There’s nothing wrong with downtown, except the parking

Feb 22, 2017 | 4:00 AM

KAMLOOPS  — “The downtown core in Kamloops is going to hell in a handbasket. All the businesses are moving out and nobody wants to shop there anymore.”

That’s what you’d think, the way some people have been talking the past week or so. A bakery moves to a different part of town and a restaurant lays off some staff and, woe is me, the downtown is dying.

Well, we’ve gone through this news cycle many times before. I don’t have enough fingers on both hands to count the number of times the downtown was supposedly in dire straits and, sure, it’s had its problems from time to time.

Panhandlers, street prostitution, parking or empty storefronts — every once in a while, something will pop up and dominate the headlines until we move onto something else.

But let’s look at where it’s at right now: a major upgrade is in the works for the library. The old Daily News building is slated for redevelopment. Stuart Wood School is likely to be the new home for the Kamloops Museum and Archives, and a great one it will be.

Graffiti and panhandling are under control, street prostitution is in remission, coffee shops are jam packed, businesses are thriving, the Kamloops Central BIA is doing a bang-up job at promoting the place, and the CAP team is there looking after shoppers and merchants.

Doesn’t sound like it’s on the brink of disaster to me. True, the parking kind of sucks, and I’m talking, of course, about the kiosks.

Three years ago, City Hall told us we’d get used to them, even like them. We haven’t.

Time has not made the kiosks any more user friendly than the day they were installed. They were frustrating to begin with and they’re obsolete now.

If City council wants to do something to help out the downtown, put some money in the budget to upgrade those things. Otherwise, the downtown is doing just fine.

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