Get Outta The Way

Yes, a mass-ive closure of the roads to cars would be fairly silly. But within the confines of the Market, on a Sunday [when the streets teem with foot traffic in the first place, and one's need for automobile-compatible thoroughfare becomes questionable], I think the idea makes damned good sense.

[And makes for a damned fine Sunday afternoon patio-lunch, I might add]

Internal combustion is for chumps!

But seriously. Last years PS Kensington was fantastic. Tons of people and Tons of fun. The roads are public space and it's nice to see them opened up to the public. One of the goals behind PS Kensington other than having NICE TIMES is to demonstrate how a community can function without cars. It works quite well in other cities that have pedestrian only streets such as Montreal and Ottawa and a whole wack of others that I can't be bothered googling for.

I'll miss it.

who wants to drive through kensington? i don't really see who would be inconvinienced by the road closure.. if you need to drive that badly just park on spadina and walk into the market. it's not like the market it a major route.

less cars downtown is a good thing. people can take the ttc or walk from just about anywhere else..

and without that "Drive Clean cash grab" the pollution in the city would probably be a thousand times worse than it is now.

I'm all for road closures like this. Besides, according to the website it is for only 4 Sundays... what's the big deal? It's summer and it's nice outside, get walking people. And if you have to go a long distance use the TTC, that's what it's there for after all.

Ah, you know drivers... the whole world is out to get them, and any inconvenience is an excuse to whine. Wah-wah, gas prices are too high... wah-wah, you haven't destroyed enough neighbourhoods to make me more highways to be stuck in traffic jams on, wah-wah streetcars are in my way, with their non-polluting, sustainable transportation self-righteousness!

Wow, that has to be one of the most car-culture-brainwashed screeds I've ever had the ill-fortune to read.

Roads are emphatically not the exclusive province of cars. Even ignoring cyclists and rollerbladers (as some drivers seem to do), you must take into account the fact that the road system costs far more to maintain than car users pay, and thus some part of the roads belongs to those who make up the shortfall, to wit, the rest of us. Since my property taxes pay for the roads, and I don't own a car, I request, nay I demand, that the roads are closed to cars and made safe for pedestrians like myself.

If you don't want to drive a car, that's your business. But your property taxes help pay for the roads so the mailman can come to your house, so your pizza arrives within the prescribed thirty minutes and so the ambulance can drive you to the hospital when you fall off your bicycle, rollerblades, rickshaw or magic carpet. Then again, the less people that drive, the less traffic for me tomorrow afternoon.

Wow... Mark, I'm close to speechless...
Frankly I don't know where to begin, so I guess I'll start by saying congratulations on writing the most obtuse post I've ever had the displeasure of reading on blogto.
The ignorance required to conceive your opinion on this matter must be truly remarkable. In one fell swoop, you've managed to completely disregard
an effort to ease downtown congestion (one day a week), help to lower exhaust emissions (one day a week) and get people out on their feet moving (one day a week).
You do however make a great point about how the roads are used to deliver mail and pizza. I had never thought of that before, but now I see things so clearly. I'd like to suggest another use for roads that fits in well with your line of thinking. After subscribing to US Weekly, People, Time and Hustler (via mail) I'll kick back and order pizza's every night until I'm so terminally obese that paramedics will have to hire a crane to knock out a section of my wall and lift me into a modified ambulance as doorways will no longer accomodate my girth. Fortunately, when this time comes I'll be able to rely on ROADS to allow the crane to get to my house. Isn't that great?

Below is a gem of a quote you dropped that I'd like to take a moment to examine further.

"I am all for easing traffic, taming pollution and protecting the environment, but closing roads to cars is silly. How about we close the skies to planes and reserve the subway tunnels for groundhogs and kids playing road hockey?"

Great to hear that you're all for easing traffic, taming pollution and protecting the environment, but if you're unwilling to allow a 10 block area to shut its roads down once a week in the summer, what exactly do you suggest doing to tackle the aforementioned problems?
Further, closing the skies to planes and leaving the subway tunnels for groundhogs is idiotic - both are forms of public transit and totally not relevent to the discussion at hand.

In short, you're a nincompoop that should think twice about how selfish and shallow you sound publishing such an ignorant view for the world at large to read on this site.

garth! :)

Very flattering. And it's only my third week.