City of Victoria | 2018-2022 | Mayor and council general discussion
#9661
Posted 15 October 2021 - 03:57 PM
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#9663
Posted 15 October 2021 - 04:30 PM
Matt.
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#9664
Posted 15 October 2021 - 05:58 PM
How about just letting restaurants use all their indoor space rather than building ramshackle shanties on the sidewalk, which are useless in the winter anyway. And to the extent they are fully closed off you might as well be inside.
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#9665
Posted 15 October 2021 - 06:22 PM
How about just letting restaurants use all their indoor space rather than building ramshackle shanties on the sidewalk, which are useless in the winter anyway...
Agreed. As far as I know there are no longer any restrictions on the number of people who can dine indoors.
Restaurants, bars, pubs and nightclubs:
- No group limits for indoor and outdoor dining, events allowed
- Return to normal liquor service hours
https://www2.gov.bc....19/info/restart
#9666
Posted 15 October 2021 - 07:46 PM
Of ALL the streets that have been "modified" down to one lane, and of all the parking spaces that have been lost to bike lanes ... this single block of Broad Street that Pag's is in is probably the one block you could shut down permanently, fill with patios, and never notice the difference.
Dead ends off at both ends, and really only useful for driving around and around in a circle looking for a place to park, this block is almost begging for a permanent closure, and some real concerted effort put into making it a showpiece of outdoor dining, landscaping, and general "nice" places to sit and/or walk with a coffee.
We've really got to try to start revitalizing the downtown core such that it starts attracting folks back to enjoy food and beverage, shopping, or just grabbing a coffee with a friend and walking around.
Roofless hovels that start to weather and look shabby after a month, and become totally useless at the first sign of rain are pointless ... and these semi-permanent, somewhat deluxe patios outside restaurants and bars, sporting nice lighting, overhead heating, and comfortable chairs and tables are at least a step in the right direction.
Downtown Victoria needs to be returned to the residents of the region for their enjoyment, made comfortable once again to engage in commerce through eating, drinking, shopping, and simply walking about without having to fear being accosted at the drop of a pin by some knife wielding junkie.
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#9667
Posted 15 October 2021 - 07:50 PM
I genuinely can’t remember if I’ve seen anything like that outside of the CoV.
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#9668
Posted 15 October 2021 - 07:52 PM
^No.
#9669
Posted 15 October 2021 - 07:57 PM
Did Langford’s restaurants erect wood huts on the sidewalk during COVID? Sidney’s? Saanich’s?
I genuinely can’t remember if I’ve seen anything like that outside of the CoV.
You mean locally? Didn’t they have a similar program in Vancouver?
Matt.
#9670
Posted 15 October 2021 - 09:33 PM
At least the Penny Farthing in Oak Bay did an attractive job of it. A lot of Victoria;s look like sheep pens.
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#9671
Posted 16 October 2021 - 03:59 AM
Agreed. As far as I know there are no longer any restrictions on the number of people who can dine indoors.
Well, maybe they are doing it themselves then to “keep us safe.” We go out to dinner once a week, always to a local place or downtown. There is only one restaurant I’ve seen that has not reduced its capacity by spacing out tables or marking some of them as no-sit. There are probably others but the practice seems widespread, government rules or not.
#9672
Posted 16 October 2021 - 06:52 AM
Just back from London UK, restaurants and pubs are full and not many 'temp' patios left. Weather was 20 and lows of 15 at night with zero rain. Lots inside and quite a few just standing on the streets with their drinks, but thats normal there. Nobody was wearing any masks
There were a few temp bike lanes and a couple of sidewalks over bridges were widened but otherwise its business as usual. London has excellent transport, Ubers and taxis, the Boris bikes arent as popular but lots of e-scooters allowed in areas like Canary Wharf. Hardly saw any Tesla's, saw quite a few EV black cabs and small ev delivery vans. Those were cool.
- spanky123, Awaiting Juno and Victoria Watcher like this
#9673
Posted 16 October 2021 - 07:49 AM
Did Langford’s restaurants erect wood huts on the sidewalk during COVID? Sidney’s? Saanich’s?
I genuinely can’t remember if I’ve seen anything like that outside of the CoV.
There are a few places that made an effort but for the most part I am shocked that restaurant and bar owners care so little about their image. Pay me $8 for a beer and $15 for an appy so that you can sit outside at a bird poop stained picnic table. I think some have forgotten that tourists (who you can rip off at will because you will never see them again anyways) have gone for the year and it is us locals who are paying the bills now.
#9674
Posted 16 October 2021 - 08:19 AM
We appear to be moving towards a system of leasing public spaces, like roads, sidewalks and parking spaces.
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#9675
Posted 16 October 2021 - 08:25 AM
Like so many other problems, current or impending, this can only be solved by getting rid of the wokesters on city council.
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#9676
Posted 16 October 2021 - 08:40 AM
What about mobile lending? Could a trailer with a mortgage broker pull up adjacent to a bank and promote lower interest rates? We’re heading down that path, and it is going to further erode the financial stability of brick and mortar businesses. Councillor Isitt, of course, opened a pay-what-you-can eatery, subsidized by taxpayer dollars. That absolutely has an impact on businesses that do not have taxpayer dollars subsidizing them almost entirely.
- rjag, Matt R., Love the rock and 7 others like this
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#9677
Posted 17 October 2021 - 09:31 PM
The status quo just won’t cut it moving forward from COVID.
There’s got to be a paradigm shift across the board.
What “was” just doesn’t work anymore.
It’s time to re-think the downtown core.
#9678
Posted 18 October 2021 - 06:00 AM
The next step is a revolution of the dining industry as the rate of tipping now expected and the increase in prices has made dining out a wealthier person’s pursuit (we are seeing this with food delivery that took off well before the pandemic). Victoria is fortunate to have a lot of pensioners who fill restaurants up for the time being but the industry as it currently exists is setup for the 25-45 demographic, and it’s getting trickier to make it work for younger people when two beers and an entre are $50. Ordering to your apartment and buying a six pack is far cheaper, so…
- Matt R. likes this
Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.
#9679
Posted 18 October 2021 - 08:24 AM
The Bay downtown has been letting their shelves slowly empty for months now, with no apparent effort to re-stock them.
I was at Mayfair yesterday, and parked such that I had to walk through The Bay to get to Indigo ... and The Bay was jam-packed with shoppers, with all shelves full to the point of overflowing.
To your point above Mike ... comparing Mayfair to downtown, the optics are definitely that The Bay downtown is slowly preparing for something ... whether or not that's a total shut-down would just be a guess, but it's not a wild guess by any means.
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#9680
Posted 18 October 2021 - 08:47 AM
Is it time to re-brand the Eatons Bay Centre again? How about the "Winners Centre"...as an homage to the CoV council?
- Victoria Watcher likes this
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