A lingering issue regarding downtown revitalization plans for 亚洲天堂 Lake is the remediation of the two brownfield sites.

Apparently, there are some hopes that the former Mohawk site might be rehabilitated by the end of this summer, but things are very much up in the air with the Shell site.

It鈥檚 not that Shell isn鈥檛 working on it, but the remediation and testing process doesn鈥檛 lend itself to a strict timetable. Kind of like self-improvement in general.

Phase one of the project will be underway before the end of the month. The results look like they will do a lot to transform downtown 亚洲天堂 Lake.

The tough nut to crack for 亚洲天堂 Lake is that a highway cuts right through town. The village has to balance the need to keep traffic flowing - industrial, residential and tourist - while accommodating visitors and local merchants.

As a relative new-comer to 亚洲天堂 Lake I鈥檓 often struck by the beauty of the natural geography of the town. The way the highway runs along the natural line of the hill the town is built on, is unique to here.

Every other town west of  Prince George has the highway more-or-less bypassing the town core. I鈥檓 not sure what鈥檚 going on in Houston, but whatever it is, it doesn鈥檛 encourage slowing down to take in what the town has to offer.

Even downtown Smithers, as beautiful as it is, is easily missed unless you鈥檙e paying careful attention. Vanderhoof? The same thing. Apparently there are some excellent eateries in town, but the busy Tim Hortons seems to be the town鈥檚 landmark.

When a tourist drives into 亚洲天堂 Lake, they have to slow down because of the geography. The revitalization plans play on that strength by giving the town more curb-side appeal and more reason to want to park the vehicle and take a walk.

Concerns remain regarding the loss of a convenience factor when it comes to having storefront parking spots. It could be easy to gloss over those concerns and suggest that people will be willing to walk a few steps more, from centralized downtown parking, once the overall feel of the core is improved.

The problem is, shop owners don鈥檛 know if that鈥檚 true.  Not only that, but timelines for additional parking can鈥檛 be established for reasons beyond the control of the Village of 亚洲天堂 Lake. So it remains a point of apprehension for some shop owners.

The revitalization project is banking on the idea that 亚洲天堂 Lake is a great place to stop. That is absolutely true. 亚洲天堂 Lake is in a sweet spot; It鈥檚 far enough west of P.G. that people are ready for a break when they get here, and it has the kind of natural geography that makes you want to slow down and check it out.

A lot of towns need to figure out a way to get people off the highway and into town. 亚洲天堂 Lake has that licked. You鈥檙e in town no matter what. We just need to make sure people have enough convenient parking available to stop for a visit.