Missed Opportunities

I work in downtown Edmonton.  Now this has never been my favorite place as I am more of a burbs or rural girl at heart.  Having said that, I do like some city down towns, just not our own.  There are some nice spots here and there and some pockets of development that have really enhanced downtown. 

Some good restaurants have cropped up and more and more I see people out and about going for walks, jogs or enjoying a fat frank on the street.  My problem is this - there are so many wasted opportunities to improve public spaces.  A couple of examples come to mind.

The downtown library.  Behind the library there used to be some planters, benches and tables where you could go sit, take your lunch and enjoy the sun for a bit.  When you work in a tall building all day, little breaks outside are really energizing and often relaxing.  Last year they started to tear everything out, benches, planters, all gone.  I was excited because I thought they were going to improve the space and make it even nicer.  Once it was done I went back and there it was.  A giant pad of concrete with just a few benches and a whole lot of nothingness : (   wtf?

This is the same with Churchill square.  Now I understand the need to have a nice surface for festivals and events, but what about the times when they are not going on?  You end up with another large mass of nothingness and people hovering around the outskirts where there are a few tables and trees. 

I feel like our city keeps missing the mark on public spaces.  I work on Rice Howard way which is another location with lots of potential.  The street has some good restaurants and a few patios.  The city could easily close down a couple of those streets to traffic and make them more pedestrian friendly.  I could envision restaurants having patios that spread out into the street.  It would be nice to have a few more street vendors and some places to sit and eat that hot dog or whatever!

I think a downtown core has to offer more than buildings and concrete.  I see improvements happening but its very slow.  I think public spaces can really add value to peoples lives and I hope that future planners give this a lot more thought than they have in the past.