King West

[raisethehammer]

ok, so with the impending retirement of the fellow who owns Puttin on the Ritz and the closure of Hakim Optical I thought I'd start a thread to get your ideas for King West.
For the sake of definition, let's include the entire area from Bay to Dundurn.
We've heard rumours of a concert hall/House of Blues coming to King and Hess.
The Westside Concert Theatre is open near King and Locke.
Unfortunately, much of this stretch is a highway which hurts business and Hamilton's image.
What is your vision for this historic and important stretch of Hamilton?
It connects downtown/AGH/Jackson Sq complex to Hess Village and then down to Locke St and Victoria Park.
It used to be incredibly vibrant and full of business before the one-way streets. Stable residential areas exist on either side of the strip.
Share your ideas for street conversion as well as your ideas for new businesses to locate in place of the ones who have just left. Hakim Optical building has great windows and is in a prime spot.
Fire away!