The changing landscape of Elgin Street [General]

2017 Feb 24
There was an interesting article in today's Metro newspaper about the resto (and store) scene on Elgin: www.metronews.ca

As a resident of centretown I have mixed emotions about the addition of patios to the restos. I love sitting outside during the summer months but the sidewalks get congested with the addition of patios. It is made worse if there is a lineup outside the resto which wraps around the patio forcing passers by to walk on the road to get by. The article did in fact mention that the city is proposing widening the sidewalks so hopefully that will ease the congestion.

2017 Feb 25
I am not sure that the city should be expanding sidewalks for the benefit of private business. I imagine that the city will do so as part of their complete street or whatever their vision is for us.

2017 Feb 26
The proposed 2019 Elgin street is too remove 60% of the parking, create a 'sharrows' street for public transit & cycling, reducing the speed to 30km an hour...

The wide sidewalks may help alleviate the now somewhat congested sidewalks but removing parking in an area that is a 'destination area' may hurt rather than help IMO...

2017 Feb 26
The subway will be open by then. Smart move if you ask me. Keep the cars out of downtown. Take the subway and local establishments can enjoy more alcohol income - no need for a DD

2017 Feb 26
The study cited by the city states that 70% of the people who visit Elgin Street live in the surrounding area, so for now I think the concerns about loss of parking are a bit premature. Plenty of on-street parking in the surrounding neighbourhood, fingers crossed.

2017 Feb 27
zymurgist, I am not sure how mediocre fast food sandwiches will stop parking troubles......

(:P)

2017 Feb 27
People want to be comfortable, nothing has been written in stone yet, we'll see what happens, regardless of public transit, not many people go out for dinner on the bus..

I'm pretty surprised at the 70% of customers from the area, I can see it for Groceries & local shops but restaurants are a different kettle of fish, considering the issues with parking in the area now, either a lot of people in the neighborhood are lazy or they're coming from a different part of town...


2017 Feb 27
James C. I think zymurgist was referring to the LRT.

As much as I would like people to come downtown on the weekends (by LRT or otherwise) alot of people seem to stay in their neighbourhoods on the weekend. Alot of my coworkers live in Orleans and Kanata but they are not interested in commuting downtown for brunch or dinner on the weekends. Many of them will eat downtown after work on Friday since they are already downtown for work.

2017 Feb 27
Oh I know he was. I was trying and failing to be funny.

Now, for my perspective, I live in Nepean, and there's not a lot of good bars near my place. As well, most of my friends live downtown, so I do commute downtown for drinks alot. The LRT will make it an easier commute for me, and means I can enjoy myself.

2017 Feb 27
I like the idea of more patios on Elgin. In the nice weather months it makes for a better setting, given the rather dull buildings barely one step above a strip mall that make up most of the street.

As for parking... it's not like there has been an abundance of parking directly on Elgin during busy times for a while now. The total number of spots that end up 'bumped' to the side streets is probably minimal... put another way, it's not going to be much harder to get parking than it already was, but our odds of getting a seat on a patio once we do will be better.

2017 Feb 27
@Terry - For me if it is a choice between driving to Elgin and searching for parking in an unfamiliar area or staying in my own area. Where I know the parking situtation or I can walk. I will almost always choose to stay in my area.

But I live in Wellington West, so there are many great restaurants to choose from.

2017 Feb 27
Ever since they "improved" Preston street and took out a lot of street parking, I have drastically reduced my visits to the restaurants there. I doubt they are missing me as when I drive down Preston St. the bars and restaurants seem to be doing a thriving business. I know there is a paid parking lot there and I have used it but my beef with that particular lot is the terrible state of that lot. I feel like I'm endangering my car. And, I can't be bothered looking for on-street parking so I mostly stay away. There are plenty of good restaurants around where parking is not a problem.

2017 Mar 4
The last two comments support the 'parking problem' issue, it's easy & nice to say, take a bus or UBER or a taxi...

Taxi from Kanata, one way, $60 plus, UBER $45-50 or sit on a bus for half an hour to 45 minutes, the other choice is obvious, go to the Kanata centrum, park & choose from a number of restaurants..we've been losing rural customers more & more for the past decade or so, parking certainly isn't the only reason the small businesses fail or succeed but if you went to an establishment that made you stand through your entire dinner, would you go back? People want to be treated with respect & want to be comfortable, of course in the summer things are a bit different, more people bike or walk or are more willing to wait for public transit...

It seems to me that the city wants everyone to stay in their pocket but the we can survive with our neighborhood alone meme just isn't realistic...

Again, this is simply my opinion...

2017 Mar 4
There are a number of areas where I just do not drive, the Glebe, Wellington West/Westbrook, and Elgin, I'd rather have a root canal with no anathesia. It has nothing to do with parking, it's traffic conjestion.

2017 Mar 4
There are a number of areas where I just do not drive, the Glebe, Wellington West/Westboro, the Market, and Elgin, I'd rather have a root canal with no anathesia. It has nothing to do with parking, it's traffic conjestion.

I don't know why, but somehow many of my posts get echoed like this.

[warby here: The duplicated posts happen to a small number of users. When I notice them I delete them. I know when I reload or go back to a page where I submitted something, my browser asks if I want to resubmit and I always say no. Maybe some browsers resubmit automatically?]

2017 Mar 5
PEBCAK Hungry Pete.

I am guessing that you are reloading the page which posts another identical message.