Each Tuesday, Spacing Montreal will share some posts from our sister blog, Spacing Toronto. We hope it will fuel constructive dialogue on the urban issues faced by both cities.
Three’s a crowd
After observing diminishing sidewalk space around the city with the implementation of new bus shelters, Dylan Reid set out to get some evidence of this change, tape measure in hand. His findings demonstrate that some of these shelters leave less than the standard 2.1 meters of sidewalk space.
By George
Stemming from the Palladian architecture of the Italian Renaissance, Georgian architecture took shape during King George’s reign in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Thomas Wicks takes a look at the evolution and legacy of the Georgian style in Toronto.
New York, New York
Shawn Micallef notes his observations of a characteristic element of New York City that we generally lack here in Toronto: the street canopy. He takes a look at why our streets lack them, and asks Spacing readers whether canopies are an encroachment or a positive addition to city sidewalks.
One comment
The main in Montreal has gotten its makeover last year with enlarged sidewalk spaces, which helped in making the street more pedestrian friendly, and will probably help to increase sales for boutique owners. We’ve seen those enlarged sidewalks popping up over the city (Quartier International, Bernard St., Milton st., St-Laurent blvd for instance), and citizens of the plateau would like to see Mont-Royal reconfigured the same way.
It makes sense too. Larger sidewalks means it’s more comfortable for pedestrians. In winter, everyone has a bit more space to move around in spite of the snow. That space real estate is usually borrowed from the streets themselves, making them narrower and slowing down traffic (less intimidating for pedestrians).
Regarding canopies, there’s a big one all over Plaza St-Hubert and it didn’t do anything for it. Maybe because of the way it was implemented. I don’t know about Toronto, but in Montreal, our streets are lined with trees. Is there really a need for canopies then?