In an effort to better assess what the community wants Sparks Street to be, the Sparks Street BIA recently undertook an online survey asking for input on how the historic downtown street could be improved.
The survey, which ran through most of January and came to a close on Feb. 4, was an effective way for the BIA to engage with the community around them, says Les Gagne, the BIA’s executive director.
“People want to know what’s going on,” he says, “and we want to know what they’re thinking. This survey helps us put our finger right on the pulse of the community.”
Gagne says the five-question survey was the BIA’s first foray into online polling and will hopefully reach people who were uncomfortable with answering volunteers with clipboards on the street conducting similar surveys last October and November.
Although he says the questions were simple, such as “What would you like to see on Sparks Street?” they were all open-ended, leaving a lot of room for suggestions and further discussion.
Other questions included: “What draws you to Sparks Street?”, “Are there some aspects of the street you find unappealing?” and “If there is one thing that could be done to improve your Sparks Street experience, what should it be?”.
“The overall reaction to the survey was really good. Unfortunately, we won’t know the exact results until mid-March when we have our board strategic planning session. That’s when we’ll be able to talk through the results of this survey and our broader action plan” he says.
The BIA’s action plan, of which this latest survey is a part, is an all-encompassing endeavour aiming to both improve and reinvent the street, says Gagne.
It touches on issues ranging from gap analysis, which assesses where retail is lacking and needs to be filled in, to infrastructure improvement, such as repaving the street with interlocking stones that better withstand harsh winters.
Mike Dufresne, a Centretown resident who answered the survey, says he’s pleased with the willingness to hear from community members.
“I don’t want people who are in charge of making decisions that affect me, make them by guessing. I want to see them put in the effort to get to know what I want before they act,” he says.
Dufresne says the biggest improvement he wants to see is a livelier night-time experience.
“I don’t mean clubs but I’d love to see special events being held on a more regular basis. After the stores close the street gets pretty dead. If there’s something else that attracts people after that time though, the street can stay busy and fun.”
Gagne, who took over as executive director of the BIA in June, says he hopes – and expects – to get answers to questions like Dufresne’s when the results are analyzed.
“We’ve been trying to get people more involved with the street,” he says, “and one of the ways we’ve had success with is through third party collaborations on events such as WinterBrewed that starts soon. It’s not our event but we have a partnership that will hopefully attract a lot of people.”
Another issue Gagne predicts he’ll encounter is making the street cyclist friendly.
As things stand, cycling is not permitted on Sparks Street. Cyclists have to walk their bikes or take another street.
This can be frustrating for avid cyclists such as Erica Stevens who says most cyclists would love to take an easy ride through the street to enjoy the atmosphere without having to dismount.
“Most of us don’t want to go speeding through the street, otherwise we’d take another one. We want to go and enjoy it the way we go and enjoy other areas of town, by pedalling through them,” she says.
These, and other such issues, are something Gagne says he and the BIA want to pursue.
He says it’s not a revitalisation they want to undertake, but rather a complete reinvention, taking the old iconic street and making it new.
“With the help of the community,” he says, “we’re well on our way.”