Thing is, the vast majority of the time, there is huge opposition to these types of projects, and then a few years after implementation, the majority of people are supportive.
It's really frustrating. And I get no satisfaction from saying "I told you so." That's why these types of projects are so important, because you can point to it and say "See? It was a clear and resounding success!" Show before and after pictures. Show the poll results. Show the statistics that demonstrate an increase in patronage and revenue. The more these kinds of things happen, and the fact that it improves the neighborhood _every single time_ , hopefully the more willing people will be to make these changes, and maybe even start to proactively demand them. Ultimately though, it is a _good_ sign. While making the changes might be frustratingly, painfully difficult, it's clear that, once implemented, they will be extremely robust. All of the hard work is front-loaded. Eliminating car dependency and taking back our cities will not be the struggle it currently is forever. It's a huge boulder at the top of a hill. Getting it moving initially is a lot of strenuous pushing, but at some point, it starts rolling by itself. Once it's at the bottom, it's not going back up.
Honestly you kind of need a politician to make that gamble and execute on the idea. Afterwards, the support as you say will come. The problem is that the timing has to work politically (can't be at the end of a mandate for example) and you must have buy-in from the non-elected stakeholders within a city's government to implement the idea properly. I think the main obstacle remains political participation at the municipal level. Efforts should focus on that. The beauty however of focusing on that area of political activism is that good management at the municipal level will have a positive collateral effect on voters across all levels of politics. As it will make the case on a smaller scale for bigger more systemic changes by providing examples that work.
Describing the pedestrianized streets as "open" and them being open to cars as "closed" definitely hits the mark! Thanks for putting into words what I've felt for so long
Going for a stroll down mont-royal avenue during summer on a nice sunny day is one of the best activities in Montreal. The walkability, transit-oriented urban design of Montreal is really impressive and I'm surprised you guys are the only ones talking about Montreal.
I wish people in my city would come around to this way of thinking. There are several streets that would be much improved by eliminating cars, at least during spring, summer, and fall when folk are inclined to walk
Consider starting a movement or seeing who else would want to promote the car free areas. Reach out to your city and Express your interest in certain car free streets
Believe me , i live close to that city ans it's a nightmare. The roads are not clean. There's a lot of homeless peoples , junkies and it smell like piss. There's bump everywhere and there's also a shit ton of holes. But the city won't do a thing. They prefer to pay 5 Milion to put a big circle in the air , and it's not a joke. You can look it up
@@kimdupont3731 5 millions ? Fake news and ignorance is universal you are the proof . The circule is financed primarily by Ivanhoé Cambridge . Next time educate yourself before writing nonsense. Thanks
I live in Montreal and I love this project. It makes me visit the street more often and I spend more time socializing with others in cafes there. There is more freedom when walking and identifying the shops in the street on both sides. Life is just better without cars :)
I always find it funny whenever they announce they are closing down the downtown stretch of Bank street here in Ottawa, you see comments from suburban folks about how it's dumb, and why would they do this if they want anybody to come downtown, but then you see it in action, and people are flocking there, and all the businesses are benefitting.
Suburbanites who whine that they will only go downtown if they can drive there are generally the type of people who are rarely downtown outside of office hours so they're not much of a loss.
I've lived all my life in a medium sized town in the Netherlands. Our commercial centre has been pedestrian only for that entire time, but a larger area of "auto-luw" streets has been expanding around it for the better part of a decade. I cannot describe how much nicer those areas surrounding the centre have become by telling drivers to sod off and that's in a Dutch town where cars are not the main mode of transportation to begin with. I can only imagine how fantastic those areas in Monrtreal must have been compared to what they normally are. I hope you guys over there can convince the council to make those areas permanently pedestrian only and expand them. Drivers should be 3rd grade citizens after pedestrians/public transport users and cyclists when it comes to city planning.
That would be nice I agree, but unfortunately it's not a very practical option in the winter time when people avoid walking outside. Local businesses would only suffer more if they kept the streets car-free during that time, since that along with buses, the metro, and the underground city are the preferred ways to get around the city when it's the negative teens. It would be nice if we could expand it to other seasons though, early fall and late spring are wonderful times as well.
I was in Maastricht a few years ago, and certain parts of the town it seemed like cars were allowed but rare. This seems like the ideal model to me - cars are important and there are legitimate reasons people will need to occassionally drive them through cities, but they shouldn't be the main mode of transpport in cities.
Very interesting about the autoluw streets in your Dutch town! In Montreal, we have 19 borough councils that make these decisions, and only a few of them are progressive enough to allow car-free streets in the summer. Suburban areas are completely car dependent and hostile to pedestrians and cyclists.
@@krisppynugget You know, I wonder what it would take to make a street fully pedestrian year round. Probably some heavier infrastructure but definitely not impossible. True though that starting by stretching the period to late fall and early spring would be nice to start.
@@Damorann You really have to put more residential units into the apartments above the ground-floor shops and restaurants or maybe in taller towers (>5 floors) in very nearby areas. The main idea is that there is probably a certain threshold population density to make successful year-round pedestrian streets or districts. Manhattan may be a great starting point where they could remove cars tomorrow and probably function as normal due to their car trip share and underground metros that bring more outsiders to Manhattan without the destroying car-free district.
Ventura, CA where I used to live had a similar experience. They shut down their Main Street for Covid, and now they’re trying to decide if they want to keep it car free. I really hope it stays car free forever because now it’s an even cooler little place to visit!
There are only two things wrong with making these zones only temporarily: 1 - The zones are not permanent. 🤗 2 - The zones cannot be redesigned for non-car use. Can't get rid of the asphalt, can't get rid of the sidewalks, can't get rid of the traffic lights. So much more can be done with an area when cars are no longer the main focus.
I can only speak to the Montreal pedestrian zones, but 1. doesn't work so well with the winter here and 2. would make deliveries much more complicated for the local businesses. For more temperate zones though, absolutely
@@beaulac3215 1 - So you don't go outdoors when it is winter? There are other places on earth which have winters and permanent pedestrian zones. 2 - Designing a street for pedestrian/bicycle traffic does not mean that cars have to be banned completely. It will however limit the car use for essential traffic only, and will also focus on lowering the speed of those essential cars significantly. One feature also commonly found in these areas is limiting delivery traffic to some hours in the morning. The whole idea of the design is to provide meaningfull destinations to people not in cars. To drive out business would be going directly against that idea.
Hello from Montreal, the video shows a small area of Montreal. Most people will take public transport to get to those areas. Montreal has a large underground system for access. You would not drive there if you want visit. This area of the city has created a great network of bike paths and the majority of the people living there live in apartments and multi unit homes that are found above commercial establishments. I don’t think we will ever have pedestrian only streets. A few closed streets in the city does create a nice change and help enjoy the summer. No streets are closed in the winter except in 1998 when it brought down trees and power lines with the biggest ice storm with the loss of power for over a week.
I've always wondered why I felt like I couldn't go anywhere in my hometown without having to buy something. Now I realize it's because every building has its own dedicated parking lot. This has the effect that If you go there you're either shopping or loitering.
Whenever I go to a small shop I feel bad not buying something to support a small business...I'm poor so I just don't go outside these days. Problem solved.
@@OhTheUrbanity we do need more places where people can “hang out”. But suburbia only prioritizes greeting to and from places with a car and nothing in between.
@@HelloWorld-yq9yy Tbf suburbia does have the mall where you can freely hangout (maybe go to a food court) and walk around, but it often feels way too corporate and stale to enjoy them like pedestrianized streets
@@AssBlasster Yeah, I think you mean by "mall" a forced advertisement ultra-rich trap. No free air, no sun, no wind, no open connections (only a few doors in/out, unlike street intersections), always shops everywhere even in the middle, no art, is there even a tree in there? It's just CONSUME, BUY!
Recently I somehow convinced my parents to make our Seattle vacation rental car-free, and Madrone Lane in Bainbridge still really pleasantly surprised me when we rounded the corner to see people eating instead of parked cars. The street is really short, but it was so nice!
Visited Mont Royal last summer. It was absolutely wonderful. Keep going Montreal. We drove to Montreal from Ontario but left our car in a lot for the whole time. We prefer metro and walking to looking for parking and navigating the streets by car. Now we just need a better rail system so we don't have to drive at all.
As a Montrealer I think this was about one of the best decisions made by our politicians in a very long time. Thankfully they didn't listen to the minority who only wanted to complain, or were very vocal about being pro-car or pro-pollution. It's one of the best things you can do in the summer here in Montreal. Just go and relax, have a bite to eat, nice cold drink. Aside from the numerous festivals we have, this is a great destination.
I'm crossing my fingers for the Little Italy part of St-Laurent to become pedestrianized. It feels like such a great candidate! Imagine going to grab a bite in Little Italy before casually walking up the street to go to Jean-Talon market and get fresh produce!
1:27 "They felt the opposite of closed... what's the word?" "Open?" "Yeah, that's it! Open!" Lol idk what it is but you two have such earnest and charming delivery that that joke is actually getting a laugh out of me, when I'm pretty sure I'd be rolling my eyes at it if delivered by just about anyone else. I love your channel and I love what you're doing to promote transportation-friendliness in urban design, thank you for doing what you do!
Fabulous video you two! What a wonderful profile of the potential provided by “seasonal” car-free streets. I hope more cities will be inspired to try them out. Cheers! John
I hope they can be made permanent and spread to more streets. Rundle Mall in Adelaide, South Australia was pedestrianised and closed to car traffic in 1976. It's been successful and popular, however the city of Adelaide has not pedestrianised any other major streets in the last 46 years!
I hadn't really thought too much about Rundle mall having ever been open to cars, I suspect Pitt st mall in Sydney, garema pl in Canberra etc are the same situation, and nobody thinks twice about the fact you can't drive there. I feel like expanding the concept would meet a whole lot of anger by your average Aussie though sadly, we are in love with cars and can't see that it could be any other way "because we have a low population density" (failing to recognise that population density is extremely different in the city to the outback)
I think we have been very LUCKY in Montreal. We had the right administration/mayor at the right time (COVID-19 and change in mentalities) while the population of young students/professionals in certain area in the city had reach a certain critical mass. But remember that these pedestrian streets and new bike paths, like any of your rights, can be taken away by any incoming politicians. Keep fighting for more and vote !
@@cynthiakazmierzski8144 The path to victory wasn't wide enough for him.* *Remember one of his most brilliant idea i.e. the narrow sidewalk at Laurier park to keep parking spots.
@@sylvainmichaud2262 But you can't deny that the current administration isn't so good at planning for the long term. Sometimes it feels like Valérie Plante just wakes up a morning and decides to turn a street into a pedestrian zone without thinking about the impacts. In my neighbourhood (Rivière-Des-Prairies), the administration decided 3 years ago to turn the Boulevard Gouin into a one sided street with a bike path on the other. Even if I'm myself a cyclist, the problem is that my bus' path goes on that street and thus couldn't go on it anymore... After spending millions to build the bike path and after tons of complaints, the city destroyed what it did (thus spending millions again) and allowed vehicles on both sides again so that buses can keep running. The current administration also decided to lower speed limits by 10 to 20 km/h on all streets in Rivière-Des-Prairies. Their excuse? To promote public transportation... What they don't realize is that buses also need to follow that 20 km/h lower speed limit, which ends up encouraging bus users to buy a car in order to go faster. The result is thus not what is expected. We also had a brand new train in the East which (used to) reach the city center. Tons of people used it (including I) and it was very fast to reach the city center. However, the new REM will monopolize the tunnel under the mount Royal and thus the train is now useless and almost empty. My uncle works for one of the engineering firms which work on the REM and he told me that the city could have made a new tunnel for the REM if they wanted... but they didn't. We are far from having long term plans like many cities in Germany and other European countries, where cars are eliminated gradually while thinking about all the impacts and finding solutions to solve all of them. You can't just block a random street and think people will deal with it by themself.
@@sylvainmichaud2262 This is why long term plans are required. You can't just block random streets, lower speed limits and render a train completely useless and expect people to want more of it in their own backyard. I'm personally all for having a more walkable city, as I think it creates a much better lifestyle and living environment, but the way it's done in Montreal is generally a catastrophy, in the east it's even worse. It feels like everything is rushed, just so that the administration can claim to have banned cars on X number of streets and created Y amount of additional bike path. It's the same with parks. The administration claims to have created new parks in the east. All they have done is to add a name to already green spaces (like right infront of my home 🤦♂️)
It seems to be the same story everywhere across the world too that local businesses are worried about losing business (because of the environment creating the mentality of customers = drivers vice versa), but always change their minds almost immediately after getting dragged down the path of change! So, basically having streets which make sense: - increases amenity (environment, noise, air, more space for more quality), which - increases visitation (pedestrians et al. are more effective shoppers, can stop and browse, and come in volume) which - increases self sufficiency and local specialist/sourced economy - improves health through incidental exercise, in-person interaction & socialisation, and aesthetics & comfort - reduces unnecessary demand by diversion and reduces crime and danger through passive surveillance
@@steemlenn8797 nah even here in the netherlands there's still storeowners that complain about not being immediately accessible by car whenever a street is made car free
@@paxundpeace9970, depends very much on the country. On a pedestrianised street I imagine it's also less of an issue as you have more space to walk away from others, and far fewer places for a thief to hide or duck around/through traffic.
I stopped in Banff on my way home from vacation a few weeks ago, and the people streets there are such a massive improvement over the last time I visited. It's such a simple fix that opens up so much capacity for restaurants and walking. And those are still open to buses.
I'm in Seattle, and the street that runs directly in front of the Pike Place Market is crying out for pedestrianization, with limited delivery-only windows. The ever-present line of cars down that street makes the sidewalks really crowded, for no benefit. It's not like any of those cars ever get to park there, and they're usually moving really slowly, so I'm still not sure of the point of them being there at all. We've also got some other areas which close down on weekends for markets, but it always makes me I wonder if closing them to traffic for extended periods/forever might also work.
You folks are leaders! You keep delivering super relevant videos all the time. Really helps people like me trying to change the paradigm in our communities. Thank you.🙂🙂🙂🙃❤️
The OCPM (Office de consultation publique de Montréal) is currently doing surveys and questionnaires on the future of the city, and I urge you and everyone on this channel to contribute! Perhaps making a short video showing where to go and how to participate? «Réflexion 2050: Discussion sur le futur de Montréal»
I hate mount royal when it's pedestrian, I somehow end up spending like 60$ every time I walk there. But in all seriousness, it's great, I rarely go to those streets when they're no longer pedestrian.
Just came back from a holiday in Montreal and we stayed on Mont Royal Est. Was the best time. I loved hanging out on the street and my friends and I didn't really want to leave those streets.
I love when our city opens streets to pedestrians. I love hanging out downtown when they do. And yes, it's easy to get to. Just drive to a local parking garage.
I'm glad you finally made comment on the criticism that differently abled people won't be able to access, let alone enjoy, non car areas. It's obviously a ridiculous statement after you take time to think of all the non car areas that differently abled people already access with ease such as shopping malls and parks. Or that providing them with personal mobility vehicles like electric wheel chairs would be too expensive, but fail to recognize how much more expensive it is to build and maintain vast amounts of car infrastructure. Lastly, public transit advocacy groups often have differently abled people on their board. The answer to including differently abled people in the world is not to make it car dependent but to provide simple accommodations to pedestrian, biking, and transit infrastructure.
Yes! And that doesn't even mention the famous "Curb cut effect": pretty much all accomodations for differently abled people end up helping everyone else, too
People that criticize streets or transit for "not being accessible to someone in a wheelchair" always seem to ignore how dodging a car in a wheelchair is hard.
Yup, the criticism is usually that there won't be parking right in front of whatever destination, but how often is there actually available and accessible parking in front of popular destinations now? It also focuses on a particular segment of the disabled population - those with mobility impairments and the financial means to afford a car (and typically have someone to drive them) - and prevents people who live nearby or are reliant on transit to move independently. (And of course the diversity of other disabilities that can prevent someone from being able to drive, or that disabled people frequently have more limited income)
I found it baffling that someone would complain about the safety issues of bicycles hitting pedestrians without even considering that cars are way more dangerous for both cyclists and pedestrians
I live near to one of these streets and I so heavily dread it ending that I can't fully enjoy it! I wish they would make it last longer, maybe a six month thing.
It’s interesting that you mention accessibility issues and the needs of people with reduced mobility, including elevator access to the metro. These topics usually fly under the radar of non-disabled people. Kudos. Would you be interested to devote one of your wonderful videos to the seemingly intractable accessibility issues we face in Montreal? It would be really cool.
It's funny you should mention accessibility, b/c I took a trip to Montreal a few years back and found it way more accessible as a mobility device user than where I live (Ontario, Canada). I'm sure living there would be a different story, but it was shocking how much easier it was for me to get around.
@@hexkitten7024 then I can't imagine how awful access must be in Ontario! 😨Unlike Québec, though, Ontario has had a universal accessibility statute since 2005. Surely, your province must have made some progress thanks to this legislation? I find that Quebec is lagging behind in so many areas. Patchy access to local shops and (very) partial access to the Montreal subway are two of my biggest pet peeves. The Toronto subway is supposed to be fully accessible by 2025, is it not?
As a Dutchman, I applaud! Just look at it. What more do you need to convince city councils, shop owners and all the other stakeholders that opening up down town streets for walking and biking is simply great. Or better yet: redesign it to stay. In winter too. Can you imagine how it'll look at Christmas, with all the lights and decorations? Imagine Christmas markets, stands with hot chocolate and maybe even Dutch erwtensoep. And think of it: those people walking there are normally car drivers, but they're not in their cars! Combined with reliable public transport and a connecting bicycle network, you've got a place where everybody wants to live or to open up a shop.
Many of the businesses that initially whined to the media in 2020 about lost parking spaces, like "Sweet" Lee's on Wellington, are now benefitting massively from increased foot traffic.
I really wish my small city had done this with their downtown! It is just about perfectly suited to pedestrianization, and is in fact blocked to traffic every Sunday morning for a farmers market. But apparently the residents adjacent to downtown opposed pedestrianization because they feared parking spilling over into their neighborhoods.
My small college town does the same things with frequent closures in summer for the weekly market and art festivals, but downtown businesses "showed a perception" that there was not enough parking on main street in a city survey...so they have only expanded it since 2008.
I would love a separate video focused on accessibility. I find a lot of people with disabilities/elderly pushing back against car-free streets or less car infrastructure in general because they say that it's less accessible to those with mobility needs or those who cannot walk as much. Some people would not agree to any reduction in car accessibility at all, or if public transit and building was not addressed first. As sympathetic as I am to them, I can't agree given how deadly and dangerous vehicles are, killing people before they even get the chance to grow old, or causing many of the disabilities that necessitates people to use cars. Not to say anything of the economic ability to have a car to begin with. I see so many elderly and disabled people walking and using transit but somehow they don't get included in those debates.
The argument that we need cars for accessibility honestly irritates me so much, because it completely neglects to acknowledge any of the disabilities that prevent one from being able to drive safely (a car isn't gonna help if you can't see is it) saying cars are necessary for accessibility utterly disregards those with disability that would benifit from not having to ask friends or family or taxis to be chauffeured around in a car to be able to travel anywhere beyond their front door, for whom a well designed transport system and pedestrian friendly infrastructure would be a great benifit to their autonomy I know a lot of peoples understanding of "disability" only goes as deep as "people in a wheelchair" But even for the disabilities where one can still drive a car fine, is it really that much of a stretch to imagine smaller accessibility vehicles that can take advantage of bike infrastructure or coexist with pedestrians, such as the Dutch Canta, or a variation on already existent accessibility scooters So yeah, i second that a video on the accessibility of pedestrian friendly design would be nice, to help dispel the myth that cars are needed for accessibility (i would honestly argue that cars actually are less accessible for most people with disability)
Many grocery stores provide battery powered wheelchair-like devices (but with a basket) at the entrance for disabled people to use while browsing the aisles. Something similar could probably work here too.
I had the pleasure of living in Montreal for this summer and the pedestrianized streets streets were a highlight of my stay, along with the bike lanes. Coming from the GTA, it was an amazing change. I could just relax on the bench and enjoy the good weather without the noise or smell of cars. Really makes me consider moving to Montreal.
Hello from Montreal, you should visit during the jazz/ comedy festival. More streets are closed….and you don’t need a car. Practice your French….joking
You missed the Ontario street. I love it and those streets should expand. You can connect with people, have cultural events for the public, have fun art anywhere and its good for your health!
As someone lucky enough to live within walking distance of a permanently pedestrianized space like this (Boulder, Colorado's Pearl Street Mall), I'm curious what the logic is behind only banning cars for the summer. I know Montreal is cold and snowy, but it doesn't snow 9 months out of the year. If these pedestrianized streets are nice during the summer, it seems to me they should be equally nice during the spring and fall (and still nicer than a car sewer during the winter).
Yeah that's what's missing. On wellington street they put LEDs on tree and christmas music in the winter. Makes for a nice evening walk and I really wish it would be banned to moto vehicles all year round. When it snows hard you can still walk but you can't drive!
Hello from Montreal, what you saw in the video is only a small portion of the city. Car access is always maintained on the major streets in that area (the area know as the plateau), located east of the downtown. Also there is an underground (Metro) system that people would normally used to travel. People are quite used to street closures for sporting events. The rest of the island (the city of Montreal is actually on an island) doesn’t close their streets it’s more suburban. Single family homes…also the streets aren’t closed in the winter but the city plows the bike paths. Take care
The streets are for pedestrians only from May to the last day of October, so it's basically during all of spring and fall. In November, it generally rains a lot and people in the city don't go out much and in April there is sometimes still snow on the ground
Hello from Montreal, great video. I live in NDG Notre dame de grace just west of the city. It’s night and day from Montreal’s plateau where you show all these great streets. I can’t understand why this is not happening over here. There is so much more space to implement better bike paths and walkable streets. But the problem as you go west of the island of the city is that your entering areas where you have simple family homes and street parking for that home. Residents are totally opposed to bike paths on their streets. The city should at least build paths that lead to the various schools and groceries stores. Another big problem on the other side is that we don’t have any central meeting areas ie. outdoor markets. Commerce also has to promote and help the situation. Bike racks and maybe bike shelters. Anyways you guys to a great job maybe have a look at areas that can be improved. Thanks
Monkland or Fielding have a lot of potential to open to pedestrians, but I think it may be due to a mix of a lacking will from neighbourhood administration and that besides Monkland the other major commercial streets are stroads so not many businesses would benefit, in Verdun this is a great time for businesses and the neighbourhood administration have been working on it from that angle since it started, so I'm guessing Monkland is the best fit.
I remember in the past that a few blocks of Monkland were closed for at least a couple of weeks, was that just for the festivals? I remember they got cancelled because of some complaints & maybe shady financial dealings in the background.
@@WhiskyCanuck Hi, your right the businesses where supposed donate proceeds to a charity outlined by the city in order to get city help. They kept the money. Anyways ndg needs help. I think maybe widening the sidewalks on Sherbrooke street and making them beautiful to promote walking. Getting rid of any parking is the dirty expression. Take care
@@Hyperventilacion Hi, I think Sherbrooke street needs some help. We should develop wider sidewalks with a protected bike path that slows the cars down. Parking only on one side and the shops should provide bike racks etc. Get the locals out of their cars. Not easy but the city should start by doing it in the summer.
@@davidgill2520 Yep, there's definitely plenty of space for that on Sherbrooke, it would help a lot to have some protected lanes on a perpendicular street to get the people there and connect with Maisonneuve and Sherbrooke, Cavendish and Wesminister or Broadway?
Apparently downtown Dartmouth is doing a pilot program to pedestrianize Portland Street between Prince and Alderney at the end of July! Agree that more places in the maritimes need this!
J'aime tellement la ville de Montreal!! Ma maison future et les rues sans voitures sont un de plus choses que j'aime a propos de cette belle ville!! Bravo!
This is a beautiful video that absolutely illustrates the pros of pedestrianized streets! I really hope there is momentum to make these changes permanent because I can't see a reason why anyone wants the cars back in other seasons.
A cool option I saw in Chamonix was that all their core streets that are opened up to walking are blocked with servo controlled bollards. There is a key fob scanner that allows the city maintenance truck, or emergency vehicles to retract them into the ground as needed. So if your city has no alleyways or other way to provide deliveries for businesses this is a way to let in the odd van here or there when needed instead of having specified hours.
when nyc does this, my brain breaks. their green streets program brings a feeling of safety and joy that is often rare. young people get to learn at their own pace without catching a crown victoria to the booty
I live in PEI Canada, and in our capitol, Charlottetown, we have closed a couple streets in the downtown during the summers for many years now and it has been great. It is great for the stores along the street and especially good for the pub scene since they can have open patios out onto the street. One of our main industries in the province is tourism, and in Charlottetown we get a lot of tourist on cruise ships coming into the port who don't have access to vehicles and want to explore the city so they must get around with transit and walking. Having streets open to pedestrians with shops and pub, in our downtown, right by the historical and culturally important places, is great for tourist and a huge boon for our small economy.
The worst part of this is that it only lasts 3-4 months in the summer. I went on St-Denis earlier this year in April, and I was surprised the street was not pedestrianized already. Sidewalks were jam packed with people and you already had outdoor patios with customers on them. Most of the space was taken by a long line of car trying to go somewhere at a slower speed than a bicycle in the middle of the road. This needs to last all year.
Saint-Denis est une artère importante pour atteindre la rive-sud. En effet, il serait intéressant qu'elle devienne piétonne, mais je crois que si l'administration va trop vite et transforme trop de rues en même temps, elle va perdre l'adhésion de la population et elle risque de perdre les prochaines élections. Tout serait à recommencer. Imaginez un peu si Coderre avait gagné... Une première étape a été franchise sur Saint-Denis avec la piste cyclable qui a prouvé que les Montréalais aiment se déplacer en vélo et profitent des nouvelles infrastructures qui le permettent. Ensuite, des consultations doivent avoir lieu dans la population. Il faut garder un certain équilibre et ne pas causer trop de trafic trop vite. Je crois aussi qu'il faut améliorer l'offre de transport en commun avant de fermer trop d'artères aux automobilistes. Les autobus sont en retard et ne passent pas souvent. Un tramway pourrait être une bonne idée. Le problème, c'est que ça prend plus de 50 ans au Québec pour améliorer le transport en commun, on a qu'à penser au prolongement de la ligne bleue de métro. Bref, on peut "piétonniser" des rues, mais il faut assurer la mobilité dans la ville...
My city in the North of England was mostly pedestrianised in the late 80’s as it has a medieval street pattern. At the time there was fierce opposition from retailers. Now the area is spreading - keep going Montreal this is a virtuous circle - less pollution and more people in the city centre spending money !!
Was there last week. The sense of community and people-friendliness, and numerous artists, musicians, ect. Made me wonder why everywhere else chooses to build strodes
I never get the weather argument Canadians love to use. "It's too cold to cycle!" or as briefly mentioned in this video (5:30), "Why keep the pedestrian street over the winter? Nobody walks when it's cold." Sure, it is unpleasant when it's cold, but _winter clothes exist_ which magically keep you warm so that you don't freeze outside. If pedestrian and cycle friendly places exist and are well mainained, people will keep using them in the winter.
I worked as a snow remover for one winter. The very cold days of -20 C to -30 C were fine. The days of -5 C to 0 C however, not so great, with freezing rain and slush, I'd often get wet even with water-proof gear and thus my body would lose a lot of heat and I'd get sick. That's the real problem.
My city of Nottingham has done something a little similar though focused on school streets. During the pandemic they basically blocked off the streets to all through traffic and parents parking up to collect children, the end result was that both the residents, the school children, and even the parents all found it better. For the residents and the students, they dealt with less car noise and less pollution. For the parents they found it easier to drop their children off as instead of all of them trying to cram into the limited space on a single street, they were now spread out over several nearby streets that the children could easily walk the final hundred metres to the school from. The scheme was such a success that they've made several of them permanent with these massive planters being used as bollards basically to provide more greenery and plants in general in the area. They've still not rebuilt the roads themselves as well there are still residential homes there, but it's a good step in the right direction and when mixed with the increasing bike lane/path network in the city it's making it much better overall. As for doing stuff like this for businesses, well the centre of the city is basically car free (though not bus free), and it's rarely if ever empty even on rainy days. Don't know so much about the centres of the suburbs, but well there's always room for improvement.
We have tried car free streets in my city and it has been total disaster. Our city centre builds mostly from restaurants, bars and pubs. At first when city started to charge for parking, those entrepreneurs started to claim how every money customers use for parking is away from money they spend for beer. Now after car free streets, amount of customers have significantly dropped, because way to walk back for their car is too long for drunken customers. And instead of those people goint to home for sleep, they remain on street starting knife-/gun-fights against each other.
Where in the would is this? I'm not sure people that drunk should actually be driving anyway 😬 Perhaps there should be better transport taken into account or safe spaces for people to sleep it off, like a capsule hotel or something...
It's probably ''un coup d'épée dans l'eau'' as we say in french, but I would really love a video about the third link (le 3e lien). It's a very hot topic in Quebec and there's, at the same time, a lot of information going around and also not a lot of information. I'm far from being an urbanist and I would like to know more about the subject. Keep doing your wonderful videos, we like them a lot ! Thank you for all your hard work!
One thing I've been trying to explain to people as far as accessibility is that many of these streets have shops that aren't even accessible to begin with. They then have the space to add temporary ramps in the summer when the streets become pedestrian streets. Many of them have a patrimonial aspect and aren't able to permanently "deface" the building, or the sidewalk is simply too narrow, making it difficult to add concrete ramps for wheelchair users. Pedestrian streets can become a sustainable solution for keeping the architecture on these streets intact while giving better access to wheelchairs.
My local farmers market 'closes' aka pedestrianizes one block of a local street. A street that is lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, historic features, and other fun things for most of its 3 mile length. I wish we could have that car-free street all the time! And for all 3 miles!
On the accessibility issue, I would like to just underline again the importance of accessibility for wheelchairs and mobility scooters in Ste Catherine street. They are dozen of them for my walk from the metro to my job when it's pedestrian and none (maybe one or two occasionally) when car are allowed. It does not reduce accessibility, it is absolutely the contraire and anyone walking or on wheelchairs will tell you the exact same thing and allow far more liberty to circulate for them, the sidewalks always being too narrow at times. As a business co-owner, we can also confirm that as soon as the road is closing for pedestrian access, the revenues go down, as soon as it reopens, it goes up, and not by a small percentage under 10%, way more than that. Every commerce around (especially restaurant and food business) has the same see the same thing
There's a community of motorized wheelchair and scooter users in Verdun and they seem to get around much faster and easier when Wellington is closed. Thanks for confirming this!
I feel the background video at 2:00 gives such a great example of what pedestrianization does: make commuting FUN! And not the kind of "drive 100 mph down a highway" or "see how threatening you can be to cars around you" fun but stuff like doing tricks on a random pipe in the street because you can. And I know that pipe was probably placed there on purpose for people to practice recreationally, but there's no reason you couldn't have something similar in spirit to it for walking, biking, and other modes. Although, I should also add that having entirely recreational bike/walk paths is almost equally bad as none, as lots of people do want to just have a quick, straight line to their destination without any fuss.
You should have mentioned Rachel, which I beleive was first to get permanent closure and which turned the area into a destination with many restaurants. Practically, I can understand "summer" pedestrianization, since there would be fewer people outsoors in winter, no need for terraces etc and snow clearling would become a challenge. But would be an interesting experiement to see if closing street to cars in winter would still increase foot traffic to shops. (especially as Montréal sidewalks are so terrible in winter).
Prince Arthur east of St Laurence was the first permanently pedestrianized street in Montreal (starting in the 1980s) -- and it was the experience of it basically turning into a ghost town every winter that led to the summer-only pedestrianization of other streets (the first of those was Ste-Catherine-est through the gay village about ten years ago -- it started as happening part of the summer, then expanded to all summer.)
Here's the thing to ask people who say it's preventing people from getting there in cars : Why then don't you ask your local administration for a similar thing in your neighborhood so you can get there by walking? The fact is there is a LOT more people coming from closer around the pedestrian streets, so if you live in an are with enough population, any commercial street can become pedestrian at least in summer. It also helps for local and smaller neighborhood shops. The thing is we have gotten used to driving to huge commercial areas for everything when in fact having a place to stroll around is quite viable and pleasant. Pedestrian areas are mainly for the people who live close by or are within distance of public transit. As such, an argument can be made that you should argue for good public transit to take you to pedestrian streets long before you ask for car space.
Ya close up sources and have people just strolling down the double 3 lane blvd going from strip mall to strip mall to support all the local franchises…ur so out of touch with reality it’s mind boggling…i am willing to bet u don’t even own a car. Woke hipsters are ruining the city.
Most street in Montreal are large enough to have a large band of pedestrian road, a good bicycle path and a little car line for people who live there to park in one way. It would be majestic to do 20-50% of the streets like that ! I hope we get there soon ! :)
The Lord Mayor of my city has said on record (in just the last three months) that he doesn't support speed limits lower than 50kph because he doesn't believe in punishing innocent motorists, and then a few weeks later that electric scooters should be heavily restricted because getting hit by an escooter at 30kph is as dangerous to pedestrians as getting hit by an SUV at 100kph. Yep. He's one of the good ones.. /s
There are so many areas in my city that would be perfect to make pedestrian only, but also many more that would simply be impossible due to their role as both the only major traffic routes and shopping strips with no other alternatives. At most the amount of travel lanes could be restricted to one each way without parking to allow for more pedestrian areas.
It's great to hear that Montreal's Metro is moving to (finally) install elevators. With a growing, aging population and the attendant medical/mobility issues, it simply makes sense to have public transit be accessible to them. Here, in Singapore, all of the MRT (Metro) stations have elevators with trains having designated wheelchair sections. In fact, they're bringing in new trains that will have even larger wheelchair sections. And, the buses have recently all been switched over to ones with wheelchair spots. Well, one spot only but still. I am not crazy about pedestrian zones but I am also not a leisurely type of walking guy. So long as I can drive/ride/bus to my destination, I'm happy.
When I was a student in Montreal (2013-2017) we had a guest speaker once from the STM who came to speak about accessibility stuff. At the time, they were projecting that the metro wouldn't be 100% accessible until some time in the 2040s.
Thing is, the vast majority of the time, there is huge opposition to these types of projects, and then a few years after implementation, the majority of people are supportive.
I like China
The people who are against it are very vocal but people who like it don't talk about them very much.
It's really frustrating. And I get no satisfaction from saying "I told you so." That's why these types of projects are so important, because you can point to it and say "See? It was a clear and resounding success!" Show before and after pictures. Show the poll results. Show the statistics that demonstrate an increase in patronage and revenue. The more these kinds of things happen, and the fact that it improves the neighborhood _every single time_ , hopefully the more willing people will be to make these changes, and maybe even start to proactively demand them.
Ultimately though, it is a _good_ sign. While making the changes might be frustratingly, painfully difficult, it's clear that, once implemented, they will be extremely robust. All of the hard work is front-loaded. Eliminating car dependency and taking back our cities will not be the struggle it currently is forever. It's a huge boulder at the top of a hill. Getting it moving initially is a lot of strenuous pushing, but at some point, it starts rolling by itself. Once it's at the bottom, it's not going back up.
Honestly you kind of need a politician to make that gamble and execute on the idea. Afterwards, the support as you say will come. The problem is that the timing has to work politically (can't be at the end of a mandate for example) and you must have buy-in from the non-elected stakeholders within a city's government to implement the idea properly.
I think the main obstacle remains political participation at the municipal level. Efforts should focus on that. The beauty however of focusing on that area of political activism is that good management at the municipal level will have a positive collateral effect on voters across all levels of politics. As it will make the case on a smaller scale for bigger more systemic changes by providing examples that work.
I will NEVER support this anti-car BS!
Describing the pedestrianized streets as "open" and them being open to cars as "closed" definitely hits the mark! Thanks for putting into words what I've felt for so long
Going for a stroll down mont-royal avenue during summer on a nice sunny day is one of the best activities in Montreal. The walkability, transit-oriented urban design of Montreal is really impressive and I'm surprised you guys are the only ones talking about Montreal.
He obviously cannot give compliments to Montreal since he's from Ontario XD
He does seem to ignore it completely lol
When cars have fucked our cities so bad that the best thing about a city is a street with no cars
Bonjour, yes I agree. I think it’s a special place that can’t be copied elsewhere and I live in NDG. It’s the people
I live there and how do you get there? In car. Plz destroy the city like california did and new york.
I wish people in my city would come around to this way of thinking. There are several streets that would be much improved by eliminating cars, at least during spring, summer, and fall when folk are inclined to walk
Every one of the pedestrian areas people love today had people fighting hard against them when they were introduced.
Consider starting a movement or seeing who else would want to promote the car free areas.
Reach out to your city and Express your interest in certain car free streets
Which city?
Believe me , i live close to that city ans it's a nightmare. The roads are not clean. There's a lot of homeless peoples , junkies and it smell like piss. There's bump everywhere and there's also a shit ton of holes. But the city won't do a thing. They prefer to pay 5 Milion to put a big circle in the air , and it's not a joke. You can look it up
@@kimdupont3731 5 millions ? Fake news and ignorance is universal you are the proof . The circule is financed primarily by Ivanhoé Cambridge . Next time educate yourself before writing nonsense. Thanks
I live in Montreal and I love this project. It makes me visit the street more often and I spend more time socializing with others in cafes there. There is more freedom when walking and identifying the shops in the street on both sides. Life is just better without cars :)
I always find it funny whenever they announce they are closing down the downtown stretch of Bank street here in Ottawa, you see comments from suburban folks about how it's dumb, and why would they do this if they want anybody to come downtown, but then you see it in action, and people are flocking there, and all the businesses are benefitting.
Suburbanites who whine that they will only go downtown if they can drive there are generally the type of people who are rarely downtown outside of office hours so they're not much of a loss.
I've lived all my life in a medium sized town in the Netherlands. Our commercial centre has been pedestrian only for that entire time, but a larger area of "auto-luw" streets has been expanding around it for the better part of a decade. I cannot describe how much nicer those areas surrounding the centre have become by telling drivers to sod off and that's in a Dutch town where cars are not the main mode of transportation to begin with.
I can only imagine how fantastic those areas in Monrtreal must have been compared to what they normally are. I hope you guys over there can convince the council to make those areas permanently pedestrian only and expand them. Drivers should be 3rd grade citizens after pedestrians/public transport users and cyclists when it comes to city planning.
That would be nice I agree, but unfortunately it's not a very practical option in the winter time when people avoid walking outside. Local businesses would only suffer more if they kept the streets car-free during that time, since that along with buses, the metro, and the underground city are the preferred ways to get around the city when it's the negative teens. It would be nice if we could expand it to other seasons though, early fall and late spring are wonderful times as well.
I was in Maastricht a few years ago, and certain parts of the town it seemed like cars were allowed but rare. This seems like the ideal model to me - cars are important and there are legitimate reasons people will need to occassionally drive them through cities, but they shouldn't be the main mode of transpport in cities.
Very interesting about the autoluw streets in your Dutch town! In Montreal, we have 19 borough councils that make these decisions, and only a few of them are progressive enough to allow car-free streets in the summer. Suburban areas are completely car dependent and hostile to pedestrians and cyclists.
@@krisppynugget You know, I wonder what it would take to make a street fully pedestrian year round. Probably some heavier infrastructure but definitely not impossible. True though that starting by stretching the period to late fall and early spring would be nice to start.
@@Damorann You really have to put more residential units into the apartments above the ground-floor shops and restaurants or maybe in taller towers (>5 floors) in very nearby areas. The main idea is that there is probably a certain threshold population density to make successful year-round pedestrian streets or districts. Manhattan may be a great starting point where they could remove cars tomorrow and probably function as normal due to their car trip share and underground metros that bring more outsiders to Manhattan without the destroying car-free district.
I moved to Montreal 2 months ago from Toronto... Honestly I love this pedestrian streets... I feels like the city is in a 24/7 festival
One thing i would also love is more trees on former car street.
Ventura, CA where I used to live had a similar experience. They shut down their Main Street for Covid, and now they’re trying to decide if they want to keep it car free.
I really hope it stays car free forever because now it’s an even cooler little place to visit!
Same thing happened in Santa Barbara too!
@@SneakyPollack is it sticking around forever? I haven’t been to Santa Barbara in a long while unfortunately
Most Californian cities have cool historic Main Streets, but they’re only about three or four blocks big and then it’s back to the dumb roads
@@SaveMoneySavethePlanet I hope so, certainly strong voices in the city advocating for such. Especially from the business community on State Street.
There are only two things wrong with making these zones only temporarily:
1 - The zones are not permanent. 🤗
2 - The zones cannot be redesigned for non-car use. Can't get rid of the asphalt, can't get rid of the sidewalks, can't get rid of the traffic lights. So much more can be done with an area when cars are no longer the main focus.
I can only speak to the Montreal pedestrian zones, but 1. doesn't work so well with the winter here and 2. would make deliveries much more complicated for the local businesses. For more temperate zones though, absolutely
@@beaulac3215 1 - So you don't go outdoors when it is winter? There are other places on earth which have winters and permanent pedestrian zones.
2 - Designing a street for pedestrian/bicycle traffic does not mean that cars have to be banned completely. It will however limit the car use for essential traffic only, and will also focus on lowering the speed of those essential cars significantly. One feature also commonly found in these areas is limiting delivery traffic to some hours in the morning.
The whole idea of the design is to provide meaningfull destinations to people not in cars. To drive out business would be going directly against that idea.
Hello from Montreal, the video shows a small area of Montreal. Most people will take public transport to get to those areas. Montreal has a large underground system for access. You would not drive there if you want visit. This area of the city has created a great network of bike paths and the majority of the people living there live in apartments and multi unit homes that are found above commercial establishments. I don’t think we will ever have pedestrian only streets. A few closed streets in the city does create a nice change and help enjoy the summer. No streets are closed in the winter except in 1998 when it brought down trees and power lines with the biggest ice storm with the loss of power for over a week.
@@beaulac3215 It could absolutely work in the winter here - it would be much safer.
@@davidgill2520 Prince-Arthur is pedestrianized year round and it'll be the first of many.
I've always wondered why I felt like I couldn't go anywhere in my hometown without having to buy something. Now I realize it's because every building has its own dedicated parking lot. This has the effect that If you go there you're either shopping or loitering.
Even just the concept of "loitering" is kind of strange when you think about it!
Whenever I go to a small shop I feel bad not buying something to support a small business...I'm poor so I just don't go outside these days. Problem solved.
@@OhTheUrbanity we do need more places where people can “hang out”. But suburbia only prioritizes greeting to and from places with a car and nothing in between.
@@HelloWorld-yq9yy Tbf suburbia does have the mall where you can freely hangout (maybe go to a food court) and walk around, but it often feels way too corporate and stale to enjoy them like pedestrianized streets
@@AssBlasster Yeah, I think you mean by "mall" a forced advertisement ultra-rich trap. No free air, no sun, no wind, no open connections (only a few doors in/out, unlike street intersections), always shops everywhere even in the middle, no art, is there even a tree in there? It's just CONSUME, BUY!
Recently I somehow convinced my parents to make our Seattle vacation rental car-free, and Madrone Lane in Bainbridge still really pleasantly surprised me when we rounded the corner to see people eating instead of parked cars. The street is really short, but it was so nice!
Visited Mont Royal last summer. It was absolutely wonderful. Keep going Montreal. We drove to Montreal from Ontario but left our car in a lot for the whole time. We prefer metro and walking to looking for parking and navigating the streets by car. Now we just need a better rail system so we don't have to drive at all.
As a Montrealer I think this was about one of the best decisions made by our politicians in a very long time. Thankfully they didn't listen to the minority who only wanted to complain, or were very vocal about being pro-car or pro-pollution. It's one of the best things you can do in the summer here in Montreal. Just go and relax, have a bite to eat, nice cold drink. Aside from the numerous festivals we have, this is a great destination.
I'm crossing my fingers for the Little Italy part of St-Laurent to become pedestrianized. It feels like such a great candidate! Imagine going to grab a bite in Little Italy before casually walking up the street to go to Jean-Talon market and get fresh produce!
1:27 "They felt the opposite of closed... what's the word?" "Open?" "Yeah, that's it! Open!"
Lol idk what it is but you two have such earnest and charming delivery that that joke is actually getting a laugh out of me, when I'm pretty sure I'd be rolling my eyes at it if delivered by just about anyone else. I love your channel and I love what you're doing to promote transportation-friendliness in urban design, thank you for doing what you do!
What's a fire and why does it--what's the word?--BURN!
Recently took a trip to Montreal and I really liked just walking around these streets.
Fabulous video you two! What a wonderful profile of the potential provided by “seasonal” car-free streets. I hope more cities will be inspired to try them out. Cheers! John
Great video guys. One of my fav parts of the city 👍
I hope they can be made permanent and spread to more streets.
Rundle Mall in Adelaide, South Australia was pedestrianised and closed to car traffic in 1976. It's been successful and popular, however the city of Adelaide has not pedestrianised any other major streets in the last 46 years!
I hadn't really thought too much about Rundle mall having ever been open to cars, I suspect Pitt st mall in Sydney, garema pl in Canberra etc are the same situation, and nobody thinks twice about the fact you can't drive there. I feel like expanding the concept would meet a whole lot of anger by your average Aussie though sadly, we are in love with cars and can't see that it could be any other way "because we have a low population density" (failing to recognise that population density is extremely different in the city to the outback)
I think we have been very LUCKY in Montreal.
We had the right administration/mayor at the right time (COVID-19 and change in mentalities) while the population of young students/professionals in certain area in the city had reach a certain critical mass.
But remember that these pedestrian streets and new bike paths, like any of your rights, can be taken away by any incoming politicians.
Keep fighting for more and vote !
It was such a huge relief when CARderre lost the last mayoral election!
@@cynthiakazmierzski8144
The path to victory wasn't wide enough for him.*
*Remember one of his most brilliant idea i.e. the narrow sidewalk at Laurier park to keep parking spots.
@@sylvainmichaud2262 But you can't deny that the current administration isn't so good at planning for the long term. Sometimes it feels like Valérie Plante just wakes up a morning and decides to turn a street into a pedestrian zone without thinking about the impacts. In my neighbourhood (Rivière-Des-Prairies), the administration decided 3 years ago to turn the Boulevard Gouin into a one sided street with a bike path on the other. Even if I'm myself a cyclist, the problem is that my bus' path goes on that street and thus couldn't go on it anymore... After spending millions to build the bike path and after tons of complaints, the city destroyed what it did (thus spending millions again) and allowed vehicles on both sides again so that buses can keep running.
The current administration also decided to lower speed limits by 10 to 20 km/h on all streets in Rivière-Des-Prairies. Their excuse? To promote public transportation... What they don't realize is that buses also need to follow that 20 km/h lower speed limit, which ends up encouraging bus users to buy a car in order to go faster. The result is thus not what is expected.
We also had a brand new train in the East which (used to) reach the city center. Tons of people used it (including I) and it was very fast to reach the city center. However, the new REM will monopolize the tunnel under the mount Royal and thus the train is now useless and almost empty. My uncle works for one of the engineering firms which work on the REM and he told me that the city could have made a new tunnel for the REM if they wanted... but they didn't.
We are far from having long term plans like many cities in Germany and other European countries, where cars are eliminated gradually while thinking about all the impacts and finding solutions to solve all of them. You can't just block a random street and think people will deal with it by themself.
@@PG-3462
The major issue is NIMBYs.
(not in my backward) and those who always complain, if you known what I mean.
@@sylvainmichaud2262 This is why long term plans are required. You can't just block random streets, lower speed limits and render a train completely useless and expect people to want more of it in their own backyard.
I'm personally all for having a more walkable city, as I think it creates a much better lifestyle and living environment, but the way it's done in Montreal is generally a catastrophy, in the east it's even worse.
It feels like everything is rushed, just so that the administration can claim to have banned cars on X number of streets and created Y amount of additional bike path. It's the same with parks. The administration claims to have created new parks in the east. All they have done is to add a name to already green spaces (like right infront of my home 🤦♂️)
It seems to be the same story everywhere across the world too that local businesses are worried about losing business (because of the environment creating the mentality of customers = drivers vice versa), but always change their minds almost immediately after getting dragged down the path of change!
So, basically having streets which make sense:
- increases amenity (environment, noise, air, more space for more quality), which
- increases visitation (pedestrians et al. are more effective shoppers, can stop and browse, and come in volume) which
- increases self sufficiency and local specialist/sourced economy
- improves health through incidental exercise, in-person interaction & socialisation, and aesthetics & comfort
- reduces unnecessary demand by diversion and reduces crime and danger through passive surveillance
In those busy areas pocket theft can be an issue to be honest.
Except in the Netherlands. There shops beg to be not left out of the car-free zone.
@@steemlenn8797 nah even here in the netherlands there's still storeowners that complain about not being immediately accessible by car whenever a street is made car free
@@snailymitch I guess it depends on the location and surroundings.
@@paxundpeace9970, depends very much on the country.
On a pedestrianised street I imagine it's also less of an issue as you have more space to walk away from others, and far fewer places for a thief to hide or duck around/through traffic.
I love the downtown vibe in summer when you remove the cars !
When I lived in Ottawa I would travel to Montreal all the time it was amazing
I stopped in Banff on my way home from vacation a few weeks ago, and the people streets there are such a massive improvement over the last time I visited. It's such a simple fix that opens up so much capacity for restaurants and walking. And those are still open to buses.
I wish they had completly car free streets like this in NYC
I witnessed the beginnings of this. At first, it was just for a few days, and every time, everywhere, it was packed with people and so much fun.
The thumbnail immediately made me think of the song "No Cars Go" by Arcade Fire, which seems fitting since they're a band from Montreal.
That's the reference!
Glad I’m not the only one who picked up on that
One of my favorite cities in north america....now even better!
I'm in Seattle, and the street that runs directly in front of the Pike Place Market is crying out for pedestrianization, with limited delivery-only windows. The ever-present line of cars down that street makes the sidewalks really crowded, for no benefit. It's not like any of those cars ever get to park there, and they're usually moving really slowly, so I'm still not sure of the point of them being there at all.
We've also got some other areas which close down on weekends for markets, but it always makes me I wonder if closing them to traffic for extended periods/forever might also work.
Correction: Saint-Laurent Boulevard is not one of the 10 pedestrian streets in this program. Its pedestrianization was temporary for a festival.
Hopefully next year it will be for longer! MuralFest was great.
You folks are leaders! You keep delivering super relevant videos all the time. Really helps people like me trying to change the paradigm in our communities. Thank you.🙂🙂🙂🙃❤️
There's more people on the street when there's no cars taking the space. Love it.
Pedestrianizations of Mont-Royal Ave go as far back as 1970: spacing.ca/montreal/2009/12/29/mont-royal-aves-first-flirtation-with-pedestrianization/
The OCPM (Office de consultation publique de Montréal) is currently doing surveys and questionnaires on the future of the city, and I urge you and everyone on this channel to contribute! Perhaps making a short video showing where to go and how to participate? «Réflexion 2050: Discussion sur le futur de Montréal»
I hate mount royal when it's pedestrian, I somehow end up spending like 60$ every time I walk there.
But in all seriousness, it's great, I rarely go to those streets when they're no longer pedestrian.
Love the Arcade Fire nod in the thumbnail! Hahaha
Just came back from a holiday in Montreal and we stayed on Mont Royal Est. Was the best time. I loved hanging out on the street and my friends and I didn't really want to leave those streets.
I love when our city opens streets to pedestrians. I love hanging out downtown when they do. And yes, it's easy to get to. Just drive to a local parking garage.
I'm glad you finally made comment on the criticism that differently abled people won't be able to access, let alone enjoy, non car areas. It's obviously a ridiculous statement after you take time to think of all the non car areas that differently abled people already access with ease such as shopping malls and parks.
Or that providing them with personal mobility vehicles like electric wheel chairs would be too expensive, but fail to recognize how much more expensive it is to build and maintain vast amounts of car infrastructure.
Lastly, public transit advocacy groups often have differently abled people on their board.
The answer to including differently abled people in the world is not to make it car dependent but to provide simple accommodations to pedestrian, biking, and transit infrastructure.
Yes! And that doesn't even mention the famous "Curb cut effect": pretty much all accomodations for differently abled people end up helping everyone else, too
People that criticize streets or transit for "not being accessible to someone in a wheelchair" always seem to ignore how dodging a car in a wheelchair is hard.
Yup, the criticism is usually that there won't be parking right in front of whatever destination, but how often is there actually available and accessible parking in front of popular destinations now?
It also focuses on a particular segment of the disabled population - those with mobility impairments and the financial means to afford a car (and typically have someone to drive them) - and prevents people who live nearby or are reliant on transit to move independently. (And of course the diversity of other disabilities that can prevent someone from being able to drive, or that disabled people frequently have more limited income)
I found it baffling that someone would complain about the safety issues of bicycles hitting pedestrians without even considering that cars are way more dangerous for both cyclists and pedestrians
The shopping mall is a good analogy actually. Shopping malls don’t let you drive into the mall. Yet drivers demand to drive into every street.
I live near to one of these streets and I so heavily dread it ending that I can't fully enjoy it! I wish they would make it last longer, maybe a six month thing.
I definitely fantasize about what cities would look like if every two or three streets were pedestrianized
You guys make the best videos, great work!
It’s interesting that you mention accessibility issues and the needs of people with reduced mobility, including elevator access to the metro. These topics usually fly under the radar of non-disabled people. Kudos. Would you be interested to devote one of your wonderful videos to the seemingly intractable accessibility issues we face in Montreal? It would be really cool.
It's funny you should mention accessibility, b/c I took a trip to Montreal a few years back and found it way more accessible as a mobility device user than where I live (Ontario, Canada). I'm sure living there would be a different story, but it was shocking how much easier it was for me to get around.
@@hexkitten7024 then I can't imagine how awful access must be in Ontario! 😨Unlike Québec, though, Ontario has had a universal accessibility statute since 2005. Surely, your province must have made some progress thanks to this legislation? I find that Quebec is lagging behind in so many areas. Patchy access to local shops and (very) partial access to the Montreal subway are two of my biggest pet peeves. The Toronto subway is supposed to be fully accessible by 2025, is it not?
As a Dutchman, I applaud! Just look at it. What more do you need to convince city councils, shop owners and all the other stakeholders that opening up down town streets for walking and biking is simply great. Or better yet: redesign it to stay. In winter too. Can you imagine how it'll look at Christmas, with all the lights and decorations? Imagine Christmas markets, stands with hot chocolate and maybe even Dutch erwtensoep.
And think of it: those people walking there are normally car drivers, but they're not in their cars! Combined with reliable public transport and a connecting bicycle network, you've got a place where everybody wants to live or to open up a shop.
Nice reference in that thumbnail! Excellent song of theirs 👌
0:32 my eyes were immediately drawn to the crooked saddle. I’m so glad you decided to fix it at 0:36.
Glad to see these pedestrian streets have been such a success!
Merci!!! You Make My Day!! I enjoy Car Free Streets!
Great Arcade Fire reference in the title
Many of the businesses that initially whined to the media in 2020 about lost parking spaces, like "Sweet" Lee's on Wellington, are now benefitting massively from increased foot traffic.
I really wish my small city had done this with their downtown! It is just about perfectly suited to pedestrianization, and is in fact blocked to traffic every Sunday morning for a farmers market. But apparently the residents adjacent to downtown opposed pedestrianization because they feared parking spilling over into their neighborhoods.
NIMBYs ruin everything
My small college town does the same things with frequent closures in summer for the weekly market and art festivals, but downtown businesses "showed a perception" that there was not enough parking on main street in a city survey...so they have only expanded it since 2008.
I would love a separate video focused on accessibility. I find a lot of people with disabilities/elderly pushing back against car-free streets or less car infrastructure in general because they say that it's less accessible to those with mobility needs or those who cannot walk as much. Some people would not agree to any reduction in car accessibility at all, or if public transit and building was not addressed first.
As sympathetic as I am to them, I can't agree given how deadly and dangerous vehicles are, killing people before they even get the chance to grow old, or causing many of the disabilities that necessitates people to use cars. Not to say anything of the economic ability to have a car to begin with. I see so many elderly and disabled people walking and using transit but somehow they don't get included in those debates.
The argument that we need cars for accessibility honestly irritates me so much, because it completely neglects to acknowledge any of the disabilities that prevent one from being able to drive safely (a car isn't gonna help if you can't see is it)
saying cars are necessary for accessibility utterly disregards those with disability that would benifit from not having to ask friends or family or taxis to be chauffeured around in a car to be able to travel anywhere beyond their front door, for whom a well designed transport system and pedestrian friendly infrastructure would be a great benifit to their autonomy
I know a lot of peoples understanding of "disability" only goes as deep as "people in a wheelchair"
But even for the disabilities where one can still drive a car fine, is it really that much of a stretch to imagine smaller accessibility vehicles that can take advantage of bike infrastructure or coexist with pedestrians, such as the Dutch Canta, or a variation on already existent accessibility scooters
So yeah, i second that a video on the accessibility of pedestrian friendly design would be nice, to help dispel the myth that cars are needed for accessibility (i would honestly argue that cars actually are less accessible for most people with disability)
Many grocery stores provide battery powered wheelchair-like devices (but with a basket) at the entrance for disabled people to use while browsing the aisles. Something similar could probably work here too.
I had the pleasure of living in Montreal for this summer and the pedestrianized streets streets were a highlight of my stay, along with the bike lanes. Coming from the GTA, it was an amazing change. I could just relax on the bench and enjoy the good weather without the noise or smell of cars. Really makes me consider moving to Montreal.
Okay, both of y’all have convinced me to visit Montreal and see this epicness for myself!
Hello from Montreal, you should visit during the jazz/ comedy festival. More streets are closed….and you don’t need a car. Practice your French….joking
@@davidgill2520 thanks for the heads up, I’ll definitely look into that.
You missed the Ontario street. I love it and those streets should expand. You can connect with people, have cultural events for the public, have fun art anywhere and its good for your health!
Walking through these streets was amazing, I loved Montreal ! I just want to go back there for a longer period !
As someone lucky enough to live within walking distance of a permanently pedestrianized space like this (Boulder, Colorado's Pearl Street Mall), I'm curious what the logic is behind only banning cars for the summer. I know Montreal is cold and snowy, but it doesn't snow 9 months out of the year. If these pedestrianized streets are nice during the summer, it seems to me they should be equally nice during the spring and fall (and still nicer than a car sewer during the winter).
Church Street in Burlington, Vermont is like this too. Even in the harsh Vermont winters, it's still nice to stroll along the street
Yeah that's what's missing. On wellington street they put LEDs on tree and christmas music in the winter. Makes for a nice evening walk and I really wish it would be banned to moto vehicles all year round. When it snows hard you can still walk but you can't drive!
No problem with winter and snow. Actually you can put up Christmas decorations and little fires to keep the place warm.
Hello from Montreal, what you saw in the video is only a small portion of the city. Car access is always maintained on the major streets in that area (the area know as the plateau), located east of the downtown. Also there is an underground (Metro) system that people would normally used to travel. People are quite used to street closures for sporting events. The rest of the island (the city of Montreal is actually on an island) doesn’t close their streets it’s more suburban. Single family homes…also the streets aren’t closed in the winter but the city plows the bike paths. Take care
The streets are for pedestrians only from May to the last day of October, so it's basically during all of spring and fall. In November, it generally rains a lot and people in the city don't go out much and in April there is sometimes still snow on the ground
Hello from Montreal, great video. I live in NDG Notre dame de grace just west of the city. It’s night and day from Montreal’s plateau where you show all these great streets. I can’t understand why this is not happening over here. There is so much more space to implement better bike paths and walkable streets. But the problem as you go west of the island of the city is that your entering areas where you have simple family homes and street parking for that home. Residents are totally opposed to bike paths on their streets. The city should at least build paths that lead to the various schools and groceries stores. Another big problem on the other side is that we don’t have any central meeting areas ie. outdoor markets. Commerce also has to promote and help the situation. Bike racks and maybe bike shelters. Anyways you guys to a great job maybe have a look at areas that can be improved. Thanks
Monkland or Fielding have a lot of potential to open to pedestrians, but I think it may be due to a mix of a lacking will from neighbourhood administration and that besides Monkland the other major commercial streets are stroads so not many businesses would benefit, in Verdun this is a great time for businesses and the neighbourhood administration have been working on it from that angle since it started, so I'm guessing Monkland is the best fit.
I remember in the past that a few blocks of Monkland were closed for at least a couple of weeks, was that just for the festivals? I remember they got cancelled because of some complaints & maybe shady financial dealings in the background.
@@WhiskyCanuck Hi, your right the businesses where supposed donate proceeds to a charity outlined by the city in order to get city help. They kept the money. Anyways ndg needs help. I think maybe widening the sidewalks on Sherbrooke street and making them beautiful to promote walking. Getting rid of any parking is the dirty expression. Take care
@@Hyperventilacion Hi, I think Sherbrooke street needs some help. We should develop wider sidewalks with a protected bike path that slows the cars down. Parking only on one side and the shops should provide bike racks etc. Get the locals out of their cars. Not easy but the city should start by doing it in the summer.
@@davidgill2520 Yep, there's definitely plenty of space for that on Sherbrooke, it would help a lot to have some protected lanes on a perpendicular street to get the people there and connect with Maisonneuve and Sherbrooke, Cavendish and Wesminister or Broadway?
Great video, and an inspiring project! Do you have a link to the survey you referenced -- showing high levels of support for the project?
love the pedestrian street give more room for restaurant terrasse. It's really lovely.
I would love to see a few streets opened to people in Halifax and Moncton like this.
Apparently downtown Dartmouth is doing a pilot program to pedestrianize Portland Street between Prince and Alderney at the end of July! Agree that more places in the maritimes need this!
Great episode! Keep up your amazing work!
Really love this video. Great to see the positive changes!
J'aime tellement la ville de Montreal!! Ma maison future et les rues sans voitures sont un de plus choses que j'aime a propos de cette belle ville!! Bravo!
I can imagine Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco doing this.
Thanks!
This is a beautiful video that absolutely illustrates the pros of pedestrianized streets! I really hope there is momentum to make these changes permanent because I can't see a reason why anyone wants the cars back in other seasons.
Vancouver needs to do this!
A cool option I saw in Chamonix was that all their core streets that are opened up to walking are blocked with servo controlled bollards. There is a key fob scanner that allows the city maintenance truck, or emergency vehicles to retract them into the ground as needed. So if your city has no alleyways or other way to provide deliveries for businesses this is a way to let in the odd van here or there when needed instead of having specified hours.
Not as quaint or charming or beautiful as NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE in world class , marvelous O N T A R I O . This from a former Montrealer.
Oh can we please have more car free streets in Toronto!
when nyc does this, my brain breaks. their green streets program brings a feeling of safety and joy that is often rare. young people get to learn at their own pace without catching a crown victoria to the booty
I live in PEI Canada, and in our capitol, Charlottetown, we have closed a couple streets in the downtown during the summers for many years now and it has been great. It is great for the stores along the street and especially good for the pub scene since they can have open patios out onto the street. One of our main industries in the province is tourism, and in Charlottetown we get a lot of tourist on cruise ships coming into the port who don't have access to vehicles and want to explore the city so they must get around with transit and walking. Having streets open to pedestrians with shops and pub, in our downtown, right by the historical and culturally important places, is great for tourist and a huge boon for our small economy.
Quebec City is trying it this summer and I love it!
The worst part of this is that it only lasts 3-4 months in the summer. I went on St-Denis earlier this year in April, and I was surprised the street was not pedestrianized already. Sidewalks were jam packed with people and you already had outdoor patios with customers on them. Most of the space was taken by a long line of car trying to go somewhere at a slower speed than a bicycle in the middle of the road. This needs to last all year.
We need to lobby to make this happen
Saint-Denis est une artère importante pour atteindre la rive-sud. En effet, il serait intéressant qu'elle devienne piétonne, mais je crois que si l'administration va trop vite et transforme trop de rues en même temps, elle va perdre l'adhésion de la population et elle risque de perdre les prochaines élections. Tout serait à recommencer. Imaginez un peu si Coderre avait gagné... Une première étape a été franchise sur Saint-Denis avec la piste cyclable qui a prouvé que les Montréalais aiment se déplacer en vélo et profitent des nouvelles infrastructures qui le permettent. Ensuite, des consultations doivent avoir lieu dans la population. Il faut garder un certain équilibre et ne pas causer trop de trafic trop vite. Je crois aussi qu'il faut améliorer l'offre de transport en commun avant de fermer trop d'artères aux automobilistes. Les autobus sont en retard et ne passent pas souvent. Un tramway pourrait être une bonne idée. Le problème, c'est que ça prend plus de 50 ans au Québec pour améliorer le transport en commun, on a qu'à penser au prolongement de la ligne bleue de métro. Bref, on peut "piétonniser" des rues, mais il faut assurer la mobilité dans la ville...
My city in the North of England was mostly pedestrianised in the late 80’s as it has a medieval street pattern.
At the time there was fierce opposition from retailers.
Now the area is spreading - keep going Montreal this is a virtuous circle - less pollution and more people in the city centre spending money !!
Was there last week. The sense of community and people-friendliness, and numerous artists, musicians, ect. Made me wonder why everywhere else chooses to build strodes
Y'all do such a great job with the thoughtful commentary and great video editing!
Much appreciated!
Nice Arcade Fire reference in the thumbnail
I never get the weather argument Canadians love to use. "It's too cold to cycle!" or as briefly mentioned in this video (5:30), "Why keep the pedestrian street over the winter? Nobody walks when it's cold."
Sure, it is unpleasant when it's cold, but _winter clothes exist_ which magically keep you warm so that you don't freeze outside. If pedestrian and cycle friendly places exist and are well mainained, people will keep using them in the winter.
Hi from Montreal, the streets aren’t closed in the winter but the city does plow the major bike paths. Some people do bike in the winter I skate…
I worked as a snow remover for one winter. The very cold days of -20 C to -30 C were fine. The days of -5 C to 0 C however, not so great, with freezing rain and slush, I'd often get wet even with water-proof gear and thus my body would lose a lot of heat and I'd get sick. That's the real problem.
My city of Nottingham has done something a little similar though focused on school streets. During the pandemic they basically blocked off the streets to all through traffic and parents parking up to collect children, the end result was that both the residents, the school children, and even the parents all found it better.
For the residents and the students, they dealt with less car noise and less pollution. For the parents they found it easier to drop their children off as instead of all of them trying to cram into the limited space on a single street, they were now spread out over several nearby streets that the children could easily walk the final hundred metres to the school from.
The scheme was such a success that they've made several of them permanent with these massive planters being used as bollards basically to provide more greenery and plants in general in the area. They've still not rebuilt the roads themselves as well there are still residential homes there, but it's a good step in the right direction and when mixed with the increasing bike lane/path network in the city it's making it much better overall.
As for doing stuff like this for businesses, well the centre of the city is basically car free (though not bus free), and it's rarely if ever empty even on rainy days. Don't know so much about the centres of the suburbs, but well there's always room for improvement.
Need this in Vancouver, in fact in every city
We have tried car free streets in my city and it has been total disaster. Our city centre builds mostly from restaurants, bars and pubs. At first when city started to charge for parking, those entrepreneurs started to claim how every money customers use for parking is away from money they spend for beer. Now after car free streets, amount of customers have significantly dropped, because way to walk back for their car is too long for drunken customers. And instead of those people goint to home for sleep, they remain on street starting knife-/gun-fights against each other.
Where in the would is this? I'm not sure people that drunk should actually be driving anyway 😬 Perhaps there should be better transport taken into account or safe spaces for people to sleep it off, like a capsule hotel or something...
so they were drunk driving before??
It's probably ''un coup d'épée dans l'eau'' as we say in french, but I would really love a video about the third link (le 3e lien). It's a very hot topic in Quebec and there's, at the same time, a lot of information going around and also not a lot of information. I'm far from being an urbanist and I would like to know more about the subject.
Keep doing your wonderful videos, we like them a lot ! Thank you for all your hard work!
The world's most popular tourist destinations are where people go out and walk around.
One thing I've been trying to explain to people as far as accessibility is that many of these streets have shops that aren't even accessible to begin with. They then have the space to add temporary ramps in the summer when the streets become pedestrian streets. Many of them have a patrimonial aspect and aren't able to permanently "deface" the building, or the sidewalk is simply too narrow, making it difficult to add concrete ramps for wheelchair users. Pedestrian streets can become a sustainable solution for keeping the architecture on these streets intact while giving better access to wheelchairs.
My local farmers market 'closes' aka pedestrianizes one block of a local street. A street that is lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, historic features, and other fun things for most of its 3 mile length. I wish we could have that car-free street all the time! And for all 3 miles!
On the accessibility issue, I would like to just underline again the importance of accessibility for wheelchairs and mobility scooters in Ste Catherine street. They are dozen of them for my walk from the metro to my job when it's pedestrian and none (maybe one or two occasionally) when car are allowed. It does not reduce accessibility, it is absolutely the contraire and anyone walking or on wheelchairs will tell you the exact same thing and allow far more liberty to circulate for them, the sidewalks always being too narrow at times.
As a business co-owner, we can also confirm that as soon as the road is closing for pedestrian access, the revenues go down, as soon as it reopens, it goes up, and not by a small percentage under 10%, way more than that. Every commerce around (especially restaurant and food business) has the same see the same thing
There's a community of motorized wheelchair and scooter users in Verdun and they seem to get around much faster and easier when Wellington is closed. Thanks for confirming this!
Yes, the speed of commuting is also something I did not consider! They go quite slowly on the pavement, on the road, they can go way faster!
i live in sarnia this gives me hope for my city yet
Great video! I wonder id Oh the urbanity has opinions on which Ottawa streets could be pedestrianized.
Love the plateau and la rue Mont Royal. Love my Montreal.
I feel the background video at 2:00 gives such a great example of what pedestrianization does: make commuting FUN! And not the kind of "drive 100 mph down a highway" or "see how threatening you can be to cars around you" fun but stuff like doing tricks on a random pipe in the street because you can. And I know that pipe was probably placed there on purpose for people to practice recreationally, but there's no reason you couldn't have something similar in spirit to it for walking, biking, and other modes.
Although, I should also add that having entirely recreational bike/walk paths is almost equally bad as none, as lots of people do want to just have a quick, straight line to their destination without any fuss.
You should have mentioned Rachel, which I beleive was first to get permanent closure and which turned the area into a destination with many restaurants.
Practically, I can understand "summer" pedestrianization, since there would be fewer people outsoors in winter, no need for terraces etc and snow clearling would become a challenge. But would be an interesting experiement to see if closing street to cars in winter would still increase foot traffic to shops. (especially as Montréal sidewalks are so terrible in winter).
Prince Arthur east of St Laurence was the first permanently pedestrianized street in Montreal (starting in the 1980s) -- and it was the experience of it basically turning into a ghost town every winter that led to the summer-only pedestrianization of other streets (the first of those was Ste-Catherine-est through the gay village about ten years ago -- it started as happening part of the summer, then expanded to all summer.)
@@otsoko66 Merci ! I keep forgetting whether it was Rachel or Prince Arthur. !!!
Here's the thing to ask people who say it's preventing people from getting there in cars : Why then don't you ask your local administration for a similar thing in your neighborhood so you can get there by walking?
The fact is there is a LOT more people coming from closer around the pedestrian streets, so if you live in an are with enough population, any commercial street can become pedestrian at least in summer. It also helps for local and smaller neighborhood shops. The thing is we have gotten used to driving to huge commercial areas for everything when in fact having a place to stroll around is quite viable and pleasant.
Pedestrian areas are mainly for the people who live close by or are within distance of public transit. As such, an argument can be made that you should argue for good public transit to take you to pedestrian streets long before you ask for car space.
Ya close up sources and have people just strolling down the double 3 lane blvd going from strip mall to strip mall to support all the local franchises…ur so out of touch with reality it’s mind boggling…i am willing to bet u don’t even own a car. Woke hipsters are ruining the city.
@@jaystay1514 Aren't you all cute and fuzzy.
@@Damorann thank you
Most street in Montreal are large enough to have a large band of pedestrian road, a good bicycle path and a little car line for people who live there to park in one way.
It would be majestic to do 20-50% of the streets like that ! I hope we get there soon ! :)
The Lord Mayor of my city has said on record (in just the last three months) that he doesn't support speed limits lower than 50kph because he doesn't believe in punishing innocent motorists, and then a few weeks later that electric scooters should be heavily restricted because getting hit by an escooter at 30kph is as dangerous to pedestrians as getting hit by an SUV at 100kph.
Yep. He's one of the good ones.. /s
There are so many areas in my city that would be perfect to make pedestrian only, but also many more that would simply be impossible due to their role as both the only major traffic routes and shopping strips with no other alternatives. At most the amount of travel lanes could be restricted to one each way without parking to allow for more pedestrian areas.
Once streets are closed to cars they are open to life, liberty, and persuit of happiness.
It's great to hear that Montreal's Metro is moving to (finally) install elevators. With a growing, aging population and the attendant medical/mobility issues, it simply makes sense to have public transit be accessible to them. Here, in Singapore, all of the MRT (Metro) stations have elevators with trains having designated wheelchair sections. In fact, they're bringing in new trains that will have even larger wheelchair sections. And, the buses have recently all been switched over to ones with wheelchair spots. Well, one spot only but still.
I am not crazy about pedestrian zones but I am also not a leisurely type of walking guy. So long as I can drive/ride/bus to my destination, I'm happy.
When I was a student in Montreal (2013-2017) we had a guest speaker once from the STM who came to speak about accessibility stuff. At the time, they were projecting that the metro wouldn't be 100% accessible until some time in the 2040s.
@@mohammadkhan3230 I have lived in both Montreal and Toronto and they're terrible when it comes to public transit accessibility.
Saint-Catherine in the Village really should be pedestrian year-round, and at Place-des-Arts as well