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Originally Posted by Richard Eade
It soundss to me that your concept of ‘planning’ is to ignore human nature and to create utopian areas which ‘should’ attract people to them. Well, the Sparks Street Mall was such an experiment, and look how it works. It is a pedestrian realm with traditional a main street layout. By the ‘planning’ concepts, it should attract pedestrians to it. But it doesn’t; unless there is an event which makes it a destination (Rib Fest, Busker Fest, etc.).
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You are putting cart before the horse here — Sparks Street flourished as a commercial street
because the streetcars used to run along Sparks and Queen between Bank and Elgin. It started its decline after the tracks were removed and was probably riding on its residual success when it was turned into a pedestrian mall in the 1960s, a scheme to retain patronage despite the lost preferential transit access (it was getting clogged with cars since many people chose to drive there). Restoring ease of transit access isn't a guarantee of a return of the good old days, but it gives the area a fighting chance instead of a nail in the coffin. The problem with Sparks Street is that it has been pushed to the fringe of daily awareness of most of the people in this city — out of sight, out of mind.
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I’m also not convinced how elastic the morning commute time is. I think people tend to leave home as late as practical to just get in to work in time. I have watched people cram onto full Express Buses at Fallowfield Station because the trip is a couple of minutes faster than the half-full # 95 which makes more stops. Like-wise, I think people generally want to get home after work without delay; thus the popularity of Express buses.
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That's not what I meant about elasticity. Anyone who moves from Alta Vista to Orleans will have to adjust their commute time and effort, likewise, if their office was moved from Wellington to Gloucester Street they'll have to account for some difference in walking distance and time from a bus stop. Having LRT on Queen won't result in everyone working on Laurier being late for work everyday, they could however end up being more fit
