The town of Hay River is contemplating a redesign of Courtoreille Street that would turn the strip, bordered by Ring's pharmacy and the highrise, into an outdoor space pedestrians will want to spend time in, and not simply pass through.
The proposed plan is to widen the sidewalks to six metres on the retail side of the street and three metres on the highrise side, and install bike lockup infrastructure, planters and trees.
The street would be converted to a one-way, but the same number of parking spots would remain.
Administration is even toying with the idea of coloured pavement.
Judy Goucher, Hay River's senior administrative officer, said the changes, if approved by council, would be "transformational," and the Hub agrees.
Courtoreille St. would be more than just a thoroughfare, it would be a destination.
In the summer, downtown workers could eat their lunches on a sidewalk bench. While they're at it, why not buy an iced Americano at She Takes the Cake?
Mayor Brad Mapes said Coutoreille St. shops – like Lah Dee Dah Boutique – could hold sidewalk sales. Bringing retail sales outdoors will be good for business, and it will draw more people to the downtown streets.
But why bring people out to the streets?
For one thing, it will make the town safer.
Famous urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs was a champion of street-level activity (she likened the hustle and bustle outside her West Village apartment in Manhattan to an "intricate sidewalk ballet").
Jacobs believed that urban environments must have "eyes on the street" – people out and about who, if they witness trouble, can assist and report it.
Crimes are less likely to be committed in broad daylight and in view of strangers.
In Jacobs view, foot-trafficked communities naturally police themselves. People on the street look out for their neighbours.
"The sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously, both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers," she wrote in her 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
"Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street. Almost nobody does such a thing. Large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity."
Jacobs was writing about the North American metropolis, but her theories apply to small urban centres as well.
Not only are lively streets safer, they are more exciting (and who does not enjoy people watching?).
A block with people on it feels like the place to be.
Walking a deserted stretch of road is akin to taking a seat in an empty restaurant – there must be some unsavoury reason why nobody is here...
The town has committed to making the strip more appealing and more accessible and construction is currently underway.
Engineering firm Stantec has been commissioned to draw up a design for the one-way plan.
Council now has the opportunity to turn Courtoreille St. into somewhere residents and visitors want to go.
They can make the street a point of pride.
At their July 9 meeting, councillors expressed support for a revitalization of Courtoreille St.
Let's hope they maintain their enthusiasm after Stantec hands them a cost estimate.
The Hub believes a one-time investment in street-level improvements will produce returns for years to come, for the businesses on the strip and for the town overall.