Guelph’s mayor sees a day in the future when Downtown Guelph is for pedestrians first and vehicles second.
Speaking at the 2020 State of the City address, Cam Guthrie said Guelph could potentially have a car-free downtown at some point in its future and he is willing to push for that.
“Imagine what it would be like if our downtown were a place where the streets were purely designed for pedestrians, cyclists and public transit first — and cars second,” Guthre said.
“Imagine if it were a place where people could get around more easily and comfortably on foot, on bikes or on transit, with cars only in designated places, or certain times, as needed to make deliveries for example.”
Guthrie said it would be a gradual process, but one he thinks could work in Guelph.
“What if by being people-centric and not car-centric in our downtown makes us a safer, healthier and friendlier place and increases tourism?
“This vision is possible and I’m not afraid to champion it,” Guthrie said.
He said it might begin with making downtown car free for a few weekends or for special events.
“We could build on this over a series of years.”
What’s important, he said, was to have the conversation about what is possible.
“Ten years from now, do we want our downtown to be just slightly better or prettier than it is now? Or do we want to be bold and push ourselves towards a downtown that is truly a destination — not for cars, but for people?”
The other key points he struck in regards to the future were getting a handle on the city’s operational costs and providing free transit for high school students and children under 13.
There were no gimmicks at this year's State of the City address.
No in-house video with a city hall version of The Office, no take home Guelph version of Monopoly or “#GuelphProud” buttons sitting on the tables.
Guthrie stuck to the nuts and bolts as he addressed roughly 250 business and community leaders at the Delta Hotel in the annual State of the City speech, which is hosted by the Guelph Chamber of Commerce.
This year's theme was "2020 Vision" (get it?) and as usual, it was later in the 4,742-word speech where the tastiest, or at least newsiest, nuggets were found.
After a run down of city accomplishments and an update on some of the subject matter from last year’s address, the mayor got to some of what he sees as his vision for the city.
He led off by quoting former longtime mayor Norm Jary: “Reflecting on his time as mayor, he said: ‘My goal was a city not so expensive that nobody could afford to live in it, but not so cheap that nobody would want to live in it.’”
The mayor also took time to recognize and honour former city builder and longtime council member Ken Hammill, who passed away this week
The mayor’s entire State of the City address can be found here.
