Ottawa's Byward Market

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by NOWINYOW

I live 2 blocks from the market. I can assure you, the bulk of weekend and weeknight traffic on my street is looking for free street parking. I've seen fights break out over a free street parking site.

sorry about that.. i try not to get so worked up, but if i'm waiting with my signal on and some jerk-off rounds the corner and snags it, i get a little angry.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

sometimes I wonder how much of the traffic in the market is people circling around looking for a free spot until they give up and go into a garage

I use too do that, now I just park in the city's parkade. It's not that expensive and you get a nice view from the top.

I think we need a few more fresh food locations around the core of the actual Market and possibly make it a bit more pedestrian friendly (William Plazas are a good start), but not fully pedestrian until a proper city wide transit system is built(Bank-Rideau-Montreal subway line, complete ORT reaching all the suburbs and direct airport to downtown service as well as a proper rapid transit connection to Gatineau).

Free parking is neither a solution nor needed. We already have the hotels, the condos and the Rideau Centre transit hub and to a lesser point the CBD to keep feeding the market. Free parking would only increase the vehicular chaos. We would probably even see cheap bstds conducting business in the CBD first trying to find a free spot in the Market.

[NOWINYOW]

Originally Posted by Harley613

sorry about that.. i try not to get so worked up, but if i'm waiting with my signal on and some jerk-off rounds the corner and snags it, i get a little angry.

I'm contemplating setting up a live web cam with a view down my street. When I'm sitting out on my deck I get a real chuckle watching people trying to parallel park Also the others who continuously drive up and down waiting for that one elusive spot. A few hundred feet further down the road, there's a city parking lot that would cost less the gas being wasted.

True story. Sitting out on a Sunday afternoon, some bloke parks half way in front of tenant parking. He looks up, sees me and then "instructs" me to tell bylaw he'd be right back. Sure enough, bylaw came by shortly and placed a ticket. The guy returns and gets mad at me!!

[umbria27]

Originally Posted by NOWINYOW

I live 2 blocks from the market. I can assure you, the bulk of weekend and weeknight traffic on my street is looking for free street parking. I've seen fights break out over a free street parking site.

The people looking for free parking are most usually suburbanites who come downtown once or twice a year. They are unused to paying for parking and remember the market of 20 years ago when free parking was more plentiful.
Many of my trips to the market are on foot or by bicycle, but if I have to drive I dive straight into the first parking lot. Life is too short to spend circling for parking.

There's another report on the recent Public Spaces study in the CBC today, with a focus on the decline in produce vendors.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...e-farmers.html

It's hard to believe that with the rise of farmer's markets, 100 mile diets and other locavores that there isn't more interest in this. Part of the solution it would seem would be to talk to the right people, the people behind farmer's markets elsewhere in the city. Other than that, you simply have to reserve space for them and reconcile yourself to the fact that you might not get as much revenue from the organic cheese dude as you do from the t-shirt vendor.

It's worth asking too, whether we want to preserve the tradition. I think the market would survive without its veg&fruit vendors, but it would lose a connection with its past. There would be no market in the market. The street vendors contribute to the pedestrian nature of the area.
I think you can revive the food vendors and also encourage other stall based vendors. The local produce season is short, so bring in art and quality craft fairs in the slow seasons.

[Chris-R]

I wouldn't be surprised if 90% of the traffic in the market arrived by foot, bicycle, or transit. With that said, motorists are... well... not shy about unloading their furor on the businesses and vendors when they don't get the easy and free spot they want. They made it quite plain and regularly at that. I know that leaves an impression on business owners and I can see why there exists some tension over the parking issue.

[flar]

I usually circle once looking for street parking and then go to the city parking garage on Clarence.

As for the vendors, I've always found the street vendors too pricey down there. I'm used to farmer's markets being cheaper than grocery stores. When I go to the market, it's usually to eat at a restaurant, people watch, visit my brother or shop at some of the specialty shops down there.

[NOWINYOW]

Originally Posted by Chris-R

I wouldn't be surprised if 90% of the traffic in the market arrived by foot, bicycle, or transit. With that said, motorists are... well... not shy about unloading their furor on the businesses and vendors when they don't get the easy and free spot they want. They made it quite plain and regularly at that. I know that leaves an impression on business owners and I can see why there exists some tension over the parking issue.

I'd be very surprised if even 50% of the people walking around the market arrived by any method that wasn't a car!

Take a walk down Dalhousie around 2 or 3pm on a pleasant Saturday/Sunday afternoon. The traffic coming from Quebec is backed up north to Bolton! Every street is packed with parking, some of it illegal (gasp!)

[kevinbottawa]

From David Reevely's blog. Seems merchants want the opposite of what's being proposed on this forum.

The problem of cars in the ByWard Market

April 11, 2013. 4:17 pm

There’s a lot of interesting stuff in this report on what might be done to spiff up the ByWard Market and make it more sustainable as a market in the long run.

I’m struck by the talk of making the place less car-friendly. Not banning cars or anything, but actively promoting bikes and ultimately replacing asphalt roads with interlocking pavers, like on Granville Island, where the line between pedestrian and auto space is less clear. This is striking because one of the complaints you hear from ByWard Market merchants again and again is that when it’s hard for people to drive in the Market, they don’t come, and the merchants’ business depends on a lot more than neighbourhood customers.

They feel really strongly about this. I wrote a story touching on it a couple of summers ago, in the context of the city’s closing a bit of William Street to make a plaza:

“If working means a decrease in business, then it’s working,” says Miriam Farbiasz, who with her husband, Isaac, owns the Byward Fruit Market on ByWard Market Square. She says a lot of things are tough about the business, from multiple seasons of roadwork nearby to increased competition from farmers’ markets, but nothing has done more damage than two summers’ blocking of William Street. The day after the first closing last year, Farbiasz says, business fell 16 per cent, and she estimates it’s cost her store $100,000 over two summers.

“My customers have been complaining,” she says. “They’ve been saying, ‘I’m sitting in traffic, I’m not getting where I’m going, I can’t do this.’ . Anyone who sits in a car should be able to drive in and out of a commercial district.”

There’s no better way to kill a shopping area than by banning vehicles, Farbiasz says, pointing to Sparks Street as an example, and the William closure is a step in that direction. Driving is expensive, she says, and people only do it if they have to. Make drivers’ lives difficult, and they’ll just go away.

…

“If this street doesn’t get opened up, and I see any other attempt to close another street, I’m gone.”

Biking improvements and the eventual opening of an LRT station on Rideau Street might help, but since everyone is terrified that the Byward Fruit Market’s closing would set off a cascade that would end food retailing in the Market, that point of view matters a very great deal.

http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2013/...byward-market/

[Kitchissippi]

My wish for the ByWard Market is that they build more underground parking to replace on-street parking. If the parking garages are regulated to have the same rate as on-street meters, and maybe a cheaper flat rate after hours, people wouldn't bother driving around looking for spots. If they dug up York Street and put 3 or 4 levels of parking underneath I bet it could equal all the street parking currently available. I would also love to see the current garage building demolished and replaced with an open air market plaza (or a second market building) with 5 or 6 levels of underground parking. The way things are, we are not giving the Market room to grow, we are just expecting it to get more crowded, which can also potentially turn off some people.

[rocketphish]

Plan afoot to breathe new nightlife into ByWard Market

By Michael Woods, OTTAWA CITIZEN February 20, 2014 8:43 PM

OTTAWA — There’s a plan in the works to launch a weekly “night market” in the ByWard Market this summer in a bid to attract an evening shopping crowd and liven up one of Ottawa’s most-visited areas.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury pitched the idea at a committee meeting on Thursday. It’s a pilot project he hopes would attract a larger crowd to the market, a popular tourist attraction with a long history as a destination for local produce.

“How can we make it friendly for tourists and, at the same time, a go-to spot for locals? That’s the kind of balance we’re trying to achieve, and with the night market we’re testing it,” he said. “Hopefully, it works.”

It’s part of a broader push by the city to promote the ByWard Market and local food this summer. The city’s Markets Management group, which manages the ByWard and Parkdale markets, has a list of more than a dozen initiatives in an action plan for the coming summer.

Fleury said people with weekend community markets in their neighbourhoods currently have no reason to come to the market, because they can get their produce closer to home. But there are no other night markets in the city, so this could be an unfilled niche.

“The idea is really to bring products that are not available at that time elsewhere in the city, so that it gives people a reason to come down to the market and rediscover the space,” Fleury said.

Fleury said the night market would be open one day a week; perhaps Thursdays until about 9 p.m. Some market analysis is needed.

Other initiatives planned include expanding the number of stands for vendors and opening a “Savour Ottawa Farm Stand,” where local farmers would sell products not typically sold at the market. A similar initiative was successful at the Parkdale Market last summer.

The city manages the ByWard and Parkdale markets through a bylaw and licensing department, because its main function is to license vendors. That means bylaw amendments are required for these new ideas. The proposed amendments passed committee on Thursday and will come before city council next week.

It needs to happen now, Fleury said, because the seasonal contracts with the farmers who sell in the market are signed in early March.

While most other markets are weekend-only events, the seven days a week the market operates can be tough on local farmers, he said. Over the years, ByWard lost vendors who didn’t have the time or resources to be there each and every day. They need an incentive to come back, Fleury said.

“How do we bring these people back to the market, or into the market for the first time? These are steps to get us there.”

Jasna Jennings, executive director of the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area, also noted there’s a growing population of residents in the area — especially young professionals who could be well-served by later market hours.

She said local businesses are open to the night market idea and are eager to discuss it in more detail.

Last year, the stores along ByWard ran a small pilot project on their own, staying open late on Thursdays. But it wasn’t as successful as hoped. A well-promoted night market could change that.

“The timing wasn’t great. They started it midsummer, so it’s very hard to get the word out,” she said. “I think we’re bound to see better results this time around.”

Testing such initiatives is all part of looking ahead to 2017, Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations, when the market will be vying for crowds with a fully up-and-running Lansdowne Park.

mwoods@ottawacitizen.comtwitter.com/michaelrwoods
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/ot...694/story.html

[Urbanarchit]

*

[rocketphish]

ByWard ‘night market’ to open this summer

By Matthew Pearson, OTTAWA CITIZEN February 26, 2014 4:15 PM

OTTAWA — The ByWard Market will launch a special “night market” this summer in a bid to attract an evening shopping crowd and liven up one of Ottawa’s most-visited areas.

The pilot project, pitched by Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, would see a night market open one day a week; perhaps Thursdays until 9 p.m. It was approved by city council on Wednesday.

The night market idea is part of a broader push by the city to promote the ByWard Market and local food this summer. The city’s Markets Management group, which manages the ByWard and Parkdale markets, has a list of more than a dozen initiatives in an action plan for the coming summer.

Other initiatives include expanding the number of stands for vendors and opening a “Savour Ottawa Farm Stand,” where local farmers would sell products not typically sold at the market. A similar initiative was successful at the Parkdale Market last summer.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/By...199/story.html

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

The pilot project, pitched by Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, would see a night market open one day a week; perhaps Thursdays until 9 p.m. It was approved by city council on Wednesday.

It's ridiculous that this has to be approved by council in the first place. If the marketeers want to open till 9:00, let them.

[S-Man]

One night a week? Perhaps Thursdays?

And open all the way to the crack of 9 p.m.?

I don't know...this might be too much, too soon for the good people of Ottawa. And what's the NCC's view on this? Have we consulted 'all Canadians' on this matter, because they might have their own concerns.

And what about the children??!!!

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by S-Man

One night a week? Perhaps Thursdays?

And open all the way to the crack of 9 p.m.?

I don't know...this might be too much, too soon for the good people of Ottawa. And what's the NCC's view on this? Have we consulted 'all Canadians' on this matter, because they might have their own concerns.

And what about the children??!!!

The sun will have set by 9 p.m. We obviously need to establish an artificial sun to shine at night, so people won't die of shade.

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by Uhuniau

The sun will have set by 9 p.m. We obviously need to establish an artificial sun to shine at night, so people won't die of shade.

I'm wondering what would happen if all the off-campus students from Sandy Hill were to show up?

[S-Man]

I'm wondering what would happen if all the off-campus students from Sandy Hill were to show up?

At the risk of being 'too soon', I'd suggest the scene might look like something from Kyiv's Independence Square, only with louder music and booze.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

i'm wondering what would happen if all the off-campus students from sandy hill were to show up?

OH MY GOD I cant bear the thought of young people shopping and maybe drinking as late a 9 PM.

How does the Rideau Centre handle the maddening drunken student crowd? They're open til 9 PM during the week. It must be a literal gong show. OMG.

[1overcosc]

If this is happening in June or July, it will still be bright out when the "night market" closes. What's wrong with this city?

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

If this is happening in June or July, it will still be bright out when the "night market" closes. What's wrong with this city?

"Night Market" is probably not the right name. But stalls open later than 5 or 6 is important, as many people are working or whatever later than that.