Pedestrian streets, a mixed blessing
La Presse looked into how merchants assess the benefits of pedestrianized streets and, not surprisingly, the responses are mixed. In inquiring along Mont‑Royal and St‑Hubert Plaza, the journalist finds that while some shop owners find pedestrianizing a benefit, others feel sales are down because of the removal of parking spaces.
Joey 10:21 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
If we’re going to do more of this – and I suspect we should and will – we need more than just merchant anecdotes and a sense of vibes to understand the implications. The owner of a clothing store on Mt-Royal blames pedestrianization on a decline in sales compared to last year – yet the journalist doesn’t push back (wasn’t Mt-Royal closed to cars last year too?).
It would also be interesting to quantify how many Montrealers – in direct contradiction to the naysayers – actually seek out shopping/dining on these closed streets specifically because there are no cars. Surely there must be people who travel from, say, the West Island to spend an afternoon strolling on Wellington or Mt-Royal.
DeWolf 11:12 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
The article cites an SDC survey that shows 30% of businesses on Mont-Royal reported a decline in business during the pedestrianized period in 2023. That’s a good starting point, but we also need to consider that these streets are public spaces, not shopping malls, and just because they are lined by businesses doesn’t mean the business owners are the only voices that count. What is the benefit to the surrounding neighbourhood? What is the benefit to people to travel to the street from afar? What is the impact on air pollution and noise levels? How much does pedestrianization affect people with mobility issues?
We also need an analysis of exactly how much benefit on-street parking gives to businesses, considering its extremely noxious impact on the city overall. Here’s another anecdote to add to the pile: St-Hubert was de-pedestrianized ahead of schedule and when I was cycling home the other day (and being tailgated by an Uber) I noticed there was absolutely no parking available on the street, and yet this was Saturday at 10pm, well after all of the shops and most of the restaurants had closed. The bars were lively but certainly not any more so than during pedestrianization. So where did all these cars come from? Where did they go during pedestrianization?
jeather 13:35 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
And 43% said they sold more, and we don’t know if this was actually fact checked in any way. I did not look for the SDC report, but the wording suggests that they just took everyone’s word for it.
DeWolf 17:44 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
Yes, it sounds like it was a survey. And of course there are many reasons a business might see declining revenue. Maybe most of their customers arrive by car, in which case they probably shouldn’t be located on an urban retail street with limited parking at the best of times. Maybe it’s the economy. Or maybe they just suck as a business. God knows there’s a lot of terrible retail businesses out there.
It’s pretty remarkable that we now have a summertime pedestrianization program that is so extensive. But at a certain point we’ll have to make a real decision about what kind of streets we want in this city. Do we want to compete with strip malls in the West Island or Laval? Or do we want complete streets that work for many different types of people, not just the merchants who happen to rent retail spaces along them? And given that the large majority of merchants say that pedestrianization either makes no difference or a positive difference to their bottom line, I think the answer is pretty clear.
Incidentally even Dix-30 is permanently removing cars from its main retail corridor. And the developer that owns it is moving towards redeveloping parking lots with residential, so that eventually the poster child for suburban sprawl will be a mixed-use neighbourhood with… a pedestrianized main street.
Nicholas 20:24 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
There was a study done looking at St Denis post-REM vs St Laurent, and the former recovered better from the pandemic. This study used sales data from a point of sale provider (I think Moneris? But it could have been another one), fully aggregated (so anonymous). Revenue Quebec also has data from sales taxes (except a few categories, like some groceries, which are tax-exempt). And of course the businesses themselves could release their data (they won’t). But we know every year some businesses will close regardless, some will open, some will make a profit and some a loss. It’s easy enough to find people in any category to create “balance” in an article, but it’s much harder to know much on such a cursory look. I remember some noodle place on Mont-Royal Ave between Papineau and de Lorimier (iirc) complaining, and they didn’t open past 5 pm! How do you run a restaurant in a residential neighbourhood without offices and close before dinner?
Also worth adding that I’m on that street a lot, and even when it’s cold, rainy or snowing, there are almost almost always more people walking than in cars, often by a lot. And buses are often full at rush hour, but tend to be less so at other times, possibly because they can be slower than walking, due to all the traffic. I bet if you just allowed transit and walking, they would be much better used.
CE 23:21 on 2024-09-02 Permalink
I remember after the smoking ban, every shitty bar that closed down would blame it on the ban for years after it went into effect so the owners wouldn’t have to blame themselves. I can see the same thing happening with shitty and poorly-run businesses on the pedestrian streets.
Joey 09:25 on 2024-09-03 Permalink
Half of the appeal of Mont-Royal being closed is that it creates sufficient space for pedestrians. The sidewalks are too narrow to handle the volume of pedestrians; it’s nice to have space in the summer to walk without being on somebody’s heels.