North Bay 15 December

[rdaner]

On my way to Cochrane and spent the night in North Bay. Not too bad but there are issues. The downtown has a nice Main Street that has no vacancies and a couple of new builds. There are several housing projects being worked on and there are a few new health buildings.

One great thing is that the zoning change that we see in larger centres applies here as well and is producing results. The photo is of a downtown building that has tenants on the ground floor but the apartments above have been empty for decades. Now they are being renovated to create 25 units. Also there are two post-secondary institutions that always seem to create housing need so the market is there.

 

[lenaitch]

Like many downtowns that were impacted by the big box movement to the outer areas, it's a work in progress. As small businesses closed because they couldn't compete with the Walmarts of the world, the downtown became a parade of tattoo joints and fast cash shops. The city has a homeless/drug problem like most others and they tended to gravitate downtown, which drove tenants out.

They city police recently announced that violent crime was down about 25% YOY so that's a good sign. There's actually some decent eateries downtown which are helping to bring after-hours traffic back.

 

[rdaner]

Like many downtowns that were impacted by the big box movement to the outer areas, it's a work in progress. As small businesses closed because they couldn't compete with the Walmarts of the world, the downtown became a parade of tattoo joints and fast cash shops. The city has a homeless/drug problem like most others and they tended to gravitate downtown, which drove tenants out.

They city police recently announced that violent crime was down about 25% YOY so that's a good sign. There's actually some decent eateries downtown which are helping to bring after-hours traffic back.

I was at The Moose and it was hopping!

 

[lenaitch]

I was at The Moose and it was hopping!

Same with Cecil's (just down the street).

I don't know how familiar you are with Cochrane, but Terry's Steakhouse used to be good. The Golden Flower has great Chinese (good food - seriously sketchy decor). I here the franchise for the Station Inn restaurant has changed hands and is pretty good but I don't think they do dinner.