Toronto St Lawrence Market North | 25.3m | 5s | City of Toronto | Rogers Stirk Harbour

junctionist said:
It would be nice if Front Street were made into a market square between Jarvis and Church. Then, you could just walk across some cobblestones between the two buildings without worrying about traffic. That would allow for large outdoor markets in front of the two buildings too (and west along Front Street).
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Yes, it would be nice but vehicles DO need to be able to drive around too. King Street is already quite restricted for vehicles and as of 2022 The Esplanade will be similarly blocked-off to prevent through vehicular traffic and allow for the new bicycle lanes. There are plans (or hopes!) to improve Front Street between Market and Jarvis to make it more pedestrian friendly - better paving etc) but it will certainly not be vehicle free. (The recent closure of the Front Street median at Market Street is Phase 1 of this.)
 
DSC said:
Yes, it would be nice but vehicles DO need to be able to drive around too. King Street is already quite restricted for vehicles and as of 2022 The Esplanade will be similarly blocked-off to prevent through vehicular traffic and allow for the new bicycle lanes. There are plans (or hopes!) to improve Front Street between Market and Jarvis to make it more pedestrian friendly - better paving etc) but it will certainly not be vehicle free. (The recent closure of the Front Street median at Market Street is Phase 1 of this.)
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Driving in an "old town" area is almost never convenient, nor should that be some sort of planning priority in my opinion. With that said, you can have a flexible square with collapsible bollards where a roadway can exist in certain times (e.g. on weekdays or during the wintertime) and then be fully pedestrianized when warranted.
 
Realistically, that row is not going to be pedestrianized during the week. A huge volume of traffic flows through Front and Jarvis at rush hour. But it could be designed to be a great Saturday morning market street on Saturdays and/or Sundays, from Berczy Park to Jarvis (or George even, to take advantage of the nice sidewalks and patios).
 
evandyk said:
Realistically, that row is not going to be pedestrianized during the week. A huge volume of traffic flows through Front and Jarvis at rush hour. But it could be designed to be a great Saturday morning market street on Saturdays and/or Sundays, from Berczy Park to Jarvis (or George even, to take advantage of the nice sidewalks and patios).
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What they should do is improve the landscaping and maybe implement a special paving for the intersection, along the lines of what's been put in for Market Street south of Front.

AoD
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
What they should do is improve the landscaping and maybe implement a special paving for the intersection, along the lines of what's been put in for Market Street south of Front.

AoD
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That would be a step in the right direction. Market Street looks like a flexible street where the bollards could be collapsed and the whole street could be pedestrianized at certain times of the week and year, but is it actually meant to be used that way?

Front Street is often empty on the weekends and outside of rush hour. Making it into a market square on the weekends could work beautifully with a pavement of durable granite pavers, which could still accommodate vehicular traffic during weekdays. A lot of the traffic is just induced demand and made up of people that don't even need to be driving.

The economic potential of a market square could also be huge by bringing more people to the area outside of peak hours and having an amazing public space for concerts and events. We should be treating our old town like an old town and prioritize pedestrians, culture, and economic vitality there.
 
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junctionist said:
That would be a step in the right direction. Market Street looks like a flexible street where the bollards could be collapsed and the whole street could be pedestrianized at certain times of the week and year, but is it actually meant to be used that way?

Front Street is often empty on the weekends and outside of rush hour. Making it into a market square on the weekends could work beautifully with a pavement of durable granite pavers, which could still accommodate vehicular traffic during weekdays. A lot of the traffic is just induced demand and made up of people that don't even need to be driving.

The economic potential of a market square could also be huge by bringing more people to the area outside of peak hours and having an amazing public space for concerts and events. We should be treating our old town like an old town and prioritize pedestrians, culture, and economic vitality there.
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Wouldn't it be nice to have a Farmer's Market similar to the one in downtown Portland (PSU) that extends over a number of blocks on the weekend and is in "off-hours" a linear park? Wouldn't the open space behind the SLM, combined with Crombie Park to the east be perfect? This would be a totally pedestrian environment and would not require any street closures. The one in Portland is one of the best.
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First phase would extend rom Market Street to Sherbourne. Aim would be to ultimately extend to Parliament and establish a clear pedestrian connection from the St. Lawrence Market to the Distillery flanked by the farmers' kiosks (similar density to Portland where there is more park than booths).

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thecharioteer said:
First phase would extend rom Market Street to Sherbourne. Aim would be to ultimately extend to Parliament and establish a clear pedestrian connection from the St. Lawrence Market to the Distillery flanked by the farmers' kiosks (similar density to Portland where there is more park than booths).

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There are fairly well advanced plans to upgrade David Crombie (the park, not the man). They do not include a farmers market. See: https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/david-crombie-park-revitalization.29243/

Any discussion on this (though it's really too late) would be better in that thread as this one is supposedly about the new North market building.
 
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