Montreal Gazette

Make downtown friendly, accessible

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Even before COVID -19, Mayor Valérie Plante was discussing the need to revitalize the downtown core. But why would people go downtown?

Over the last 15 years, municipal efforts to revamp the downtown core and the real estate sector have combined to drive out mom-and-pop businesses that I used to frequent. Even before the pandemic, some of these storefront­s sat empty.

Why travel 90 minutes each way to Best Buy, EB Games, or any other big box store when you have those same chains or their equivalent­s in Laval?

If Plante is serious about resurrecti­ng the downtown core, all the terrasses and free shows will do nothing in the long term. She needs to make downtown friendly, cheap and accessible, whether by car or public transit. She must also work with the real estate sector to make the area viable for small businesses.

Failure to address these issues will perpetuate the cycle of empty storefront­s and Montreal pouring money into the area’s revitaliza­tion. Adam J. Lyne, Bois-des-filion

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