Transforming Downtown St. Catharines into a Creative Cluster

The City of St. Catharines, located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, is Niagara Region's only major urban node. Like many small/medium-sized cities in Canada and abroad, the city experienced a rapid decline of large-scale manufacturing in the 1990s. In a renewed attempt to recover from this economic depression, and spurred by Provincial policy, the City implemented the Downtown Creative Cluster Master Plan (DCCMP) in 2008. In this thesis I conduct a discourse analysis of the DCCMP. My analysis indicates that DCCMP is shaped by neoliberal economic development paradigms. As such it is designed to restructure the downtown into a creative cluster by attracting developers/investors and appealing to the interests, tastes, and desires of middle-class consumers and creatives. I illustrate that this competitive city approach to urban planning has a questionable track record, and has been shown to result in retail and residential gentrification and displacement.

HG 186.9-187.0 D.E-1

Coarse grained sediment with a few fine grained matrices. Brown sediment with small to medium sized clasts. Clasts range from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Organic material present.

HG 186.9-187.0 D.E.

Coarse grained sediment with a few fine grained matrices. Brown sediment with small to medium sized clasts. Clasts range from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Organic material present. It contains rotation structures throughout as well as edge-to-edge grain crushing. Fine grained clay domains are present and lineations can also be seen. Minor amounts of grain stacking can also be seen.

HG 206.85-206.95 Thin Section

Coarse grained sample with sub-angular to sub-rounded clasts. Clasts range from small to medium sized. Major grain crushing seen throughout the sample. Grain stacking and lineations are also present. A dark organic rich domain can be seen within the sample.

HG 215.65-215.75 Thin Section

Brown to dark brown sediment with small to medium sized clasts ranging from sub-angular to sub-rounded. This sample contains a coarse grained domain and a fine grained domain. Clear boundaries can be seen. Grain stacking can be seen in the coarse domain, while lineations are the dominant microstructure in the fine grained domain. Minor grain crushing can also be seen. Some of the coarser domain is rich in clay and organics.

HG 261.25-261.35 Thin Section

Brown sediment with small clasts, and an occasional medium sized clast. Clasts appear to be sub-rounded in shape. The sample contains many lineations, the majority oriented in the same direction. There are also darker areas present in the sample, they may contain organics.

HG 434.40-434.55

Brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to medium in size. The clast shape ranges from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Grain crushing is abundant throughout the sample, and mainly involves medium sized clasts. Lineations can also be seen. A finer, and darker brown domain is also present within the sample.

HG 77.55-77.65

Brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to medium. The majority of the clasts are medium sized. Clasts range from sub-angular to sub-rounded in shape. Lineations are common in this sample along with edge-to-edge grain crushing. Comet structures can also be seen in minor amounts.

PBURWELL #4-87

Brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to medium in size. Clast shape ranges from sub-angular to rounded. Two mains domains can be observed; one mainly contains small clasts, and the other is a mix of small and medium sized clasts. The finer grained domain contains some organic material and is abundant in lineations. The coarser domain is also abundant in lineations but also contains crushed grains and comet structures.

PBURWELL #6-87

Brown sample with mainly small clasts and a few medium sized grains. Grains range from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Lineations are abundant. There are patches of darker brown organic material throughout the sample. Grain crushing and some comet structures can also be seen.

GI

Dark brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large. Clast shape ranges from angular to rounded. Rotation structures are abundant in this sample and mainly occur around medium sized and large aggregates. Comet structures can also be seen throughout the sample. Lineations and minor amounts of grain crushing can also be seen.

WB-6b

Dark brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large in size. Grain shape ranges from sub-angular to rounded. Rotation structures are common throughout the sample. Some necking structures are also present between large and medium sized aggregates. Lineations and grain stacks are also present in minor amounts.

KRM14033

Coarse grained greyish brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large. The majority of the sample contains small to medium sized clasts. Clast shape ranges from angular to sub-rounded. Edge-to-edge grain crushing and rotation structures are the most prevalent micro-structures in the sample. Many crushed grains can also be seen, along with lineations and occasional necking structures.

WR-2

Dark brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large in size. Clast shape ranges from angular to sub-rounded. The main domain mainly contains larger aggregates. There is one domain inclusion in this sample. It mainly contains small and medium sized clasts, and contains many lineations. Necking structures can be commonly seen in the main domain between larger aggregates. This sample also contains many elongated clasts and inclusions of clay material.