Maybe the city could consider some partial funding to renovate some ground floor space into retail street front? It would be a big help into turning 10th into a high street type avenue. The retail space wouldn't have to be a major renovation, some some CRUs like the Bay parkade has.
I just can't see it working. The height there is around 7 feet; you'll want to put some sort of flooring so it's not just asphalt, so you'll lose a couple of inches there, and you'll need to put in some sort of ceiling and overhead lighting (and sprinklers?), so you'll lose a few inches there, and hey presto you are now too short for people to walk around in.

In theory, you could do walk up windows where the business is in the parkade and the customers can access it from the street, but window-served businesses tend to be small, so you'd need a lot to fill the space. Plus most of them are food service, and the heights I talked about above don't include any HVAC, which you'd need if you were cooking, nor plumbing which would also add cost.

Compare (O'Connors in Bay/Bow parkade; Gulf Canada parkade - compare vs the heights of people):
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There is a dead street downtown that has plenty of height to backfill with CRUs though:
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I just can't see it working. The height there is around 7 feet; you'll want to put some sort of flooring so it's not just asphalt, so you'll lose a couple of inches there, and you'll need to put in some sort of ceiling and overhead lighting (and sprinklers?), so you'll lose a few inches there, and hey presto you are now too short for people to walk around in.

In theory, you could do walk up windows where the business is in the parkade and the customers can access it from the street, but window-served businesses tend to be small, so you'd need a lot to fill the space. Plus most of them are food service, and the heights I talked about above don't include any HVAC, which you'd need if you were cooking, nor plumbing which would also add cost.

Compare (O'Connors in Bay/Bow parkade; Gulf Canada parkade - compare vs the heights of people):
View attachment 390765View attachment 390766

There is a dead street downtown that has plenty of height to backfill with CRUs though:
View attachment 390770
Is a clearance solution for the 10th Ave parkade is to remove the 2nd level of parking?
 
I like the idea of retrofitting CRUs in the City Centre Parkade but it would have some challenges with ceiling height, HVAC, back of house and maintaining access for those leaving. I can see why it might be easier to demo and replace it. Would be a great place for patios with southern exposure if someone smarter than me could figure out those issues though if it’s possible but I can’t see how it happens
 
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I just can't see it working. The height there is around 7 feet; you'll want to put some sort of flooring so it's not just asphalt, so you'll lose a couple of inches there, and you'll need to put in some sort of ceiling and overhead lighting (and sprinklers?), so you'll lose a few inches there, and hey presto you are now too short for people to walk around in.

In theory, you could do walk up windows where the business is in the parkade and the customers can access it from the street, but window-served businesses tend to be small, so you'd need a lot to fill the space. Plus most of them are food service, and the heights I talked about above don't include any HVAC, which you'd need if you were cooking, nor plumbing which would also add cost.

Compare (O'Connors in Bay/Bow parkade; Gulf Canada parkade - compare vs the heights of people):


There is a dead street downtown that has plenty of height to backfill with CRUs though:
View attachment 390770
How awesome would it be to fill that dead space with retail?! Such a brutal streetscape currently.
 

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