What does DTK need?

[danbrotherston]

How so? Ottawa does not have one. Calgary does, and AFAIK Calgary's is....fine?

FWIW...it should have been a transit mall, but it doesn't matter now, it being a pedestrian plaza is even better for King St. but worse for the city.

Ottawa got rid of theirs (Rideau St).  It was a mess.

So, I didn't even know about this...but it was built in the 70s and 80s right?

Frankly, I can't even find any pictures of it, but given how bad urban planning was in that era, I don't think there's a lot that we can learn about the concept other than that it is possible to do badly.

Calgary is a much much better analogue. It runs trains, not buses and it's more recent.

But in either case, it's totally irrelevant, the real comparison is more like the open streets in Ottawa (or like, every European city centre).