Gastown car-free zone ends soon and the reviews are a mixed bag

The Gastown car-free zone will soon be returned to car traffic, and as the pilot project winds down as of September 2, there have been some mixed reviews.

According to the Gastown Business Improvement Association, some businesses have lost money. While Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is a huge fan, the BIA has some constructive feedback for the City.

“I’ve loved seeing the energy and vibrancy of this neighbourhood come alive with fewer cars and more people. I want to thank our local businesses for their patience,” said Sim.

“I think there are two stories here,” Walley Wargolet, Gastown BIA executive director, told Daily Hive Urbanized earlier this month.

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Pros and cons

First day of the Water Street Pedestrian Zone in Gastown on June 28, 2024. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Wargolet touched on the obvious positives of the Gastown car-free project.

“I think the one story is the positive part, an amazing kind of attention from the City,” Wargolet told Daily Hive Urbanized.

Part of that was the City’s efforts to keep the area clean.

“I think that some of the extended patios for a couple of our restaurants have been a win, so I’m really happy that we fought for those.”

He also said that there’s a nice positive vibe in the area, saying, “All of those things are great.”

But what about the negatives?

“One negative we’ve learned through this process right now is that we’ve made it difficult for our locals to get into the area, and they’re now just avoiding Gastown.”

He said one result is that revenue is down 30% at some businesses. Wargolet believes the local consumer isn’t coming to Gastown.

“Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve just got a lot of folks, well over 30, that have come to us and said, ‘Well, this is really hurting business. Is there anything that we can do to pivot here?'”

He also said that the BIA had asked the City for additional signage to help direct the public to Gastown from Hastings Street, which was never implemented.

Before the project launched, we spoke to some Gastown businesses that were financially impacted by preparatory street work that forced temporary accessibility issues.

“My business is down 25%,” Kim Briscoe, owner of Kimprints, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

Briscoe told us earlier this year that she wished the street closures could be executed differently, especially for a business like hers, where people need vehicles to pick up large picture frames.

Readers also had mixed thoughts.

“They should just keep it this way permanently. I’m tired of such a lovely area being choked off by the few people masochistic enough to drive in said area,” one reader said.

“Frankly, Gastown was already a cool, walkable district. It wasn’t necessary to choke off the road access. All the enthusiastic commenters seemed to have skipped the part where Gastown businesses are losing money,” said another. 

The City wants your thoughts

Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive

The City of Vancouver has opened an online survey for the public to share their thoughts on the Gastown car-free zone.

“Throughout the pilot, staff have been closely observing the pedestrian zone, monitoring traffic and access, and gathering feedback from residents, businesses, visitors, and tourists,” said City Director of Public Space and Street Use Lisa Parker.

“Feedback about people’s experience of this summer’s pilot is very important to us and will help guide planning for potential future pedestrian zone pilots.”

Speaking of the future, we asked Wargolet if he wants to see this back next year.

“If we could have an actual seat at the table and actual compromise could be made where we’re working hand in hand with the city, we are one hundred percent open to that,” he said.

Wargolet added that what concerns him most is the City not taking its feedback seriously.

“In 2023, we provided a whole list of things that the City should implement. None of those things on that list got implemented, except for two or three.”

Click here if you’d like to take the City’s survey.