[Uptown] Erb/Bridgeport/Caroline/Albert Reconstruction

[Canard]

What is the effect on overall hourly capacity of the right-of-way (all modes included, if one likes)?

[tomh009]

Coincidentally enough, a blog post regarding the conversion of one-way street systems just passed across my radar.

The upshot is, auto traffic gets calmer, people and businesses are attracted to the higher foot traffic, property values go up, etc. How applicable that is to Waterloo is a different question.

Sadly, the author doesn't seem to understand the difference between causality and mere correlation.

But after the couplet was returned to its two-way origins:

Steadily, crime fell, property values rose and retail revenues increased, he said. New investment followed, as residents and business owners rushed to take advantage of the improving landscape.

How do we know that this improvement was caused by the change from one-way to two-way streets? 

Locally in KItchener, crime has fallen and property values have increased in Cedar Hill.  Was there some hidden one-way street in the Cedar Hill neighbourhood that was converted to two-way?  Or could it possibly be that there are other possible causes for drops in crime and improvements in property values?

[notmyfriends]

A few years ago, I saw an old woman drive the wrong way up St.George from Cedar, not a care in the world. Maybe that one time was all it took.

[panamaniac]

A few years ago, I saw an old woman drive the wrong way up St.George from Cedar, not a care in the world.  Maybe that one time was all it took.

Don't tell anyone, but it wouldn't be just the one time - I did that myself a couple of years back!

[MidTowner]

How do we know that this improvement was caused by the change from one-way to two-way streets? 

Locally in KItchener, crime has fallen and property values have increased in Cedar Hill.  Was there some hidden one-way street in the Cedar Hill neighbourhood that was converted to two-way?  Or could it possibly be that there are other possible causes for drops in crime and improvements in property values?

The argument is that converting one-way streets to two-way has myriad benefits. It is not that some or all of those benefits can only be achieved by converting one-way streets to two-way.What does Cedar Hill have to do with it? Property values increase, and crime falls, in all kinds of neighbourhoods...but what would most of those have to do with a discussion about converting one-way streets?

There are a lot of case studies very nearby us of streets that reverted back to two-way that we don't need to hypothesize about neighbourhoods that aren't relevant to the discussion. In Kitchener, maybe we would talk about Charles and Duke instead of low-volume streets in Cedar Hill. Only very slightly farther afield, streets like St. Paul in St. Catharines and James in Hamilton have benefited from reversion from one-way.

[jamincan]

A few years ago, I saw an old woman drive the wrong way up St.George from Cedar, not a care in the world.  Maybe that one time was all it took.

Don't tell anyone, but it wouldn't be just the one time - I did that myself a couple of years back!

Guerrilla traffic calming?

[darts]

How do we know that this improvement was caused by the change from one-way to two-way streets? 

Locally in KItchener, crime has fallen and property values have increased in Cedar Hill.  Was there some hidden one-way street in the Cedar Hill neighbourhood that was converted to two-way?  Or could it possibly be that there are other possible causes for drops in crime and improvements in property values?

The argument is that converting one-way streets to two-way has myriad benefits. It is not that some or all of those benefits can only be achieved by converting one-way streets to two-way.What does Cedar Hill have to do with it? Property values increase, and crime falls, in all kinds of neighbourhoods...but what would most of those have to do with a discussion about converting one-way streets?

There are a lot of case studies very nearby us of streets that reverted back to two-way that we don't need to hypothesize about neighbourhoods that aren't relevant to the discussion. In Kitchener, maybe we would talk about Charles and Duke instead of low-volume streets in Cedar Hill. Only very slightly farther afield, streets like St. Paul in St. Catharines and James in Hamilton have benefited from reversion from one-way.

At the same time Kitchener and the region have put a lot of focus in the area and spent a lot of money there and in surrounding areas to attract more development.

[DHLawrence]

Has there been a study of the restoration of two-way traffic on Water and Ainslie in Cambridge?

[notmyfriends]

Don't tell anyone, but it wouldn't be just the one time - I did that myself a couple of years back!

Guerrilla traffic calming?

Hijacking the one-way streets, blocking the beltway and all.

[tomh009]

How do we know that this improvement was caused by the change from one-way to two-way streets? 

Locally in KItchener, crime has fallen and property values have increased in Cedar Hill.  Was there some hidden one-way street in the Cedar Hill neighbourhood that was converted to two-way?  Or could it possibly be that there are other possible causes for drops in crime and improvements in property values?

The argument is that converting one-way streets to two-way has myriad benefits. It is not that some or all of those benefits can only be achieved by converting one-way streets to two-way.What does Cedar Hill have to do with it? Property values increase, and crime falls, in all kinds of neighbourhoods...but what would most of those have to do with a discussion about converting one-way streets?

Sorry, I probably should not have used sarcasm in comment. 

The point is that there are many possible reasons for reductions in crime, and for increases in property values.  The blog author assumes all of that is due to the change from a pair of one-way streets to two-way streets.  Just because the improvements in the crime rate and the property values were subsequent to making the streets two-way, does not automatically mean that those improvements were CAUSED by that change.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlatio..._causation

[jamincan]

While you're fundamentally correct, the correlation doesn't exist in a vacuum. It is also supported by some very reasonable mechanisms for causative effects.

[tomh009]

I am absolutely not saying two-way streets are a bad thing. But jumping to conclusions is never good.

And BECAUSE it's not in a vacuum, it's hard to isolate the effects. You can't do a double-blind study vs a placebo, for example, to confirm the effects, as there are many factors to play in any city. And to me, I am always going to be more skeptical of studies commissioned to confirm an expected result (crime fell! property values are up!) than of ones that don't start with a preconceived notion of the "right" answer.

[BuildingScout]

The upshot is, auto traffic gets calmer, people and businesses are attracted to the higher foot traffic, property values go up, etc. How applicable that is to Waterloo is a different question.

Oh, generally speaking a two way street is better than a one way street. But there are a ton of exceptions, for example when you want to make an impassable grid on side streets like in Toronto, or when you have arterial roads, such as erb and bridgeport. As I pointed out before arterial roads tend to be ugly one way or two way unless they are so wide than you can make them into boulevards with high speed lanes in the centre then trees then slow speed lanes on the side with ample parking. e.g.

https://goo.gl/maps/MBr87CX5TPC2

[panamaniac]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the idea of two-way streets improving the urban fabric of formerly one-way street dominated cities go back many years?  I know I've seen references to it in the past.  In Kitchener's case, I'm not sure I've seen big improvements (yet?) on Duke or Charles that I can attribute to the return of two-way traffic.

[jamincan]

Duke/Charles is an interesting example, actually. Charles is easily able to handle the existing traffic, what was the traffic situation like prior to it switching to two-way? It's hard to fathom that they thought one-way streets were ever necessary in DT Kitchener.