Yonge Street is Yonge Street and shouldn't try to become a street that it's not.
It will never have the intimacy of many other neighbourhoods, not the ambience and will always have the fun/sleazy/gritty feel that made it the city's main drag and that is a good thing. The problem with Yonge is that despite having very high pedestrian traffic which is primarily for taking in the street life and people watching it has very few places to do it. Toronto should never try to change the soul of Yonge which makes it a street to be both avoided and embraced all at the same time.
The problem with Yonge is that despite all the people, it is one of the most pedestrian unfriendly streets in the city. Yonge is probably the only street in the city where you can't even sit outside to have a coffee little alone a meal to enjoy the people watching. From Bloor to Union, Yonge is completely devoid of any outside patios. Of course the reason for this is an obvious one........the sidewalks are simply too thin.
Nobody ever uses Yonge as a commuter route or main thoroughfare so why does the city treat it as such? The overwhelming majority of traffic on Yonge is pedestrian yet the city treat it like any other street. People who do still "cruise" Yonge are usually looking for a slow ride to take in the sights and not a fast one. Yonge is 4 lanes and should only be 2. Use all that extra space for sidewalks to allow a nice streetscape where restaurants and cafes can add to the urban mania that the street will {hopefully} always have.
To be quite honest, I think Yonge would be better served by having it as a pedestrian only route from Bloor to Front.
