Cambridge council is facing a $35-million decision, but it's one that could pay off dividends in the future.
The question: do they create an investment fund that might bring more people to the cores, like Kitchener did, or risk possibly losing a decade of urban renewal?
On paper it's an easy question, but that money has to come from somewhere. On Tuesday night, council will consider whether it's possible to create the fund without raising taxes.
The fund has precedent on its side: it's almost exactly what Kitchener did 15 years ago to kick-start its own downtown revitalization.
In fact, the plan proposed in Cambridge is being pushed by the same city manager who helped bring it to life in Kitchener, Jeff Willmer.
"There's an opportunity for residential development right now if we can simply make this a more appealing area," he says.
He's recommending that council earmark the $35 million over the next decade to make it happen, noting that city council already has around $20 million of that goal.
"We're looking at major transformative projects. They will likely be large in scope and make a meaningful difference," Willmer says.
One key difference between Kitchener's fund and the one proposed in Cambridge: Kitchener had about $75 million more to work with.
So far, it seems to be paying off.
"Every single investment that we did had that kind of multi-generational potential for impact," explains Kitchener's executive director of economic development Cory Bluhm.
Kitchener's investment in education led to condos, which is now leading to office towers.
Even if the proposed Cambridge fund is only a third of what Kitchener put forward, Willmer says it's enough.
"It would be great and maybe ambitious to do more, but we think we can make a meaningful difference with $35 million," he says.
