It's not Europe, it's Calgary, Alberta, where folks enjoy a sunny day on the Stephen Avenue pedestrian district. (Credit: Marco Derksen under a Creative Commons license from Flickr.com)
I am perplexed by the almost complete lack of pedestrian districts in North America. Why is it that car-free streets—designed for pleasurable strolling, shopping and hanging out—which have become as common as stoplights or McDonalds in European city centers, are almost non-existent here?
I’ve only seen a few—a couple of blocks in downtown Boston, Rue Prince Arthur in Montreal, Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and short stretches of downtown streets in college towns like Boulder, Ithaca, Iowa City, Charlottesville and Burlington, Vermont. (A glance at Wikipedia turns up a few more, although I notice many on the list, like the Nicollet Mall here in Minneapolis, are not truly car-free.)
Look what we’re missing. The heart of many, if not most, German, Italian, Dutch, Scandinavian and, increasingly, South American big cities are bustling pedestrian zones that have become favorite spots for young people to gather, lovers to linger, kids to romp, women to show off their new clothes (and discreetly admire the looks of passers-by), men to admire the looks of passers-by (and discreetly show-off their new clothes) and everybody to feel part of the wider community.
Our one widespread experiment in reclaiming the streets—the downtown transit malls of the ‘60s and ‘70s—failed in most cases. That’s because they were usually desperate measures to cure sickly downtown shopping districts overwhelmed by competition from shopping malls proliferating across the suburban landscape.
Another factor in transit malls’ rapid rise and fall is that they were not actually pedestrian places—big buses rumbling up and down the avenue quashed the carefree, car-free ambience that fosters exuberant streetlife.
Finally last week, I discovered a genuine Euro-style ped street in the most unlikely spot: Calgary, Alberta—a sprawling city whose economy depends on the petroleum industry. Right in the center of its downtown, among all the glass-sided skyscrapers and traffic-choked five-lane avenues, you can happily wander five blocks down the middle of Stephen Avenue, passing sidewalk cafes and swank shops, playful public art and bustling public spaces, unencumbered by cars or trucks. It felt too good to be true.
And it was. I returned to Stephen Avenue for a twilight stroll when blue still brightens the June sky till after ten, and discovered cars cruising its narrow lanes. At 6 p.m., like Cinderella’s pumpkin coach in reverse, it turns back into a traffic artery--which makes no sense because the volume of cars and trucks downtown is easing up at that hour.
Why surrender this delightful pedestrian oasis to traffic when there’s no pressing need? I can only guess it’s the principle of the thing. In North America, the rightful role of roads is to carry traffic, so even if you want to pedestrianize a few blocks during the day for shoppers and the noontime lunch crowd, you are obliged to welcome back the Toyotas and Lincolns in the evening.
Still, Stephen Avenue proves: If you keep out the cars, the pedestrians will come.
The notion that cars are the Kings of the Road is a relatively new attitude. For almost all of human history, the city street functioned as a vital public space—it’s where youngsters played, teens flirted, dogs slept and everyone else chatted with their friends. That all changed between the 1920s and the 1970s, depending where you live, as motorists claimed these commons for their exclusive use. We are poorer today because of this—literally in some cases because to experience the instinctual joy of hanging out in the streets you must travel to some faraway spot.
Still, I am noticing a few signs this auto-cracy may be weakening, even in North Americia. The growth of traffic calming measures and bike lanes means that motorists are learning how to share the road.
And many of us are getting a foot back in the street thanks to modest pedestrian projects being created--a block here or a half-block there in spots like Rocheter, Minnesota; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Don’t underestimate what can arise from these small beginnings. Even a short stretch of car-free pavement empowers peds to realize the road belongs to them too. Jan Gehl , the influential Danish urban designer who applies lessons learned in creating Copenhagen’s famous pedestrian district to cities around the globe, counsels people to start small and add to it bit by bit through the years.
Another hopeful trend is the emergence of ciclovias—when a road is closed to traffic for a few hours so people can take over the streets for merriment. This bright idea was pioneered in Colombia, where networks of city streets are closed most Sunday mornings, with as many as a million people flooding the streets in Bogota on a sunny day. The tradition is now migrating north, with El Paso, Texas; Las Cruces, New Mexico; Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Ottawa, Ontario among the cities holding regular events. Minneapolis holds its first today.
I am headed out to enjoy it right now. Stay tuned to the cities channel at Shareable.net for details.
Comments
Felix Pleșoianu wrote on 06.12.11, 11:57pm:
In Romania, the situation is variable. E.g. Brăila has had a pedestrian mall all my life, while Bucharest didn't have one as late as 2000 (now it has several, in the historical city center, but they're not so great). My favorite seaside town has always had a de facto one -- the seaside promenade has such low traffic, especially at night, as to be negligible -- and recently turned its main street into an official pedestrian mall. But the most successful are probably those in Brașov and Sibiu, which look truly European and attract lots of tourists.
Now, one might deem Bucharest unlucky. But in truth, some of the largest thoroughfares can be used as pedestrian malls of sorts. Of course, you are confined to one side of the road, and you have to suffer the traffic noise. But it works. And then of course we have actual malls which are within city limits and can be casually used as recreational spaces -- a visit at the mall is not a big deal here.
Justin M. Nelson wrote on 06.13.11, 11:18pm:
Sadly, pedestrian malls are not sufficient in and of themselves to cause urban revitalization. Riverside, CA- my current city- has three blocks of pedestrian mall and one of traffic-calmed street (often closed for festivals and farmer's markets) right downtown. It's still deserted on most evenings and weekends. Sacramento, CA has five blocks of K Street reserved for pedestrians and street-running light rail. It's populated primarily by the homeless, and most people I saw there avoided the area. Pedestrian malls can be a useful component to an already-vibrant downtown, but they won't make a downtown vibrant.
Rebekah wrote on 06.14.11, 1:42am:
One of the issues we have in North America is that we have separate zones for everything. Here in Europe people live and work in the same places. There are houses and apartments above, under, next door and behind the shops. Even in small villages, many people needn't own a car. You can walk and/or take public transit anywhere: to work or school, shopping and running errands and even holiday destinations. I can get anywhere I need with a 10 minute walk from my home in this small village of 1400 people. That's not even including all the walking and biking trails that interconnect all the neighboring villages all spaces only a few miles apart with fields and forests in between. The U.S. is a big experiment in individualism and autonomy whereas Europe is still grounded in a strong sense of community and a philosophy of interdependence.
Yuri Artibise wrote on 06.14.11, 10:06am:
For some reason pedestrian only streets fail to work in North American cities -- think Sparks Street in Ottawa or Granville st in Vancouver during the 90's. Even the times I've been in Calgary,I found Stephen Ave to be largely deserted; mind you this was on quiet weekends and evenings...
Sure transforming streets into pedestrians zones can be successful during events and special occasions (as Vancouver witnessed during the Olympics and during the 2011 Stanley Cup finals), but once the events end, so does much of the foot traffic.
Part of this reason is that North American streets were originally built for cars (or at least horse and carriages) and as such aren;t always built to a pedestrian scale. Also, people still need to get to these streets, and tend to do so by car, which usually means extra parking is adjacent or nearby. This creates a boundary or gap in the urban fabric which offsets any gain provided by the pedestrian mall.
A more viable solution to permanent pedestrian districts in North American cities is to transform alleyways into pedestrian areas. Alleys are almost always more pedestrian scale and provide a buffer from the traffic, etc along the main roads, while still allowing nearby vehicle accessibility. Seattle is doing so near Pioneer Square; SF is doing on Maiden Lane near Union Square; Vancouver is doing it on Blood Alley in Gastown; Melbourne, Australia also has some great pedestrian alleys.
Neal Gorenflo wrote on 06.14.11, 11:09am:
Yuri, nice points, and your comments bring the French Quarter in New Orleans to mind as well. It's an old quarter by American standards and works as a pedestrian zone, though not sure it's strictly pedestrian. However, it's also a year round tourist attraction, so don't know if it would work if it was just local folks.
Kai Hagen wrote on 06.14.11, 1:27pm:
Thanks. I just posted it here:
Kai Hagen wrote on 06.14.11, 1:34pm:
As rare as they are, unfortunately, there are some good pedestrian districts/streets/malls here and there in the states.
I was pretty impressed by the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, (CO.), which just celebrated its 25th anniversary: http://www.getboulder.com/25th/pearlstreet.html
Brian wrote on 06.15.11, 8:20am:
Stephen Avenue actually works really well being car-free during the day (when it is busiest) and allowing cars during the evening. The street is designed as a "shared surface" where pedestrians and cars intermingle on the carriageway. This means that cars traveling down Stephen Ave during the evening are forced to move slowly, so only cars (mainly taxis) accessing the restaurants/bars will take this route. It is not an artery - drivers wanting to get somewhere quickly will use a choice of other car focused streets.
Allowing cars on the street during the evening brings activity to the street. When the street was pedestrianised at all hours, there were crime problems during the evening because of the lack of activity. The street has evolved over time and the City has adjusted. Maybe one day if the street has as much pedestrian activity in the evening as it does during the day, they will be able to remove cars completely, but due to the nature of downtown Calgary being a "work zone", this is not the case at the moment.
Gus Frederick wrote on 06.15.11, 11:13am:
We are in the process of trying to do this very thing in the small Willamette Valley, Oregon town of Silverton. A meager 280 feet, one block is proposed, that would include our original 1854 Town Square. The loud minority is out in force with dire tales of economic woe for those who can no longer park their pieces of metal in front of the store so they WILL NOT shop in those stores, due to the extra 180 feet require to walk. One (anonymous) flier even said that once it was blocked off, only "...idlers and vagabonds will be left to ply their trades." Fear and emotion works better than hard data and calm facts. The result will no doubt be no action and a missed opportunity to invest in the future of our town by putting part of it back into the past. A past where streets were for people! Besides Boulder, another great example is Portland, OR's Harbor Drive transformed into McCall Water Front Park. Plateas pro Populus!
Mark Hogan wrote on 06.15.11, 11:48am:
I'm sorry, but this is a terrible idea. Back in the 1970s people were asking the same "if it works in Europe why doesn't it work here" question about pedestrian malls, which lead to a number of cities implementing them. In Buffalo, NY it was tied to a new light rail transit system and it essentially finished off all the remaining retail in the downtown part of the city. Today, the pedestrian mall is a lonely ghost town while other parts of the city are thriving again:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markhogan/3680453509/
The city is currently in the process of returning auto traffic and mixing it with the transit lanes (as are other cities). Most European cities are not bereft of auto traffic, but there is drastically less of it than in the US. I would rather look to NY City, where improvements have been made by adding bike lanes but not totally removing auto traffic (except for in a few very limited areas with incredibly high pedestrian counts like Times Square).
What "works in Europe" often does not work in the US (and note that this strategy has also failed dismally in many parts of the UK).
arden wrote on 06.16.11, 10:11am:
Why do people blame pedestrianized streets? They came about well after the decline of cities. It was the highway system that preceded (and help bring about) this downward trend.
No one said that pedestrianized streets were “magic bullets” that would slay all of the problems that face cities. To say that prior attempts were not successful and should never be attempted again is not a valid argument, rather, a blind defense of the driver’s right to go wherever, whenever they want.
It is sad how many Americans are so protective of their autos.
Mark Hogan wrote on 06.16.11, 10:34am:
I'd like to point out that I don't own a car and commute 12 miles a day by bike. Being protective of autos is completely different from recognizing the reality that autos are not going to go away any time soon. Proper street design (Google "complete streets") can integrate cars very successfully. This works particularly well in places where parked cars form a buffer at the street edge to create a sense of enclosure on the sidewalk. Most American streets are far wider than European streets (often by a factor of two or more) and will never be dense enough with pedestrians to create the sense of activity most people desire. Even Amsterdam allows cars on most of its streets (where there isn't a canal at least) and it makes for a phenomenal pedestrian environment. Pedestrian malls often deny urbanity and function more like suburban shopping plazas- we can have cars, bikes transit and pedestrians in the same place without the world ending if the design is done properly.
Alek F wrote on 06.16.11, 10:59am:
The problem with North America is the domination of the auto industry, alas, which started to happen in the early 20th century. The government did not realize that their idea to create America as a "car country" - to generate billions and billions in profits - would turn-out to be a mistake of a lifetime. The cars destroyed public space, public transit, and common sense. The greediness of America, fed by billions of income from the auto industry, is the primary cause of why "Car is the King" in the U.S. It's all about the money, so the automakers, along with government & special interest groups, did not care about people and quality of life. They only cared about how to make America rich by artificially recreating the country as a car-based society. Which did not quite work as planned. And the unaccomplished "dream" of each American living in a house with a nice car turned-out to be one big failure, which is clearly demonstrated in traffic nightmares, horrendous air quality, people's astonishing obesity levels (due to sedentary lifestyle that cars force us to) and lack of social & outdoor activities.
Europe has more common sense and less of the "it's all about the money" approach, hence their much-much better lifestyle. Luckily, lately even America started realizing that prioritizing cars over everything else turned out to be a giant mistake; and now the U.S. is reinventing the wheel. Mass transit is being virtually rebuilt from scratch; new buildings, condominium complexes, and mixed-use developments are blooming all over the country, neighborhoods are being revitalized, all of which have finally begun to reduce the urban sprawl. The demand for houses has fallen dramatically (hence the housing market crash), while the demand for apartment rent and condominiums has skyrocketed. Which is a sign that people no longer want to commute, and waste their precious time on hours of traffic nightmares, but rather - desire to live close to work and shopping centers has proven to be much a more efficient option.
Hopefully, as time goes by, America will gradually catch-up to Europe, our lifestyle will improve, and pedestrians will be treated with much better respect. It's time to end the obsession with cars; cars have destroyed our quality of life. Time to bring back people into the equation. Time to create parks, public spaces, beautiful squares, improve public transportation, and follow the examples of European cities. Time to catch-up, America!
arden wrote on 06.16.11, 11:54am:
I suspect that the world would also not end if some streets were aside for pedestrians.
No one suggest that cars are going away, don't worry.
It is odd that you are espousing "Complete Streets". It seems to me that this movement was created in large part to "take back" the streets from an over-dominant auto presence.
Besides, why do you use this concept in such an absolutist manner only when it comes to pedestrianized streets?
Should the "Complete Streets" concept be applied to the U.S. interstate highway system? Should EVERY street have a bike lane? Of course not.
By the way, comparing a pedestrian mall to a suburban shopping center is pretty lame. (Google "Las Ramblas Barcelona") to see the potential of a wide pedestrianized street.
Philadelphia has streets a third of the size of Las Ramblas that could make fine pedestrianized streets.
I'd like to point out that I have lived in several cities, have always commuted by bicycle and have NEVER owned a car.
ride wrote on 06.16.11, 12:09pm:
Yuri, how can you conclude that Stephen Ave is a failure when you failed to visit it during daylight weekday hours? On most summer days, it looks exactly like the picture above. It's so successful that cycling advocates have pretty much abandoned the idea of having a bike-lane run down the middle of it.
Come back during the day and you'll revise your opinion.
Mark Hogan wrote on 06.16.11, 12:17pm:
La Rambla in Barcelona is not pedestrianized, but rather traffic is restricted to lanes at the outside edges of the street with a wide linear plaza in the middle. In fact, I think it makes my point rather well: http://jillysblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/calle-de-las-ramblas.jpg
I've been there too and it is a remarkable urban space. It would be great if we had more of them in the US. Rome also has a lot of shared streets that work well because people drive very slowly in those areas due to increased foot traffic.
I'm all in favor of taking over street space from cars too, hence my refernce to Complete Streets. I'm not sure where you got the idea that I am pro-car. I think shared spaces work much better in most places, particularly in America and I agree that there are a few limited areas that may work as pedestrian only zones. Most European cities are not car free but have limited areas, usually for shopping, that exclude cars.
Rick S wrote on 06.16.11, 1:43pm:
Stephen Avenue was originally constructed as a transit mall in the early 1970's. By 1975 it was recognized that buses and people did not mix, the buses were taken off and it became a full time pedestrian mall.
By the mid 1980's it was recognized that the mall was not working as well as it could. Businesses on the street consisted largely of souvenir and tee shirt shops, head shops, some food outlets and a few bars. The mall attracted nearly 30,000 people at noon on a week day, but was becoming a scary place to visit at night. Many of the historical buildings were falling into disrepair and several had had their sandstone facades covered with aluminum siding or paint.
In partnership with the Stephen Avenue Mall Authority and the property owners, The City of Calgary undertook a marketing study for the Mall. The recommendation of the study was to revitalize the mall to what is there today. A key recommendation was to re-introduce automobile traffic in the evenings so that people could park near the businesses they patronize.
The mall was re-constructed block by block in the first half of the 90's. Cost of the reconstruction was shared 50 / 50 by the property owners and The City.
Building owners also had the opportunity to restore their buildings with part of the cost being paid by the federal Mainstreet programme.
There are still a few tee shirt shops left, but for the most part, the Stephen Avenue Walk is now home to a variety of higher end restaurants, entertainment venues, etc. While there is still a large difference between the number of people who frequent the area in the day time and the evening, evening activity is much higher than it was before the revitalization. It is now a welcoming place to visit in the evening.
Klein wrote on 06.17.11, 6:00am:
Outdoor pedestrian "malls" don't work in most U.S. urban areas. Every planner should know this. As with everything, there are exceptions.
For an example of where it didn't work (but all had high hopes and were sure the pedestrian mall would bring in people and dollars), research the creation and demise of the Providence, RI Westminster Mall.
The street is for everyone - whether you're in a car, on foot, or on a bicycle. Building well-designed pedestrian realms and ensuring a balance between transportation modes is a better, more equitable approach. Google WOONERF.
Alek F wrote on 06.17.11, 10:25am:
@ Klein: are you kidding me? I'm not sure which city do you live in, but - in Los Angeles - if you look at The Grove, or the Americana (in Glendale) - they're packed, day & night... which proves the amazing popularity of the pedestrian "malls". Which part of "packed with people" do you consider as "don't work in urban areas", I wonder?..
Mark Hogan wrote on 06.17.11, 10:36am:
Places like the Grove are completely engineered experiences. Most patrons drive there and park to shop, much like at a conventional mall. It is a far cry from pedestrianizing an urban street in a traditional city center, especially in an area where suburban shoppers have been taught to fear the city and there are few local residents to support the development. Santa Monica's pedestrianized shopping streets are probably a more successful model but Santa Monica is also one of the wealthiest places in the US and it has near-perfect weather- I'm not sure this could be replicated in other cities with higher crime rates, less affluent residents and bad weather.
Wolfgang Hoeschele wrote on 06.18.11, 11:25pm:
While I agree that certain conditions need to be met for pedestrian streets to work, and these conditions are often not met in North American cities (for example, when people first have to drive in order to get there), I find that it is vastly overstated to claim that pedestrian areas can't work in US cities.
I am in fact often surprised at the absence of pedestrianized zones in places in the US that I think would support them.
In San Francisco, for example, portions of Chinatown support a huge amount of pedestrian traffic, and cars can hardly move - why not make part of Grant Street pedestrian while encouraging slightly faster vehicular movement on the parallel streets? Or, where there are several rather redundant parallel streets, why not make one of them pedestrian? An example could be Valencia Street in San Francisco, where car and truck traffic could be reduced to that which is needed to service the shops and access houses; there is already good bicycle traffic on there and when there are Sunday Streets there there's lots of activity.
I do feel that there is often an unwillingness to experiment on such matters, even while the examples to the contrary mentioned among the comments indicate that there has been a lot more experimentation than I was aware of.
Wolfgang
Klein wrote on 06.20.11, 8:18am:
I would never look to L.A. for a successful model of anything - especially when researching good examples of pedestrian-oriented streets (ok, maybe we could learn a thing or two about planting 150-foot tall palm trees).
It's almost irresponsible to imply that money-making fakescapes like the Grove in L.A. offer something comparable to a truly genuine urban experience. Places like The Grove and The Americana are basically highly self-conscious malls - they've been turned inside out to appeal to the Yuppies that shop there. Afterall, you can't wear Wayfarers and drink lattes indoors and look cool.
Alek F, you must have just had a good experience at the Gap or something - perhaps a delightful dinner at the Wood Ranch BBQ.
Klein wrote on 06.20.11, 9:05am:
Overstated or not - there's strong evidence that supports the notion that, for the most part, pedestrian-only streets and "auto-restrictive zones" fail to achieve local economic development goals. See Boston, Providence, Poughkeepsie, and many other cities and towns.
In fact, "Only about 15 percent of the 200 pedestrian malls established by villages and cities across the nation have survived. Most of these malls failed because their designers didn’t understand the need for two fundamental elements: a large existing supply of pedestrians and a unique presence in the regional retail and urban landscape." - NYTimes
Steve Grady wrote on 08.01.11, 7:43pm:
I wish that more cities were more walking friendly. It only seems like the bigger cities are like that. I wish that smaller cities would adopt this.
This is one of the few gems of Calgary. But yeah roads are created for cars, hence the asphalt, granular A and B. :)