Woodland Park is not visible from the Drive, being a long block west, and north of Venables, which may be part of the reason. But it got lots of publicity and had 4 times the space, which they used well. Two stages, and space for the retail was not hampered. Shade trees, wading pool. Kids loved it.

Foods as always great, and the usual lineups for favourites. Lack of major water hookups was a small problem.

3 days , with the Sunday Aug 2 overlapping the Car-free Drive but I suspect the lack of beer at this Nisei Japanese festival meant there might be less interest.

One volunteer said that perhaps we could just rename one of the Woodland side streets Powell and thus retain the festival’s original name.

Meanwhile the City has put a shockingly high covered fence around the old “heroin square” that is the Powell Street Grounds/Oppenheimer Park.
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And do we note that the Fiji-Asian Fest is leaving Vancouver for Burnaby. It was at the Graham Bruce school grounds in Augusts past.

“So perhaps we need a re-thinking and re-branding of Summer Spaces as Civic Spaces.”

May the oracle shine upon you Freeman . . .

The city has pursued a “bonusing” policy for decades that essentially provides public amenity in the form of social facilities: i.e. The Round House. Which, incidentally, we still must pay for the use thereof.

Now it may be time for the city to turn its bonusing policy to public urban space: as per a recent SCARP thesis . . . and I quote:

“Narrow covered pedestrian passageways wind through the block, creating links to surrounding streets. A small atrium courtyard, large central courtyards and arcaded walkways alternatively compress and explode the experience of the pedestrian.”

Say wot!

The issues of Summer Spaces and the issues of traffic must remain separate. Personally, I find the sight of a sparse street party around a makeshift psychedelic tipi out in front of Beckwoman’s as nothing short of embarrassing – but hardly as threatening as people racing down the street (where my child plays) in excess of 80 kph. Summer Spaces is the result of a misguided government plan organized by activist and a BIA woefully out of touch with their community.

So moving on… Is traffic in Vancouver a problem? Yes, but this isn’t going to be solved by Sunday street parties. It’s going to be solved by infrastructure, by better planning, better rules, real transit solutions and more traffic cops & enforcement.

Could Summer Spaces work? Yes, with a little planning and radical ideas like consulting local business and residents. Could vibrant community events exist without cars and still maintain a healthy commercial district? Of course it could and, indeed, this city is in desperate need of them. The festivals in this town are often too expensive, too far to commute to and, far too often, canned and commercial. Street closures offer civic space – a place were the people of the city can exercise their ownership of their city. And here is the key: as our cities are fragmented by traffic and increasingly full with faux-public spaces like malls and private condo parks, feelings of civic engagement wane. So perhaps we need a re-thinking and re-branding of Summer Spaces as Civic Spaces.

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Few take the bus to the Drive, and there is next to none off-street parking. And you’ll note that there are no parallel streets with shopping retail nearby (nothing on Clark, nor on Victoria, Nanaimo (tuppence around Charles), and a smidgeon on Renfrew) so why would anyone get off on Clark, Nanaimo and walk to the Drive.

See UVic prof Patricia Roy’s thesis on the development of Vancouver along street car lines
Also an emphasis in her Illustrated History…

I”ve heard that muscians are annoyed as they are not allowed to ask for donations on the street when they perform.

At least the beer, and the reason many come, as Greek Days, was sold to sitting down customers. The old Italian Days that closed the Drive lead to a lot of trouble, same with Greek Days, with urinations and fulminations.

I lived on the Drive for decades and it was breakins every two years, just after schools let out. It is not a great place.
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But lively street scene! Check it out when it rains or is dark after 5 pm. Friends from out of town wondered where the street scene was, as the shops closed at 6 and there was hardly anything open after 9 pm. Were Vancouverites all tucked into bed at that time, they wondered. It’s not a Latin street if you listen to the voices and is cold in sensibilities,but was a cheaper place to live for a while.
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It is getting harder to live there, as the plumbing shop becomes a pub, a deli becomes a $1 slice pizza place, a bakery is torn up to make a larger club. Clothes shop becomes a sushi shop, etc.
All these are small shops with a landlord who replaces the merchants every few months when they fall behind on rent.
So the gas and water pipes are now in, the place will never revert to a retail shop, but a succession of immigrant businessmen trying to make a go of a small snack restaurant, same name on the awning, and different business persons running the front.

# As to the street counts, that can be people walking up from the free (didn’t pay a fare) Skytrain, and not waiting for the bus on a Sunday slack schedule or not having a transfer.

# The Fringe festival on the Drive showed that many of the visitors brought their SUV (and that was very noticeable) parked on the side streets, met their friends and went to venues all evening. We residents in this old part of town had to park blocks away because our usual spots on the street were taken over by Pt Grey matrons. (same for the VECC, and soon the revamped York).

Head on off to Collingwood, South Fraser if you want an interesting street scene.
Maybe Township of Hastings Suburban Lands should secede and reverse their corrupt 1912 vote to join Vancouver and we can let the 1908 separation of the Creme de la Creme from South Van never happen.

Might not work out but then again neither is the current plan, so I figure it’s worth a shot.

I like the ideas of a smaller area (1st to William); having a farmer’s market somewhere in Grandview Park; and perhaps fewer days. Maybe July is Commercial Drive month and August could be Gastown month, for example.

On another thread..
The theory of pedestrian malls would suggest that the Gastown size is ideal. You want lots of access by all types of transport: car, bus, bike, foot. So 1-2 blocks long max makes the best pedestrian mall. So, maybe Commercial Drive’s needs to be even smaller – Grant to Charles?