I got a piece of news a couple of days ago that I was surprised has not been decried and denied in the local media: Charlottetown was ranked 29th out of 31 cities surveyed by MacLeans magazine to determine Canada’s best and worst run cities. Oh, and the two other cities that might have been number 30 and 31 could not be ranked because of incomplete data.
The most interesting part of the article is the companion bit entitled ““And now the bad news”” that explains that Charlottetown has some wonderful qualities but “[c]learly, Charlottetown’s future lies beyond Anne Shirley’s pigtails.”
The survey was not entirely negative on Charlottetown as the positive aspects (and the aspects I feel are exceptionally important) are mentioned:
Charlottetown is the safest city in the country. The city of 32,000 has governance and finance indicators that are near peerless in the country, and it is one of the more environmentally healthy cities among the 31 surveyed. Translation: it’s a great place to live if safety, governance and environment are your thing.
However, the survey focused on the manner in which the city is run and in those measures Charlottetown did not fare so well …
It is much more difficult to start a business in Charlottetown, however. Or get bang for your bucks paid in municipal taxes, or to find a park—or anyone who takes the bus, for that matter. … Charlottetown had the highest per capita economic development and infrastructure costs in the country. Quite simply, it isn’t a great place to germinate ideas, says Ken Gillis, a former manager of a Royal Bank in Charlottetown. “If people want to do something business-wise that is a little different, they have to jump through city hall hoops to get anything done.”
Ouch.
Charlottetown has relatively low population growth, perhaps because it has trouble attracting newcomers. … [Charlottetown] earns an F for new immigrants per 1,000 population. The effect of the lack of immigrants, often regarded as a city’s small business engine, is clearly visible: there are 45 vacant buildings in Charlottetown’s downtown core. (Notwithstanding its setting, the city also has few square metres of outdoor space per square kilometre, earning it an F in the AIMS survey category.)
That is enough of the negative side of Charlottetown. I like Charlottetown. But, as with many things with which we are comfortable and have come to love, it never hurts to have a little reflection. And it often takes an outside source to spur the reflection; they can see us without being blinded by the sheen of affection and comfort that insiders develop.
The problem is that no matter how important the reflection and how sincere the criticism it can still sting. Charlottetown is worth defending and “Charlottetowners are quick to rise to the defence of their city–particularly Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee, who took exception to the AIMS survey results, saying it is unfair to compare it with larger, more diverse cities like Halifax and St. John’s.” That is just the sting talking. It is embarrassing to be told that you are not as good as somebody else. It is also important to recognize the validity of the comparison (I am not as good a golfer as Tiger Woods but I am still a good person … right? … RIGHT?).
So, instead of decrying the survey as unfair, why not look at what was surveyed and see if the comparison is important. In some ways it is not. I am happy to sacrifice some aspects of city efficiency for safety, cleanliness, and governance; those are good things. However, let’s also consider the parts of the comparison that mention how Charlottetown can improve. Everybody around here knows that the city is littered with vacant buildings (please feel free to rant at me how that is all changing now and that we already know that and people have already complained about those buildings and isn’t that a Starbucks going in on University Ave …).
In fact, the biggest reason that the article stings is the realization that other people can see the same things we can see but they have the audacity to point it out to … us.
Charlottetown is a good city for the reasons above and more. It also has drawbacks (and the article even said that snow removal was a positive aspect of the city–go figure). If you take a look at the numbers there is a lot of good to be found, just do not look at economic development or transportation (effectiveness). Things look a little rough in taxation and recreation and culture as well.
Time to accept that everybody can see our warts and yet may still love us all the same. They may go to Halifax or Toronto to start new businesses but that is because those cities are better suited. I said it, other cities are better for business. We are better at a lot of things that other cities would love to have (like governance). Charlottetown can get more people on the bus, fill some downtown buildings, and encourage business development outside of tourism. These are things we should be doing. We should not be denying the truth, no matter how much it stings.
