Adventures in Platzl

On Friday I had a chance to spend a few hours going from business to business in the Platzl. The plan was simple enough... open business door, walk in, introduce myself and listen to what each business owner had to say. It went as well as I had hoped, but with a few surprises. First, business owners in the Platzl are a very friendly, very optimistic bunch. They all knew I was running for council and had every opportunity to complain to me - but they didn't. Instead what I received was a very warm welcome, a sincere smile, and a bit of history about their business and a very open, frank discussion on how to improve things. The other surprise that I was faced with was time - I spent an hour in some businesses and, (at the very least 20 minutes) in others. My two hour Platzl adventure turned out to be an entire day, and I still only managed to visit about a third of the businesses!
 The business owners level of optimism about business life in the Platzl was very refreshing! Still, the ensuing discussions brought to light several things:

1. Bavarian theme is not all that bad. Some people are really pumped about keeping the Bavarian storefronts and keeping this theme going ( some did qualify this by saying that most storefronts are way overdo for a major redo). Others... not so much, they would rather see a more natural storefront (mountain theme, if you will). I did not come across anyone against the Cuckoo clock, they all love the cuckoo clock and really appreciate the volunteer efforts. Almost everyone spoke about the cuckoo clock, without me asking about it.

2. Some business people told me about the affection for our mascot (?) Happy Hans. They love the little guy. I was told about folks actually getting a Happy Hans tattoo!

3. One business owner told me a story about finding a natural paint color (based on images of lichen that he took) scheme for his business, only to be hounded by City Hall to do a "mountain of paperwork" for approval, something the owner simply could not put the time into and in the end City Hall brought the paperwork to his business to help with. It's great that City Hall did this, but I still wonder about the (why?) of paperwork in the first place.

4. It appears many business owners use the shoulder season in the fall , and mid-April to Mid-May to take holidays. They simply work with the slow season. Some owners mentioned that they are not experiencing a slow shoulder season this year, things were going ok for some. Then I walked past the very lonely looking building that used to be Bavarian Sports and Hardware. The windows are now all covered up.          

Every time I walk through the Platzl, I can't help but wonder what the ambiance of the place would be with higher blend of residential (condo) to commercial. It would be a beautiful place to live, with a world class garden right out your front door, and quick access to everything Kimberley has to offer. I think this would help solve what is (in my mind) the number one problem with the Platzl.... NO PEOPLE.     

The Platzl is a pedestrian mall... it needs people. Why not rezone some of the commercial space to high density residential (condo)?  Business owners are redoing their storefronts, great garden environment in the summer, easy access to everything else... and best of all - more people.          Darryl Oakley