Downtown Vernon: thriving or just surviving?

Wildflower General Store. Antlr Menswear. Teeter Totter Toys. All gone from downtown Vernon.

I’ve lived in our downtown core for more than 30 years. These shops aren’t just somewhere I go. They’re where I get my everyday needs, and where I’ve gotten to know the people who run them. I talk with business owners all the time, and lately what I’m hearing worries me.

Too many shops depend on tourists to make their year.

Summer is when many downtown businesses earn the money that carries them through the slow months. When a fire hits and smoke rolls in, along with people escaping the fires, the tourists leave, and downtown’s business goes with them. When the DVA surveyed downtown businesses in 2023–24, owners said there had been only one recent summer where weather didn’t interfere with their operations. Special events help, and the DVA’s Taste of Downtown, Sunshine Festival and late-night shopping events draw real crowds. But one great Saturday can’t replace a lost summer. If locals aren’t shopping downtown year-round, one bad fire season can be the one that forces a store to close.

Parking matters, whatever the numbers say.

The 31st Avenue lot went from 162 stalls to about 50 for the Cultural Centre build. The lot by the Sveva Caetani mural was sold. The City points to roughly 978 street spaces and 556 lot spaces downtown, but on the ground it doesn’t feel like enough. People who can’t find parking near the store they want simply don’t come. Store owners and employees also struggle to find parking with these losses. I raised downtown parking losses at the December 2024 budget session. As of this spring, the City’s own action plan still listed a review of downtown parking needs as “Not Started.”

Winter is a barrier.

In summer, many of us who live near the core can walk downtown. But most of those neighbours are seniors and people with mobility issues, and when winter hits, that walk becomes treacherous. Sidewalks are cleared sporadically. Ice and snow build up along the roads and on the curb letdowns. I’ve seen people on scooters stuck, and even tipped over, in the snow. People in wheelchairs often wait weeks before they can get out. Many give up on the sidewalks and walk on the road because it’s clearer.

Driving isn’t much better. Park downtown and there’s a snow berm between your car and the sidewalk. Alleyways aren’t cleared, and sidewalks and letdowns are still hit and miss.

Meanwhile, the mall beckons with a plowed parking lot and warm, safe indoor walking. Is it any wonder downtown loses shoppers every winter?

Stores keep closing.

Wildflower and Antlr, both featured in Tourism Vernon’s own “where to shop downtown” guide, closed before this summer’s fire. Teeter Totter, open more than 20 years, is shut too. New shops have moved into some of those spots, and I’m glad people are still willing to take a chance on downtown. But a revolving door isn’t a thriving core. Fire years hurt, but they clearly aren’t the only problem.

We keep talking about “revitalizing” downtown.

Plans, studies, events, beautification. Many things have been tried. But it always comes down to one thing: people shopping in the stores and eating in the restaurants. Without that, no amount of planning saves it, and downtown becomes a ghost town.

The real fix: people living downtown.

After decades of talk, we still don’t have real high-density housing in the core. We need neighbours who shop and buy whether there’s parking or not, smoke or not, snow or not. More eyes and ears and busy, active streets also mean less opportunity for crime and disorder. And special events wouldn’t constantly have to carry the load of enticing people downtown.

So how do we get there?

Stronger incentives for downtown housing?

Tax breaks for mixed-use builds?

Removing parking requirements on new housing, while protecting public parking for shoppers?

What I’ll push for on council:

30+ days’ notice to businesses before capital projects start nearby. We’ve already lost Charlie’s Market and other independents after poorly timed construction near 32 Avenue and Alexis Park Drive.

Downtown housing and infill, with incentives that actually get homes built.

A real downtown parking review, not one that sits at “Not Started.”

Snow clearing that works for people with walkers, scooters, wheelchairs and mobility placards.

A friendly, non-police downtown ambassador program, explored and run through the DVA.

In the meantime, how do we draw people in?

Why aren’t we seeing more creativity? Or bringing back programs that worked? Remember Shop Local Day, when 25+ downtown retailers offered deals together? Or the monthly Curbside Night Markets that brought more than 1,500 people downtown to explore local shops?

Much of this falls to the Downtown Vernon Association.

The DVA has served downtown for more than 50 years as a business association, and today much of its focus is marketing. But at its heart it’s businesses working together, and that’s where fresh ideas can come from.

Here’s one idea: a Downtown Heritage Passport.

Each participating store displays a historic Vernon photo with a bit of the story behind it.

Make a purchase, get a stamp.

Fill your passport at every participating store, and you get 10% off at those stores for a full year.

It gets people moving from shop to shop, buying, and coming back to buy again. It also ties right into what already makes downtown special. Our heritage murals were painted from real historic photos from the archives.

This isn’t my invention. Peterborough, Ontario runs a downtown passport with nearly 200 participating businesses, and in 2019 alone shoppers stamped more than $2 million worth of passports. That’s the point: we shouldn’t be afraid to borrow ideas that work elsewhere, on downtown, on housing, on anything.

Where I shopped downtown this week:

FreshCo., Triumph Coffee, Nature’s Fare Markets, Nolan’s Pharmasave, Olive Us Oil & Vinegar Tasting Room, Del Selin Gunsmith, Vernon Taqueria – Mi Taqueria Mexican Cantina , Omar’s Sports Cards & Coins, Dollarama, and Surplus Herby’s.

Groceries, prescriptions, gifts and everyday needs, all within walking distance of home. That’s what a living downtown looks like. Where did you shop this week? Tell me in the comments!

So I ask you: what needs to change before you’ll come back downtown, or visit for the first time? And what ideas do you have for bringing people into the core? Would you carry a Heritage Passport?

I’m downtown every day. I support my neighbours’ stores because it takes a community to keep them going. Without us, they don’t survive. And without them, who sponsors your kid’s team, donates to your fundraiser, or fills your silent auction? When the next fire season hits, who will still be open for us?

These businesses give to our community every single day. When will we give back? Or will we just post a short, sad “sorry they’re gone” on Facebook and move on?

Time will tell.

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Vote Dawn Tucker for Vernon City Council