Market Square

[ijmorlan]

Interesting. We have a lot of discussion about street walls and street interaction, and how Market Square is awful (just like other malls) because it's inward-facing.

And yet, here we are, talking about taking pedestrians off the streets (in an ideal world) and having them stay inside the buildings only. Which, to me, does not make for a vibrant downtown. But maybe that's just me.

   

No, just giving them a choice.

Also, who says the car-level streets are the most important streets? What do you mean by “streets”? Where the pedestrians are? Is being rained on a definitional feature of the “streets”? I’ve alluded to this by mentioning the concept of having two totally separate levels for motor vehicles and others (which admittedly isn’t doable in an existing downtown, certainly not Kitchener’s). In that concept, I would think of it as removing cars from the streets.

Sometimes people talk about making downtown car-free, usually giving this as a positive improvement. If we then put a roof over portions of the streets, are they no longer streets? How is Conestoga Mall different from a car-free downtown area in a way that is relevant to my preference for not getting rained on?

My objection is to the reflexive rejection of weather-protected spaces. Sometimes I get the impression people think the problem with large malls is the roof — if you just ripped the roof off and let the rain in, they would suddenly be great urban environments. That is obviously an exaggeration, but I think we’re owed an explanation as to how weather- and motor-vehicle-free environments must inevitably be bad for pedestrians. Although in view of redevelopments like the Shops at Don Mills, I wonder if it is even an exaggeration?