passed through before but never took the time to stop. That’s the biggest thing about Prescott: we’re this undiscovered gem and if you do happen to take the time to stop and explore the community, you immediately fall in love and see the potential of our great open waterfront space and what that offers from an event and tourism perspective.” PROVIDING THE RIGHT KINDS OF HOUSING While Prescott is working to lure more businesses and more tourists to its 4.9 square kilometer footprint, it also has plans to create more housing in a community that has precious little room to expand.“Mixed-use is our primary focus from a housing perspective,” Valentyne shares. “We’re trying to attract a wide demographic -- couples, young families, seniors – and provide them with a mix of housing. So we’re working with developers to accommodate a lot of those housing needs. We’re also looking at some infilling options. That’s going to be our approach in the future.” “We’re seeing some ingenious and creative ways of doing infill,” adds Armstrong. “Developers are thinking outside the box a bit and seeing how they can make use of either existing buildings – semis (semi-detached houses) being able to split the upstairs from the downstairs so out of a two-unit semi, you get four dwellings – or existing lots to enhance the number of overall units.” “In our investment program in the downtown, our CIP has also spurred people to develop their upper floors for residential,” Armstrong continues. “Over the last three or four years, there’s been over 50 apartment units that have been rejuvenated downtown, or come online. We’re excited about bringing more people to live downtown, which will 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 07 PRESCOTT, ON
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