Twitter thread : Walkable City by @JeffSpeckAICP

From the Prologue, Walkable City by @JeffSpeckAICP pic.twitter.com/EHjzRrD3sW

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) December 28, 2018

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City Builder Glossary via @EvergreenCanada

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... did you know that this plan includes building tall condo towers on this waterfront property? Did you know that almost none of this property is slated for public park and greenspace protection for future generations?

Mayor Krog and Nanaimo City Councillors, I’m concerned about starting immediate work on extending Front Street into our south downtown waterfront, 1 Port Drive.

I ask that you take the time you need to set your priorities and establish your Council’s direction for the short and mid-term, and direct City Staff to not proceed with work at 1 Port Drive.

My concerns are: this work proceeding — 

Before you’ve been able to act on your resolve to establish a new government to government relationship with the Snuneymuxw First Nation;

• Before you’ve had a chance to review and consider a “complete street” redesign of Front Street before it’s extended through the waterfront lands;
• Before you’ve had a chance to review the Port Drive Master Plan and are satisfied that it promises the highest possible public-good outcome now and for future Nanaimo generations.

Please take the time to get this right. Let’s build on the good work done to date and create a new urban waterfront neighbourhood that we and future generations can be proud of.

Sincerely
Frank Murphy

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5. I’m calling on our new @cityofnanaimo Council to direct staff to not proceed on the Front extension until they have taken the time they need to get this right. "Nanaimo deserves, that we settle for nothing less than excellence here.” https://t.co/UFfS6tUAte

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) November 29, 2018

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One-size-fits-all solutions to Nanaimo problems is at best a sisyphean task

I’ve an idea. Here it is.

A lot of Nanaimo’s challenging problems in transportation, and in both environmental and economic sustainability are caused by the fact that relatively few of us live on a relatively large land mass. Victoria and Nanaimo have about the same population. But Nanaimo’s physical size is 5 times larger. (2016 census)

I’ve come to accept that one-size-fits-all solutions to these problems is at best a sisyphean task. But consider : There is a salvageable city here — in our city centre core. Investments in equitable mobility options (including walk, bike, accessibility networks) like efficient, affordable, frequent transit and improvements to the public realm, key to supporting the further urbanization of our downtown (enhanced and expanded waterfront plazas and promenades and within downtown neighbourhoods well-sited and thoughtfully designed urban squares and parks) would immediately produce measurable benefit.

It’s time to direct public focus and investment on the one neighbourhood everyone in the city benefits from and everyone has equitable access to : Downtown, and the city centre core. An innovative approach would be zoning within this zone geared to its needs and even include the creation of a City Centre Ward that would elect it’s own dedicated Councillor.

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Those beg-buttons gotta go!

Those beg-buttons gotta go! Cartoon : Roz Chast https://t.co/hNkH3cKVQY HT @plannerdanzack pic.twitter.com/XGeAgUwLwY

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) November 13, 2018

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Decisions this council will make about our south downtown waterfront will have consequences for a century.

Our new City Council will face a number of urgent issues. One issue will have, potentially, the greatest impact on the largest number of Nanaimo citizens and over the longest period of time, over generations in fact. It's no exaggeration to say decisions this Council will be asked to make about our south downtown waterfront will have consequences for a century.

The City of Nanaimo, in 2013 purchased 26.7 acres of downtown waterfront lands from CP Rail. The City currently refers to these lands as 1 Port Drive. There were a number of complex issues resolved but one key issue remains unresolved, the Land Claims and Treaty Rights of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. When, and not until, this is satisfactorily resolved the site will be ready for important decisions on how to proceed. Waterfront redevelopments across Canada in recent years have proven to be transformative for their cities. Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria have all invested in this important industrial lands renewal and repurposing.

There are two tools which these cities have used to ensure the success of these projects. In one variation or another they have employed an Open Design Competition to attract the top talent specializing in this area: Architects, Urban Planners, Urban Designers, Landscape Architects, with proven experience and documented accomplishments.

The second tool common to these projects is a Public Development Corporation, a City-owned corporation operating under a charter making clear its mandate and restrictions. This was also among the recommendations of the City's South Downtown Waterfront Initiative Committee. This tool was used in one form or another to develop Granville Island; Pike Place Market, in Seattle; Waterfront Toronto; The Forks, Winnipeg. The SDWI Visioning and Guideline Principles document available on the City of Nanaimo website gives these and other examples..

Good work has been done to prepare the site and now it's ready for the next exciting phase. It's time for an Open Design Competition to attract top national and international talent to create a new downtown neighbourhood to be proud of.

This downtown waterfront property is a gem, the envy of any and every city in the country. It deserves, Nanaimo deserves, that we settle for nothing less than excellence here. — Frank Murphy

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Further thoughts on the
South Downtown #Nanaimo Waterfront. From Apr 2017. https://t.co/F5ptl5Y91O pic.twitter.com/ukd2qV8N1j

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) August 18, 2018

This appeared also in the Nanaimo News Bulletin as a guest column.

"The citymaking process is a topdown, ideological-based, expert-driven approach — and it's failing us."

"Quite simply, the citymaking process is a topdown, ideological-based, expert-driven approach, accessible only to a few—and it's failing us." — @stateofplace https://t.co/vWIc4Cb1R5

— Nathan Storring (@natestorring) September 26, 2018

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From a Parking Lot to an Urban Square

Urban Design for the Public Good, Assignment: Choose an uninviting public place in your neighbourhood whose layout and structure make you feel uncomfortable or unwel­come. Propose solutions...
http://nanaimocommons.blogspot.ca/…/democratic-values-in-pl…

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Tyler Brown

About a year ago this time, I met with Tyler at Bocca. I knew from social media that we had shared interests in urban planning and general 21st Century city-building, but we hadn't before met in person.

Tyler's background includes Urban Planning, which I knew, but I also learned his post-grad studies were in Urban Policy (University of Glasgow). His CV can be found at his website: tylerbrown2018.com. He's employed by the Regional District of Nanaimo, as Intergovernmental Liaison — currently on leave while he campaigns for a seat on Nanaimo City Council.

It came up in this chat a year ago that he was considering running for City Council. Tyler is a young man, starting a family. He and his partner had just had a baby.

I've been in Nanaimo 25 years and I can confidently say that no one has before brought to City Council Tyler's skill set, talents, training and direct work experience in City and Regional government. I'm very excited about what his election can bring to Nanaimo and am very supportive. You'll see on his website a platform far more detailed and thoughtful and expansive and, yes, ambitious than you perhaps have ever before. Tyler and his family have put a lot on the line to do this and, having gotten to know Tyler especially over the last year, I can tell you his motivations are genuinely to make this a better more equitable more environmentally and economically sustainable mid-sized city.

In 2017 Tyler and I had considered organizing Nanaimo’s first Jane’s Walk but weren’t able to pull it together in time. Jane's Walk celebrates the legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by getting people out to explore their neighbourhoods. Time seemed right this year and we planned one, under Tyler’s leadership as City Organizer and sponsored by his tactical urbanism site Our Street Nanaimo, to take place for May 5th starting at the front steps of City Hall.

Nanaimo’s was one of 250 cities around the world to hold Jane's Walks on the anniversary of her birth weekend. And I saw first hand some of the skills and talents that Tyler will bring to being a City Councillor. Forging working relationships on the fly, engaging with a wide spectrum of people with different interests and agendas to come together to participate in this event. Thinking on his feet, making decisive decisions when at the last minute we realized so many people were arriving we had to split into 2 walks!

I believe a City Council with Tyler on it will be a better City Council. It will work better, it will make better decisions. Tyler will be in a unique position, with his background training and work experience in Urban Planning and Public Policy, to help his Council colleagues understand often complex, technical reports from city staff and consultants. He'll be able to put the reports in context, perhaps explain alternatives. Councillors will be better able to ask informed questions of city staff and be better able to make better decisions. A City Council with Tyler on it will be a better City Council.

— Frank Murphy

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What does the City of Nanaimo's Downtown Urban Plan and Guidelines say about Chapel Street?

The 2009 Downtown Urban Design Plan and Guidelines (the result of an inclusive and participatory process overseen by Victoria architect Frank D’Ambrosio) offers important guidelines for the development of this special precinct. Page 23 : https://t.co/Cd0Yqusq2T pic.twitter.com/tecgMirUnI

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 15, 2018

"The public realm should be defined here by continuous building street wall that should be approximately 5 storeys in height. Residential towers can achieve the same continuous street-edge with a base or podium of this height."

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 15, 2018

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Pay attention Nanaimo

Pay attention #Nanaimo. This is on its way to Council. At either end of Chapel Street a human-scale street environment has been taking shape in recent years. To be built, this 24 storey tower requires huge increases over what’s now allowable in both height and building mass. pic.twitter.com/eAGOIO1kcs

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 13, 2018

RT @BrentToderian Almost all #Vancouver towers have a mid-rise podium/base, creating a human-scaled street edge. They have many different scales, from townhouses to 7 storey mid-rises... https://t.co/pwH4ZI19ni pic.twitter.com/fQRV7w5GrJ

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 14, 2018

Community Planning and Development Committee June 19 meeting agenda including staff report : https://t.co/61R2RgcMkh

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) June 13, 2018

#Nanaimo, these kinds of towers are a lazy approach to growth. Happier cities choose human scale, incremental urban infill. You can do it! https://t.co/UEDJtkjuVB

— Happy City (@thehappycity) June 14, 2018

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See what I mean about a public market?

Come on out and visit :) In the meantime check out this video by the very talented @jamesmullinger https://t.co/YIaG1qkgEi

— SJ City Market (@sjcitymarket) May 31, 2018

Thanks for the great video and invite! I'll starting making plans.

"In true Maritimes fashion, you can't walk through it without making a friend!"

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 31, 2018

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On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy : 4 : A downtown public market

In the first post of this series, former Toronto Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat says, "Mid-sized cities hold the key to economic growth and quality of life in Canada, and they’ve taken too long to realize it." And in the second an essay in Strong Towns considers what can local economies learn from the explosion of craft brewing in big and small cities. Also my Twitter thread where I do an informal survey of food and drink business within my Old City neighbourhood. The question arose: can a cluster of uses become a mutually supportive destination, a primary use?

1. My small neighbourhood—Old City—currently has a Greek restaurant, Tex-Mex, Italian, Japanese, a Cupcakery, specialty food import + cheese shop, beer+wine store, 2 coffee bars, 3 lunch cafes, 3 pubs w/ kitchens. New Japanese restaurant opening soon.Confident it'll also do well.

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 19, 2018

And then an introduction to Jane Jacobs' book, Cities and the Wealth of Nations. All of which led to, not entirely unintentionally, a focus on a downtown Nanaimo City-owned Public Market. Starting from a piece in Guardian Cities on an ambitious city wide Barcelona plan to renovate its public markets, I asked followers to help me out: what markets have impressed you? What can we learn from them?

Here’s an attempt to compile : Pike Place, Seattle • The Forks / Johnston Terminal, Winnipeg • Granville Island • St Johns City Market • Rochester NY Public Market • All the Barcelona markets • St Lawrence Market, Toronto • Findlay Market, Cincinnati • Mexico City, Oaxaca • Mobile markets across the South of France.

I hope I got them all and thanks to everyone for the great contributions and comments. These comments from the London UK SE5 area, Visit Camberwell were standouts: "In some ways, car culture carries over into cycling culture with widespread advocacy of bakfiets (cargo bikes) as the ideal sustainable form of household shopping. Whereas imho the challenge is to restore a vibrant distributed local network of independent shops for hand-to-mouth food planning."

Around the world, pubic markets are key municipal assets that, done right, punch above their weight economically, socially and culturally. A Nanaimo Downtown Public Market should be a priority, the process of preparing a detailed business plan should be undertaken by our new Mayor and Council and Senior Staff without delay.

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On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy : 3 : What makes economic expansion happen?

Jane Jacobs was asked what she thought she’d be remembered for most. “If I were to be remembered as a really important thinker of the century, the most important thing I've contributed is my discussion of what makes economic expansion happen. This is something that has puzzled people always. I think I've figured out what it is.” Interview in Reason, 2001. City Views : Urban studies legend Jane Jacobs on gentrification, the New Urbanism, and her legacy.

She goes on to say "Expansion and development are two different things. Development is differentiation of what already existed... Practically every new thing that happens is a differentiation of a previous thing… Expansion is an actual growth in size or volume of activity.” from interview excerpt on her Wikipedia page.

From her 1969 book The Economy of Cities and later in Cities and the Wealth of Nations and The Nature of Economies, Jacobs referred to a principle she called import replacement, that a city’s economic expansion grows from producing for local markets what is now imported, some of this production later becoming viable for export. A principle I’ve found difficult to apply to Nanaimo, a city whose economy is supported more by public sector payrolls than by the private sector's local creation of goods and services, and where much commerce is in effect privatized to remote corporate owned shopping centres, with many franchised businesses.

The earlier post on craft brewing’s growth examines what can be learned from its success by other local industries. Has the consolidation of industries into fewer and fewer, larger and larger corporations, created niche demands at the local level?

A large trend is right in front of us: food security, farm-to-table restaurants, farmers markets, local wines and spirits as well as craft beer… Its economic potential is considerable. What help does it need (or want) to go to the next level?  

Cities and the Wealth of Nations－Principles of Economic Life, Jane Jacobs
Chapter 7, Transplant Regions pic.twitter.com/Lot1acbdBA

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) January 9, 2018

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On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy: 2 : Cities and the Wealth of Nations, Jane Jacobs

It’s well known that Jane Jacobs wrote a famous book that changed how we look at and think about cities. It’s not as well known that her books on economics were as influential. As she did in in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, in her 1984 book Cities and the Wealth of Nations, she uncovered things that were hiding in plain sight that had been overlooked by “experts.” She again, showed us things that once seen, are impossible to un-see. If you have an interest in economies, macro or micro, pick up a copy and read along.

I’ll be rereading it specifically to better understand how a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy takes hold and grows. Here’s Strong Towns’ Charles Marohn with a terrific overview and introduction to the book. Chapter 1 ; Fool's Paradise ...

"Cities and the Wealth of Nations skewers dogma in a relentless march towards one of Jane Jacobs' most important insights: cities, not nations, are the central organizing geography around which economies are structured..."

Encore: @StrongTowns Chuck Marohn "Cities and the Wealth of Nations skewers dogma in a relentless march towards one of #JaneJacobs' most important insights: cities, not nations, are the central organizing geography around which economies are structured..." https://t.co/llY9HLMRTM

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) April 15, 2018

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On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy. 1

 These recent Strong Towns posts take a thoughtful look at the rapid growth of craft beer businesses in large and small communities across North America, asking what can other local businesses learn from their success.

What the craft brewing boom can teach other local businesses… Part One @StrongTowns @serialhobbyist1 https://t.co/obnYHfTx9y

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 23, 2018

What the craft brewing boom can teach other local businesses… Part Two @StrongTowns @serialhobbyist1 https://t.co/FfQO6xvfda

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 23, 2018

The author identifies how the consolidation of bigger and fewer corporate brewers left an unmet demand for a local craft industry, one that could interact directly with consumers with unique local offerings. Perhaps we can see other similar unmet demands once we start to look for them…  I did a rough survey of my Old City neighbourhood, listing the food and drink related businesses within very close proximity to each other. The majority, I found to be within a single block (Wesley to Selby, Fitzwilliam to Franklyn).

Here's what I found : Twitter thread : My small neighbourhood — Nanaimo's Old City Quarter — currently has ...

1. My small neighbourhood—Old City—currently has a Greek restaurant, Tex-Mex, Italian, Japanese, a Cupcakery, specialty food import + cheese shop, beer+wine store, 2 coffee bars, 3 lunch cafes, 3 pubs w/ kitchens. New Japanese restaurant opening soon.Confident it'll also do well.

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 19, 2018

On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy: 2 : Cities and the Wealth of Nations, Jane Jacobs

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On a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative local economy. Introduction

It's not a shortage of housing. It's a shortage of cities. If we define a city as a human settlement with its own self-reliant, resilient and regenerative economy, there’s very few of them. In Canada, maybe six? Nanaimo, where I live, does not qualify as a city by this definition. How do we become a city by this definition? Currently the largest payrolls here are public sector. Family-supporting paychecks that are welcome and appreciated. Fact is, though, the prosperity that backstops these payrolls is not for the most part produced here. It’s produced elsewhere, mostly in BC’s mega-city Vancouver.

There was a bumper sticker a few years ago in Alberta,
“Please God let there be another oil boom. I promise not to piss it all away this time.”

Nanaimo should resist the temptation to become complacent and start now to plant the seeds of a self-reliant, resilient and regenerative economy. Here’s former Toronto Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat writing in Maclean’s: Toronto’s unaffordable. Why can’t Halifax or Saskatoon take advantage? https://www.macleans.ca/economy/torontos-unaffordable-why-cant-halifax-or-saskatoon-take-advantage/

"Take downtown Toronto: it encompasses just 17 of the city’s 613 square kilometres, yet is home to 275,000 people, and is growing four times faster than the city as a whole. Over 75 per cent of these people walk, cycle or take transit to their jobs, which generate 53 per cent of the city’s export-based GDP. There is both an economic and a quality-of-life value to having people in close proximity.”

Your future is downtown, Nanaimo.

My sm city Nanaimo population 100K recognizable in @jen_keesmaat’s column, all the land use mistakes present + accounted for. Having a re-read of Jacobs’ Cities + the Wealth of Nations. The forces that have to be at work in the creation of resilient self-regenerating city economy

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) January 17, 2018

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This would bring some life to downtown Nanaimo's Diana Krall Plaza

When closed, it just looks like a big container. But when it opens up, it turns into a full-out restaurant....

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Did the weekend Jane’s Walk stir or renew an interest in Jane Jacobs and her influential work on cities?

1. Did the weekend Jane’s Walk stir or renew an interest in Jane Jacobs and her influential work on cities? There are a number of books that could serve as an entry point. If you decide to read The Death and Life of Great American Cities, here’s a resource: pic.twitter.com/JciOK3qHX4

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 7, 2018

2. A 12 week on line book club examination of her great book chapter by chapter knowledgeable insightful essays by many people, some of whom knew her personally and/or worked with her. @citybuilderbook https://t.co/vLsztQ9gsX

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) May 7, 2018

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Jane's Walk NanaimoSaturday May 5th 2:00 PM

Jane's Walks are walking conversations, lots of personal observations, examples. Jacobs believed local residents understood best how their neighbourhood works and what is needed to strengthen it. Quote: Four ways to improve cities + towns @NewUrbanism https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/jane-jacobs-four-ways-improve-cities-and-towns

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Jane's Walk Nanaimo 2018 downtown May 5

"The magic of the street is the mingling of the errand and the epiphany." Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust : A History of Walking. #JanesWalkNanaimo downtown May 5! @NanaimoCommons @NanaimoNewsNOW @janeswalk pic.twitter.com/fHJssIN6Ow

— Our Street Nanaimo (@OS_Nanaimo) April 20, 2018

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Our Street Nanaimo ‏ @OS_Nanaimo — Walk and talk with us #Nanaimo May 5 2PM #JanesWalkNanaimo

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Our Street Nanaimo ‏ @OS_Nanaimo — Walk and talk with us #Nanaimo May 5 2PM #JanesWalkNanaimo

Walk and talk with us #Nanaimo on May 5th at 2:00 PM. The walk will last approximately an hour and begins on the front steps of Nanaimo City Hall. pic.twitter.com/OXDEgdhijX

— Our Street Nanaimo (@OS_Nanaimo) April 7, 2018

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Listen up #Nanaimo.

Listen up #Nanaimo.

In redeveloping our South Downtown Waterfront Lands, there are lessons to be learned from the 1970s Vancouver South False Creek planning process.
HT @spacingvanhttps://t.co/Wd24fCfLRH

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) December 1, 2017

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The 1st annual #Nanaimo Jane's Walk happening downtown May 5th 2:00 pm

Save the date #Nanaimo for our first ever Jane's Walk on May 5th at 2:00 PM! @janeswalk is an annual festival of free, citizen-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs. Starting from the front steps of City Hall, we will explore keys streets and sites in our downtown! pic.twitter.com/mHMLCklyS8

— Our Street Nanaimo (@OS_Nanaimo) April 5, 2018

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#Nanaimo. Do the math...

Source: @CultivateCollab Empowering citizens to contribute. Helping cities get more done with existing resources. Growing unique & self-sustaining local economies.

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Andrew Homzy's letter to the editor re a VIU downtown campus

Note: Since this piece and letter were published I've considered the use of the VICC for this purpose to no longer be an option. But I am hoping that Andrew’s Montreal experience and the important local impact of his Nanaimo International Jazz Festival serve to foster discussion of a downtown VIU campus, and a arts and economic revitalization.

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Dear Sirs, Following the recent discussions about the failure and expense of the Vancouver Island Conference Centre (VICC), I thought this an appropriate time to write you with some perspectives, ideas and a proposal.

First, a few of my credentials: I am from Montréal where I taught music at Concordia University for 40 years. I am also a composer, director, author and professional musician with extensive experience in North America, Europe and Scandinavia.

When I arrived in Nanaimo in 2009, I was struck by three things: The ghost-town atmosphere of the downtown after 5:00pm, the remoteness of VIU from the hub of Nanaimo, and the empty beauty of the VICC.

When I began teaching at Concordia, the University was divided into two campuses - the downtown campus, former Sir George Williams University and the Loyola College campus, 7 km to the west. Public transportation between the two campuses took 40 minutes - eventually, a University shuttle-bus did the route in 20 minutes.

For various historical and logistical reasons, Music and Theatre resided on the Loyola Campus while Visual Arts resided downtown. This was unfortunate for Concordia’s performing arts because the students were greatly removed from the professional performance venues, work/study opportunities and the vibrant inspiring “buzz” which makes Montréal such a great city. Finally, in 2009, a huge project was completed which united all of Concordia’s Fine Arts students in the heart of downtown - the corner of Guy and Sherbrooke streets. Within one semester, both the neighbourhood and the performing arts students were transformed. And that’s what I’d like to see happen here.

A Renaissance in Nanaimo -

When I taught Music at VIU as a leave replacement - during the “Strike Semester” of 2011” - I was first-hand witness to a multitude of problems and challenges for the students there. I saw inadequate and dilapidated facilities, woefully outdated equipment, and especially, that up-hill remoteness which prevented students from significant engagement in the cultural and civic activity of this wonderful little town.

On the other hand, I saw the VICC with its empty store-fronts and it’s beautiful, unused rooms in various configurations - viz:

    • 9 multi-purpose meeting rooms
    • 13,697-sq.ft. ballroom – divisible into 4 salons
    • 200-seat tiered Shaw Auditorium
    • 16,000-sq.ft. Nanaimo Museum
    • 2 entrance lobbies
    • 2 spacious pre-function areas
    • 300-space underground parking garage
    • 800-seat tiered Port Theatre (adjacent)

Imagine what it would do to bring the vibrant Performing and Visual Arts students into this facility -

Theatre students might ameliorate the situation in the struggling facilities of Harbour City Theatre, the mostly closed Nanaimo Entertainment Centre, and of course, interact with events at the Port Theatre. Perhaps they might also interact with the nearby Harbour Dancenter. Besides having classes in the VICC, they might also find class space in the aforementioned venues

Visual Arts students would be in close proximity to the Nanaimo Art Gallery, the Nanaimo Museums and the inspiring waterfront. Imagine walking down Commercial street and seeing the now empty VICC storefronts as classrooms filled with visual art students - and their art displayed in the lobbies and other spaces thought the downtown.

Music students would be next to the Port Theatre with it’s many first rate music productions as well as the downtown venues which present jazz, blues and creative music - not to forget the near-by Nanaimo Conservatory of Music, which focuses on excellence in classical music.

The meeting rooms in the VICC would make excellent classrooms for all the Performing and Visual Arts classes. The Shaw Auditorium would be excellent for concerts and recitals - and still be used for City Council meetings on Mondays.

Sirs, there may be some obstacles, but I believe the basic move downtown could be accomplished during the 4-month summer break - with adjustments made over the following year. Imagine a new kind of September in Nanaimo: The downtown vibrant - as is Montréal - with Fine Arts students who live and study in or near our city core.

Messrs. McKay and Nilson, could you please make this renaissance happen?

Amitiés,

Andrew Homzy,
Nanaimo Citizen -
Professor Emeritus,
Concordia University

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The downtown renewal achieved when Concordia University created a downtown campus.

The following was originally published in the Nanaimo Daily News, Aug 20, 2015. Reprinted with permission of the author. Andrew Homzy is a Grammy nominated musician, Professor Emeritus, Concordia University. Andrew is also President of the Nanaimo International Jazz Festival Association.

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Moving Vancouver Island University music and performing arts students to Nanaimo's Vancouver Island Conference Centre could rejuvenate the city's core and would make use of existing space in the conference centre, says Andrew Homzy, a professor emeritus from Concordia University who now resides on Protection Island.

Homzy taught jazz at Concordia in Montreal for 40 years beginning in the late 1970s in Montreal and said both the city and school benefited from moving music and theatre downtown in a pitch to council and VIU officials via email this week.
Homzy said performing arts students went to a separate campus outside of the city, unlike visual arts students, who were located in the downtown campus.

"This was unfortunate for the performing arts students because they were greatly removed from the professional performance venues, work/study opportunities and the vibrant inspiring 'buzz' which makes Montreal such a great city," he said in his email.

"Finally, in 2009, a huge project was completed which united all of the fine arts students in the heart of downtown. .. Within one semester, both the neighbourhood and the students were transformed. And that's what I'd like to see happen here."

An influx of arts students into the downtown core would drive demand for accommodation and services and liven up the area, he said. Repurposing the city owned conference centre has increasingly become a topic of conversation in light of what critics have described as a disappointing performance from the conference centre.

Mayor Bill McKay said he wants to continue the current course and instead seek out business opportunities to bolster the facility's fortunes. McKay and city manager Ted Swabey were in Vancouver Wednesday meeting with representatives of Great Canadian Casinos, who McKay said is looking to expand their facility.

"There are a lot of folks with a lot of ideas for the VICC, none of whom have any backers, and you need to have willing investors to make a project like that come to fruition," McKay said.

"We've talked to VIU about it before, VICC is nowhere in the plans of VIU, in any way, shape or form. "As it stands right now, I'm not prepared at this point to give up on that centre as a conference centre."McKay said a planned expansion of the Port Theatre and the prospect of a new downtown hotel has increased economic potential for the area.

A response from VIU president Ralph Nilson's office was not received by press time.

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