Floating patios.Bicycle valets.Nightlife venues

Fresh thinking needed to draw visitors to waterfront, report says

- FRANCINE KOPUN

Floating patios, bicycle valets and a nightlife destination could help animate the downtown waterfront, according to a new report from the area's BIA.

Multitudes of tourists walk the boardwalk along the water's edge, cycle the Martin Goodman Trail and ride the ferries to the Toronto Islands each year without stopping to shop or eat at local businesses and restaurants, the report says.

They book rooms at the hotels along the water and are left wondering what to do after they've visited Ripley's Aquarium and the CN Tower.

"When they arrive, they might feel underwhelmed by the lack of things to do at the waterfront, considering that most waterfront cities worldwide are significant tourist attractions with various activities for visitors and are filled with waterfront-facing restaurants with patios facing the beautiful view," according to the report, Waterfront Retail Review, released Monday.

There are only five water's-edge patios along the downtown waterfront, able to accommodate about 450 to 550 customers, the report goes on to say. There is an almost complete absence of specialty retail -the kind of vendors that draw customers from a distance those that do exist are spaced far apart, which prevents them from becoming a node of interest.