Improved transportation, better snow maintenance and more availability of international foods are some changes college students would like to see city hall address when updating its Official Community Plan (OCP).
The City of Moose Jaw organized an interactive pop-up display at Saskatchewan Polytechnic on Feb. 8 to inform students about changes the municipality could make to its OCP and zoning bylaw early next year. The city is acquiring feedback from residents and stakeholders about what changes they might like to see in those updated documents.
The OCP is supposed to reflect a community’s values and desires for the future and offer the city’s long-term vision — 10 to 20 years — for growth and development. Meanwhile, the zoning bylaw implements the OCP’s policies.
Sask Poly students were encouraged to place plastic chips in bowls connected to trends they thought were important and on which city hall should focus, such as remote work, wellness economy, localism, green economy, industry 4.0, winter city, heritage and regional planning.
Industry 4.0 and remote work seemed to have the most chips, while the green economy appeared to have the fewest.
Students could also comment on transportation and transit options and ways to keep Moose Jaw affordable.
“Revitalize downtown!! Not everyone has a vehicle (I don’t) so everything on Thatcher is not easy to get to. And big (not local) stores,” one student wrote on a sticky note that also received three red agreement stickers from other students.
Another student wrote that she wanted bus transit to be more frequent and occur on Saturdays and Sundays. The student also wanted more transportation options in general, such as Uber.
“I think transportation is really important. When it’s too much snow, the bus routes are covered in so much snow and the buses are not available for our transit,” Adarsh Ashok told the Express.
“And we need to make more walkable pathways during the snowy days. It’s too much ice, as you can see outside,” he continued. “It’s so difficult for us to walk; it’s so slippery. … Those are the things I think they should change here.”
The first-year technology management student from India pointed out that services, shops and amenities in Moose Jaw are too spread out, which doesn’t help since he lives downtown and must walk everywhere. Furthermore, many businesses are closed after he comes home from work after 10 p.m., which prevents him from purchasing groceries.
“I guess shops should be open until 11 p.m. or 12 a.m.,” Ashok added.
Meetee Dave, a first-year safety technology management student from India, wants to see more international food and snack options available for immigrant students since many — like her — are vegetarian or have special dietary requirements. She would also like to see restaurants offer more international foods.
“There are not much varieties for vegetarian people … ,” she added. “We miss home. But before missing home, we miss the food. The taste buds change after coming here.”
The public can continue to provide input about any proposed changes to the OCP by visiting moosejaw.ca/ocp. That is also where residents can find a schedule of open houses and stakeholder workshops.
