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Should Government Street become a pedestrian boulevard?

Government st Poll Pedestrian new urbanism Government street pedestrian mall

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Poll: Should Government street become a pedestrian boulevard (132 member(s) have cast votes)

Should Government street become a pedestrian boulevard from Yates street to Humbolt street (Allowing restricted single lane traffic)?

  1. Yes (86 votes [65.15%])

    Percentage of vote: 65.15%

  2. No (33 votes [25.00%])

    Percentage of vote: 25.00%

  3. Depends (13 votes [9.85%])

    Percentage of vote: 9.85%

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#681 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 07:45 AM

didn’t yesterday’s news say 70% of our tourists are from outside bc? nothing is going to fill up government street this year.

#682 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 07:48 AM

as others have stated part of the key is office workers coming back. I know an employee in the federal building. they are not coming back until at least January.

#683 Mike K.

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 07:51 AM

If you remove people visiting family as “tourism,” I’m sure the number is much higher than 70%.

Victoria sees 4 million tourists per year. Are we to believe 1.2 million of them are BC residents, 20% of the BC population?

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#684 Nparker

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 07:52 AM

While I appreciate the effort to help local businesses, never has there been less need for Government Street to accommodate more pedestrians than at this point in time.


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#685 mbjj

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 08:35 AM

I'm a little confused over the photos. The first one, is that down by the corner of Humboldt? I thought it was only the block by Earls that was to be barricaded. From that photo it looks like a very long stretch of Government is closed off. What constitutes "local traffic only"? If I want to drop off someone to visit a shop along there, is that local traffic?



#686 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 08:39 AM

letter in tc today says that the 17 food trucks to be welcomed on government st. is a slap in face to downtown restaurants that have paid rent and property taxes for 3 months of not being open.


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#687 spanky123

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 08:46 AM

letter in tc today says that the 17 food trucks to be welcomed on government st. is a slap in face to downtown restaurants that have paid rent and property taxes for 3 months of not being open.

 

Sure it is but restaurants aren't as cool as food trucks. Ask any hipster.


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#688 Ismo07

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 08:49 AM

letter in tc today says that the 17 food trucks to be welcomed on government st. is a slap in face to downtown restaurants that have paid rent and property taxes for 3 months of not being open.

 

I don't believe that is being offered...



#689 spanky123

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Posted 12 June 2020 - 08:51 AM

as others have stated part of the key is office workers coming back. I know an employee in the federal building. they are not coming back until at least January.

 

I know of a couple of offices that opened and then closed again as so few people were coming into work that it wasn't worth the hassle of cleaning and sanitizing the areas. 

 

With the fear of a second wave I would think that it would be January at the earliest before we see a large number of office workers return to downtown. We may also find at that point that the new normal may only be 50%-75% of what it was.

 

Dr. Henry reduced the restrictions on dining yesterday allowing restaurants to operate at more than 50% capacity if they could support spacing of seats. This would benefit restaurants with larger outdoor areas as long as they are willing to invest in all weather seating and think that they have the demand. Having said that, my own personal experience has been that even the most popular restaurants are having difficult filing their reduced capacity. 


Edited by spanky123, 12 June 2020 - 08:53 AM.


#690 Midnightly

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 02:26 AM

how will this work for the many parades that (although not this year but usually) go down government work? there are atleast 2 that i can think of that are huge draws for people and tourism (pride parade and santa/christmas parade-which is in the off season and can be a great draw for restaurants)



#691 Greg

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 01:31 PM

Outside seating update. At 2:00 today (a gorgeous Saturday) there was a wait for outdoor seating at Bard and Banker, Irish Times, Earls, The Local, Darcy’s, Whistle Buoy, and The Drake (including new downstairs patio). Found a seat at Frankies who have expanded their outdoor space. Also looks like Wind Cries Mary is adding outdoor seating.

So if every day can be a beautiful Saturday, the experiment will be a success!
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#692 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 01:43 PM

have bard & banker and irish times both expanded?  they have little (esp. bard) outdoor seating to begin with.

 

earls only has about 8 tables.  


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 June 2020 - 02:02 PM.


#693 Greg

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 01:58 PM

Yeah. The distancing between the tables really limits the number of seats. Hoping some of those places will expand.
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#694 Spy Black

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 05:05 PM

The mish mash of picnic tables that the City has placed on Government Street were all full today, Saturday afternoon. 

I wouldn't call Gov't Street anything more than "occupied" (certainly not "packed") - but most folks who were there were also taking advantage of the fact that they could stroll down the middle of the street.



#695 LJ

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Posted 13 June 2020 - 06:59 PM

^So who is sanitizing those picnic tables?


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#696 Sparky

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Posted 14 June 2020 - 02:42 PM

I only saw a couple of picnic tables there today.

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#697 Nparker

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Posted 14 June 2020 - 03:00 PM

Perhaps you couldn't see the picnic tables because of all the crowds.
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#698 rjag

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Posted 15 June 2020 - 06:43 AM

I only saw a couple of picnic tables there today.

 

 

the place is packed! 


Edited by rjag, 15 June 2020 - 06:43 AM.


#699 kxl

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Posted 16 June 2020 - 12:49 PM

It says Government St between Fort and View is closed until 2023 on Google Maps

#700 Urbanpioneer

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Posted 16 June 2020 - 03:23 PM

I have it on good authority that tents displaced from Beacon hill park, will be relocated to this no traffic zone.
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