In a year when people have been hurting from rising food prices, rising interest rates, rising utility rates, rising gas prices, and soon new regressive garbage fees, City Council is getting ready to send us a new bill. $490 million dollars -- nearly half a billion dollars -- to build so-called "Catalyst" megaprojects.

These big builds are supposedly to rejuvenate Regina's downtown -- yes, the same downtown where Council recently approved yet another surface parking lot in 2022, on a block full of parking lots. Needless to say, we have our doubts that Regina City Council can be trusted to know how to build a great downtown.

What is their half-billion dollar recipe?

* A downtown arena -- one that actual city-building experts say is no guarantee to improve our downtown -- a $150 million dollar roll of the dice -- but will require buying up a bunch of expensive downtown land from somebody, possibly demolishing more heritage buildings, and, of course, more parking lots.

* Tearing Down the Library, while spending more than twice as much ($125 million) than needed to simply fix the downtown Library we already have (quoted at only $50 million)!

* Moving the new Indoor Aquatic Facility to the Yards, south of the Warehouse district -- for.... some reason? (Gabbo's and Swim Laps -- great combination!). Also, the kids of North Central just lost a new playground because of the uncertainty and delays created by this sudden change.

* Axing the long-promised Taylor Field neighbourhood and putting a bunch of grass sports fields there instead -- and then to add insult to injury, telling Regina residents the promised housing was a figment of their imagination all along!

The Catalyst Committee -- Nobody asked for it, nobody campaigned on it, and nobody can explain how this is a good idea.

And yet, after the so-called Catalyst Committee put up a biased web survey, and then did four hasty, inconvenient days of consultation, they are preparing to ram through these big, pricey, risky projects that nobody else wants, while making everyone else pay.

There is another way - A Regina Downtown for PEOPLE.

Instead of demolitions, parking lots and more and more concrete, Regina residents want a lively, walkable, green, humane and healthy downtown. They want a Regina Downtown for PEOPLE -- not one built for the profits of wealthy, backroom insiders.

To conceptualize the people-driven plan for a Regina Downtown for PEOPLE, YQR Action asked regular Regina residents for their ideas.

Then, YQR Action asked them to vote on the ideas they came up with.

That's it -- no lobbyists, no PR firms, no special interests, no consultants.

Now, Regina Residents are organizing together to win a Regina Downtown for PEOPLE. They're talking to their friends, neighbours, grocery store clerks, frenemies, and everyone in between.

It won't be easy to beat the special interests steering the ship at City Hall, but people are doing their best to achieve a Downtown Regina vision for the 21st Century -- not the 1970s.

The Vision - A Regina Downtown for PEOPLE

* Transportation for PEOPLE

We’ll immediately fund transit improvements, including a transit hub and a bus-only loop, allowing for frequent, 10-minute rapid transit service from the suburbs and going right to the centre of downtown – and we’ll get there on fare-free and accessible transit.

We’ll shift funds from roads to intensification, and build protected bike paths all the way through downtown.

We’ll say No More Surface Parking Lots, and help fund our downtown with a hefty tax on the existing surface parking lots.

* A Public Realm for PEOPLE

We’ll have secure bicycle parking on every street, more pedestrianized areas, and properly maintained sidewalks, where the snow and ice will be removed in the winter.

We’ll have landscaping alongside parking lots, and we’ll have more street trees. We’ll have more green space, more big trees, more flowers, and better lighting at night.

In our growing number of cultural & gathering spots, we’ll have access to public seating, including more tables and benches.

And we’ll take the covered pedestrian overpass for a stroll from Downtown to the Warehouse District.

* Commerce for PEOPLE

We’ll have affordable shopping options and more street-level shops, like pharmacies, small affordable grocery stores, and more street cafes. We’ll make new mixed-use retail buildings, with housing on top.

There will be more local restaurants, with more outdoor patios, helping to build a vibrant downtown in the evenings.

* Care Infrastructure for PEOPLE

We’ll have access to daycares, as well as a harm-reduction program downtown, including support spaces for homeless people or folks dealing with addiction, reinforced by housing-first interventions for homelessness

* City Facilities for PEOPLE

We’ll repair the existing library and say no to a downtown arena. Instead we’ll spend money on real catalysts like a city-subsidized grocery store, rental bikes, and city events on weekends (not just during the lunch hour).

We’ll replace some roads with community gardens, and we’ll have a cultural centre with theatre and arts, and community hubs where residents can gather safely, for work or play.

* Housing for PEOPLE

We’ll mix it up with more mixed-use and mixed-income housing, of varying architectural styles.

All new housing must be Net-Zero, and include features like green roofs (plants on the top) and green walls (plants on the wall), as well as less glass – to prevent bird strikes.

We’ll build up instead of out, and finally do more infill and more high-density development.

We’ll build the Yards Neighbourhood as soon as possible.

Therefore, we the undersigned hereby instruct Regina City Council to cancel all "Catalyst" schemes, and instead immediately get to work building the Regina Downtown for PEOPLE.