As Brossard imagines a new downtown, residents are invited to have their say

With a growing population, and the impending arrival of an electric train network, Brossard is taking steps to develop a new downtown area for the city.

The project is planned around the future Panama station of the Réseau express métropolitain — one of three stops in the city on Montreal's South Shore — near the intersection of Taschereau Boulevard and Highway 10.

An informational video posted online by the city says the Panama sector is at the "heart of the city, and close to services and major arteries" — giving it the potential to become "the future downtown" of Brossard.

With a lot of developer interest in the area, the plan is still in its early stages. The city is working to revise its urban planning program for the area — a kind of roadmap for the sector — to determine what infrastructure is needed.

And the citizens of Brossard have a chance to share their vision of what the new downtown should be.

Calls for active transport, no towers

Last spring, Brossard submitted a survey with questions about what a new downtown should look like.

About 2,000 people answered, weighing in on issues like preferred ambience, architectural styles and transportation.

Among five options for ambience, the largest share of respondents — 42 per cent — said they wanted downtown to have a focus on cycling and walking, and a majority said the future downtown should be free of large towers.

Only eight per cent called for a more spread out area with an emphasis on car travel.

More consultation with residents is planned, and Thea Cruz wants to be a part of it.

She and her family moved to Brossard from Montreal seven years ago, looking for a quiet neighbourhood. She lives 10 minutes away from the future Panama station, and worries that downtown could end up looking like Montreal.

"I want to be able to have a voice, because this is the area that I want to raise my child in; this is the area that a lot of us moved into to raise our children, or to start a family," Cruz said.

"It's already pretty dense on the Montreal island — that's one of the reasons why we moved somewhere a little bit more spacious — and I'm just scared that it's going to get just as dense here."

Mayoral candidates weigh in

With municipal elections in full swing, CBC News spoke with Brossard's four candidates for mayor about their visions for a new downtown, and development in the city going forward.

A common theme was close consultation with citizens.

"I don't want them to see the future with fear. I want them to see it with enthusiasm and excitement," said Doreen Assaad, incumbent mayoral candidate for the Brossard Ensemble party.

"Let's look at a project as a whole, make sure that there's nothing shadowing anybody else … and expect, I think, a minimum of density near a REM station. It's logical, and it's the way that all cities are thinking over time."

Coalition Brossard mayoral candidate Michel Gervais said the city must "continue to listen to our residents, because they don't want to screw up everything. They want to make sure that their districts, or their sectors, continue to have their soul."

Independent candidate for mayor Manon Girard says she's happy to see Brossard developing, but "it has to develop smartly, with environmental expertise too, and the stress it can bring on the infrastructure."

Hanadi Saad, candidate for mayor with the Brossard Uni party, says the location of a new downtown should be put to residents, too.

"I will go back to see the citizens, and I will ask them where they want to see their downtown. Maybe they don't see it [in the Panama sector]," said Saad. "Maybe it will be in [Quartier Dix30] — I don't know."

Brossard will hold a brainstorming workshop for the new downtown on Nov. 24, followed by citizen consultation next spring.