06-04-2017, 06:29 PM
(06-04-2017, 05:28 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:(06-04-2017, 05:01 PM)panamaniac Wrote: It was a disaster when Ottawa installed glass canopies along Rideau Street (long since removed).
How so? And don’t forget it was also turned into a bus mall. Plus the canopies had a weird design that meant that immediately outside of some of the doors there was a roofless bit, but 1m away there was more roofed area (outside). And again, what is the mechanism by which a roof is theorized to destroy a street? It simply doesn’t make sense, especially in our climate. The promise of roofing technology is too great to give up on just because of a few poorly designed failed experiments. Imagine, some day most of our shops and workplaces could have roofs over them!
It's true - the problems of Rideau St went well beyond the ugly canopies. The shelter provided by the canopies, however, had unintended negative consequences in terms of some of the uses to which the space was put. I have no problem with overhanging canopies (they were once common Downtown, as were retractable awnings) and arcades of the sort shown a few posts above are wonderful (wasn't there a concept drawing a year or so ago showing the Frederick St side of Market Square done with a pedestrian arcade?).
But we stray off topic...