Boulevards mandatory?

[go_leafs_go02]

You know..that little space between the road and the sidewalk. Currently, these are an extreme rarity in Hamilton, and it is the only region in southern Ontario that i know where they put the sidewalk literally right beside the road.

I honestly feel a little nervous and scared walking on the sidewalks of a major arterial road in Hamilton. Traffic is whizzing literally 1-2 feet away from me in some cases at 60-70+ km/h. I just think for safety reasons alone it would make most sense.

of course, Changing this now would be almost impossible in most neighbourhoods. I just think it should be implemented in all new subdivisions and when major road works take place, that sidewalks could/should be moved back to leave a 3-5 foot gap between the road and the sidewalk.

PLUS..it gives a nice spot to leave the snow...better than covering up half of the curb lane greatly narrowing the road too.

[SteelTown]

I dont think it matters if theres no boulevards from the sidewalk to the road in neighbourhood roads. Most main roads in Hamilton Mountain have grass to gap the sidewalk and the road. Older parts of Hamilton doesn't. An evolution of urban planning perhaps.

[flar]

Hamilton is a very compact city, even on most of the mountain. Boulevards are a waste of space. We just need motorists to slow down and recognize that walking is a legitimate form of transportation. IMO, having boulevards everywhere makes a neighbourhood less walkable because everything is that much further away.

[MsMe]

Boulevards can be good for people who have a hard time with being able to walk across the street very quickly, as per older people. So in a case with a boulevard, they can go halfway across before having to cross whole street. Some do look nice with the flowers and trees on them too. They can be a pain though when driving down them when a person gets on the wrong side though.

[flar]

I was thinking of the other kind of boulevard that go leafs go was talking about, between the sidewalk and the road. I actually like a nice boulevard (as in divide street) on select roads. It can create a very nice street. They call it "neutral ground" in New Orleans and they have some nice ones there with big trees and even streetcars running along them.

[MsMe]

I got mixed up then.

Yea I don`t mind the middle of street ones. But yea other kind are a pain really. Especially when having to cut the grass.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

You know..that little space between the road and the sidewalk. Currently, these are an extreme rarity in Hamilton, and it is the only region in southern Ontario that i know where they put the sidewalk literally right beside the road.

I honestly feel a little nervous and scared walking on the sidewalks of a major arterial road in Hamilton. Traffic is whizzing literally 1-2 feet away from me in some cases at 60-70+ km/h. I just think for safety reasons alone it would make most sense.

of course, Changing this now would be almost impossible in most neighbourhoods. I just think it should be implemented in all new subdivisions and when major road works take place, that sidewalks could/should be moved back to leave a 3-5 foot gap between the road and the sidewalk.

PLUS..it gives a nice spot to leave the snow...better than covering up half of the curb lane greatly narrowing the road too.

Have you ever been to Toronto?
Or Ottawa? Or any big city??
Urban design is pretty much the same everywhere in Ontario and other old cities.
Hamilton's largest grouping of these 'boulevards' can be found east of downtown in a huge area encompassing both sides of Gage Park for a couple of km as well as in Westdale.
Based on their identical distance from downtown, I'm guessing that these areas were built in a somewhat similar timeframe where this was 'all the rage'.
Call them the 'first suburbs'.
Having nice mature trees on them really adds to the streetscape, but you won't find them right downtown in any major city that has been around for any length of time. There was a time where space was considered a premium in urban development.
I don't see any less or more of these boulevards in Hamilton than any other large, older city.

[DC83]

If Hamilton needs anything re: boulevards it would be ACTUAL Boulevards.

One great place would be John Street, with a skinny'ish boulevard in the middle with lots of trees planted to make John look full. There are trees planted in the sidewalks (ya sounds weird, eh), but they will only grow so much due to how they were planted.

The City did a great job this Winter at clearing the sidewalks downtown of all snow considering how much snow we got :s
I know your beef is regarding the snow removal issue in the area you were living (South-West Mtn, right?). Unfortunately, once amalgamation happened, the outter areas of the city started to get neglected as they weren't 'high priority' for snow removal.

I remember when it was still Stoney Creek, my street (which is a suburban Crescent) would get plowed the day of or the next day. Now that we're all Hamilton, sometimes it wont get plowed for a week, and the side street the Crescent is off of might not get plowed for a couple days. The only streets up there w/ priority are Mud & Paramount.

[SteelTown]

Lucky I live next to a bus route so my street is always one of the first to get plowed.

I'm hoping all this rain will die off because if it continues imagine the amount of snow we'll get in the winter?!

[MsMe]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

I'm hoping all this rain will die off because if it continues imagine the amount of snow we'll get in the winter?!

Bite your tongue, Steeltown. I sure cursed mother nature last winter that's for sure. LOL