!["Not allowing cars on the street will kill businesses" [Montréal; Canada]](https://lemmy.zip/pictrs/image/7926cc0a-d955-44b1-8f73-1c3f88b7f2ab.webp){kind=link}
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.
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.
I don’t understand the logic behind this. Are they expecting folks to shop whilst still in their cars?
The argument is that people won’t go to the street if they can’t park, this is a stupid argument, especially in Montreal
I don’t understand this attitude. My town is having the same arguments. We have a central street filled with shops and restaurants that everyone wants to pedestrianize. It worked great for pandemic, and in smaller doses since. It brings huge amounts of foot traffic, tons more business, and gives people a place they want to go.
The argument against seems especially silly - there’s tons of public parking running behind the shops so it’s not like anyone wouldn’t go there
My optician is one of those opposed. They apparently think those couple street parking spots in front of their building are critical to their business. I’ve always founded it more convenient to use the public parking lot immediately behind them, no big loss. If the place is welcoming to pedestrians, I’m more likely to also walk up the street for an ice cream, or stop at one of the restaurants for dinner. If they think they get impulse shopping, they should want those hundreds of extra pedestrians when the street is closed