CplKlinger
Senior Member
Also, the report states that the road would need to remain free of obstructions, even if closed to vehicles, in order to allow for emergency vehicles to access it.
|
|
|
- Thread starter Gronk!
- Start date
IanO
Superstar
EdmTrekker
Senior Member
Hold onto to that vision. After all the redevelopment occurs maybe then is the time. But not now.
Edmcowboy11
Senior Member
The idea has promise but there needs to be businesses there too to draw people. If they want to close it and allow food trucks and pop up vendors to populate the ave that might actually work but if it is just an empty street with a few tables and chairs we already have Churchill square for that.
archited
Senior Member
I'm taking guesses on when the switch in opinion will begin -- lollipop goes to the person who makes the closest estimate.
archited
Senior Member
I can remember -- many moons ago -- when we were looking for some catalysts to "fire up" Old Strathcona -- a time in the early 1970's when most in the City viewed the area with the same askance sneer that a lot of people today hold for the Boyle Street area downtown -- the same people who can't, to save their lives, see the possibilities wrapped up in enigmatic "change". Into our nascent office one day strolled Barry Sparrow and Dale Cook wanting advice on locating a nightclub concept in Edmonton that they were going to call "Cook County Saloon". I took them on a tour of some of the historic buildings of Old Strathcona and talked them into the location that has served them well over the succeeding years. Their club was built on Gateway Boulevard just south of 81 Ave. They were the catalyst that spun the area around, eventually making it Edmonton's prominent "go to" place.
My advice to the Edmonton boosters -- don't listen to those who dwell on "can't" or "idiotic" or "not now" -- 102nd Avenue has the possibility of becoming one of the premiere pedestrian areas in the City and its conversion to such now will serve as a catalyst for change along the avenue. It will also boost ridership of the LRT. Edmonton is just beginning to grow into its skin -- it has an exceptionally bright future!
My advice to the Edmonton boosters -- don't listen to those who dwell on "can't" or "idiotic" or "not now" -- 102nd Avenue has the possibility of becoming one of the premiere pedestrian areas in the City and its conversion to such now will serve as a catalyst for change along the avenue. It will also boost ridership of the LRT. Edmonton is just beginning to grow into its skin -- it has an exceptionally bright future!
itom987
Active Member
^ You fail to mention that in spite of Whyte Ave. being 'run down' in the '70s there already were stores open and running along the street. It was not the dead wasteland you see on 102 Ave., it is gonna take time to bring life into the buildings along that street.
archited
Senior Member
Yes, and it starts by increasing pedestrian viability.
occidentalcapital
Senior Member
I'm hugely in support of this - but as others mentioned, need to bring food trucks all along the street, make it lively.
archited
Senior Member
That would make an excellent starting point, too!
Gronk!
Senior Member
Almost there?
IanO
Superstar
So close and yet so far...
Avenuer
Senior Member
How many pedestrian-only spaces can Downtown support? We already have Churchill Square and Ice District Plaza, the latter which is just starting to attract commercial tenants facing the plaza. My worry is that if 102 is pedestrianized, it will be quite empty and desolate for a while, consdiering there are minimal reasons to visit 102 Ave (i.e. few retail or food destinations, a harsh streetwall thanks to Telus Toll as well as a vacant lot wasteland from Regency. The LRT, sidewalk and bike lanes will offer ways to get through those few blocks without a vehicle but there is really no reason to linger right no. We should focus on giving people a reason to linger in our existing pedestrian-focused spaces Downtown - Jasper Ave, 104 St., Churchill Square and Ice District.
IanO
Superstar
Exactly. This stretch is far from ideal from a width, other uses and lack of street fronting anything and NO # of food trucks is going to change that. Focus limited resources on our other areas and make them function well before going after other things.