Fix downtown Summerside: residents
City has lots of potential, and voters want next municipal government to tap into it
Jeff and Cherlyn Moffet wish there were more activities for their special-needs kids in the city.
With the municipal election coming up Nov. 5, the Moffets are hoping the next council will help address this issue and focus on revitalizing Summerside’s downtown.
“We moved here from Ottawa, so we’re used to a lot more stuff being offered, especially for children. There’s not a lot going on here for kids, activity-wise, or places for them to go,” said Cherlyn.
She and Jeff, who were enjoying lunch together with a friend recently at Samuel’s Coffee House on the corner of Queen and Water streets, moved to Summerside seven years ago when Jeff’s job was transferred. They’re happy with the life they have with their two kids but remember more play groups in Ottawa.
“Summerside has become a real bedroom community, and it needs to be rejuvenated,” said Jeff.
Their favourite spots to eat are at the far ends of the downtown, not in the heart of the historic buildings, he said.
“Some boutiques would be nice,” added Cherlyn.
She and Jeff have an entrepreneurial spirit.
“We have lots of ideas. We’re always talked out of it.”
The couple is stuck in the “what if” situation right now, said Jeff.
“How do we find resources? Who do we go to? Who’s going to be receptive to it?”
He’d also like to see lower electricity prices, now that the city is making some of its own with wind power.
“Why not carve a big slice of the pie for Summerside, and then whatever’s left over, sell that?”
Overall, though, the Moffets are pleased with life in Summerside.
During a doorstep conversation on Basil Stewart’s last campaign, they told him there was sediment in their water. The next business day, someone from the city was there to check it out.
That wouldn’t happen in Ottawa, said Cherlyn.
Drake Marchbank was vaping with Corey Wood on Summer Street Monday afternoon. Marchbank, who lives in Bedeque, not voting in Summerside, but he’d like to see more housing in the city.
Both men agree they’d like to see more jobs in the area.
Wood said the city should be “bending over backward” to attract employers with jobs in industries like manufacturing.
He’d also like to see the downtown core improved, calling the investment in brick sidewalks a waste.
“They’re not getting used,” he said. If there were cafes, they could use the sidewalks to put tables out for customers, he said.
Another issue he saw was signage. Coming into Summerside from the bridge, the first turn is onto Water Street.
“All you see is empty buildings, you’re seeing graffiti everywhere,” Wood said.
There aren’t signs to point the way to the malls up at the end of Granville, he said.
Wood compared the first glimpse of Summerside to Charlottetown, where the first stop is the shopping at the end of University Avenue.
“The first impression of a city is the most important impression,” he said.
“It’s easy to complain when you don’t have to do anything about it,” he added.