Ross McGowan, landscape architect, recalls the words of his grandmother: "When you look good you feel good and if you feel good you do good."

A city that looks good also has benign and creative influence on the people. Mr. McGowan, former urban design co-ordinator for the city, has been commissioned to make the city more beautiful, a splendid pursuit indeed.

The efforts will be focused on the "image route," the six main entrances to the city. They are Main Street, Portage Avenue, Pembina Highway, Henderson Highway, Fermor Avenue and the Wellington-St. James route to the airport.

The image presented to a newcomer to the city is uninspiring at most entrances. The few signs that welcome visitors are elusive and unappealing. The landscaping is of a mediocre standard. The welcome mat to the city, in short, is dull and of a quality one would sometimes equate with an impecunious hot dog stand.

It doesn't take a great deal of money and effort to put some glamor and notice at the entrances. The gateway at Pembina and the Perimeter can be easily dressed up with planting of trees along the embankment. One thought is to use native hardy species that can withstand the vagaries of climate and inhibit weeds.

The initial section to be beautified in fact will be Pembina Highway, between McGillivray and Jubilee, a distance of ten blocks.

Permanent planters will be established at the centre medians, in modules of four feet, six feet and eight feet.

Day lilies, virginia creeper, lilac, buffalo berry, globe, caragana and gold drop potentilla are among the species to be planted, most of them this fall.

There will also be decorative paving in blue anti-slip tile at the chief intersection at McGillivray and Point Road.

Hopefully this will encourage the private owners to beautify their grounds. Pembina displays a hodge-podge of signs and an indifferent standard of planting, where it exists at all.

There will be a meeting with the private interests to encourage upgrading of landscaping in parking lots. And ii the downtown area, there should be more effort involving the private sector to beautify the area. There are thoughts of tax incentives and complementary funding to assist businesses in making Pembina more attractive.

There is a city bylaw which requires landscaping on all commercial parking lots, including strip malls, markets and shopping centres. But the bylaw is poorly enforced and in many establishments the planting is on a token scale. In the words of one city planner, parking lots on the whole are an eyesore.

Along the major image routes, the plan for the future is to co-ordinate street and signage systems. The street furniture, including bus shelters, benches, newspaper boxes and waste receptacles will be designed in a pleasing and uniform manner, so that they complement one another.

There is a forest of traffic signs on city streets. An examination will be made to eliminate redundant signs. As for the median strips, they will not be used to carry traffic signs. Rather, they will give notice to coming attractions such as Folklorama, the ballet, symphony and sports events.

They would also be used to make known the whereabouts of the Legislative Building at the Portage west turnoff, or Kildonan Park on the north Main route.

It would be a marvellous accomplishment indeed if some uniformity of private signage was initiated in the Pembina project.

Signage executed in an appealing, simple and decorative manner can play an important role in revealing something of the character of the city.

The rivers, for one, now that they are being opened to the public, should be given more prominence in signage. The bridges themselves must be designed as appealing windows to the rivers, and not merely as functional funnels for traffic. Aesthetics must be given the same priority as engineering standards.

The city must set a high standard in the way it adorns its own property. Hopefully the image route conception will influence the city to examine all its establishments to lift the standard of design and landscaping.

The streets and the sidewalks are the main public places of the city. They deserve to be good looking.