There's a lot of discussion about what's happening downtown with the revitalization and with Laurier University and how the 2 combine. As I was watching one the Ward debates this week, I heard one prospective councillor talking about how safe the downtown is and how students don't fear for their safety. That's a wonderful sentiment for a person to say from the North End of the city, however it's just not based on the facts.
According to a representative from the Laurier Student Union, safety is the second biggest concern for the students surpassed only by their need for transportation out of the downtown (because there's nothing for them to buy, eat or do). One student I spoke with a few days ago, who said that safety is her biggest issue, said that she has seen 5 arrests right in front of her residence within the previous week! Sounds safe to me.
Here's what we project on our city's website and to prospective people considering moving their families, businesses, or son's and daughters (speaking of the University) to our city.
However... here's "the rest of the story". If we can shoot a horror film of a "deserted possessed town" in this part
of our city and all we need is to add grey foam (dirt)... we may have a problem. As a city, we're presently giving the owners of these, and similar type buildings around our city, tax BREAKS (30% less than normal!) to keep them empty. This may not be great leadership on our part (He said with his tongue firmly embedded in his cheek). So let's get real. If we want to have a downtown that is appealing to our students, we'd better get the downtown issue taken care of immediately. We need to THINK BIG about how to really make Brantford a University city if we're going to allow our post secondary schools to thrive as they should.
The THINK BIG team, is officially inviting you (along with the local media) to join us Friday October 27th in front of our building at 178 Market Street from 9:30 until 2am. (It's the Big Blue building, formerly "The Scene" and "The Rainforest Restaurant"). Every Friday night, an outreach team from Freedom House, hosts a free barbecue there. You should really come and see what happens in "Brantford After Dark"
brianbeattieward1@gmail.com(519) 752-7789
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