11-16-2016, 03:47 AM
(11-15-2016, 09:03 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:(11-15-2016, 05:20 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I don’t understand why so many people are so down on pedestrian overpasses and other fully weather- and traffic-protected pedestrian facilities. It seems that many people believe that the biggest problem with enclosed malls is the fact that they have a roof. Maybe in California, but here where I live I think we should be building roofs all over the place.
I think it has to do with diverting pedestrian traffic away from the streets where there are shops and such. I'm not sure how big an issue they are here, they're hardly used, I don't find them all that oppressive. I think it's a bigger problem the blank side of the mall.
I think enclosed malls (outside of downtown) could make fantastic public places (as they were in fact intended) if that was a priority for them, and if they were accessible without fighting traffic.
Malls aren't actually public spaces, though, and we visit them at the pleasure of the owners.
So Quebec City tried to enclose a street and it didn't go so well:
https://www.canadianarchitect.com/features/roch-garden/
They gave up on it a few decades later and it's much better now. Also, yes, agree that overpasses make things not happen on the (public) street.