Downtown London showing strength according to new report

The City of London has released its most recent snapshot of the health of the downtown. The report is issued every two years and measures things like economic health and prosperity. 

The latest report, which is the eighth from the city, is for 2016 and 2017.

"Much of the progress in downtown is the result of decades of deliberate and strategic investments from Council and dozens of stakeholders," said Britt O'Hagan, Manager of Urban Regeneration for the City of London's planning department. 

O'Hagan pointed to the Junos as proof the city's investments are paying off. 

Those investments include Budweiser Gardens and the Dundas St. flex street, which was opened for the first time during the Junos.

Payoffs

"I think it just proves we did the right thing in putting the arena downtown," said Janette MacDonald, CEO and General Manager with Downtown London.

There was much opposition to a downtown arena when the city built it in 2001-2002 with local residents concerned about tearing down the historic Talbot Inn. However, the north east facade of the arena was built as a replica of the inn. 

"It's still the jewel and the crown of downtown revitalization," said MacDonald. 

The report said approximately 2,000 jobs were added to the downtown in the last two years, resulting in approximately 51,000 daytime jobs. 

The number MacDonald is also impressed with is that assessment value has increased by 61% over the past 10 years, reaching 1.75 billion dollars in 2017. 

"We didn't think we could ever dream of having that value," she said. "What it proves to me, and I hope everybody else, is that downtown benefits everyone. When downtown is economically sound... that goes into the general coffers for the entire city."

Other highlights include: 

• In 2017, the downtown made up 0.2% of London's land area and contributed 5.42% of the total municipal taxes.
• Music, entertainment and cultural events drew over 3.2 million people to indoor and outdoor downtown destinations in 2017.
• The city hosted Country Music Week and the Canadian Country Music Awards resulting in $8.4 million in economic benefits.

Still work to do

MacDonald said, while the report contains positive news about the state of the downtown, there's work to be done.  

She's pleased to see phase II of Dundas Place get underway between Richmond St. and Wellington St., even though the construction will be challenging.  

She'd like to see more work done to incorporate the Thames river in the city's plans. 

"We've turned our back on the river way too long," MacDonald said. "We can really leverage investment and activities around the river."