When we think of a city's downtown, we picture hustle and bustle. Between the countless restaurants, bars, retail shops and company headquarters, it typically creates a booming downtown. Well, downtown St.Catharines seems to be a bit quiet compared to most. This once booming city center seems to have lost a bit of it's hustle and bustle over the years, but the city is working vigorously at restoring it. This past spring the city announced a construction project that was to take place on St.Paul street. The project has finally been completed and the streets have officially reopened to the public.
The Journey to Revamping St. Paul St
Downtown St. Catharines has seen a number of updates in the attempt at revitalizing this once lively core. This past summer the city began working on the part of St. Paul Street between James and Carlisle Streets. This construction project was initiated in hopes to increase the functionality of the downtown area for residents and downtown St. Catharines businesses. The project included adding new and widening existing sidewalks. This would allow for additional pedestrian space, patios, planters, new street lighting and a pedestrian crosswalk. The work took place over the majority of the summer months but has officially reopened to traffic.
What does this mean for downtown St. Catharines Businesses?
With the additional space for patios, this construction project will hopefully promote an increase in downtown St. Catharines businesses. This will also hopefully help improve Niagara investment projects, allowing for additional Niagara developments. With respect to businesses already operating in the downtown core, perhaps the additional construction will draw more residents downtown. Between Niagara Craft Breweries and tasty food, what else could downtown St. Catharines ask for?
Downtown Promoting Niagara Growth
Over the last couple of years, we have seen major changes in the downtown core; from the opening of brand new facilities (Meridian Centre and FirstOntario Performing Arts Center) to now having historic St. Paul Street revamped. These constant changes in our downtown seem to be ramping up to promote additional growth in the region. Between residential and commercial, it doesn’t seem that there will be any slowing down in the real estate industry.
St. Catharines typically has been known as being a retirement city. With recent developments and construction going on throughout the city, it looks as though they are preparing for a possible demographics change. Not only are these improvements in the city promoting Niagara growth, it’s also helping to boost the region's economic development.
