Local shopping street in the city of Montréal, It’s the beginning of the summer here, and more and more streets are being closed to cars every summer (although they’re reopened during the cold Canadian winters), the difference in the amount of people there now vs last week when it was still open to cars is absurd.

Even more people! Lil stand

Since It’s the beginning of the summer there was a marching band to celebrate, which was nice.

Businesses set up stands where they sold stuff, offered free samples and stuff like that, and there was also seating and games set out for kids, like a bouncy castle, some (mini) mini-golf courses and a mini skate park.

Just closing the street to cars made the space much nicer, and there were way more people there than when the street was open to cars.

  • MudMan
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    561 day ago

    I think I told this one here at some point, but in my town we had a particular storeowner who aggressively opposed making a street pedestrian-only. I’m talking camping in town hall as a protest. Threatening a hunger strike. This lady was on a mission. Her storefront was plastered with propaganda about how this was going to kill the town.

    She was an absolute nuisance and her karmic punishment for this? She has prime commercial real estate on the most popular street in town while stores in streets open for traffic had to relocate or close because all the business happens in the car-free area.

    • @Lenny@lemmy.zip
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      231 day ago

      damn, I as really hoping the story ended with everyone boycotting her store as she watched her business neighbors thrive before she eventually goes out of business.

      • MudMan
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        201 day ago

        Nope. Rising tides floating all boats include the really annoying boats, as it turns out.

        Still, she was so spectacularly wrong I do still imagine how she processed that and whether the contradiction ever stuck. She really made a whole personality out of this for years.