VIA ITALIA!!!
The DWBIA and our city could benefit from some of the lessons that Erie Street has to teach us.
Although Walkerville has its charm and history, In my opinion Erie Street serves as the most functional and Cohesive BIA and neighborhood in Windsor.
Is it pride? is it the nature of Italians? Is it the unified theme of the Street? Who knows, who cares, whatever it is its working!
Speaking on the radio show with Enzo and on the phone with Mike Vonella, It was an immediate recharging of my batteries. Mike enthusiastically requested we sit down and find more ways to work together. Enzo spoke of what I call “fighting the good fight”.
STREET Closures
Streets as public places. Its too bad that we can’t send someone to the PPS courses this Summer or Fall in Greenwich Village
http://www.pps.org/training/info/transportation_training_course
Erie Street will be closed for two weekends to celebrate with food and entertainment. One thing is that they construct the nicest patio enclosures I’ve ever seen in all my travels. I guess its like Enzo said “We’re Italian, we know how to build things!”.
Downtown and Erie Street share some challenges. One comes with the manning of the barricades. This s a policy that should be looked at by the city’s Special Events committee. We need to know the practices in other cities as this is a lot of money to spend that could be put into better entertainment or marketing of these events. Separately, I believe there is some confusion as to how far the patio’s can extend. On Erie Street they allow them to go 8′ from either side of the center line. Downtown some are confused about if they have to extend to the curb or not.
But Erie Street has one of the most imaginative initiatives yet. The temporary walkway through parking spaces to allow for seasonal extended patio’s. This is the very essence of streets as public places. You get the parking spots in the Winter Weather when people don’t want to walk and then you get a public space in the summer when it wouldn’t hurt people to walk to the parking at least as far as anyone going to Devonshire Mall would. I can’t wait for Downtown to ride the coattails of this initiative giving proper tribute to Via Italia’s leadership. Its only proper that the Culture that produced Christopher Columbus and Giovanni Caboto should lead the way of this discovery
This is a street that just needs some minor adjustments when it comes to residential, some simple incentives and maybe a bit more parkland to encourage more residents. There is no residential association but I believe that this is a nod to the good job the BIA’s doing in welcoming its own residents to the street.
Via Italia……Complimenti!!!
Post Feedback
It is always Erie street when my friends come over from the Detroit area, although most also like coming downtown and think I live the blessed life here in the core! All things aside they are doing a fantastic job of Erie and keeping it vital and alive. Heck, from my location in the core, on nice summer nights we walk from the core to Erie street and taxi home!
The reason Erie St. is the city’s best BIA is the fact that there is a healthy mix of retail and entertainment options. I have dinner or go to a bar, but the next day I can go grocery shopping too… Or I can go to stores and buy real products that may be of use.
Street closures? They happen for a reason, and the events are logical and actually have a purpose. They aren’t like shutting down the entire core for a long weekend just becasue. The DWBIA would do well to close their office and spend a month on Erie St at their BIA, and learn how to do it properly.
Brainstorming sessions aren’t the answer.
Yes! Erie street is a textbook example of how to do things right. I might add to Andrew’s list the notable PRIDE shown in this district. Generally speaking, shopkeepers are meticulous about their property’s presentation. If you drive/walk Erie you’ll usually see someone out there sweeping out the debris along the curb in front of their store. Ditto for many homeowners. I’d faint if I saw that anywhere else. If/when we see a rebirth of Windsor’s core, savvy homebuyers will snap something up near Erie street first. Anyone who lives there already, well… they hopefully treasure what they have.
Ahh…. but they do have stucco… and lots of it
Otherwise I agree. But every downtown struggles with retail, I personally believe we need to increase downtown density first. We always talk about 115000+ living and working in the downtown but the boundaries are pretty darn big.
An increased area within certain districts could go along way
Is that because Mr. Yanchula says all downtown’s struggle with retail? I go to a heck of a lot of downtown’s and if they are “struggling” it sure isn’t presented in that way. If that is the case as Mr. Yanchula suggests then Windsor’s downtown is in a helluva lot worse shape than we realize.
Most (not all) downtown’s that I have visited have at least a reasonable amount of shopping. Windsor has but a few and they are too scattered in the core to even have much of an impact.
I agree that Erie St. BIA does a great job in keeping thier storefonts clean and neat. Contrast that with a large part of downtown which looks it hasn’t changed from the mid 1970’s to the early ’80s.
Also look at the Walkerville BIa with their new pedestrian lights and clean sidewalks and gutters. It looks fantastic! They have included flower planters as well which adds some colour and pizazz to the area.
Windsor’s downtown “planters” are nothing more than cement casing filled with garbage and horrendous looking bushes. Why not include a nice iron (or aluminum) railing along the top? The planters seem to have two indentations on each side where a railing could be mounted. It will stop people from loitering by removing a “seat” to sit on and will help keep people from climbing into them as I have seen on numerous occasions (which could be why the bushes look like crap).