St. Catharines Downtown Association

O'Connell is already seeing the fabric of a strong recovery.

The owner of Honey's clothing store on St. Paul Street sees the end of downtown St. Catharines road construction and two-way conversion as leading the way.

"I think we've turned a corner for sure. The last few months have been very good," O'Connell said. "We're looking for a little more of that."

News that the Conference Board of Canada is predicting five years of growth for Niagara's economy suits O'Connell just fine.

"This report is definitely very positive," he said. "I think we're coming into a better mood and people are opening their wallets again."

The Conference Board says construction, as well as wholesale and retail trade, will help boost the region's gross domestic product -- the value of goods and services produced -- by 2.4% this year.

This increase will come after three tepid years for the economy, including a GDP decline of 3.4% in 2009.

Even more impressive is the board's forecast for an average annual GDP growth of 3.1% from 2011 to 2014.

That would put Niagara -- not including Grimsby and West Lincoln-- in 12th spot of 27 large cities and regions in Canada.

This year's forecast places Niagara in 21st place.

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