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1 | These survey results were obtained by OwenSoundCurrent.com at a cost of $517.50 from the City of Owen Sound, via an information and access request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). The redacted document below is presented as it was received from the City of Owen Sound. Readers can use the search or filter tools to quickly find comments by keyword — for example, typing “housing” will pull up all responses that mention it, while filtering by “safety” or “downtown” makes it easy to see recurring concerns. The spreadsheet format also allows you to sort, copy, or analyze the data for your own research, reporting, or community discussions. Please contact Miranda Miller at owensoundcurrenteditor@gmail.com with any questions. See more analysis of these responses and coverage of the Vision 2050 project on our website. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | Q9 (Do any of the previous Council Priorities need to be reframed or enhanced? (As a reminder, previous Council Priorities were: Safe City, Prosperous City, Green City, A City That Grows, A City That Moves, City Building, and Collaborative City).) | Q10 (Is there a priority (or priorities) that should be added to the list of Council Priorities?) | Q11 (What is one positive quality of Owen Sound that is not currently being celebrated or optimally leveraged? (e.g., generating revenue from engaging and diverse tourism events, striking landscapes, potential of local business, caring communities, etc.)) | Q12 (What is one characteristic of Owen Sound that is uncomfortable to speak about or is a significant opportunity for improvement? (e.g., poverty, race relations, homophobia, homelessness, young talent leaving, etc.)) | Q13 (What is one significant missed opportunity that, if embraced, would positively impact the city?) | Q14 (In one to three sentences, share your idea for a prosperous, connected, vibrant and safe Owen Sound.) | Q15 (Powerful and actionable strategic visions are rooted in local expertise. What expertise and talent exist in the community to move a strong strategic plan forward?) | |||||||||||||||||||
4 | Safe city | Homelessness. Placing portable washrooms in key places. Enforcing by laws, particularly about empty buildings. | Caring communities. Divert tourism event revenue to dealing with social issues | Addiction and homelessness. | Allowing tiny homes. | You won't get vibrant and prosperous without dealing with the rampant addiction and homelessness. Build tiny homes to get people under shelter. Put more resources into dealing with crime, drug addiction, trafficking, apply more low rent rules to developers. | There is ample talent but not the will to utilize it. | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | A green city isn’t much help when there is no city or economic growth. Unless you are open to removing the red tape on tiny homes | Housing, wrap around mental health and homelessness support. The downtown is not inviting or safe especially after hours. | Landscapes | Poverty, no affordable housing to entice or keep professionals here. All big establishments are hiring immigrants because low paying jobs cannot compete with market rent if you can find something decent to rent | Tiny home communities | You need to entice people to want to come and stay. Doctors, and other professionals, drive downtown any day and there is nothing to entice. Secondly, with the lack of supportive wrap around care (longer term mental health and drug rehabs) professionals like doctors do not even want to participate, they want supports in place to do their jobs and they want to bring their kids to the park without getting stuck with a needle or watching someone nod off from drugs. | Not too much in the way of expertise here compared to other communities. OwenSound is swayed by community workers who are loud but lack the education and ability to see the whole picture. | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | Safe city/city that moves - there should be a safe way for cyclists to move about the city without fear of being hit by a car; other cities have a cycling plan with specific safe routes for cyclist to take - example, Boston. The west harbour wall should be a promenade - ie., cyclists should have to walk their wheels, so pedestrians don't feel they are going to be run down by a racing cyclist Prosperous city - having businesses be forced to stay closed on Sunday by their landlord is a massive killer of economic development. A landlord should not have the power to impose redacted religious views on his commercial tenants. Can this be addressed somehow through bylaw? In terms of other empty commercial buildings owned by absent landlords that are just sitting on the properties - the city should impose a tax on empty commercial properties (similar to Toronto's 1% tax on empty residential properties) to encourage landlords to utilized their properties and find tenants. Green city - the city is in desperate need of a consulting horticulturalist. We have so much potentially beautiful space, but the trees aren't trimmed, the gardens are scraggly, there is garbage all along the river. An expert with education in horticulture could devise an overall plan that could be implemented by city workers and potentially volunteers. (volunteers should NOT be expected to pick up garbage). The horticulturalist would have to consulted with on an ongoing basis. We have massive potential beauty with our green space, but it is very neglected. | The downtown, the river, the harbour are all jewels that have been extremely neglected. | See previous - we don't need tourism "events". We need the downtown, river and harbour to be beautiful on an ongoing basis. We need businesses OPEN on Sunday when tourists are here. One potential idea would be developing a harbour promenade where vendors could set up stalls - would need to have bylaw to allow cafe seating along the harbour, European-style. Look how popular The Launch is and it isn't even that nice. Don't cheap out on the River Precinct work - stick to the plan, it will pay off (especially if businesses can open on Sunday) | Let's talk about the extreme redneck attitude of a lot of residents, most of whom have barely left Grey and Bruce. They will complain about any money being spent on beautifying the city because they have never travelled anywhere except to their kid's hockey tournament where they just sat in the hotel and drank. There are many small cities in Ontario that have done an amazing job in their historic centres, making them welcoming to tourists who will spend on food, arts and culture. | A clean city would go a very long way. If parks are clean and trees are trimmed, gardens are maintained, garbage cans aren't overflowing, people will use the green spaces. I feel the downtown, river and harbour are being left to rot. Yes, city workers will have to patrol and clean the parks EVERY DAY including weekends. | You have to spend money to make money. It's as simple as that - if we don't invest in making our city clean and beautiful, nothing will change - we will probably continue to go downhill. | If there was local expertise, we wouldn't be in the situation we are in. I think it is more important to know what you don't know. Consult outside experts (ie a horticulturalist), don't do things because "we have always done them that way". If councillors have the means they should TRAVEL. There are so many small cities doing wonderful things - looks around, talk to other councils, stay open minded. Owen Sound epitomizes the "small town, small mind" attitude. Let's get some help to move past that. | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Where does climate change fit within those priorities? | The people make a community. Not events, landscapes etc | Drugs, homelessness, untreated mental illness, lack of primary medical care for newcomers ( not enough doctors, nurse practitioners). Redacted. What exactly does the Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Officer of the Grey Bruce Health Unit do other than showing up for photo ops and collecting a whopping great salary? | Annex Balmy Beach, etc etc into the city. Get the province on board to make it happen. | You have to be kidding. Three sentences. Shame on you for asking such a patronizing and thoughtless question | What strategic plan are you wanting to move forward? Use the local expertise and talent to develop a plan first and then move it forward. Do not hitch up the horses to an empty wagon. | ||||||||||||||||||||
8 | A City That Moves should keep in mind that buses, subways, etc are not the only ways of efficient transportation. A more walkable city would be extremely helpful, but that would be a very difficult goal. Reviving the downtown in "Prosperous City" and helping there be more things to do would also be great. | Advertising the things we already have. There are many events that would be great but nobody knows about them. Having a system in place for events, gatherings, clubs, etc to make themselves known would help immensely. | The water. Our water seems very underused. | Homelessness, drug abuse | Putting more stuff around the water. | You can walk downtown—no matter the time—and there are so many things to do. You can use the free Wi-Fi to check the list of things to do and search for things you'd like. | ||||||||||||||||||||
9 | Lowering property taxes. Finding efficiencies in spending. Greater control of spending. | Caring and positive and increasingly diverse community. | Prevalence of drug use downtown, even in daylight hours. It’s difficult to walk downtown at times with young children. | Not sure | Working to make Owen Sound an affordable family friendly city. | We need business minded folks that can make bring business friendly mentality that will cater to the population | ||||||||||||||||||||
10 | We’re not a city of 500,000 people. We just want garbage picked up, and buses to run when people need them. | This 2050 thing is bizarre. Make it a priority to figure out what we are right now. | Local businesses. They aren’t supported and pay too much in taxes for what they get. city staff are not good to work with. It’s a struggle for businesses in Owen Sound. | Asking council anything. They’re a brick wall. Why don’t we have a ward system so we at least have a representative? They might as well be city staff, there’s no difference. | Public transit. You can’t even go out to dinner or a hockey game without driving. | Why is anyone listening? We’ve been saying the same tbh da for years and council does whatever they want. | Again you need to actually listen. There’s a ton of talent here. | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | Green city-organize a solar panel initiative to Take advantage of the intense sunshine from climate change. Put them on everything. Look to other successful countries to see what green initiatives they have been most successful with. | A shelter? | This community needs an indoor roller rink With an amazing Soundsystem-It would be packed! Have a café there as well where you can get a beer or an espressos | Homelessness-Maybe the Y could run a container tiny house project and there would be connections with finding employment after the homeless people each get a tiny home. Or maybe get the art gallery to run this as well😉 | The city should host a Tom Thompson Festival since they own the gallery. Could be another international festival just like Sweetwater. More scenic bike trails -Example, London Ontario | Where you want to live? Where you want to die? Where you survey us Where ideas come to die. | Have some artists paint the silos of Tom Thompson‘s trees-It would become a branding landmark for the Tom Thompson festival - | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | Not sure | Waterfront - could be much better used | Homelessness, drugs | Tourism of waterfront and developing waterfront events/businesses | Where new businesses and families want to come because it’s a safe and caring community | Unsure | ||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Homelessness is a city responsibility since people are sleeping on City streets. Safe affordable housing is a human right | Safe affordable housing for the under resourced neighbours | Development of the water front | Yes All of the above | Taking responsibility for homelessness in the city | Where everyone has safe housing | Use the skills and talents of the staff. Stop paying for consultants. | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | The safe city one felt a bit like a loaded question. It seemed to imply that if you agreed you wanted the city safe, it meant the city was presently unsafe.... which would be the wrong take away from the survey. Of course people want the city safe. Doesn't mean they think it's unsafe now. | Transit's understated. Better transit would help the other given categories, like prosperity & growth. Rather than add to the list, I think improved transit should be elevated above other priorities. | lol is this question asking citizens to suggest ways to increase local tourism? love that for you guys. :D | The exploitation of indigenous peoples. I was not happy to see the last council reject the idea of opening meetings with a land acknowledgement. And I have heard it given on special occasion, which I think is great. But our government did some dodgy stuff with the treaties on this land, and I think we ought to talk about that more often rather than pretend like it didn't happen. | I totally know the answer to this one - it's casino! :). | Well, I'm not liking that we're talking about a "safe" Owen Sound, which seems to imply it's not safe. I think we need to be compassionate & accommodating to all the recently unhoused people, sleeping in tents along the river. I think we need to continue investing in local shelters, and short-term housing. This economy is going to be bad for a while, and this problem is not going to go away - if we act like unhoused people are dangerous, we will be adding to a problem that's not going to go away. Best to be as humane & helpful as possible - there are some American cities that are making it illegal to sleep outside, but also not offering any shelters to sleep in.... effectively making poverty illegal! Let's be better than that right away, fellow Owen Sounders. <3 | I have no idea what kind of answer you're looking for here. | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | These are adequate for now | Compost pick up | The Beautification of the City could use a boost, last year many 2nd Ave flower beds were not planted and then when the Car show came downtown a bunch of cheap mums were jammed in, Pretty shameful. The weeds weren’t even pulled. This city won Communities in Bloom, wouldn’t win now. | Those are all things to care about. Too many folks refuse to come downtown because of the junkies and mentally ill. They don’t feel safe, I’ve heard it on an almost daily basis redacted I don’t hate these people but there must be some research on better strategies to keep everyone safer. | The City needs to be open Sundays, and the players that obstruct that should be lobbied to care more for the economic improvement that would be in these straightened times. This should have a Major Priority in Council. What’s the point of Celebrating the highlights of our area when on Sundays there is nowhere to go. It’s shameful how no effort goes into this. This isn’t just about Downtown, it’s about our tourism, there is absolutely no good reason to spend the weekend in Owen Sound. I have been approached often when walking downtown on a Sunday by visitors, “Is nothing open in this Town?” What a bore. | Well the City can come clean as to the bused in fresh crops of disenfranchised, homeless and junkies. I don’t resent these people but there really isn’t enough infrastructure to deal with them, and I’m given to understand that the city receives funding for Clinics for the drug addictions. Does this help?, let’s be open about this. There is a notion that Owen Sound isn’t safe, I don’t believe this but it’s a pervasive opinion. This should be researched. | There is a vibrant Arts Community in Owen Sound. Music, Visual arts, Theatre Arts. Summerfolk is Wonderful but more Serious Festivals in other Seasons can use support. The Music Event in Leith is amazing. But that Owen Sound ‘Open on Sundays’ will Boost these and more to make us a Destination City . | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | These were worded to promote the priorities you have already chosen. When will you address playgrounds? | Playgrounds, beaches, children's amenities | Waterfront | Engagement with community and local priorities | Waterfront! | Welcoming diversity of thought - including perspectives we disagree with - neighbour coexisting with differences of politics/religion/culture/worldview peacefully. | Business community | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | What does collaborative city even mean? If it was easier to get anything done with less red tape that would be a good start. Yes, safety is a huge issue. Transportation is another one, people can't get to work or anywhere else. Owen Sound needs to fix basic services we pay way too much for. | Cutting expenses at city hall. I don't buy that it has to mean service cuts. We get less and less services while more and more staff are hired and expenses are out of control. Council is supposed to be making sure staff are making responsible financial decisions but seem to be a rubber stamp that gives staff an open wallet. | All of the arts, culture, and small business that goes on without the city's support or involvement. | Corruption at city hall | Growing and changing with the times | We need to stop the financial bleeding and force staff to find efficiencies. Too many draw a big paycheque and don't even live in the city. Get rid of the full time fire service, we're one of the only places left with that and can't afford it. | We have incredib;y smart and experienced people in Owen Sound, who council and staff refuse to listen to. They go out of their way to make it useless to try to have input. | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | Be careful what you wish for in a "city that grows".redacted because of the frenetic pace at which it was growing, a phenomenon that brought with it a myriad of social and economic ills that made it unliveable for me. I love Owen Sound because it is beautiful and small. Please don't destroy it by endeavouring excessively to "keep up with the Joneses". There are many desireable ways in which to grow other than merely by population. | Perhaps this doesn't need to be a separate priority, but the cultural life of this city is something that sets it apart from all others, and made me want to be here redacted. This place punches so far above it's weight in culture and music that it is the envy of the world, and let's keep it that way. | You probably don't notice the extent to which the city has gone to make things accessible, unless you are a blind person walking down 10th street from the west sidefor the first time, and encounter beeping traffic lights. As far as I knew, redacted, and how could I not love this place. From then on, I vowed to redacted at the earliest opportunity, and yesterday wasn't soon enough to suit me. | I am troubled by the extent to which very large cities appear to be trying to sluff off their self-inflicted social problems on our town when they receive orders of magnitude more funding from Federal and Provincial governments than us for dealing with such things. I am told that Niagara is under similar pressure, and I say to unmentioned large city, fix your crime and drug problems at home rather than sending them to us. The murderers of our dear friend redacted still haven't been found after almost a year, and it grieves me everyday to think of the suffering that redacted are forced to endure for a brutal crime here that probably wasn't committed by Sounders. | We don't promote our festivals as much as we should throughout the rest of the world, especially in Ontario. I never heard of Owen Sound until redacted at the invitation of friends who had been attending for years , and I redacted | We need to protect and enhance the wonderful blessings that we have inherited from those who came before, while simultaneously embraceing new opportunities for the future that will make our town even more dynamic and exciting than it already is. We need to learn from the mistakes and successes of others, and apply them with wisdom and thoughtfulness to the building of our collective future. | This is a town of musicians, artists, philosophers and pragmatists with all kinds of talent and expertise, and we should cultivate these traits within schools and throughout the community through education and opportunities, particularly among the youth. This is already happening, but we can do more. | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | Yes. It is more important than ever to understand that growth (which is a high priority) needs to be paired with strengthening of the core - and not equated to sprawl at the edges, especially keeping in mind a walkable city structure. A new top priority should be Core Vitality (Centering). | It's a compact city with a strong place identity because of its physical geography and location on the water with a core river area. It's physically complex and interesting, and therefore very livable. | The city is run from behind closed doors - everyone knows it but there seems to be little that can be done about it. | We need to give young people a leg up to locate here (help with finding jobs, navigation with housing, help with student loans, ???) to encourage an influx of new and young minds. | We need to impose a "hoarding" tax those holding our massive stock of contaminated (brownfield) sites if the owners aren't improving them. They suck the life our of the town. They look ugly, are depressing, leach contaminants into the bay, and are evidence of non-caring owners, and a powerless council who have been unable to do anything in the redacted I have lived here to encourage remediation, sale, or development. It's our city biggest problem and biggest impediment to prosperity, beauty, and revitalization of the core. | There is talent in every professional and non-professional field of knowledge relevant to actionable visions in Owen Sound and surrounding area. Most citizens with expertise are weary of participating to no end for a planner who shows extreme distaste for navigating the public. If people with special expertise are reached out to directly (phone calls, emails) they will provide extensive knowledge on any topic. It's problematic inviting participation and then being disappointed when people don't make time to show up - they have to know their contribution will help somehow and everyone gets sick of giving their expertise away to no avail. | ||||||||||||||||||||
20 | Improving transportation is a must. Not just in the town itself but reaching out to nearby areas that use Owen sound, like wiarton, chatsworth, Hepworth, Sauble. There needs to be a reduction in the fast food industry and more support of stores that the area actually needs. There’s very little choice for clothing and shoes. We have no dept store. We are sick of driving 2-3 hours to get what we need and ordering online doesn’t support the local economy, that’s when it doesn’t get stolen off your porch! Safety and security is a must. CCTV is needed. There is too much vandalism and stealing from peoples homes, porches, vehicles. | More facilities for youth and exercise. You can’t swim at the Y. It is monopolized by the swim clubs and swimming lessons. We need a pool for year round swimming that everyone can use please! | The homelessness and drug problems we face in the area need attending to. It’s not enough for them to turn up and get their methadone, or a meal, where are they are what are they doing for the other 23 hours? We also need to look at housing that are being built in the area. For example on Summer Street, which I suspect might fall into Georgian Bluffs, has had massive houses built. The average person in this area cannot afford to purchase a house like that. Let’s make sure that homes built are suitable for families and affordable and let’s have some for single people or young couples without children. Homes with several bedrooms, bathrooms and lounges are just ridiculous! Young people aren’t going to stick around, or return to the area if they cannot find anywhere affordable to live and they also want facilities. Stores not fast food! Also somewhere to work! | There is a lot of unused, empty and undeveloped areas in town. The mall is empty. Why is that? Someone needs to do something about that. That’s a lot of money and jobs for the local people if we can fill that mall with stores people want and will stop people going to London and Barrie to shop. There needs to be an incentive to encourage business into Owen sound. Look at the nursing incentives the government offer. Sign up and stay and you get x number of dollars. There has to be some kind of incentive that could be offered to fill up our empty factories and units. | We need to have affordable housing, facilities and transport to enable and encourage people to stay in the area. | |||||||||||||||||||||
21 | Prosperous City | Utilization of Waterfront at the river and the harbor | Getting back to our countries/provinces/areas original biblical routes. Worrying about the narrative is negatively impacting everything. | We need to enable local and small businesses through making sure business startups and housing are affordable. Holding those who are against this accountable. A storefront filled and busy downtown with multiple options for shopping and eating and doing business are key to creating a prosperous and vibrant Owen Sound. | There are plenty of local talent and expertise people/businesses/organizations that are not interested in politics or being driven and pushed by the current political narrative. This is leading to a decline in community prosperity. | |||||||||||||||||||||
22 | Enhanced thinking about what a prosperous city is. | Yes -Housing and walkabiliy - ( walkability needs a focus on a strong center) | Absence of traffic jams or time spent commuting (no joke - this contributes tremendously to quaility of life) | We don’t try hard enough to bring new people here from elsewhere because locals don’t like change. | A high tax on vacant brownfield sites that aren’t being improved or developed. | We need to design a better future for our brownfield sites. First we need to build on what is already in the plans, then move to design, then look at supporting property owners who try to make it happen with incentives, and higher taxes on those who just let the sit there rotting. | There is talent in every field - but other than consultation mandated by law, redacted | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | Affordable housing and attracting young people to our city | Improving the our water front, our downtown business area | Poverty | Improving our water front and downtown | We need to attract new businesses and young professionals and entrepreneurs | |||||||||||||||||||||
24 | we need nurse practitioners | homelessness, racism towards indigenous | helping the homeless | we need protection | ||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | Emphasis on safety, if something has to be relegated to a phase two priority it should be "green city", "city building" and "collaborative city". | We need more prosperous employment opportunities. | The harbour front could be so much more than it currently is. | The increasing awareness of public intoxication and loitering. | Bring in more industry/employment opportunities. | We need more middle to upper class employment opportunities for young people-opportunities that offer good wages and benefits, not part time work that cannot sustain a family financially. Young people have no choice but to leave the area to find gainful employment. Amend building codes to allow for more smaller homes with less square footage and provide incentives to builders to engage in the process-young people need access to affordable starter homes. | Housing expertise exists. If there is no employment expertise, find it and bring it here! | |||||||||||||||||||
26 | Our beautiful landscapes are not celebrated enough. We should have more walking paths or biking baths throughout the city and surrounding area. | Homeless and drug problems | Hosting tournaments at our ice rinks or ball parks. We could use a larger hotel with convention center to host more/larger events. | We need more jobs and population. Saugeen Shores is growing like crazy. So should Owen Sound. Clean up our downtown of homeless and drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | Safer streets to walk downtown and not have to worry about redacted being exposed to the druggies | Fix the parks. There is lots of broken equipment, needles, missing parts. Owen Sound had such wonderful fun parks for kids, now it's run down and embarrassing | The downtown core is run down and empty. Needs more businesses to draw people in | Homeless people wondering the streets in bed sheets. Drug addicts laying on the side walks | The casino! Should have never turned it down. It would have created job, revenue and people drawn to visit this area | We need more green spaces. Large flower/open area where you could go sit and read a book, have wedding pictures taken | Nothing strong enough to say | |||||||||||||||||||
28 | I dont know | Yeah make reliable public transportation | we have 3 McDonalds' | drugs | buses | We need good buses and stuff | I have no idea | |||||||||||||||||||
29 | understand people | police brutality/corruption | we need better police services, less racial discrimination/ addiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||
30 | Job creation. We need more manufacturing and higher retail jobs. We have enough restaurants. | History. Historic buildings. Parks. | Homelessness. Drug problems. Lack of police presence. | 2nd avenue revitalization. The buildings, businesses, sidewalks etc. | We need a new council. New blood, new ideas. The "boys" club mentality needs to leave. | Small business owners. | ||||||||||||||||||||
31 | Need to bring more jobs to the area and make our water front a destination for people to visit | Water front clean up old industrial sites | The views of owen sound | The safety downtown. The significant increase in people loitering with addictions, mental health and homelessness needs a long term plan to make the downtown a place people dont want to visit. We stopped going down town and stopped supporting local businesses downtown because of safety walking the streets | The waterfront | We live on a beautiful part of the great lakes we need more attractions down by the water. Where people can live while enjoying new business jobs in town | Out door living | |||||||||||||||||||
32 | I think that if we had better transportation to this area we would attract more manufacturing to this area. Our children would have more opportunities to stay in this area. I understand that all this cost money and cooperation with the countries as well but we would maintain our children and grandchildren . | We live in one of the most beautiful areas. What are we doing to attract visitors to come and stay here. Not just pass through. | We have summer folk. You can drive a few minutes in any direction and find beautiful views, quant villages, peaceful forests, and clean air. There has to be a way to use those assets to our advantage. I don’t know how to do that but in a world of anxiety there has to be a way to keep our assets and invite ours to come and enjoy. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
33 | Indoor turf for sports to be played in the wintertime | Indoor sports complex and turf | Taking advantage of our waterfront. It should be a space for people to walk, enjoy, parks, cafes, etc. clean up our waterfront and ensure it’s not as it’s currently used as a sketchy area that’s full of people who are drunk or on drugs yelling things and scaring people | How downtown smells of pee and vomit. Downtown should be the nicest part of the city and instead it’s a place people want to avoid so that don’t have to be harassed by drunks or people on drugs | Improve our waterfront. What was done to Kelso is amazing, continue to momentum of green space, healthy active lifestyle encouragement, and try to improve downtown. The housing downtown is cockroach infested, needs to be cleaned up. Our mall is also very empty and sad. | We have opportunity to have a beautiful clean downtown and sound area of huge amount of waterfront views, green spaces and if our downtown is cleaned up and businesses are mom and pop shops people will come! | ||||||||||||||||||||
34 | Walkabilty/bicycle friendly is an important part of inclusivity, livability and movement | Downtown open on Sundays. Not directed by one big propert owner | Connection to waterfront through trails | All of the above | Pedestrian only Sundays in downtown. There is plenty of parking behind main street buildings | Walkable, bicycle safe - bikelanes (no parking on downtown streets), better/more garbage and recycling bins | Local business owners | |||||||||||||||||||
35 | Vibrant. Clean. Meaningful growth in business and community engagement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | Enhance Safe City. Acknowledging that drugs, homelessness, violence towards women and trafficking are very real issues here that need to be addressed. Needle drop boxes in public spaces Homeless shelter, not just a warming/cooling space with limited hours of operation. Increased shelter spots and Safe spaces for girls and women to access. Increased Security presence /cameras in the downtown core. Prosperous City: there is so much wasted potential for business development along the Harbour and 1st, 2nd ave's east and west. The River district is dead on weekends. Should be welcoming, active and lively with open businesses, patios over looking the harbor. People leave Owen Sound and flock to neighboring communities and walk along those water fronts (Meaford, Thornbury, South Hampton, Port Elgin). Are their restrictions put in place by some Commercial building landlords that businesses cannot be open on Sundays?? If so, that is absolutely ridiculous and contributing to driving people out of Owen Sound to neighboring communities and contributing to those communities growth and not to Owen Sounds. | Revitalizing the River District. Needle drop boxes in public spaces. Safe consumption injection site so not sitting in alcoves and doorways and consuming drugs for all to see. Upgraded playground/parks!! Every playground in this city is outdated, missing equipment and in need of repair! | Maybe more marketing of the art and music scene that is here. Impression of Owen Sound from a lot of outsiders in other parts of Ontario is that it is a community of low income people with a big drug problem | Improve opportunities for social/recreation for adults after 5pm!! The River district could be so much more, could have so much more and entice people to stay and spend their money here vs in neighboring communities. | Development of the River District!! As mentioned previously. Fun, cool, artsy, creative places and spaces for people to do that does not end at 5pm. There is no night life here or weekend life! Also better playgrounds and indoor place spaces for children!! Every park/playground in OS has missing or damaged or significantly outdated equipment and play spaces! Please upgrade and invest money into our children!! | Vibrant River District with art, restaurants, pubs, clean walkable spaces. | Members from arts community and local business owners Antitrafficking task force committee members, staff and clients from new Addictions and Mental Health Wellness Center, Brightshores, CMHA, new comers to Owen Sound, Georgian College students, high-school students... | |||||||||||||||||||
37 | Improving downtown and the waterfront areas. Make it more attractive to tourists and locals alike. | The beautiful waterfront which is all abandoned land and industrial. There is so much potential that is just ignored. | Boarded up downtown and homeless/drug problem | Developing downtown and waterfront | Vibrant downtown with lots of shops and restaurants, lovely waterfront, major tourist and lifestyle destination. | People like redacted who owns the redacted is very entrepreneurial | ||||||||||||||||||||
38 | No | Think it is included but healthy cities with good public health programs! | More waterfront initiatives | Poverty, mental health, homelessness | Waterfront | Vibrant down town core | Don’t know | |||||||||||||||||||
39 | Owen Sound needs to define its identity. An identity in which it can thrive and survive. Honour the past and where it has brought us, but look to the future. Arts, culture and community is the new shipping and industry. | Arts and Culture. | Arts, arts, arts. | The downtown core used to thrive. It was busy, people were shopping and visiting. It is currently not a draw for tourists, let along locals. But it can be.... | Time, money, effort to revive the downtown and make it the place to be. Businesses that draw customers and have hours that attract folks downtown. OS can't crave visitors while pusing them away or doing nothing to draw them in. | Vibrant and relevant businesses downtown with attractive hours of operation (it is safe, especially when more folks are out and about). An awareness of monopolies (e.g. one developer acquiring and controlling rents, when businesses are allowed to operate etc.). | So. Many. Arts and culture experts. | |||||||||||||||||||
40 | A Safe City is a oxymoron in Owen Sound. I moved to Owen Sound redactedyears ago thinking that it would be my forever home. I thought it was a 'Hallmark movie village'. Since then I've seen nothing but decline downtown as we cater to the drug addled and let them take over our beautiful downtown. Move the food banks, drug havens, homeless and drug zombies out of the downtown area. Build housing for them outside of town using the funds earmarked for the Tom Thompson museum. Until we reclaim our downtown, we will continue to see businesses leave the area. Police should be rounding up vagrants every day and moving them to a facility built for them to rehab, get fed and learn skills. | A Safe City is a oxymoron in Owen Sound. I moved to Owen Sound redacted years ago thinking that it would be my forever home. I thought it was a 'Hallmark movie village'. Since then I've seen nothing but decline downtown as we cater to the drug addled and let them take over our beautiful downtown. Move the food banks, drug havens, homeless and drug zombies out of the downtown area. Build housing for them outside of town using the funds earmarked for the Tom Thompson museum. Until we reclaim our downtown, we will continue to see businesses leave the area. Police should be rounding up vagrants every day and moving them to a facility built for them to rehab, get fed and learn skills. | Our riverfront could thrive and be a beautiful place for people to walk, picnic and enjoy nature. Instead, citizens can't go down there because it has been taken over by vagrants. Move them away from the riverfront and take back our city! | A Safe City is a oxymoron in Owen Sound. I moved to Owen Sound redacted years ago thinking that it would be my forever home. I thought it was a 'Hallmark movie village'. Since then I've seen nothing but decline downtown as we cater to the drug addled and let them take over our beautiful downtown. Move the food banks, drug havens, homeless and drug zombies out of the downtown area. Build housing for them outside of town using the funds earmarked for the Tom Thompson museum. Until we reclaim our downtown, we will continue to see businesses leave the area. Police should be rounding up vagrants every day and moving them to a facility built for them to rehab, get fed and learn skills. | Celebrate our history! Turn the waterfront into a walking museum. Forget Tom Thompson, let's celebrate Owen Sound! | Vagrants moved out. Make our downtown safe for women and children after dark. Let's clean this place up so more businesses don't leave downtown! | I don't know the answer to that question, being redacted Owen Sound. | |||||||||||||||||||
41 | Welcoming City - need to be more welcoming to new businesses and current entrepreneurs | Welcoming City; Walkable City | Unique geography - city in a valley, river running through it, amazing park in the city, harbour, waterfront, Bruce Trail, | Poverty, drug abuse downtown, slum lord apartments downtown, boarded up storefronts, municipal barriers facing entrepreneurs who are trying to succeed | Young entrepreneurs who need help opening businesses; fixing up apartments in the downtown core; turning one street into pedestrian only | Utilize unique downtown to create spaces people want to spend time in; in turn, they will shop. People don't necessarily go to any downtown to shop, they go to be around others and feel community - once there, they shop. Don't highlight the businesses as the reason - there needs to be more reasons - activities like kayak rentals on the river or a skating rink. Family activities will bring people downtown and make it feel like their downtown | Young entrepreneurs who are good at what they do - make it easy for them to do what they do. Remove barriers for them. If too difficult to operate a business, they will move. | |||||||||||||||||||
42 | Explicit reference to walkability, infill/intensification, affordability (particularly housing) | River District and market square events on Sundays, ethnic diversity, opportunity to convert single-detached housing into ARUs/more affordable options | homelessness/addictions & lack of year-round 24-hour drop in | more bike-friendly streets/routes around the city | Use vacant downtown space for pop-up businesses, make sure any new subdivisions/developments have mixed use (at least corner store) within walking distance and a range of housing types | An active and engaged community of retirees, diverse population of newcomers with skills (but more integration is needed), newcomers that moved up during COVID and work remotely | ||||||||||||||||||||
43 | Head hunting more family doctors for other countries and supporting them in their qualification conversions so we can start solving the problem of too few doctors in Owen Sound. | We have spectacular outdoor adventure opportunities and business supporting that industry would do well here. In addition, we have great waterfront property along the sound that isn’t being used to its potential. Inviting community spaces like gardens or a park with refreshment facilities like food trucks and pop up restaurants would bring more tourists to the area and encourage the local residents to use the area too. | Empty shops. The shops sitting open In downtown send the message of a town struggling economically. No one wants to invest in a town that looks like it’s heading downhill. Building owners should be encouraged or incentivized to find tenants if only for pop up shops. How about offering businesses in the online economy an opportunity for brick and mortar sales in pop up stores? | The sound is not being utilized to its full potential. Restaurants, bars with patios, outdoor seating with picnic tables would inject life into the East side of the Harbour. | Use the knowledge and expertise of residents to solve problems and propose solutions. Community involvement (like this survey) is incredibly important for anything sustainable to happen. | Many residents have some area of expertise or some skill to offer. We have people from every industry, from around the world and all levels within those industries living in our community. | ||||||||||||||||||||
44 | I'm sure all of these priorities need to be re-framed. They were agreed upon for at a different time, and for a different duration with different priorities. This new vision is for a much longer time frame (26 years) alone, much less other differences. | Looking around, it seems that homelessness is a very obvious issue - hopefully current projects address that, but if they do not, then it needs to be a very hi priority | An effect that was left from the pandemic shortages - aka - self reliance. Redacted. I'd be VERY comfortable paying a reasonable yearly fee to allow me to do that. | poverty / homelessness | Urban farming!!! | Unsure, too broad. | Georgian College, the Makers Space of the former Sydenham School, the Farmers Market - and there are many more reservoirs of knowledge. | |||||||||||||||||||
45 | City needs to grow with , decent paying jobs, no more fast food chain joints or cannabis stores. We need to be responsible for our own waste. Not sending it to Michigan. Affordable rental units... | Affordable rentals. Clean safe downtown. More visible policing. Our own garbage management. Improve the motility parking and walking. | Our waterfront is beautiful, so much more could be done. But no more city or government buildings on the water... no more new buildings for government, maintain what we already pay for. Advertise the library activities more | Youth leaving for school and not returning because lack of jobs and affordable homes. Homeless is crazy with so many free food opportunities...why wouldn't people come to owen sound it's thought of highly among the transient. Because owen sound has lots free.. do something with the drug problem | Using the hospital and college for teaching and co ops, working together. More access and open hours for swimming pools... more use of Harrison park in winter... such as winter carnival with camping etc... | Unfortunately the rail is gone. Our service for internet and phone is still in need of a boost, some has improved some is much worse in the area. Bigger international tournaments baseball, hockey, lacrosse... but advertise... bring back dances... | Hospitals, college, nuclear is near ND can expand more of what's here. Visible policing. It's become a very rough town again | |||||||||||||||||||
46 | Work on affordable housing and reduce the number of homeless people | Be more open minded about new things for the city. Not allowing Poutine Fest was a real lost opportunity for tourists to see what a gem our city is. | Homelessness and poverty among the youth. | Poutine Fest. The influx of tourists would boost our economy. The visitors would need accommodation and they would eat most meals at our local restaurants and probably visit our stores. | Try to promote the downtown to attract new businesses. Maybe have a safe injection site and build more facilities like the converted Bayview School in order to give the addicted a realistic chance to get clean | The college facilities to train individuals in a specific trade. Bring back night school classes for different crafts, woodworking. Metalworking, electrical training.We have a wealth of retired seniors with the skills to mentor unemployed youth. | ||||||||||||||||||||
47 | Drug addiction / homelessness in downtown core. | Costco. | Try to bring downtown business back. Snow clearance similar to Port Elgin, downtown is free of snow. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
48 | a city that grows | truth and reconciliation climate change action/first nations collaboration | First nations collaboration/cultural integration/participation | city core degeneration and lack of respect for architectural heritage/city identity/branding | celebration of creative activities that embrace entire demographic | Transparent two-way communication for city governance accountability and mutual respect in all sectors | Tap the encyclopaediac knowledge and experience of our retired/senior population, likely through the library or some existing group such as PROBUS? | |||||||||||||||||||
49 | Tourism could be better here, many ppl use OS as a bypass to Tobermory, redacted. Better attractions to bring in tourists. | since it is a City, with good social resources, there are a lot of homeless and addicted persons roaming around. | Waterfront pub or restaurant with a 2 story that looks over the water (like Huntsville has) that would attract tourists and local in season. | Tourists friendly, lessen the eye sores of closed and boarded up abandoned businesses and buildings, better selection of waterfront pub or restaurant. | Our city has a strong arts community, it could be harnessed more. | |||||||||||||||||||||
50 | Too much homeless people downtown the city. We need to take care of this matter. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
51 | The definition of what safe City means. | Revive the street front stores so Owen Sound looks like Collingwood, not Teeswater. | Taking the large vacant block across from the west side train station and make a weekly Market out of it by getting Keady Market to move to Owen Sound | Drug rehabilitation centres and homeless living on the streets, discouraging the general population from coming downtown. | A cruise boat making daily runs out of Owen Sound around the outer islands for tourists and local use. | To thrive Owen Sound must grow on the Georgian College presence.Redacted small cities like Owen Sound are more prosperous if they are centres for higher learning. | In order to attract growth lower cost housing making houses available for people to work at a competitive advantage to other centres. | |||||||||||||||||||
52 | I believe that the council needs to spend more time working to support the housing and transportation crises the most. Owen Sound has a large homeless population and a lack of transportation. I would re-frame slightly from priorities such as Green City, Collaborative City, and A City That Grows and enhance focus priorities on A City That Moves and City Building. | I believe we should add priorities referring to the large population of drug addicts and general drug use in Owen Sound. We should add more rehab centers and more shelters to help the less fortunate in need. There is a large number of drug use expanding over many age ranges. This affecting the homeless population in the city a lot. | I believe one positive quality about Owen Sound is that there are a good number of schools (both Catholic and non-Catholic) including childcare centers. There are a lot of children from ages 0-19 that live in Owen Sound and having a large number of schools and childcare centers is very helpful to support that. There is also a good amount of transportation to get to these places which is very helpful. | There is so much racism, homophobia, poverty, and homelessness in Owen Sound that is just going unnoticed. It seems as if the city is not doing anything to help these causes that should be a way higher priority. It is well known to the community that these are big problems but nobody is doing anything to help it stop. | I believe helping to improve the number of homeless people in Owen Sound would have a huge positive impact on the city. This would help to clear our streets more, improve drug use in the city, and also lead to a safer environment. | To reach this goal, we need to work on lowering the number of drug use, poverty, and homelessness in Owen Sound. Having cleared streets would help create a safer community and lower everyone's fear of walking the streets alone. | We have a very vocal community that has a lot of similar views. With the proper guidance, we would be able to work together to help strengthen these priorities and create a stronger community. We can work together to move a strong strategic plan and improve our city. | |||||||||||||||||||
53 | No, I agree with the priorities are in line. | Something to prioritize city transit. | Fiber internet supply, preserved green space. | Young talent leaving for-sure. | Support for alternative methods of transportation. Harder push for a remote-work capital. | To foster a prosperous, connected, vibrant, and safe Owen Sound, we should invest in alternative transportation options like bike lanes and public transit to reduce congestion and promote sustainability. Additionally, attracting big tech companies will provide high-quality job opportunities, encouraging young talent to stay and contribute to the local economy and community. | The college. I think working toward having an even higher form of education like a university or tech-based college would help keep local talent, and attract tech companies to the area. | |||||||||||||||||||
54 | I believe that creating a collaborative city needs to be expanded upon by adding community gardens or a nicer shopping center. | I think the priorities are fine, they just need to be put into action more. | The landscapes are very nice in Owen Sound, however the hiking trails and views are not promoted or cleaned up enough. | There are a lot of drug addicts on the streets that make the city feel unsafe, this is an issue that needs to be improved immediately. | In Owen Sound we have a beautiful waterfront that is being miss used. While we have a lovely water park, the beach itself is unpleasant and underwhelming and is incredibly embarrassing compared to other towns such as Port Elgin. | To create a prosperous Owen Sound, we need to help people struggling with poverty and addiction and get them the help they need. Our natural resources such as the waterfront should be used more efficiently, and our city could become connected by communal activities such as a garden. | We can harness our local talent in the arts such as actors and artists to make the city more welcoming and visually appealing. | |||||||||||||||||||
55 | I believe that the city needs to work more to create a Safer City. I also feel that we need to work towards a Prosperous City. We need more restaurants, more name-brand businesses, and more shopping centers. | I feel that the priorities we have right now are good, they just need to be focused on more. | Harrison Park is a really beautiful place and I feel there should be more advertising for it. | I feel that there are a lot of drug addicts on the streets which makes me feel unsafe walking at night specifically. | We have a very beautiful waterfront that is a missed opportunity. Although there are nice infrastructures such as the park and water park, the beach itself is very messy and disgusting. They should aspire to be like Port Elgin. | To create a prosperous city we need more entertainment and things to do, there is nothing to do in Owen sound. To create a connected city, we could have more city events/festivals bringing us together. To make a more vibrant city, we could have more arts, such as art programs and museums. To make Owen Sound a safer city, they need to fix the drug addiction problem and the homelessness. | I feel young people should be more involved with the community making it up to date for younger citizens, which will encourage students to come back after school. | |||||||||||||||||||
56 | Owen Sound's prosperity needs to be significantly enhanced...look at our mall then vs now. The city also needs to prioritise safety a little bit more. | Definitely prosperity. If we want new residents in Owen Sound, we need to create a more alive city that is doing very well (especially financially). | Owen Sound has a good source of water, which is also great for entertainment. For example, Kelse beach is an awesome water source and it is an awesome beach / park. We also have good festivals! | Owen Sound has a pretty significant drug/poverty/mental health issue. It would be excellent if we could build more institutions to help people with drug problems, who don't have a safe home, or who have mental health issues, to support them. | One significant opportunity that could positively impact the city is A BETTER MALL!!! Having a big mall with lots of stores and entertainment could encourage more people to move to or visit the city. | To build a prosperous, connected, vibrant and safe city we need more institutions for entertainment and wellbeing. We need more sources of entertainment (cough cough BETTER MALL) to draw more tourists and residents to the city. We also need more institutions to help people in need, to build a stronger, more connected, safer, and more positive city. | We have pretty good festivals that encourage tourists to the area. For example, summer folk, Keady market, and ribfest, are all excellent ways of getting the community together. | |||||||||||||||||||
57 | Prosperous City. There are very few decent job opportunities in Owen Sound. With the closure of most manufacturers, and with Council denying new business opportunities like Costco, Owen Sound has become the land of minimum wage. For the redactedyears I lived in Owen Sound, I redacted and could not fathom why there were more job opportunities in a community of approx. 1200 people than our 22,000 person city. | Work with County of Grey to build more subsidized housing in Owen Sound. Ordnance Park is getting old and rough, and waitlists are very long right now. | Homelessness and addiction. | COSTCO! | To become a better Owen Sound, we need to de-emphasize the senior population and all the amenities geared toward seniors. This means paying attention to people under 50: lobbying for more economic opportunities, building affordable housing, and targeting the addiction epidemic so people feel safe raising their kids here again. This will hopefully stop the young people raised in Owen Sound from leaving in droves. | Utilize local talent in the skilled trades for your capital projects and repairs (focus on individuals/companies that aren't as big as Barry's Construction). Also, I'm sure you could convince residents to stop driving to Bruce Power for work by bringing more well-paying nuclear sub-contractors (like Stevcon) to Owen Sound. | ||||||||||||||||||||
58 | Maintenance and beautification of public spaces can be of substantial benefit and should be prioritized | See previous suggestion | Finding ways to increase opportunities for public art and music | poverty, homelessness, mental illness, and addiction are all an interconnected continuum | maintenance and beautification of public and "private" spaces downtown | To be a city committed to celebrating diversity and wellness | Owen Sound has many committed and resourceful people | |||||||||||||||||||
59 | More actions and less planning needed. | A safe downtown with street cameras. | More marketing strategies to attract people to live in our beautiful city. Also, whatever happened to the new housing development across from the hospital. | Homelessness, street people and drug culture. Closed stores should have town managed store fronts promoting local businesses and events, rather than being empty and abandoned. | Leverage the beautiful landscape that surrounds the city - the lake, rivers and Niagara Escarpment. | To attract people to live and/or participate in downtown Owen Sound, it needs to be cleaned up and safe at all times of the day and night. Provide street people with managed drug sites and more safe havens. Street cameras to assist law enforcement. More government run affordable housing. | Marketing strategies to attract business and people to our area. A strong arts community exists, so leverage that. Great restaurants as well. Have seasonal passport events for touring local arts and restaurants. | |||||||||||||||||||
60 | We need new, younger members who are in touch with the entire population not just seniors | Youth resources. We have enough money and resources devoted to seniors. I realize that is a lot of the voting base but you’re making it impossible to attract families, family docs and keep youth here and safe. | Lately all that seems to matter is development. The drug problems, murder, and homelessness make this town a joke to outsiders | Drugs and murder. The youth have no resources here. They’re hungry, bored, the schools are stuck in the past, and they end up not wanting to go, or on drugs. This town has failed its youth | Realizing there are more then seniors here | This town needs a more diverse and younger representation. It’s becoming a haven for drugs and homelessness, people don’t want to stay here, it seems inevitable Doug ford will turn this town into a private healthcare haven. | So much that no one cares about because they aren’t seniors or they’re not white. This town hates outsiders | |||||||||||||||||||
61 | What does "reframed or enhanced" even mean? Your survey needs plain language, "reminders" need additional context, and priorities need actionable steps, with meaningful metrics. Statements that are generic but sound nice, ranking high importance while lacking in concrete outcomes, are useless. All of these generic priorities sound good, but if they were already priorities it seems they didn't get much attention. With people (literally 10 in 2 weeks) overdosing in streets Owen Sound is neither safe nor prosperous, individuals are taxed more less service on a seemingly ongoing budget cycle of nonsense. There's no growth, population has been the same for decades. Mobility is a continued challenge. Residents continually ask for in person engagement, for example town halls and working groups, and they are ignored (with staff propsals for open houses in place of much needed town halls) or set up and immediately disbanded. So all of these are important. How we collectively address them (actual engagement, specific plans and sharing of real results with the community) is more important. The housing and general poverty / socio economic disaster that is downtown, that touches every one of these issues - a community led (read focus groups and input from community groups, residents & visitors from neighbouring municipalities) is how this should be done. | Again, these questions are so generic as to he useless. See previous response. | Nothing comes to mind. Again, perhaps survey design would be a useful exercise for the team. This isn't the right platform for this sort of blue skies question, a focus group or workshop is. | All of the above. The very real lack of connection, collaboration, even conversation between the City (councilors, staff) and the public it should serve should be the starting point. A drastic change to community engagement and budgeting models is needed. There is a real need to maximize return on services and assets community members value, rather than make assumptions and dedicate huge budgets (for example any planned Tom spend in the millions deserves in person community engagement) while locals witness a crumbling downtown where folks are murdered in the streets redacted without any level of accountability. Community policing, mental health supports, newcomer integration, it's all part of the same uncomfortable conversation. | Nothing comes to mind aside from respecting the citizens in our community who are passionate enough to speak up continually despite non response from the city. Passionate people want to help. Listen, view it as an opportunity to recruit passionate volunteers. Foster conversation. | This is repetitive and generic. Again, check in with a survey design course, hire an experienced engagement / communications consultant for future surveys. Listen to, engage with community in real life. | Are you kidding? This question (typos aside) is what, a Google ask? All the expertise and strategy needed can be sourced locally. | |||||||||||||||||||
62 | Safe cities should remain and be the priority | Industrial park land for businesses... O S great place for their employees to live/ re locate. Our college...more housing for students needed | High number of drug overdoses for the population. Does not feel as safe redacted no longer feels safe walking downtown (redacted) and I will not allow redacted downtown. Homelessness...people hanging about loitering in public places and on sidewalks that have no place to go or are looking for money. Even seen doing hard drugs in the open. | ..our harbour? Having a hotel/ restaurant with easy access for boaters to come. Our college | This is hard as I like the small town feel but would like to see it more as a day visit location. More stores for surrounding area people to come to. A safe downtown is a must and is very disheartening as there are so many trying to make this happen. Would also like to see more industry to keep our youth here. | |||||||||||||||||||||
63 | Make the main two blocks downtown pedestrian only (The adjacent streets could be one way and allow extra parking) Allow for vendors on the main two blocks. Now we have a community destination and event venue, while also fixing the problem with the congestion at the light on 10th St E | Community engagement and connectivity | Like I said previously the downtown core needs an overhaul. Food trucks, beer gardens, pedestrian streets, buskers and performers. The local business would get a boost and more opportunities would be created for others | The homelessness is something people are very fearful of in this area. Redacted so I’m used to it and I know homelessness doesn’t make people dangerous but desperation does. People need help and understanding and engagement. | PEDESTRIAN DOWNTOWN CORE! Two blocks on 2nd Ave E from the lights to City Hall. The more people the area attracts the safer it becomes, the more profitable the businesses are and, most importantly, it fixes the congestion at the lights (it is a highway after all) | This city has the potential, the talent, the creativity, the layout and location to be a vibrant thriving social center. There are lots of people working really hard on this already we just need to get out of there way. | The artistic community in this area is disproportionately large and talented. They need to be empowered. | |||||||||||||||||||
64 | Safety is an issue for me. I don’t feel safe shopping down town Owensound any more with all the drug addictions, overdoses, thefts and homeless people in that area. | Affordable housing for seniors and new families is an issue for me. As well as seniors retirement living accomodations | There could be potential for lots of new businesses in Owensound as it grows, however with all the Air B&B or cottage rentals, or secondary homes; Owensound does not have enough work force to back up the new business employee needs. | Poverty and homelessness and drugs around Owensound | Affordable housing so people can afford a home and therefore there would be more people available to provide the necessary work force and skilled labour needed in Owensound and area. | There needs to be tighter regulations on cottage rentals. If there were less secondary homes, we could have more homes available for first time home buyers. Build smaller homes that people can afford, so they live, work and play in Owensound. Provide more police services to get control of the drugs, homelessness and thefts in the area. | I’m not familiar with those who have the expertise and talent, however there are many good and vibrant businesses that have talented and smart people owning the businesses. You should survey them for input! | |||||||||||||||||||
65 | retention - providing services (necessary and recreational) that allow people to stay in the area and encourage them to stay | recreational opportunities (Elliott Lake is constantly advertising itself as a retirement community, and while I don't necessarily think Owen Sound should be advertised as a retirement community, we have a lot of the same attributes and yet I never hear anything about Owen Sound outside of this area) | lack of diversity, lack of indoor recreational/kid friendly activities, shopping (Walmart should not be our only option) | - more sports festivals/events to bring attention to our area - a Costco would be useful (cottagers in summer) - | There is little for youth. No social venues, no gathering places, no activities. Young people leave for their education and start working in other areas and don't return. No mid-level opportunities for work (poor paying service industry jobs, and skilled professionals, but little in between). The lack of medical and health services is detrimental to all age groups - children to senior - improve the medical picture and people won't be forced to leave because they need access to these services. | - we have tonnes of expertise in this community. Put the call out. People will answer. But be sure to value their expertise, because if you ask for help and then ignore that input, you will lose that support. | ||||||||||||||||||||
66 | Downtown, main street Owen Sound needs serious help. People do not feel safe, businesses are actively leaving the downtown core because of the drug/homelessness related activities and issues. | Zero tolerance for public intoxication, drug trafficking, verbal or physical abuse. | The harbourfront is an underused resource. People can walk the harbourfront but little else is there to attract people to Owen Sound. | See answers to questions 2 and 3. No one wants to say it. The drug/homelessness situation is out of control. Every day another business announces that they are relocating and it is ALWAYS away from main street. | More use of Kelso Beach area for concerts, family events. | There are very few reasons to visit downtown Owen Sound. The landlords could be incentivized to fill their vacant buildings or sell them to someone who will. Owen Sound will live and die with main street. | The arts community, the market community are relatively well supported and have the ear of many. | |||||||||||||||||||
67 | A beautiful and attractive city. A city that is a tourist destination. A city that draws people to its waterfront with cafes and restaurants. A city that promotes its attractions. | Making the most of the beautiful natural environment, developing pedestrian zones with cafes and restaurants in the harbour. Attracting tourists to come and stay. Making the most of its significsnt cultural resources -Symphony, art Gallery, Grey Roots, Theatre, Sweeteater, Summerfolk etc etc. | The spectacular views along the harbour are barely taken advantage of, the cultural life of the city is a well kept secret, tourists tend to pass through on their way up the Bruce instead of seeing it as a destination. | Lack of vision and ambition. With all the development taking place in Collingwood, Thornbury and now Meaford, the whole area is changing. Owen Sound needs to embrace the new economy and move up in the world. | There are several trends that are key: tourism is a growth industry with special interest in the natural environment, arts and culture, snd music festivsls. Owen Sound could capitalize on this. Another growing trend is remote work and the city could attract remote workers with new skillsets, the city has an attractive main street, river, market, art gallery and library at ifs hub. This core could be a mecca for community activities 24/7 if it was enhanced with more interconnective walkways, seating, planters, trees etc. | This community is full of talented people both permanent and part-time residents. They need to be invited to participate in brainstorming sessions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
68 | Prosperous city and city building | Downtown improvements | Beautiful Waterfront | People struggling with drug use. It is difficult to watch someone laying on the harbour walk who is rushing and not doing well. | Don’t know. Redacted | There appears to be many active groups. Making it easy for interaction between many groups may provide synergies that aren’t currently happening and have a greater positive impact on the community. | I am not knowledgeable enough to answer this. | |||||||||||||||||||
69 | I would enhance transportation. Many people cannot afford vehicles,or choose not to drive. Reliable, available transportation is key to allowing people to get to work, home and play. | Health care | It's a relatively small, safe community. I realize there are drug problems and housing difficulties but overall, owen sound is a good place to live | Youngsters need to be encouraged to spread their wings and then return to live. | An entertainment centre and a good shopping centre would definitely enhance life | The traffic issues need immediate attention. I think available shopping and connective transportation need to be addressed. The river district is starting to look good, but is of no use if people are afraid of drug users and theft. The beach area needs to be made attractive for people to visit and picnic... | Council. More work less talk | |||||||||||||||||||
70 | Improving downtown. Create pedestrian only street along 2nd Ave East. Encourage people to come downtown to eat, drink, socialise, as opposed to just buying things. | The waterfront. There is a big disconnect between the downtown core and harbour that need to be improved. | Downtown is a place people avoid unless they HAVE to go there. And even then people grab what they need and leave as quickly as possible. The people who hang out downtown are partly responsible for this, however, the city needs to think how the downtown is packed out to encourage people to spend time down there. | Making the downtown core pedestrian friendly. Widening the sidewalks so businesses can use the space. Design the space around people not cars! | The town is the people, but if people don't come together and share common spaces then you don't have a town. Soulless box stores, endless parking lots, and suburban streets with no sidewalks do not make a town. | No idea. Not that redacted. Typical redacted who is just in it for redacted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
71 | The amount of homeless people should be a big priority. | The kindness within Owen Sound. I very rarely encounter rude or mean people here. | Homelessness and drug crisis. Safe n Sound is bragging about the donation of 43 tents. I donate to Safe n Sound but let's try and help homelessness by not being an enabler. What's going to happen to these 43 tents come winter? Left behind like garbage? Also, the significant drug problem. I very rarely feel comfortable walking downtown by myself. You are constantly seeing drug dealers giving people drugs right in front of you. They are not shy about it which clearly shows the police don't do anything to stop it. | A very well maintained large beach. We're almost there with Hibou but if we had a spectacular beach, we would have a lot more vacationers here. | The houses close to the 1st Ave West are cleaned up, the downtown core is fixed up and repaired, and the community enjoys and feels safe exploring and touring their own historical areas. | |||||||||||||||||||||
72 | The "Belonging" movement now being established through social enterprise initiatives by not-for-profit organizations within and without Owen Sound. | The begging and lack of a strictly male oriented permanent housing program for dependant male disabled men for mature/senior men living on the street. | The highlighting and emphasis of new comer immigrant businesses that employ local established white coloured residents | The establishment of a public transit system that operates 18 hours a day for 7 days a week including statutory holidays. A full assessment using universal accessibility standards at an international level for all municipally owned buildings of the past, present and the future. | The already existing not for profit organizations promoting immigration, welcoming communities movements, organized groups and agencies representing seniors, persons with disabilities and mental health/addtion services. | |||||||||||||||||||||
73 | Green City | Replacing trees | We could have more action on the harbour walls. Hot dog wagons, mini festivals, buskers, mimes, boat races, canoe rentals, ice cream vendors, Guelph has a pottery show of around 60 Potters; we could do likewise, Paisley has an art show by the river, I bet we could have a bigger, better show.😊 | Downtown area has homeless people or people just hanging around. Sometimes they argue amonst themselves, cursing and swearing | For special events, such as the fishing derby or Summer folk, parking could be off site, maybe the Bayshore and a shuttle could be run directly to the event. The baby boomers are starting to age and not everyone can walk great distances. | The downtown stores are all full and open all day, later on Friday nights. Free family activities happening often and lots of music and art happening | Access the senior groups in town and see what they have to offer. Talk to the high schools and get their suggestions of students that and community minded and capable | |||||||||||||||||||
74 | Safe city means safe for all citizens. Public defecating and urinating is a huge health concern. | Public safety at night in downtown. We need police on foot patrol all night. | None. Owen Sound is going backwards. | The homeless situation will continue to increase. We now have a larger treatment centre for addictions but what happens those seeking treatment either drop out or graduate from the program? There is no such thing as affordable housing. | Do like other cities, and contact Costco and give them free taxes for 5 years. That will create more jobs and become a destination for people. Remember how industries like PPG were enticed to the town? Give them incentives. | The city staff needs a major overhaul. We need councillors that actually think and don't defer to city staff or outside consultants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
75 | Housing | Landscape | Drugs and lack of affordable housing | Tiny home community | The city needs to be more proactive with housing. A wellness centre is great, but where do the folks go after, all the new program is doing is management not proactively correcting the issue, housing is Owen Sounds major issue. We need to lead that change and be the model. Harm reduction again is management not corrective. People need to achieve the full goal, which is affordable housing, you will see much better outcomes of people in our own community care for and maintain better. Work on the people in our community, that is community. We need to allow things like fisheries come, for jobs, we are a service sector community that doesn’t pay bills | Expertise is based on who you know and politics in this community, I’ve personally tried to have a voice and it got shoved aside. Redacted here. | ||||||||||||||||||||
76 | City building- the city should not be putting $20 million into revamping the TT art gallery. It needs to be a county project. Plus, put the tourist office back along the harbour in the Marine museum. It is absolutely ridiculous to have the tourist info centre where there is minimal parking , no where for RV’s or trailers to easily pull over, it needs to be back on the water! | Safe city- security cameras(cctv) throughout the downtown. Foot patrol officers need to be far more present. Bylaws for certain breeds of dogs to be muzzled downtown need to be enforced. The approach to homelessness should not be to hand out tents. The city ploughed under the green space by best western to prevent camping, so now the vulnerable are entrenched along the river and in store entrances, street benches etc. Not a lot of thought seems to be going into these decisions. | The harbour! | Homophobia and race relations | Reducing staff levels to actually reflect population. This would free up more dollars for actual needs in the city Redacted | The city council and staff need to be far more receptive to the community. Create opportunities for elected council members to do a town hall event, to answer direct questions. City council and staff need to change their approach to the new style of media, in particular because of the changing media landscape, they should be receptive to responding to local community newsletter such as The Current, local radio and other. | There are many current and retired experts in this community that should be approached to participate in strategic planning, not just relying on city staff to make those suggestions. | |||||||||||||||||||
77 | A green city seems particularly urgent with climate change coming faster than expected. And a safe city - not that it is unsafe but that people complain about and it drags down the view of the city. | Encouraging community input like this. | Owen Sound punches above its weight in terms of arts and culture. I feel like the natural world kind of sells itself. | I wish there was a way to help more people with supportive housing. It's clear that a lot need support - more than just low cost housing. | More indigenous focused tourism - indigenous food festival, theatre, or craft/cultural fest? Set up grants to encourage it? | The challenge I think is a small tax base but we are an area hub for healthcare, business, etc so the burdens outweigh the tax base. In my opinion it's crucial to work with other communities to integrate programs to help people and maximize funding alternatives. Helping the neediest is the key. | This town seems rife with folks with life experience but cultivating that requires specific requests - asking folks to join a committee won't cut it. Identify a specific need - a call for community members with experience in XYZ will work better. | |||||||||||||||||||
78 | Clean up the tent cities all over our city. Clean up the garbage that they leave behind everywhere. Get compost bin picks up, make garbage tags cheaper more affordable, have the Owen sound transit run buses to no frills that would be amazing | CLEAN UP THE TENT CITIES, have the transit bus go to no frills | The use of the farmer market area for activities | Homeless, tent cities every where, the amount of drugs on the streets within the tent cities | More stuff down by the water, more splash pad, more pool open times, more family related affordable stuff | Tent cities would be limited after so many days. after a week they should be moved since there is nothing we can do to remove them completely, the amount of garbage and litter all over the city is disgusting. It’s awful when you drive through our down town area and you see people sleeping everywhere open an empty lot and they put there tents on those designated areas instead of all over the city easier clean up too | More family events | |||||||||||||||||||
79 | new wellness and recovery centre | homophobia | take the drugs and needles off the street | |||||||||||||||||||||||
80 | I’m unsure whether safe city priorities includes supports for MANY more places in residential facilities that include mental health and addictions treatment that also include access to health care including med administration that are actually regulated to the level of LTC. But if not - that. | See last response if it is not already | Fascinating local history | Race relations and the changing population with more immigration | Tiny homes | Take real, proactive care of those who are most vulnerable. Provide incentives for landlords to charge less or regulate rent. Incentives for small business to open | Put out word regarding what you specifically want experts (real people on front lines or expertise) on instead of consulting the same organizations and higher level managers within them | |||||||||||||||||||
81 | Arts, music, spaces and places that support new and established people in the arts community. Maintain tennis courts, stone tables with chess boards under trees with shade … | Spaces and places and support for our arts community … that’s what keeps our city vibrant and alive | More lush for the arts community .. we have world class musicians …a highly rated theatre and production …painters…filmmakers … promote each community separately and together and use them as a focused selling point | Mental health services..they are terrible, underfunded and scattershot approach …tackle mental health ..it’s the root of all the other problems …do better or continue to suffer the consequences | As mentioned previously …promote the arts community with support in the community and use them as a selling point to draw folks to live in Owen Sound and surrounding area | Take care of treating the disadvantaged in our community with more mental health engagement. Support and promote the arts here and in other communities | Ask the leaders in the various fields ..what a strange question, not well thought out or phrased | |||||||||||||||||||
82 | Transportation and more lifetime jobs need to be available. Trains and factorys/businesses would be awesome. | Railway | Businesses | Homelessness | Train tracks | Sustainable jobs with a correct police force and working Canadians can have good pay and reliable transportation | Blue collar Canadians. | |||||||||||||||||||
83 | Cleaning up the downtown. Making it more inviting. I've been here redacted and have no desire to go down there anymore. Too many drugs and sketchy people. | The water front | Drugs..it's unsafe and no one wants to be alone in most parts of town anymore. | Transit to bigger cities maybe | Stronger police force that actually tries and solve issues. | |||||||||||||||||||||
84 | Enhancing our Urban Forest by increasing canopy cover through more funding, volunteering and staff prioritization. Pushing for more community gardens and cleaning up natural areas that are out of site out of mind. | It would say a lot to celebrate redacted in some fashion. | encouraging or favouring diversity redacted | Usage of neglected or unused city-owned historical buildings | Strong collaboration with Georgian Bluffs (ex. Transit), encouraging and supporting green initiatives, stronger enforcement on vehicle idling. | Local historical understanding of what events have happened in the past successfully and a sense of what may be successful moving forward. This is made up of folks who have lived in town for years and/or ran or runs a business in town, primarily. | ||||||||||||||||||||
85 | Safety in downtown business area | None | Continue to promote scenic geographical area | People with addiction issues | Don't know | Strive to promote safety in the business retail area with more security personnel | City council members, Business owners, and wise community members input will be useful. | |||||||||||||||||||
86 | We need a new mayor with vision and not one with so many conflicts of interest. He’s just trying to make Owen sound bigger not better | Youth services. Seniors are not the future of Owen Sound the youth is. We don’t have a youth center, help for kids who don’t have access to proper nutrition when their parents can’t or won’t handle it. We need so much more resources for the cities youth or it will be a desert. If you can’t make the town appeasing for youth and families you won’t attract doctors or any kid of future growth because the seniors only want what’s best for them and nothing to change. It’s time for real change and nee blood in the city council | Diversity | Murder that hasn’t been solved even though you know who did it | To embrace the youth and not keep shoving them into portables so you can make more senior centres and unaffordable property | Stop turning Owen sound into a retirement community. | We need a new city council | |||||||||||||||||||
87 | I think these are good goals, but you can’t cut services and achieve these goals. | Accept the city needs adequate fire services and staff | Water front | Drug use, but it’s everywhere. Relocate programs and help for these people outside of the downtown core | A casino. The city should have done that years ago. Hanover gets millions in revenue from OLG | Stop trying to cut services if you want to grow the community. People need to know they are safe and have adequate help in emergencies. Art galleries, museums should be county level and not apart of city tax dollars. Less and less people care about these facilities | We have people in this community with experience in other communities or have lives in similar and larger communities. Seek their advice and make informed decisions. | |||||||||||||||||||
88 | Lower taxes | Harrison Park | Unsafe downtown due to homeless loitering | The mayor does not listen and makes council meetings very unfriendly with his attitude. The mayor should embrace a diversity of opinions | Stop trying to be what we are not and can never be. We will never be a city with a population greater than 23,000. Stop trying wasting money on to encourage development that hasn’t happened in the last 10 years and will not happen in the next. We are a retirement community. That’s our strength. Embrace it | We have a large population of retirees with knowledge skills education and time on their hand. Engage the free labour pool and stop wasting money on expensive consultants that deliver little of value | ||||||||||||||||||||
89 | safe for who? | you are a commuter town, put carpool lots on the edges and have regular public transit to help with down town parking. Id pay not to fight down 10th every day. | homeless population and drug use. these people are hear, you can give them just enough they never get a chance for something better, or you can invest enough to solve the issue. its hard to justify that investment when it keeps the problem solved and nothing is there, but it is clearly visible went you dont. | stop trying to be the nice person. Be the adult in the room and, you have all the data and know what can be done. Be honest with people and dont sugar coat reality. | you have people that have gotten off the street and made a better life. Find them and ask what enabled that and what held them back. Ask the people that have made it through how to optimize the system. | |||||||||||||||||||||
90 | Stop catering to the retirement community. You want to increase the population? Stop building retirement homes and LTC. You need to cater to the working class. The ones who are growing up here and putting their MONEY here. The parks are a complete embarrassment.redacted to MIDLAND to play at the park. Tourists, and family not from here have complained on the lack or shopping and restraunts. The drug addicts hanging around down town are a joke. The amount of drug paraphernalia is disgusting, and NOTHING is ever done about it. Start looking into the OSPS, you'd be surprised at how much corruption is there, unless you already know. I'm embarrassed to admit redacted It's a disgrace. Nothing for young kids, teenagers, or adults to do. People come here to die. DO BETTER | Harrison Park USE to be nice. Now it's a shit show, make it better | See previous comments. DO BETTER. People are leaving this disgusting town | Stop catering to the ELDERLY | Stop catering to the elderly | |||||||||||||||||||||
91 | A City That Grows - enhance the appearance and cleanliness of 2nd Avenue downtown as top priority. Case in point .... the disgusting appearance of the former Legatt's Furniture Building left looking broken down for over 2 years now. Disgraceful! Clean the sidewalks with high-pressure water - the block starting at Channing Restaurant up to Metro Supermarket on both sides of the street has regular discarded garbage and filth on the sidewalks. | Stop spending money on ridiculous RAINBOW stripes around the city's downtown core and focus more on cleaning up the retail and commercial buildings. | LOCAL LIBRARY NEEDS TO EXPAND THEIR HOURS - CLOSING AT 5 PM ON FRIDAYS IS UNACCEPTABLE. THE COMMUNITY WANTS LIBRARY HOURS TO 9 PM WEEKDAYS and SAME ON FRIDAYS - PLEASE> LONG OVERDUE. | Homlessness so visible around the downtown now. Very off-putting especially for redacted who no longer enjoy banking and shopping in the downtown core now. THIS MUST BE REMEDIED. | We need another Arts Emporium aside from Artist's Co-OP which is limited by being available for featuring the art of members only which my last inquiry revealed was a mere 45 members. This leaves little to no room for newcomers or others not paying members of the Co-Op. Open up a large retail space on 2n Avenue for multiple ventors - like a FLEA MARKET OPEN EACH DAY. | STOP BIG BOX STORE DEVELOPMENT and focus on INDIVIDUAL SMALL BUSINESS OWNED SHOPS WHICH ARE NICHE AND MUCH NEEDED. FOR EXAMPLE, A FRESH FISH MERCHANT SHOP and ALSO A FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE SHOP ON MAIN STREET - ALSO A BAKERY LIKE THE ONE IN SOUTHAMPTON. | I don't know. I am not redacted so I am unaware of who the talent and expertise are. | |||||||||||||||||||
92 | Yes: a Prosperous city, one free from crime and focuses on economic development instead of social services that attract the opposite kind of population. | “Affordable housing” needs to be redefined. How about some nice condos and apartments/Flats that are NOT part of grey county housing? Start attracting young, educated people who want to come here, work and raise a family…. Affordably. Our waterfront is also embarrassing. The potential is enormous, but government buildings and vacant fields will not bring people, tourists or economic development. | Our downtown businesses are great! But the city isn’t doing enough to force the owners of those “eye sore” buildings, ones that have been vacant or under construction/reno for a long time. Legates, goodfellows pizza, beside Harb etc. and I don’t blame the Milnes Surveying for leaving the downtown. What a disaster 8thSt/3rdAve E is. | Homelessness and drugs. We attract this population based on our abundance of services. Port Elgin, Southampton and Thornbury do not have these issues and it shows. | Develop our waterfront! Attract developers to finish the job (bankrupt building across from Bayshore) From the harbour all the way to the soccer complex. Condos, restaurants, patios. | Start focusing on attracting a population that will CONTRIBUTE to our economy. And grow our population with young families. Being just a retirement community and social service hub, is not sustainable. | ||||||||||||||||||||
93 | These seem like they are out of touch with the reality of today. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs-we need to ensure we are first looking after the immediate needs of our poor and vulnerable and then focus on greening and arts. The mayor is tonedeaf to where are focus needs to be -it’s all people see when they visit or drive through -how we treat our poor. Can’t be prosperous until you focus some energy and resources here. | Housing. Stop saying it’s out of your jurisdiction-you are redacted, white, high paid and do not listen to your city. It’s interesting that another long serving councillor redacted also endorses this vision. Show some compassion. | Newcomers | Our city turning a blind eye to homelessness | Housing | Start collaborating more with community partners. Be a conduit between for profit and not for profit-let’s get this fixed together. | Newcomers | |||||||||||||||||||
94 | Safety and prosperity are number 1 and 2 | Ideas around a safe community- neighborhood policing. | We are a health hub for grey and Bruce counties. Let’s build up the hospital area to support our visitors | We really need to reconsider where we are budgeting our improvements. Downtown is not the priority if it is not policed and managed appropriately. The majority of the population is not going downtown due to its lack of safety. | We are a waterfront community, spend the money to enhance our waterfront. | Staff put a heavy focus on downtown improvements. Let’s focus on green space on the east and west side, drawing people outside. Supporting the community outside of the downtown area provides for a more vast usage of the city, allowing residents and visitors to support businesses outside of the downtown area, such as the waterfront. | We have a community full of strategic planners that have local roots. Strike a committee of local talent, to work with consultants to put together a strategic plan. | |||||||||||||||||||
95 | Encouraging affordable housing options as much as is within the city’s mandate is important. Is that part of a city that grows? Or a collaborative city? | Housing | Several years ago the reason some relatives did NOT retire here was the lack of clearly advertised/signed all-connected-together trails, especially including the waterfront. I do think it’s better now but people really do want to walk, fairly long distances, everyday without having to drive out of town. We can’t let progress be lost and there’s always more to do (making sure people know access points, where to park if you have to drive there etc) | The disconnect which still exists between First Nations and Settler residents. It's better than when redacted told the other kids in redacted classes that redacted because that was safer than admitting redacted in the redacted but we have work to do. | The River District isn't quite missed…but we could do better as citizens supporting the downtown. Also, this is a port. It’s always been a port. Ports have groups of random strangers wandering about misbehaving at times. It's tricky balancing the needs of a working port and a tourism destination port…but we could play it up a bit more?.? Our homeless population also wanders about and occasionally somebody gets out of line, but on the whole they’re OURS..and not really in the same group as the tourists…There may be the germ of an idea in there somewhere… | Sorry, fresh lut of ideas | Everything. We literally have everything. So many retired and working and on LTD experts here. Places to ask for expertise are the Owen Sound Field Naturalists, M’Wikwedong Native Cultural Resource Centre, Owen Sound Alliance Church and the local University Women chapter whose name I forget. Foundation Grey Bruce. Escarpment Biosphere Reserve. Bluewater Quilter’s Guild (do not let the grey hair fool you) | |||||||||||||||||||
96 | Safe City | Growing number of homeless/drug addicts downtown and in community areas | Striking landscapes | Homelessness | In need of more local restaurants, spaces for family’s to play indoors in the colder months | Something needs to be done about the downtown area and the amount of homeless and vagrants around there. I love the river district but I always think twice about bringing my kids down there. | ||||||||||||||||||||
97 | A clean city. An affordable city. | Reducing garbage and such from the downtown area. | A lot of waterfront property is housing, tourism should be water centric. Downtown Main Street should be for shopping instead of dentists and lawyers etc. they don't need to be on Main Street. Tourism should be boosted. | Homelessness, garbage, open drug use. | If the town switch to Bear Bins that are accessible to everyone for household garbage removal. Land taxes and such should pay for garbage removal and by providing a free option you will likely see less garbage tossed on the ground. Also street sweepers, although they already exist, they don't clean up highly frequented areas such as the stairwell at the old post office. The police should start charging/arresting people with open drug use and public intoxication. | Someone from council should go to or connect with someone from Canmore Alberta or Banff, to see what they have done to keep their space clean and safe. With millions of visitors they manage to do it. | You need fresh faces with tourism backgrounds. Hospitality backgrounds. And the like. | |||||||||||||||||||
98 | Green city | Natural burial cemetery for a green option and to suit our growing and diversifying population | Potential of local business | Poverty, opioid crisis, homophobia | Natural burial cemetery | Social services to help support those in need. More live music venues indoor and outdoor. Redacted. | Our elders | |||||||||||||||||||
99 | Prosperous City | Need an initiative, bylaw to take control or to green derelict commercial properities in the city | Arts and culture, and in particular, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery should be leveraged nationally and internationally. Package tours! | drug addicts on the downtown streets whether homeless or not | Again, the Tom Thomson Art Gallery, along with other significant Thomson locations and partnered with hotels, restaurants and businesses of Owen Sound and area, and marketed nationally znd internationally to target audiences. | Small scale condo development downtown or close to it to provide living for older demographic. The ability to safely walk throughout entire River District admiring the river, the trees, the architecture. To pop into interesting stores, have a coffee sitting on a patio or bench along the river or stop for dinner in local restaurants (not the big chains). If the city addressed the priorities we'd all be able to enjoy that. | Could redacted be persuaded to partner with Owen Sound? How about redacted to bring an Indigenous perspective? Would ex-City Council members be interested in helping? How about people in the cultural community - Redacted the ownership team of the Attack? | |||||||||||||||||||
100 | Owen Sound needs a safe drug consumption site and more affordable units. | Safe drug consumption | Downtown and walk ability. | Sprawl of east side strip, terrible urban planning, focus on car travel, increasing traffic smog, resulting in degradation of downtown. | safe consumption site | Slow traffic to 40km in all of Owen Sound. | Change speed limit to 40km all through Owen Sound. | |||||||||||||||||||
101 | Maybe. I would need to do more research. | More financial and other support for cultural entities like museums, galleries, theatre, orchestras. | All the history and culture that is here. | The impression that downtown is always dangerous. | Clean up and make attractive more of the downtown than just the river district. Expand the area beyond First avenue east and west. | Simple things like getting rid of weeds, brightening up storefronts and providing more places to sit on the main streets (second and third avenues) would make downtown more welcoming. Cutting red tape when developers and other business types want to set up here may encourage more growth. | The people who live and work here. Younger people often have good new ideas. If you want to know what young people want you have to ask them. Ask new Canadians what they think can be improved. Don’t just ask the well established members of the community. The old guard. | |||||||||||||||||||