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Art, culture, shopping, and dining all figure into the growth plans. Otto shares, “Our niche downtown is a draw for tourists and small busi- nesses. Particularly ‘makers’ of crafts; artisans who want to morph into retail operations.We are focused on keeping our downtown vibrant and relevant for tourism, but also from an en- trepreneurial standpoint.” Stony Plain is a great option for entrepreneurs who want to manage their business from home, or in a smaller setting, but still want to tap into the larger audience in the nearby capital region. “One of the attractions of Stony Plain,” says Dibble, “is the calming, small town atmosphere for residents.When we did our municipal de- velopment plan, we asked people what they wanted to keep as the ‘essence’ of Stony Plain. We coined the document ‘Uniquely Stony Plain’ after we determined people came here because of the town’s uniqueness; it has proximity to larger centers but still has the hominess they want.” Main Street is such a popular attraction that the town is reinvesting in the core old area with a four-phase redevelopment plan. Dibble ex- TOWN OF STONY PLAIN, ALBERTA plains, “Main Street forms the commercial district, but a lot of the existing zon- ing is intended to inten- sify that area. Regulations are already in place that promote enhancement and redevelopment of our downtown core. Adjacent to that area, we’ve allowed development to start on a major residential section, the Brickyard at Old Town. We’re supportive of it as it gets more people down- town to support businesses there.We are fortunate to still have a large hardware store, and a North Central Co-op grocery store in the