A DOWNTOWN PERSPECTIVE
After years of decline Ontario downtowns are back!
Our Perspective
Heritagedowntowns.com is a planning consultancy specializing in the economic and social renewal of downtowns by providing strategies for rejuvenation and intensification. After years of decline Ontario downtowns are back! Changes to Provincial legislation, a prolonged housing crisis and the need to reduce our carbon footprint makes urbanization the new normal for Canadian real estate markets. People are returning to city cores because they are desirable places to live. Millennials and boomers alike want multi-modal transportation choices and urban lifestyles. Now companies and retailers are following them, and this is driving new office space and commercial development in the core. Downtowns are valued as desirable work places in the new economy. Global energy challenges and reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions are putting a premium on core city locations. They are becoming complete communities again. Gentle densification is central to this approach of unlocking the potential of core area locations.
Kingston, Ontario
Our company is based in Kingston, Ontario and we proudly promote Kingston’s downtown brand as perhaps the one of the most successful models in Canada. Kingston demonstrates heritage conservation and urban growth need not be opposing forces.
DOWNTOWN STORIES
Every downtown tells a story, both of the people who live and work there now and the previous generations who have left their mark.
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Montreal-Reconstruction of Ste. Catherine West and St. Denis Streets
Ste. Catherine Street West and St. Denis Street are now Seasonal Pedestrian Zones Sainte Catherine, Montreal’s main downtown commercial street is
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Montreal-The Revitalization of Phillips Square and Hotel Birks
Between 2018 and 2022 a remarkable revitalization synergy occurred at Phillips Square in Downtown Montreal. Within the broader context of
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Montreal- The Ring Art Sculpture
Downtown Montreal like many downtowns in Canada was struggling at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic . Therefore it was
You can’t rely on bringing people downtown, you have to put them there.
-Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities