Residential construction needed in downtown Oshawa
As downtown booms, BIA director lays out path forward for Oshawa’s city centre in address to council
Garth Johns, the executive director of the Downtown Oshawa BIA, recently appeared before Oshawa city council, praising the ongoing efforts and events that are rejuvenating the city centre. Moving forward, he said attracting further residential development in downtown needs to be a priority. (Oshawa Express file photo).
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
“We are our own worst critics,” says Garth Johns, the executive director of the Downtown Oshawa BIA.
They are words that ring quite true for downtown Oshawa, where a thick stigma keeps many people from even giving the downtown core a second glance.
However, Johns says with warmer weather upon us, businesses and events will start to come alive, and during a recent address to Oshawa city council, he shared a vision of what downtown will be like in the coming months.
Of course, there’s the BIA’s signature events with Bikes on Bond (Aug. 11), Kars on King (Aug. 24), and an Oshawa Wine Tasting Festival on July 12. There’s also the weekly Show and Shine event which runs every Wednesday in the parking lot of City Hall from 6 p.m. to dusk.
On top of that, Johns says there are plans for a pair of summer markets, a butter tart festival in September, a chilli fest, and several tailgate parties, all within the city’s downtown.
“There’s lots downtown that we have to be proud of,” he says.
Extending his vision out from the immediate future, Johns notes there are a number of challenges faced by the downtown, a number of which will take partnerships between the city and the BIA to overcome.
Top of mind for Johns was a focus on increasing the residential development in the city centre, labelling it as a critical aspect of a vibrant downtown.
“The more people that live downtown the better served we are,” he says.
Coming right along with that, Johns says the city needs to focus on making the downtown more pedestrian friendly.
Currently, Oshawa is in the midst of planning a redesign of the short section of King Street in front of the Genosha Hotel, several plans include the removal of parking spaces to create room for restaurant patios and larger sidewalks.
Councillor John Aker, the chair of the Development Services Committee assured that the city will continue to work on delivering more people into the downtown, pointing to the ongoing work on the second phase of an Atria development at Bond and Mary Streets that will include approximately 350 condos.
“We will deliver people that live in the downtown and will make it more vibrant after 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.,” Aker said.
For more information on the BIA and upcoming events, visit www.downtownoshawa.ca.