Market Square

[ijmorlan]

In what way can putting a roof over the sidewalk cause a problem? What is so fundamental to a good urban experience about getting rained on? Nobody ever explains this to me. I’m not clear about which article you are talking about — did I miss a link up-thread?

Indoor/covered streets don't always work, though, even if they are not duplicating outdoor sidewalks. See the Thunder Bay situation for an example:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/a...r-it-down/

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I read that article on paper. Interesting article!

As I understand it, the mall replaced a failing section of downtown. So the fact that the mall isn’t working well says little about the merits of enclosing shopping areas.

Of course one problem we have is that since there is so little enclosed public space, any we build immediately attracts homeless people. If there was enclosed public space all over the place, or if we had a really good housing strategy for people who can’t maintain themselves in housing, this wouldn’t be such an issue.