Quote:
Originally Posted by twoNeurons
Why the hate for Arcades? For narrow streets (or perhaps converted alleys) they are brilliant.
What one has to remember, is that if we DON'T build these covered areas for shopping, we WILL have more and more people flocking to Pacific Centre Mall and Metrotown.
Some [urbanist] people here tend to be all about the "urban experience" but I keep seeing "suck it up", "buy an umbrella", "it's just water", "this is Vancouver" and "wear a hood" but fail to actually offer a way to make the outdoors more inviting in inclement weather.
The reality of this is that when you're shopping downtown in the rain you've got one hand holding your [paper] shopping bags, the other with a mobile phone/handbag/other utility in hand... and you've got no hands free for an umbrella... at least not for long periods of time.
How about this down Robson(Lyons, France):
Take out one lane of parking, widen the sidewalks and add a canopy. A two-story curved canopy would also work. |
I agree 100% In Japan, even cities of only a couple hundred thousand would have several arcades for outdoor shopping, and the weather there is 10 times better than here. Of course Japan is also not afraid of layers and lights as well (again, also found in rather small cities, that are far smaller than Vancouver). And the outdoor urban experience is still unrivaled.