^ The perfect living room for hobos and druggies to loiter all day and night!
If you were actually serious about it you would be suggesting permanent sea-can retail bays along the middle of the street but there already is a mall right beside the street for that.
It's just a pilot, and at least for now emergency vehicles still need access through the corridor. The things that Ted suggested make more sense in this context than permanent sea can retail spaces - both because some are easier to move for emergency vehicles (or aren't on the road at all), and also because it is simpler to implement in this short time-frame than procuring a bunch of sea cans, looking for businesses/entrepreneurs to set up shop in such sea cans when there's uncertainty about what'll come of the pilot, deciding on how to re-purpose or sell the sea cans should 102 Ave re-open to traffic next year, etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of pop up shops like what you suggested as a great way to encourage pedestrian traffic, improve safety through "eyes on the street", and overall liven things up there. I just think that it makes sense to focus on making smaller improvements like what Ted suggested as a way of creating a "proof of concept" for the corridor and planting the seed for "what could be" if the city stuck with it in the long-run. During the pilot, or once it finishes if the city decides to keep it closed to vehicles, they could then figure out how to improve the temporary setup when making it permanent.
During the pilot, perhaps they could have smaller stands set up along it, sort of like a pop-up farmers market (maybe the DT farmers market would want to operate a branch there?), but the pilot provides us a good opportunity both to see how the corridor and surrounding buildings fare without vehicle traffic, and how we can make the most of it. It's better to try things out on a smaller scale that can easily be expanded on, or removed once the pilot ends (depending both on whether the closure continues, and how much these improvements enhanced the pedestrian experience during the pilot), instead of making big investments right off the bat that the city could feel compelled to stick with, even if they don't perform well, solely due to the amount of money and effort invested into them.
EDIT: Also, refusing to make improvements to downtown (or other areas) just because they might be used by homeless people and substance users is only going to end up in the area seeming dull and uninviting, which will drive more people to shop, live, and work elsewhere, and ultimately lead to less foot
and vehicle traffic and worsen the visibility of the problems you're trying to hide. Solutions for homelessness and substance abuse include investing in supports (both municipal/provincial and nonprofit) for people in need; increasing the supply of supportive and affordable housing; and increasing accessibility for, and safety in safe injection sites and shelters (and disperse them in key areas of the city instead of concentrating them in downtown and Chinatown). Neglecting areas solves nothing and leaves everyone worse off.
