If you have ever wondered what difference architectural controls can make to the quality of life in a city, take a walk along Rice Howard Way. In the stretch from Jasper Avenue to the parkade, you’ll find a new Mexican restaurant, a Vietnamese sandwich store and a Greek Restaurant.

The Greek restaurant has been there a while; the other two food outlets are new.

On a sunny day like last Friday, there are lineups at all three.

Unfortunately, there’s not enough sidewalk space to create much outdoor seating. That’s too bad, because after months of staying inside during our winters, we like to eat outside in the summer, and there are few places to do so in the downtown.

This small area could be turned into a nice little eating street if it were not for two things.

The first is that cars use it to get onto Jasper Avenue.

That could be easily changed, however.

Cars exiting the parkade have other options.

The second reason is a result of the kind of shortsightedness that has plagued this city and kept it from becoming a way cooler place to live.

The ground floor of Scotia Place is on the side of the street opposite the restaurants.

It is nothing but sterile stone and glass. If the building had been required to put retail on the ground floor, I suspect there would be restaurants there, too.

•••

This is a shout out to Chantelle at the City of Edmonton. She answers the city’s 311 line.

The other day, a friend of mine called looking for an answer to a pressing question. One wasn’t readily available, but that did not deter Chantelle.

Instead of just providing yet other number to call, she took it upon herself to call several city departments trying to find the information my friend needed. This took about 20 minutes and my friend was on hold the whole time.

But Chantelle kept her apprised of what was going on each step of the way. What Chantelle did was an example of customer service at its best. You could argue Chantelle was just doing her job, but in this age of automatic-attendant-press-1-for-service-in-English hell, actually talking to a human being is rare enough. 

Finding someone with the kind of commitment to customer service Chantelle exhibited is even less common. Good on you, Chantelle.

And sorry if I have misspelled your name.