Quote:
Originally Posted by Beedok
Shops can be connected to pedestrian corridor system. You’d need some renovation for extending it into existing areas, but in in the large chunks of Hamilton’s downtown that are flattened parking lots right now? Those could be developed for a system of pedestrian corridors. Just like alleyways, covered streets, and boardwalks the world over, pedestrian only areas can be some of the most attractive and thriving shopping options around, and have been successful for centuries.
As for the streets feeling less safe, if everyone is walking on the indoor system, what does it matter? Back alleys feel unsafe too, so you don’t walk there. You’re safer where there’s more pedestrians, so build a cityscape that encourages more pedestrians, rather than trying to convince more pedestrians to use the existing cityscape that’s been built for cars.
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The markets that have been around for centuries have had centuries to grow into what they are, many of them organically (like that Morocco example, I'd think). Must have been a quiet period for the Osaka mall because it doesn't exactly look like it's thriving from that image.
What would be the cost of all this, versus the cost of making our existing streets more pedestrian-friendly and less auto-focused? Does it make sense in that case? Integrating such ideas into new builds on blank-slate blocks can be done, and probably reasonably (likely with some concessions to the builders to incorporate interior pedways and commercial units... it's a cost to them to account for that). To do so in existing buildings, especially older ones, would probably be very costly and intrusive.
It would be interesting to visit the Hamilton of the 1950s and 60s, when the city was booming and before its leaders felt the need to re-invent the downtown, before suburban retail was as big a thing. Was it "successful" despite it hosting a blend of pedestrians and cars and transit?