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City of Victoria | 2018-2022 | Mayor and council general discussion


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#9661 zoomer

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Posted 15 October 2021 - 03:57 PM

Not a big fan of the more permanent looking patios with rooftops. Let's stick with nice platforms and avoid building a structure because some of them look like a crappy garden shed. Too often they block the clean view of the heritage building or street as per the example above. For winter only during covid I'm okay with temporary enclosures. A previous example of an enclosed patio that is now permanent is the Yates Street Taphouse which juts out into the sidewalk and just looks like a moldy gross greenhouse.
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#9662 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 15 October 2021 - 03:59 PM

Moldy Gross Greenhouse is set to tour with Tinto Rocks next summer.

Don’t knock it.
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#9663 Matt R.

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Posted 15 October 2021 - 04:30 PM

Hope those covers are engineered for snow load.

Matt.
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#9664 JimV

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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 Nparker

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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 Spy Black

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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 Mike K.

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Posted 15 October 2021 - 07:50 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.
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#9668 LJ

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Posted 15 October 2021 - 07:52 PM

^No.


Life's a journey......so roll down the window and enjoy the breeze.

#9669 Matt R.

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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?

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#9670 Barrrister

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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 JimV

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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 rjag

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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. 


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#9673 spanky123

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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 Mike K.

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Posted 16 October 2021 - 08:19 AM

I agree, it was a necessary move, but this is now unnecessary, and I think it’s going to lead to a new source of revenue for the city, and eventually extend to the city charging annual fees for people to park on public streets along the frontage of their home, or their block.

We appear to be moving towards a system of leasing public spaces, like roads, sidewalks and parking spaces.
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#9675 JimV

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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 Mike K.

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Posted 16 October 2021 - 08:40 AM

Councillor Isitt even said, that if the city is going to entertainment sidewalk leasing, that this should open up more mobile business opportunities like food trucks.

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.
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#9677 Spy Black

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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 Mike K.

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Posted 18 October 2021 - 06:00 AM

Amazon was the paradigm shift for retail. Now it’s coping and convenience that sustains downtown retail, and with the Bay Centre skewed towards tourism they are going to lose retailers into next year, and who knows if the Bay will remain there or just consolidate at Mayfair.

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…
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#9679 Spy Black

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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 Nparker

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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?  -_-


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