Printable View
Caught this article on the way to other things, but it reminded me of a discussion we've had in the past about turning downtown into a self-propelled paradise. Now that we've got the traffic jams that other cities endure...I'd love to hear how folks feel about this now that Dublin is forging ahead with a carless downtown plan. Or is it carfree? Spellcheck hates 'em both...but then again, it hates itself too.
http://www.fastcoexist.com/3047604/d...ng-rid-of-cars
It looks fun, but as long as there are buses and delivery trucks [[maybe even semis) how would it work here?
I'm vacationing in Pittsburgh today and they have a light rail system [[it operates underground in downtown). The light rail is FREE in the tourist areas downtown. It really makes getting around there so easy! We're staying on the other side of the river from downtown, but yet we don't need a car and are only minutes from downtown because of the rail.
Cars are here to stay in this region sadly. Detroit doesn't have the same problem as Dublin and American cities are very different in this regard anyway. The closest we will come to anything like this is if the protected bike lanes take off and if in the coming decades rail expands. Cars wont be gone, but their lanes may be reduced which will promote biking and walking.
Or lack of visitors coming into the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by southen
There is an overhaul project in Montreal for the main shopping street to be carless, Ste Catherine street downtown for a long stretch in the summertime. They have already done it in the eastern section of the street in the gay village for 10 blocks over the last 4 years. There is also a plan to heat the sidewalks of Ste Catherine street in the winter the way they do in Sapporo Japan. Work is scheduled to begin soon, and they will also take away parking spaces for the prescribed stretch.
Didn't we try this with Woodward Avenue a few decades ago? That turned out great, didn't it?
Are you thinking of Washington Boulevard?Quote:
Originally Posted by downtownguy
Neither Washington nor Woodward were carless to my recollection, certainly not streetless.
I could foresee Woodward to GCP carless if a big street business scene arrived, just the street car.
Anyone remember the proposed idea to open-air dome that stretch?
Woodward was a bus only pedestrian mall between Grand Circus park to Campus Martius Park [[Kennedy Square) for almost 20 years. From the 1977 until the early 1990s. Car traffic was banned.
First paragraph page 8 -> http://issuu.com/dscollett/docs/lower_woodward_avenue
And it made downtown traffic even worse.Quote:
Originally Posted by ndavies