[androiduk]

There's a great article in Saturday's Globe about cities around the world banning cars full or part time from their cores. The revolution has begun.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20081018.TURNER18//TPStory/Focus

 

[Whoaccio]

Toronto could do more of this without even "banning cars." There are a ton of alleys and lane ways downtown which don't do anything. I work at Commerce Court, and there is a laneway off of Melinda Street that I have only ever seen being used by smokers and by a film crew shooting it as a homeless person's home (haven't figured out what show yet). There are dozens of these. I'm pretty sure they only exist because some zoning bylaws prohibit wall to wall construction. Doing a better job of integrating the squares at the center of most of the office complexes could be worthwhile.

Moving on from the derelict lane ways, there are dozens of streets in Toronto that don't handle any significant traffic volume whatsoever. Streets like Colbourne or Toronto street. With a few strategic parking complexes (as the only traffic they do handle is invariably for parking lots) and enhancements to arterial roads, you could "reconquer" these streets in a second. These streets also tend to have a lot of surface parking lots which could be redeveloped quite easily, should it be needed.

The most contentious issue would be trying to pedestrianize a street like Queen or King. At the moment, I doubt this would be feasible. A few threads ago I mused that you could put 4 lane expressways under Richmond & Adelaide. Something like that would need to happen before closing off the central portions of these roads would become palatable.

 

[wyliepoon]

The title of this thread is somewhat misleading in that the article doesn't really talk about any sort of CBD-wide ban on cars, but rather talks about the possibility of a city shutting down its main street for pedestrian use.

The list of cities that have shut down its most important thoroughfare (on weekends or permanently) to pedestrians goes on and on. Tokyo has Ginza and Mexico City shuts down the Paseo de la Reforma on Sundays. Despite all the talk about China going auto-centric, you will find in China's biggest cities that their main shopping streets have all been turned into pedestrian malls: Beijing's Wangfujing, Shanghai's Nanjing Road and Guangzhou's Beijing Road.

So the real question the article raises is whether we should bring back this:

 

[Mustapha]

The title of this thread is somewhat misleading in that the article doesn't really talk about any sort of CBD-wide ban on cars, but rather talks about the possibility of a city shutting down its main street for pedestrian use.

The list of cities that have shut down its most important thoroughfare (on weekends or permanently) to pedestrians goes on and on. Tokyo has Ginza and Mexico City shuts down the Paseo de la Reforma on Sundays. Despite all the talk about China going auto-centric, you will find in China's biggest cities that their main shopping streets have all been turned into pedestrian malls: Beijing's Wangfujing, Shanghai's Nanjing Road and Guangzhou's Beijing Road.

So the real question the article raises is whether we should bring back this:

I happened to number among the hordes of teenagers who descended on Yonge when this was enacted for what?... a couple of consecutive years?

The closest we've had since then has been the Lastman era Yonge street parties.

We should do it again; permanently. I remember reading the merchants then complaining about lost business. Sometimes you just need to tune out the foolish.

Also, Dundas Square seems to be begging - alliteratively - for itself to be extended north and south on Yonge - say from Bloor to Front. Wouldn't that be something. I'd' march up and down it all night.

wyliepoon, you left out Ottawa's Sparks street.

 

[kEiThZ]

wyliepoon, you left out Ottawa's Sparks street.

Sadly, Ottawa's experience with Sparks street has been mixed. Sparks is dead past working hours.... That result has largely sucked the wind out of any desire to create more pedestrian streets in Ottawa.

 

[Whoaccio]

Sadly, Ottawa's experience with Sparks street has been mixed. Sparks is dead past working hours.... That result has largely sucked the wind out of any desire to create more pedestrian streets in Ottawa.

Mmm, that would be my fear with pedestrianizing a street like Melinda. Once the Bay St. People leave, there is no activity what so ever.

 

[androiduk]

One of the factors that seem to make these things work are the sidewalk cafes. They should be allowed to have large patios and with the new patio heaters available, it's practical year round. It's actually quite pleasant to sit outside on a sunny winter day and enjoy a piping hot coffee or hot chocolate. I think you have to pick your streets very carefully. I'd like to see Queen West shut down from University to Spadina but continue the streetcar service.

 

[Ummagumma66]

Stephen Ave in Calgary is kinda mixed pedestrian/traffic road, it seems to work well.

 

[kEiThZ]

What I never see are pictures of pedestrian streets in the winter. We can't pull off what the Europeans do, all year round. I'd like to see seasonal conversions, like what they do in Montreal.

 

[waterloowarrior]

What I never see are pictures of pedestrian streets in the winter. We can't pull off what the Europeans do, all year round. I'd like to see seasonal conversions, like what they do in Montreal.

 

[Archivist]

I've always thought we should start small in Toronto and choose streets that are already peppered with commercial development or some other reason to close them, before trying larger streets.

I'm thinking of Elm Street between Yonge & Bay, which has lots of restaurants and pleasant buildings - but I think, as well, an entrance to the hotel that might raise issues. Perhaps part of the street.

Gould - for Ryerson's campus, much discussed.

Baldwin - seems obvious to me.

Maybe if we want to be daring - John Street as a kind of "heart" of the Entertainment District, moving from high culture (the AGO) to low culture (the SkyDome) with Hooters in between, it would seem to have both symbolic importance and certainly has potential to be a more vibrant street.

 

[junctionist]

With the subway, the CBD, Ryerson, the tourists and the tens of thousands who live a short walk away, I don't see why Yonge couldn't make a successful pedestrianized street.

But it couldn't hurt to experiment with some smaller streets first.

 

[Dichotomy]

Great idea! And at the same time we can bulldoze all the condos on Bay St. and make Bay 6 lanes, no?

Look at a map. University Ave. is all we have. Jarvis is a joke, thanks to the choke point at St. Lawrence Market.

I'd love to see Yonge St. made into a long pedestrian Mall, but that train left the station decades ago when neither Bay or Jarvis were widened when the opportunity presented itself.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Dichotomy you trot out the difficulty to drive around downtown argument seemingly every week like the McCain campaign trotting out William Ayers, but, I ask you, name another thoroughly urban city of 5 million anywhere in the developed world with a downtown that is as easy to drive around as Toronto.

 

[TKTKTK]

Dichotomy you trot out the difficulty to drive around downtown argument seemingly every week like the McCain campaign trotting out William Ayers, but, I ask you, name another thoroughly urban city of 5 million anywhere in the developed world with a downtown that is as easy to drive around as Toronto.

Manhatten.

Outside of extreme rush hour, it's actually faster and less obnoxious than Toronto.