[URBAN NOTE] Notes on two pedestrianization projects in Toronto

[rfmcdonald]

CBC's coverage of the decision to narrow a stretch of Yonge Street to make more room for pedestrians is positive.

Shops and restaurants along a stretch of Yonge Street in downtown Toronto are gearing up for a pilot project that will open up two additional traffic lanes to pedestrians starting Friday.

Vehicular traffic on Yonge Street from Gerrard Street to Queen Street has already been reduced to one lane in each direction in portions for the Celebrate Yonge festival.

As a result of the changes, there will be approximately five metres of additional pedestrian space along Yonge Street in addition to the sidewalk. Those areas will be separated from vehicular traffic with planters, and organizers plan to feature increased patio space, games and buskers.

"We're hoping to get more people coming into the city," said Andreas Mavridis, the manager of the Three Brewers Pub just south of Dundas Street on Yonge Street.

"Our patio is going to be like 60 feet. It's going to be closed off here where the lane is," he said, gesturing towards the roadway.

"It's going to be barricaded all around."

Andreas Mavridis, the manager of the Three Brewers Pub, is looking forward to increased customer traffic when Celebrate Yonge kicks off on Friday. (CBC)"It's one of the busiest intersections in the country and we need space for people to enjoy the summer," said Abigail Gamble, a spokeswoman for the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area as she stood at the corner of Yonge and Dundas streets.

She said there will 11 different theme areas throughout the street, but didn't reveal too much more because "we want to keep some of it a surprise."

Elsewhere, Torontoist's Jess Davidson offers more mixed reports about the benefits of Kensington Market's new vehicle-free Market Sundays for local businesses.

Kensington Market’s new Market Sundays are the neighbourhood’s fledgling attempt at closing its streets to auto traffic every Sunday throughout August and September, but organizers and attendees alike are still getting used to the change. At a Kensington community centre Monday night, business owners, residents, and members of the Market’s Business Improvement Area met to discuss the new initiative, now entering its third week.

The jury is still out on whether or not the more-frequent street closures are a good thing, as Kensington Market BIA coordinator Yvonne Bambrick readily admits.

“If there are things we should be doing differently we want to apply those that can be applied moving forward for the rest of the events,” she says.

[. . .]

The aim of Market Sundays is to help bring people to the area by giving them more room to spill off the sidewalks, while avoiding the Pedestrian-Sunday-style noise and overcrowding that have been a perennial source of complaints from area residents and businesspeople.

While business owners and residents generally agree that there is a benefit to Market Sundays, attendees at the meeting wondered what the change will ultimately mean for Kensington Market as a whole.

Some of the questions that arose were fundamental: Is Kensington Market an entertainment district, a shopping district, or a residential neighbourhood? Should events then take the tone of a party, a celebration, a way to make money, or, as a few residents suggested, should they be scraped entirely?