Pelissier st. Village could be Kensington Village - Calgary Part I
Kensington Village caught my attention because I felt that it had many parallels to Pelissier Street.
In my first report back from the IDA conference in Calgary I’m sending back pictures of Kensington Village.
When I advocated for districting, the two “naysaying” comments I received were
1. Downtown isn’t big enough to break up into smaller districts
2. Can you even explain to people what you mean or envision by the name “Pelissier Street Village
Well Kensington Village in Calgrary is one street approximately the same length as Pelissier from Wyandotte to Chatham.
It has one street jutting out with some commercial which I consider the equivalent length of Maiden lane
Well here was what I had envisioned. And look at the nice signage, nice awnings, nice design guidelines. The sidewalks were worn and nothing special but the area had a very village like feel to it. There is no reason our Pelissier could not be the exact same
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This is a great idea. Anywhere you look in larger (or other) cities they do just this. Have you ever been to Baldwin Street in Toronto? It’s a strip of little more than a block, but is full of restaurants, bakery, yoga studios, and always full of people. Pelissier street already has an advantage of having existing businesses and the YMCA, which brings in a daily group of people to the street. I think a few patios that cater to more than bar hoppers and some streetscaping will create this village feel.
It’s the economy stupid! Windsor has character, convenience, and quality of life comparable to any city in North America. Unfortunately the local economy is and has been in recession for a few years now.
Recession is painful but necessary. It corrects mal-investments that occurred in boom times and helps finds better uses for things. Recession is also a self-correcting process.
I think Windsor’s future is very bright. As other regions in Canada begin faltering (Latest news out of Oshawa, Oakville, and St. Catherines) Windsor is showing signs of stabilizing.
Why only Pelissier? I would love to see downtown roads closed to cars every weekend and a pedestrian only farmer’s market / flea market move in (similar to the market in Ottawa).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byward_Market#First_Market
Would be great for the local restaurants and shops.
I forgot to mention that Kensington ends at 10th street filled with restaurants just like Pelissier ends into Chatham streets restaurant row.
Of course, one difference between our two cities is that Calgary has no legal massage parlors (I’m sure illegal ones exist but no signage or leased in main floor sites. Calgary also has an extended dance bylaw that requires licencing and fees
http://www.calgary.ca/DocGallery/BU/cityclerks/34m2000.pdf
“7. An Extended Dance Event Licence is not required for wedding dances, staff parties, community dances, school dances, or similar events.
8. An Extended Dance Event Licence is valid for only one Extended Dance Event and only for the Venue and date identified in the application for the Extended Dance Event Licence.
I love Pillisier Street! Especially the two and half blocks from Pitt to about the middle of the block between Park and Wyandotte! The narrowness of the street and the closed in feeling of the condos and other taller buildings give it an intimate feeling, like the newly streetscape block of Ouellette between University and Park … a New York type of a short city block neighbourhood that connects two districts. Its to bad that most drivers using that street, use as a race course …It would be good street to return to two way to slow the drivers down!
I think it’s a great idea… but who is going to fill these empty units/buildings? The city would have to somehow give tax breaks or some sort of insentive to encourage business’ to locate there.
I think this city would be better off doing something similar to the Kansas City Power and Light District. KC’s Downtown was pretty much non-existant before this. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_%26_Light_District
I think it’s a great idea….. but who is going to fill these empty units/buildings? The city would have to somehow give tax breaks or some sort of insentive to encourage business’ to locate there.
I think this city would be better off doing something similar to the Kansas City Power and Light District. KC’s Downtown was pretty much non-existant before this. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_%26_Light_District
Love it, Mark!
That link to KC is excellent … I visited a ’similar’ project in Newport Kentucky across the river from Cinci Ohio and it was pretty cool … How about Downtown Hamilton as an example of what Pelissier could be … I visited an area known as (i think) Hess Village … a series of restaurants with patios crawling with people on the Sat nite that I was there … hair salons by day, restos by night