03-05-2019, 04:43 PM
(03-05-2019, 02:54 PM)JJTL Wrote: Working downtown for the past few years now, I have been a regular attendee to summer events where they close King St temporarily (King St Cruise Night, Food Trucks, Oktoberfest, Blues Fest, etc.) and my thought is always "Wow look at all the people who have come out!". Particularly when the weather is really nice of course. Last year the Cruising on King you were literally bumping into people. It really is a wonderful experience, and I can't even yet imagine how cool it would be to have it extended to Kitchener Market. If you haven't yet experienced one of the DTK events, I highly recommend checking it out while keeping this idea in mind.
The existing temporary event closures on King, already help to set a precedent and also provide data (reference) for businesses. Also many of the restaurants and coffee shops already have street patios on King. Absolutely agreed that if King were closed from July to Oktoberfest, that there should be a lot of planning that goes in to having events, activities, markets, etc. planned to maximize the space.
Interestingly, many of the restaurants do not like these events because they usually have food trucks and other food vendors come into down town. This has always bugged me because it is a missed opportunity to gain good will with local businesses, and also, food trucks are usually noisy and stinky.
Another closure that was interesting, was when King was closed for an extended period (a week or more) for the Mayfair hotel demolition. It was very interesting to see that even without a big event and a street reconfiguration, people began to walk all through the street. There is clearly demand.