Car-free streets in downtown Montreal took ‘political guts.’ Can Toronto do the same?

www.thestar.com Car-free streets in downtown Montreal took ‘political guts.’ Can Toronto do the same?

Closing streets in Montreal to traffic has proven popular with residents, tourists and businesses.

By Lex Harvey • Toronto Star

Non-paywall

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i hope so. i think making pedestrian friendly streets are something we are scared to try because its new, but i dont think its a bad thing.
- its new
  Only if you ignore the >100 years during which Toronto existed before cars. Downtown areas do not benefit from car traffic, the more inner roads that can be converted to walking/biking/bus/streetcar only use the better.
  
  Aren't the Toronto islands already car free?
  
  Yup its the only suburban neighbourhood in north America that is completly car free.
  Trouble is zoning laws in Ontario and anywhere else in north America prevent cities from building more neighbourhoods like this.
  Examples include things like minimum parking requirements, minimum setback, fire codes and even policing all play a part in shaping this. If you ever look at new suburban developments, think how hard its to get a convenience store or small supermarket build right inside the suburb.
  Its a shame because we really should not be building suburbs with the same two or three single family homes repeated over and over, its really inefficient. We should start having townhomes, fourplexes, small 4-5 level mixed use condos, subways and trams with busways incorporated. Existing suburban layouts should also start adding missing middle housing inside whereever possible by changing zoning.
  
  Preaching to the choir here.
- Do not want to try because the people don't want to give up the rural life, you mean.
  Originally cities were built to free the people from having to use any form of transportation beyond their own two feet. They have slowly transitioned into wannabe rural areas because people have become increasingly enamoured with the idea of living like farmers, needing to get into a vehicle every time they go to do something.
- "Pedestrian streets" are not really "new", it's just something that we as North Americans have forgotten about.
  We see large Walmart parking lots as normal and 6 lane "strodes" as nothing weird in cities and suburbs.

31 comments