A 'Letter to the Editor' published June 29th, 2011:

This missive is in response to Letters to The Editor and Stoney Creek News articles that have run over the past couple of years regarding the metered parking brouhaha that has so dominated the psyches of so many. 

The standard perception is that metered parking within the BIA has been a death-blow, delivered by an arbitrary, autocratic Amalgamated City of Hamilton. As I have maintained ad nauseam, this tack is hardly more than a convenient windmill to tilt out, an opportunity to galvanize the community against something tangible, a facile demonization...a wonderful example of 'Us vs Them'. I've found it sad that nobody has chosen to really open up the conversation to authentically examine the issue of 'Why Downtown Stoney Creek Isn't Much of Anything At All', especially when the community sorely deserves so much more. 

(For the record: I do not believe that as things currently stand there should be metered street parking in the BIA. The area is simply too vulnerable. But please consider that metered parking has not created this 'vulnerability', but rather, accentuated it. Additionally, broad discussion of this topic has been continually presented on the civic activism commentary blog 'My Stoney Creek'.)

And so, in contrast to the 'Metered Parking Kills Downtown Stoney Creek!!!' mindset, here's my 'Top Five List of Factors that Contribute to Downtown Stoney Creek's Woes':

5) Insufficient, hassle-free parking access for staff. The Great Forgotten, Unspoken Issue. (And any response from the City involving the facile suggestion of staff switching to 'public transit' should warrant a smack.)  

4) Monopolization of Municipal Lot #3 by Health Sciences Building clients. The Even BIGGER Forgotten, Unspoken Issue. 

3) Customer Laziness. There's free parking in Lot #3. But people are seemingly unwilling to make the trek from King Street and its merchants. It's fascinating to compare the distances shoppers are quite agreeable to logging within malls. When there are worthwhile reasons to make the trek. But then, this directly leads to...

2) Lack of genuine anchor tenants. Go to any thriving BIA in Ontario. Having to pay for parking is not an issue. If there are compelling reasons to shop somewhere...people will pay for the opportunity. To believe otherwise in this changing world is the height of naïveté. But Downtown Stoney Creek lacks a sufficient number of these businesses. (Frankly, there's really only one.) If there were strong enough anchor tenants, and enough of them...you know, as in Dundas, for example...excursions would be the norm and people would walk 200 feet and not think twice. I guarantee it. And of course, this is primarily the result of...

1) Apparent dearth of incentive, inventiveness and initiative where 'development' is concerned. Yes, there have been tough times in the economy. Yes,  mall shopping continues to be many shoppers' default. Yes, the perception of 'parking problems' doesn't help when trying to corral good, solid businesses as tenants. But Downtown Stoney Creek...despite having as its catchment area a longstanding economically-stable community, and here I'm talking about the Golden Square Mile of Centennial to Gray, Hwy #8 to the Escarpment...has been sequestered in a bubble for the longest time; it's actually a wonder that things aren't worse. Downtown Stoney Creek has almost staggering potential as a 'main street', something its residents could be proud of. It just requires a different mix for this potential to be realized. (And I have to add this: if the trend to get 'professionals' to move into the BIA continues, any worries about the Downtown will vanish...because there won't be a 'downtown'.)

Finally, I'm quite aware that it's the marketplace that determines whether or not a downtown, a main street, a city's core possesses vibrancy and vitality, whether or not the area is something that's integral to the community it serves. And that the marketplace includes the business owners, developers, renters, business associations, the municipal framework within which it all works...and of course, the potential customers themselves. But to reverse what I've pointed out, for Downtown Stoney Creek to be re-imagined, re-invented and resurrected, the realities of the situation need to be openly and honestly acknowledged, reported and discussed by all concerned. Something that I don't believe hasn't occurred yet. At least not out loud.