Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Fall in love with an Edmonton winter

When Coun. Ben Henderson was in Finland last February he visited a café on the Baltic Sea where everyone was sitting outside in -15 C weather.

“It was designed in a way there was no wind, it captured the sun,” he said. “And we haven’t done stuff like that.”

A WinterCity Strategy to be unveiled Jan. 19 will focus on public spaces, infrastructure planning, livability and tourism — everything from colours of buildings to treatment of light and snow.

“People, I think, have fallen out of love with winter in Edmonton,” said project manager Susan Holdsworth. “We don’t really speak of winter positively.”

Holdsworth said some planning was done in the 80’s, but died off until the push for winter festivals came about four years ago.

And while that has been successful, Holdsworth said there is more to be done throughout the entire city in order to make it authentic — for everyone.

“For it to be a real tourism destination, we have to really love it.”

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