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this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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It's a great idea, but it can get complicated quickly.
For it to work elsewhere, you need parking spaces away from the main streets, free shuttles, or pretty decent public transit. They also need to keep the streets open during certain hours so supply trucks can drop things off. Also, what if there are highrise apartments with underground parking lots facing the main street? How would they come and go?
In San Diego, the Gaslamp District is a prime example of an area that should be pedestrian-only. Yet when they did try it, the city yanked it back with the lame excuse that the road blocking bollard mechanisms cost too much (https://thesandiegosun.com/gaslamp-quarter-car-free-zone-ended/).
But it's a worthwhile experiment. Downtown retail in a lot of cities is empty and boarded up. Making those streets pedestrian-only is a good way to revive them and bring life back.
Literally every full-CBD infrastructure project is complicated. And compared to things like highways, subway stations, anti-terror infrastructure, etc... Pedestrianization really is the low-hanging complicated fruit. Large cities have small armies of infrastructure professionals ready to tackle the complications if we only just let them. The hardest part of pedestrianization is protecting the political will to let them at it long enough to actually get it done.
Its pretty common in Europe to allow shared use for access / deliveries using pedestrianised streets where needed.
They'd put a 10kph or 5kph speed limit and pedestrians have priority, delivery vehicles may have restricted hours too - outside of peak shopping hours if the street is mostly retail.
With only resident vehicles and deliveries the traffic volumes are low and it's fine. Cutting out through traffic and non-resident traffic makes a huge improvement.
Also lots of the people in CBD high rises will choose to walk a lot of their trips - many won't have a car at all - that's partly why they live there.
San Diego has always had a bad problem with infestation by Republicans. That's why they fucked everything up that might benefit local people and businesses.
There are roads around the pedestrian district so deliveries can be made to the outside perimeter. Ithaca NY did this and it’s great.