The City of Airdrie held focus groups on the future of Downtown on February 8 and 9.

Marnie Marr, a partner with Fiander Marr Professional Accountants and an admin on the Facebook group Airdrie Engaged, attended the meeting on February 8 and had positive things to say.

"I felt it went really well. I felt the moderator - I had Stephen, who's the city employee, and he did a great job keeping everyone respectful and keeping it on point."

Marr said the moderator asked important, open-ended questions and really listened. However, she did think there were some bad aspects to the focus group to go along with the good.

"You know, there's good and bad about the workshop. The good was, yes, I felt like Stephen was listening to what we were saying and was understanding it. The bad part though is, before they ever did the workshop, I would have liked them to do a survey. I mean, they just did this whole new Bannister survey, why didn't they ask the question on there, is this even a top priority?"

Marr believes that Downtown redevelopment is not as high a priority for residents as it is for the City. She hopes the city will take more time to consult residents before any money is spent, especially regarding what local businesses want.

"I hope that there's more input from people. I mean, this was very, very high level. Before we get to anything where any money's actually being spent, I'd like to see some more community engagement here."

Another focus group will take place tonight (February 15) at 6:30pm.

 

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