Does anybody know cities that have areas like Place Jacques-Cartier in Montreal? Specifically, areas blocked off from traffic where there are shops to visit during the day and at night there are restaurants and bars or you can just sit on a bench and watch a band put on a free show? Old Town San Diego is also like that and I was wondering what other cities have places like that.
There’s some car access, but Old Québec City is also like this. Very beautiful.
Ottawa’s ByWard Market and surrounding area has a little of that aspect; lots of pubs and shops and things to do. I don’t know it well, though. Sparks street can be pretty busy during festivals or Canada Day, but last time I went there it was a Sunday in September and it was a ghost town.
Burlington, Vermont is not too far from Montreal and Church Street is a downtown pedestrian shopping district.
Old City - Philadelphia, PA
Faneuil Hall / Quincey Market - Boston, MA
Harvard Squre - Cambridge, MA
South Street Seaport - New York, NY
Meatpacking District - New York, NY
And if you want the rural cottage-country version of this, check out the Toronto Islands cottages. No cars, you walk everywhere, people live there on the edge of the park, there’s even a fire station and school… and it’s a15-minute ferry ride from downtown. It’s next to impossible to get a house or cottage on the Islands; I believe there’s a waiting list.
3rd Street Promenade - Santa Monica, CA
Saint George Street - St. Augustine, FL
Sections of Broadway in Times Square, NYC have been blocked off in the past few years to better accommodate the huge number of visitors. Obviously, Times Square is VERY touristy, though.
The central part of many Germany cities have a pedestrian-only zone.
Freiburg, Germany has an extensive zone with no motor traffic allowed.
Beautiful city, right the base of of the Black forest. Love it love it love it!
Granville Street in downtown Vancouver is closed off to traffic (except for transit vehicles). It contains a lot of shops that range from cheap thrift store to Urban Outfitters to high-end retail. As well, it has several restaurants and most of the more popular nightclubs in town. All of this means it’s packed with pedestrians nearly 24 hours a day.
Stephen Avenue in Calgary is like this - much smaller version though. I seem to recall that Jackson Square in New Orleans is like this too but it’s been a long time since I was there.
Thanks for the suggestions.
During the summer the Market is a great place, tons of patios, restaurants, bars, buskers, live music venues, farmer’s stands selling fresh and local produce. When the sunsets it turns into party-ville. Avoid East of Dalhousie St. Crack-ville. It’s not closed off to trafic though.
Parliament Hill is just a 5 minute walk from the Market.
I didn’t know about this (have to try it this summer), but there is also Granville Island, just off downtown that you can get to, among other ways, by taking an itty-bitty little boat from the downtown. The boat might hold 4 people and has a quiet little electric motor. The shopping there is good and there are no cars.
Ones I’ve been to:
In Canada:
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
In the US:
Cape May, New Jersey
Charlottesville, Virginia
Granville Island is very cute and the shopping is great (especially the Public Market), but there are in fact cars allowed on the island. I have no idea why people drive onto the island since the narrow approach and tourists everywhere make driving onto it slow and nightmarish, but they do. There is even a cement company on the island that dispatches its mixer truck from there.