Pedestrian traffic on Bernard Avenue rose 99 percent after it was closed to vehicles this summer.
Image Credit: Submitted / City of Kelowna
October 17, 2020 – 2:31 pm
As was easy to predict, COVID-19 has had a negative impact on Kelowna’s business this year.
These include a 57 percent decrease in airport passengers, a 32 percent increase in store closures (1,549 closed in 2020) and a 50 percent decrease in transit drivers.
These numbers are included in the annual Community Trends 2020 report, which goes to Kelowna City Council on Monday. It shows changes in the city by the end of summer.
The report also includes some surprising numbers, such as overnight visitor travel, which rose 7.5 percent to 1.25 million.
Less surprising is the 99.3 percent increase in e-commerce sales from 2019 and the 85 percent increase in pedestrian activity on Bernard Avenue. It was closed to traffic for the summer so that 26 temporary terraces could be set up on the street, leaving more space for safe distancing in downtown restaurants.
Rail trail journeys also increased by 25 percent.
The report is produced annually to show how Kelowna fared over the past year, but added a section on the impact of COVID-19 this year.
The base report shows that Kelowna has an estimated population of 138,000. That is an increase of 8.3 percent in four years compared to 127,380 in the 2016 census.
The median household income increased by $ 6,224 to $ 74,851.
There are 2,068 units under construction with planning permits for an additional 702. Sales of more than $ 1 million worth of homes this year were 118 versus 115 last year, and the cost of the midsize single-family home was up 3 percent $ 705,000.
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