There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By Chris (registered) | Posted February 12, 2009 at 13:24:13
Ryan, I understand from your posts here and in other discussions that you believe by turning the core into a 2 way traffic limited zone it is going to blossom into the kind of place people will actually want to endure traffic limitations for. Park the car stroll around eat, shop, enertainment etc. It seems to me that you are putting the result ahead of the reality. Do this now and you have a traffic pain in the ass and not much more. Upper James, Mohawk, Fennell and all the rest of the Upper Blahs are two way streets where pedestrians need to take care crossing. Why should they too not have the benefit of traffic flow reductions. I am sure many residents of those streets would support that strictly out of self interest. I guess the reason there is not a ground swell of support for such a plan is that all but a very few knew when buying their property it was on a busy roadway. The same can be said for residents in the core. I live in the lower city and for years lived in the core of the city. Only once did I live on a busy street (King)and I moved from there not because of the noise from traffic or anything related to it. It was pedestrians, insane ones; at all hours that propmpted me to move. People I deal with cite personal safety for one and fewer conveniences being the other main reason they do not go downtown much. I don't believe a build it and they will come approach will work with this two way traffic proposal. It will only result in traffic jams initially and then traffic avoidance, neither of which will put people on their feet. They will drive their cars to the malls and power centers (ughhh to both) and be on their feet there until there are powerful draws downtown. Wait until people are fighting to get down here until we start limiting vehicular access or introducing 32 Kph disincentives to even pass through. The ony way we will see a revitilization of the core is as you have said Ryan get people on their feet. A lot of those feet have to be from other areas and to draw these people the core has to compete with other shopping and restaurant and entertainment destinations. That is the really tough part encouraging people to try something new something even less convenient than what they may be used to. Or better yet corner a market. We have 3 decent large entertainment venues, the Art Gallery, these are only available here if you have enough of these "only downtown" destinations and great parking and lots of on the ground security it will again become the kind of place where people want to spend time on their feet.
Permalink | Context