With the recent announcement of Future Fields expansion in Edmonton that was previously posted, and the fact that they are setting up a 6,000 sq ft facility in the downtown area (just behind MacEwan U) I wonder if we need to think of some of this dt land as opportunity to bring other kinds of workers instead of the office crowd.

edmonton.taproot.news

Future Fields gets funding to scale fruit-fly-powered biomanufacturing

Edmonton will be the site of the world's first production facility for recombinant protein derived from fruit flies after Future Fields secured US$11.2 million in funding from investors and the federal government.
edmonton.taproot.news edmonton.taproot.news

Could the warehouse district return to its former glory by actually having that kind of industry/work? Dt is the most accessible part of the city via public transit and there's lots of land. Office workers are on the decline and even if they increase again, there is a lot of available office space for them.

If more things could be manufactured here, it could open up some opportunities dt to bring other kinds of workers.
 
Garneau2Go said:
I wonder whether or not work from home could be a opportunity in a roundabout way. Instead of having 200-300 in one central office building, could the number of workers downtown increase but just working out of multiple apartments and co-working spaces? Is a permanent base of downtown workers not better than one that leaves the core every night?

Downtown living is a lifestyle. Living car-free, eco-friendly, walkable, close to shops, cultural amenities, festivals, cafes and restaurants. You can get very close to that "Downtown Toronto" lifestyle here for much cheaper. Places like City Centre can serve an increased population and can be an employment centre serving everyone, not just office staff.

I realize that the push for more people to live downtown is happening, I just think that it can be better leveraged in a way to help offset the commuting population.
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Interesting thoughts. A lot of employees working from home probably live in suburban locations, but as the city grows the drive in from far away does not get shorter. So maybe hybrid work or returning to the office will lead at least some to reconsider living in a more central location. You can save a lot of money by not having to drive, pay for parking, etc.. and unlike the GTA two bedroom condo's downtown here are not very expensive at all, especially if you are ok with some place that is not brand new.
 
David A said:
Part of the problem, which I agree with CaptainBL on is that city council has mostly passed of economic development to an arms length body that doesn't seem to be doing much.

I think it is part of the culture in our civic government that our leaders don't see it as part of their job to focus on attracting such regional or head offices. However, its not just the current mayor and council, it has been a blind spot for a quite a while.
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emphasis added...

i'm not sure that that is a big part of problem though or that this is an accurate conclusion remembering that the industrial heartland is as fundamental to global edmonton as downtown and that, at the scale they operate under, they are looking to secure focused but large returns for their efforts and for the region - they are not a small business incubator...

it's in all of the region's partners best interests that regional economic development be pursued regionally such that all of the region's partners aren't continually competing with each other. i can't recall how many times i've seen a trade floor presence or rfp submissions from the city, from the county of strathcona, from the county of leduc, from st. albert etc. where they were all pitching against each other.

the big problem is that within the region global edmonton is marketing, their role isn't to pick and choose and pay favourites but to present the best options with the best changes to win from within the region. they are a marketing and economic development organization, not a booster group. if the city can't give them a downtown that can be successfully marketed and sold elsewhere, that's not edmonton global's fault.

you also have to remember a few other things: calgary economic development is substantially older, substantially larger, substantially better funded and has a substantially stronger brand to work with. like anything else, when it comes to economic development, you get what you pay for.
 
Almost every major city has a metropolitan area, so really Edmonton is not unique in that regard. I do feel we get more hung up about this than elsewhere. It doesn't seem to stop mayors of other big cities from taking more initiative.

I agree, perhaps it is not all Edmonton Global's fault, that is consistent with my point of our city leadership not doing their part. It wouldn't be the first time a government set up an agency or something, didn't support it and then distanced itself from it when results were not achieved. However, regardless one does have to question the money and effort spent and the results achieved.

No doubt Calgary spends more, but I also feel they are fishing in a different pool. It seems like we are giving up and not fishing at all. For me, using the current state of downtown as a reason when to some extent it is the consequence of the city's lack of initiative over the years is like blaming the result for the problem.
 
Its about taking ownership. City, private sector, everyone. As Ken says, we need to have a marketable product. I am actually optimistic that we do have a marketable product. The pandemic has given the impression that things are worse than they are - with some help from the City, things can rebound nicely.

Edmonton Global has a big ship to turn and get pointing in the right direction, which they have done, and now it is time to step on the gas.

I will be watching to see the effect on street life when Valley LRT finally opens. This could be the catalyst we need.
 
Edmonton is easily the most affordable big city in Canada and that relates to quality of life.

Lots of other highlights- the greenest city in Canada, festival city, great educational institutions and public schools, rec facilities, parks, some of the best health facilities and so on.

I just don't think those are marketed well enough. But clearly when people move here and discover those things, they stay here.
 
TAS said:
Edmonton is easily the most affordable big city in Canada and that relates to quality of life.

Lots of other highlights- the greenest city in Canada, festival city, great educational institutions and public schools, rec facilities, parks, some of the best health facilities and so on.

I just don't think those are marketed well enough. But clearly when people move here and discover those things, they stay here.
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Really wish I had an actual source for this but I've heard that in the HR/Recruitment world Edmonton is the hardest major city recruit both in and out of.

It's difficult to get people to come here, but once they're in it's really hard for them to leave because of those highlights and cost of living.
 
I've long been very critical of the City doing an awful job of promoting Edmonton to business'/corporations from elsewhere and trying to set up shop here, even if it means just a small regional office to start. We've got the all the qualities a business needs to succeed and that includes everything people need/want to live a happy and fulfilling life here. But our marketing sucks, and it seems like we are far behind even Calgary when it comes to marketability and providing incentives and reasons for people to come move here and bring business with them.

There's a reason why we have amazing retention rates with immigrants who stick around for years and build their lives here, but getting them and others to come in the first place is the part we seem to be having an issue with.
 
Vancouver doesn't need head offices, they have a ton of wealthy people living there that outweigh the benefits that head offices bring.
 
They also have a ton of middle class who work like the rest of us and a significant corporate base that supports the tax base, is philanthropical and are city builders.
 
IanO said:
They also have a ton of middle class who work like the rest of us and a significant corporate base that supports the tax base, is philanthropical and are city builders.
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Well, unlike Alberta which has two cities with metro populations well over a million, BC only has one. So it is the business centre for BC which is a good size province, larger than Alberta both population and geography wise. It also is a centre for businesses with a focus on Asia.

Yes, it is more a regional centre not so much a location for nationally focused business, but it is a major regional centre. By virtue of geography it is somewhat isolated from the rest of Canada, so I suspect the local business community is quite focused on the city and the region.

A lot of the propaganda diminishing Vancouver as a business centre comes out of another western city we are familiar with that sometimes disparages us too.
 
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