[Admiral Beez]

I'm not counting the corner depressions,.

I am. Those corner depressions lead to wheelchairs, strollers, etc. entering the roadspace, and thus becoming a hazard for cars.

 

[junctionist]

It's ironic that we complain about cars being king and that we have no streets exclusively for pedestrians in one thread but overlook the Distillery District's streets and those of the Toronto Islands. The latter is the largest car-free community in North America. The former is a thriving area with its streets filled with people. Know your city before you start complaining about it.

 

[BurlOak]

I'm not counting the corner depressions, those are useful. I'm talking about the depressions in the sidewalks for driveways, NOT at the corners or intersections.

Those mid-block depressions are useful for pedestrians and stroller to cross mid block.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Will no one think of the Daleks? They need those depressions, otherwise they'll tip over...

 

[bleu]

It's ironic that we complain about cars being king and that we have no streets exclusively for pedestrians in one thread but overlook the Distillery District's streets and those of the Toronto Islands. The latter is the largest car-free community in North America. The former is a thriving area with its streets filled with people. Know your city before you start complaining about it.

the distillery district is too tiny. and to be fair, it is not even served by transit.
The island is hardly a community per se, mainly a recreation destination. It does have some residents but with a population of a single midsized condo. Are there any retail near those homes? I doubt it is a self-sufficient "community" without typical amenities nearby.

 

[Jonny5]

Why are we limiting this to actual roads made for cars that have been repurposed for only people to walk on. There is an abundance of pathways, walkways and corridors all over the city designated for pedestrians only. What about The PATH, or other underground connections, like Yonge to Bay subway stations? What about the connected parks above the Yonge subway downtown? What about all our ravine trails covering long distances across the city. What about all the spaces between buildings that are open to the public like between King and Front where The Rainbow cinemas are, or Simcoe Street?

This is what happens when you try to define concepts like Livability with checklists based on hard-coded criteria. You close a road to traffic and you suddenly become a "livable" city that caters to pedestrians? Really?

 

[drum118]

Why are we limiting this to actual roads made for cars that have been repurposed for only people to walk on. There is an abundance of pathways, walkways and corridors all over the city designated for pedestrians only. What about The PATH, or other underground connections, like Yonge to Bay subway stations? What about the connected parks above the Yonge subway downtown? What about all our ravine trails covering long distances across the city. What about all the spaces between buildings that are open to the public like between King and Front where The Rainbow cinemas are, or Simcoe Street?

This is what happens when you try to define concepts like Livability with checklists based on hard-coded criteria. You close a road to traffic and you suddenly become a "livable" city that caters to pedestrians? Really?

Streets turn over to pedestrians

Denmark

Glasgow

Wien

 

[ssiguy2]

You don't have to go even that far away, just look at Calgary's Stephen Ave..........4 blocks of pedestrian only street in supposedly car-loving Calgary. This is made even more impressive in that they closed another street thru the entire downtown areas to transit only.

The street doesn't neccessarily have to be closed to all traffic but reduced to one lane per direction to allow for transit and deliveries but enables a far wider sidewalk and pedestrian friendly street. As I stated before, it is very sad that along Toronto's main drag from Bloor to Union, there is not even one restaurant or cafe where you can sit outside.

Despite Yonge's heavy pedestrian traffic, ouside of Dundas Square, Yonge is one of Toronto's most pedestrrian un-friendly streets.

 

[drum118]

You don't have to go even that far away, just look at Calgary's Stephen Ave..........4 blocks of pedestrian only street in supposedly car-loving Calgary. This is made even more impressive in that they closed another street thru the entire downtown areas to transit only.

The street doesn't neccessarily have to be closed to all traffic but reduced to one lane per direction to allow for transit and deliveries but enables a far wider sidewalk and pedestrian friendly street. As I stated before, it is very sad that along Toronto's main drag from Bloor to Union, there is not even one restaurant or cafe where you can sit outside.

Despite Yonge's heavy pedestrian traffic, ouside of Dundas Square, Yonge is one of Toronto's most pedestrrian un-friendly streets.

I lived in Calgary for a few years and the downtown was dead at night when I was there including the transit mall.

A number of cities in Europe have converted 4/6 lanes road to 1/2 lanes for traffic and turning the rest over to transit/cycles/pedestrians

I agree with you on Yonge St and hope to see it reduce to 2 lanes with wider sidewalks. Even Bloor could see this in various locations.

Once Cherry St opens later this year, you will see a change as to what you want to see without transit there until late 2015 after the games are over.

Queens Quay will be in fully operation for Phase 1 by 2014 like you want.

Amsterdam

Barcelona

 

[nfitz]

the distillery district is too tiny. and to be fair, it is not even served by transit.

I guess those buses I've taken past there are a figment of my imagination.

And I guess all the people I see taking the 504 to Parliament and walking 300 metres over are a figment of my imagination (though as I suspect many are heading to the eastern side, I don't know why they don't take the 504 to Trinity instead ... but they always seem to get off at Parliament).

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Agusta Avenue north of and Nassau east of Bellevue really should be turned into a pedestrian mall. At least in the summer. I'm surprised this hasn't happened yet. Anybody who visits Kensington Market in the summer knows that Agusta and Bellevue are always packed with pedestrians eventhough it's not a pedestrian mall.

 

[junctionist]

At the end of the day, I'd prefer to see no more new pedestrian malls. They tend to feel contrived, turning something that was a street for hundreds of years into a park-like space. Keep the street, but redesign it so that the sidewalks are on the same level as the road and close it to non-local and delivery vehicles either all the time or some of the time. Keep it as a street that could be used by vehicles but with better streetscaping than the average street (paving and greenery, for instance). Flexibility is key to functionality and the ultimate success of the space. If a store needs a delivery, the delivery truck can drive a block down the street at 5 km/h giving the right of way to pedestrians, who will get out of the way for the rare vehicle that needs to be there.

 

[diminutive]

At the end of the day, I'd prefer to see no more new pedestrian malls. They tend to feel contrived, turning something that was a street for hundreds of years into a park-like space. Keep the street, but redesign it so that the sidewalks are on the same level as the road and close it to non-local and delivery vehicles either all the time or some of the time. Keep it as a street that could be used by vehicles but with better streetscaping than the average street (paving and greenery, for instance). Flexibility is key to functionality and the ultimate success of the space. If a store needs a delivery, the delivery truck can drive a block down the street at 5 km/h giving the right of way to pedestrians, who will get out of the way for the rare vehicle that needs to be there.

Yea, pedestrian malls have always seemed kind of sterile to me. I understand the intent and am sympathetic, but most of the time it just comes of like kind of half baked.

I feel like alot of the pedestrian malls in Europe and Asia which actually work do so because of their compactness. Like the street in Denmark Drum118 posted. It seems like a 2:1 height to width ratio, or more. I don't think there are many streets in Toronto which could be as tight.

It could also work I think if the street was actually redesigned to have commercial space in the median to break things up a bit. Kind of like the second photo of Vienna Drum118 posted.

But just closing the street down and calling it a pedestrian mall doesn't do much for me. The 'pedestrianized' part of Wilcox @ UofT is an example of how lame things can turn out