March 23, 2007
King Street Is For Walkers, Via No Longer Just For Walkers, Class-Action Lawsuit Time For Menu Foods
The TTC proposes an "experiment" to make King Street West (between John and Spadina) a pedestrian-and-streetcar-only zone during the summer of 2008, much to the chagrin of business owners on the restaurant strip. However, the plan would allow a single lane to remain open for taxis and deliveries.
15 British sailors were seized from their ship in the Persian Gulf by an Iranian naval vessel. This is going to be awkward...
One of Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair's campaign promises is to make it impossible for niqab-wearing Muslim women to vote without showing their faces. This is going to be awkward...
The Supreme Court orders Via Rail to make passenger cars more wheelchair accessible after a seven-year battle with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities.
A follow-up regarding Menu Foods killing pets and being a dick about it: yesterday, a $60 million national class-action lawsuit was launched against the pet food manufacturer. Booyah.
Photo courtesy of Karen Whaley in the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
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The rhetoric behind the arguments against dedicated lanes sometimes kills me. Though customer patronage may suffer during periods of construction, etc., it's not going to be a streetcar only zone; it's a streetcar and pedestrian zone. People aren't going to stop driving down to go to dinner just because they have to park on any street except for King and people aren't going to stop walking on the sidewalk because no cars are allowed. If anything, these types of things attract pedestrians, and therefore business -- especially on patio-laden King West.
The experiment down by Harbourfront last summer was an obvious success and didn't bring the city's business to a halt or significantly inconvenience drivers. King West is already a high-pedestrian and high-transit strip, and that has very little to do with the actual automobile traffic on the actual street itself. Considering how much of the ridiculous rush-hour traffic happens because of motorists ignoring no-turning lanes, rushing the streetcars and stopping in a no-stopping zone to run in and grab some takeout, I don't care too much if they have to take one of the myriad alternative routes and get to their destination a few minutes later. Or 20-minutes later. Being in a car doesn't mean you get precedence over those using other valid means of transportation, including one's feet.
I also like how some of the detractors of the TTC plan also complain that they'll lose business because of...traffic congestion! Irony...
The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica was one of the nicest shopping areas I've ever been to. It was lively, well kept and the streets were packed any time I've ever been there. Not to mention it's considered the centre of Santa Monica's downtown district - all on a street with pedestrian access only. I like the idea for King St.
The best parts of Vancouver are pedestrian only.
Thats all i got...
Here's hoping the experiment will succeed, AND will extend to other stretches of Toronto - Little Italy, Queen West, The Beaches in July/Aug (forget about driving!), Little India . . .
Businesses will flourish - hell, I'd give anything for a reputable restaurant at the heart of Toronto on a pedestrianized main street! Detractors should STFU and think $$$.
To require niqab wearing women to reveal their faces would mean guaranteeing a female electoral officer at every polling station uninterrupted through polling hours. Meet that hurdle and there's your "reasonable accommodation". Is Boisclair willing to guarantee this?
1) Anything that helps the PQ shoot itself in the foot is good, as far as I'm concerned.
2) All the busiest shopping, clubbing and bar-hopping areas here in Seoul are pedestrian only, or so crowded with people only a few vehicles bother trying to navigate the narrow streets. I'm thinking of Myeongdong and Shinchon, specifically. Osaka is much the same in the area of Namba and Dotonbori.