1201 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

...It's not like Government Street has foot traffic so densely packed that you're shoulder to shoulder with other pedestrians as you walk about (like Midtown Manhattan). Indeed, 90% of the time (or whenever there isn't a cruise ship in port), Government Street is basically empty...

This.

[dasmo]

This.

Exactly this. Imagine if it was pedestrian only. It might come alive. 

[Nparker]

...Imagine if it was pedestrian only. It might come alive. 

Pedestrian only spaces increase population density and change local climate conditions for the better?

[Cassidy]

Exactly this. Imagine if it was pedestrian only. It might come alive. 

Is your premise that residents of the CRD would line up shoulder to shoulder to purchase a VICTORIA B.C. t-shirt, a salad in a plastic bowl, or a candy apple on a stick if there were no dangers of being run over by a car?

[DavidSchell]

If I recall when Vancouver tried to do this with Grandville St it killed the vib, increased crime and became an area of town where people didn't want to go.

[dasmo]

If you always parade out the failures of something similar you would never achieve anything great. There are more success stories around this. Anyway it won’t happen until the hotel owner dies and it’s passed on to someone who realizes they would have the only hotel on such a street!!!! As it is they are worried about tour bus access.

[Victoria Watcher]

the bedford hotel? thats probably a legitimate concern.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 February 2019 - 05:20 AM.

[Mike K.]

If I recall when Vancouver tried to do this with Grandville St it killed the vib, increased crime and became an area of town where people didn't want to go.

 

I remember that. It became a really crappy place to be.

 

In order for these spaces to become successful they need to become an attraction onto themselves but to do that you first need an important ingredient: architecture and a sense of prominence.

 

Many of the European strips we obsess over are beautiful places with beautiful architecture, deep history and unique culture. They are the literal heart of a downtown core.

 

Government Street might be a popular thoroughfare when cruise ships unleash their legions of passengers but it's not a destination for Victorians. It is not representative of our city, neither does it have a great deal of history along the area that we'd like to create the pedestrian zone.

[Victoria Watcher]

Government Street might be a popular thoroughfare when cruise ships unleash their legions of passengers but it's not a destination for Victorians. It is not representative of our city, neither does it have a great deal of history along the area that we'd like to create the pedestrian zone.

 

well the bars still keep locals on that street.  if you add up bard times garricks and then if you want to add local darcys 10 acres courtney room and pescatores you have a decent amount of locals even on off season.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 February 2019 - 08:59 AM.

[Cats4Hire]

Unless there's actually something put on Goverment I'd probably just stick to Douglas. Now the only reason I have to go on Government is Munro's and I usually just cut through Bay Center and cross the road lol.

[Mattjvd]

Much like in Marko's photo, if the resteraunts and pubs can get some nice expanded patio seating it would be great. (For the dry half of the year, at least).

[Nparker]

...if the restaurants and pubs can get some nice expanded patio seating it would be great...

Which of the restaurants/pubs along Government/Bastion Square actually require a great deal more outside seating?

[Greg]

Which of the restaurants/pubs along Government/Bastion Square actually require a great deal more outside seating?

 

On a nice weekend? All of them. During the rainy days, not so much.

[Nparker]

On a nice weekend? All of them. During the rainy days, not so much.

Then I think they've struck the right balance leaving things just as they are.

[Cassidy]

All those grand old European cities with centuries long traditions of sidewalk cafes and bars aren't located smack dab in the middle of a temperate rain forest ... like, errrrr, well ..... we are.

 

Temperate rain forests and sidewalk cafes are kind of an oil and water mix.

[MarkoJ]

In Zagreb it rains + is cold in the winter and people still hit the streets bundled up. I was at the Christmas advent this year in December for two weeks and it was insane with packed car-free streets./squares/etc. I would regularly meet friends even when it was below zero outside. Go grab sausages and boiled wine from huts and grab a seat somewhere next to a heater. Awesome time.

 

Here the weather isn't that bad.....it is more of a cultural thing. Even on a warm summer day at 11 pm downtown is pretty much a ghost town. People are in the Westhills watching Netflix at home.

 

[Mattjvd]

All those grand old European cities with centuries long traditions of sidewalk cafes and bars aren't located smack dab in the middle of a temperate rain forest ... like, errrrr, well ..... we are.

Temperate rain forests and sidewalk cafes are kind of an oil and water mix.

The CoV is not rainforest. The tiny south tip of Vancouver Island (in the Olympic rain shadow) is classified as a Mediterranean climate.

[Victoria Watcher]

The CoV is not rainforest. The tiny south tip of Vancouver Island (in the Olympic rain shadow) is classified as a Mediterranean climate.

it’s also rarely very cold. a nice covered patio with heaters would work. maybe it’s just not very practical for the venues we have.

[Cassidy]

The CoV is not rainforest. The tiny south tip of Vancouver Island (in the Olympic rain shadow) is classified as a Mediterranean climate.

You need to buff up on your hard facts before you get so bold as to tell somebody that they're wrong.

 

https://en.wikipedia...nforest_map.svg

[Bob Fugger]

Oh look, dueling Wikipedia entries:

“Victoria has a mild warm summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb)[19] with mild, rainy winters and cool, dry and sunny summers.[20]”

https://en.m.wikiped...ritish_Columbia