Downtown

[CaptainBL]

We decided to try Slap Shot out and boy oh boy it was amateur hour.

'No cocktails or draft' until 4 (we got there at 3:15) as they didn't have an actual bartender; inside looked cheap and quick.

The waitress, while nice enough, clearly has never served and made ordering and receiving 3 beers agony.

Half of the tables outside were people eating market food.

I give it two months.

Tried to get into Kelly’s after the game last night at 10ish and the lineup was massive. So we walked next door to this spot and asked for a table and they said sorry we are full. Except the entire one half of the restaurant already had the chairs up on the tables and was closed up, while the other open half had maybe 3-4 tables occupied. There was nothing about this place that stood out or made me want to return and I likely will not be.

 

[SimonCo]

We decided to try Slap Shot out and boy oh boy it was amateur hour.

'No cocktails or draft' until 4 (we got there at 3:15) as they didn't have an actual bartender; inside looked cheap and quick.

The waitress, while nice enough, clearly has never served and made ordering and receiving 3 beers agony.

Half of the tables outside were people eating market food.

I give it two months.

Two months, ouch. I was thinking 6 months, but maybe I am too optimistic.

Downtown doesn't have a shortage of pubs. Kelly's, Sherlock's, Craft, Banquet/ Ice House. I don't understand why anyone would try to enter such a saturated market. Especially when the DT market is seeming to better support higher end dining and cocktail/wine bars these days.

I went to Kelly's Saturday, and it was packed. Many recognizable faces from television were present. Obviously plenty of out of towners.

This Saturday was probably Edmonton's best ever PR campaign, because the city felt alive with the events. 104th Street being pedestrian only was huge in making this happen. This needs to be made permanent like Stephen Ave in Calgary.

Kelly's is an example of a well run, exceptional business. Really a pillar of downtown. Probably what most businesses strive to be. I really hope that the city makes 104th street pedestrian-free permanently. It makes total sense to do it.

Should open in the next week or two. This is straight from the horse's mouth.

Cool. Thanks!

 

[IanO]

'I really hope that the city makes 104th street pedestrian-free permanently. It makes total sense to do it.'

Does it?

Sure it works on a sunny Saturday with a market, but you likely cannot justify it otherwise and with the wide setbacks it actually works well as a hybrid for specific times and events.

Not enough density, nor the right cross-section, climate and need.

Close it Saturdays (hell even Friday nights), but please do not close a street just because you think it will make things more urban at all costs.

 

[thommyjo]

'I really hope that the city makes 104th street pedestrian-free permanently. It makes total sense to do it.'

Does it?

Sure it works on a sunny Saturday with a market, but you likely cannot justify it otherwise and with the wide setbacks it actually works well as a hybrid for specific times and events.

Not enough density, nor the right cross-section, climate and need.

Close it Saturdays (hell even Friday nights), but please do not close a street just because you think it will make things more urban at all costs.

Before the pedestrianization convo, I just want 104th redone. Looks shabby and run down. Do an awesome pedestrian realm with more landscaping and street furniture and then sure, pedestrianize on summer weekends. But you can have great streets and pedestrian experiences with cars still around. I’d rather a beautiful street with 2 cars lanes vs an ugly street with no cars. The former is more vibrant.

 

[Gronk!]

Before the pedestrianization convo, I just want 104th redone. Looks shabby and run down. Do an awesome pedestrian realm with more landscaping and street furniture and then sure, pedestrianize on summer weekends. But you can have great streets and pedestrian experiences with cars still around. I’d rather a beautiful street with 2 cars lanes vs an ugly street with no cars. The former is more vibrant.

The very least they can do is relocate the street furniture so that they no longer impede pedestrian movement.
A bike lane akin to 103 St that connects 100 Ave to the ICE District would be nice but it's not a hill to die on.

 

[Barnaby]

Even a Bear St style woonerf would be a reasonable middle ground.

 

[IanO]

Beat St. is essentially RHW.

 

[Coprolite]

We decided to try Slap Shot out and boy oh boy it was amateur hour.

'No cocktails or draft' until 4 (we got there at 3:15) as they didn't have an actual bartender; inside looked cheap and quick.

The waitress, while nice enough, clearly has never served and made ordering and receiving 3 beers agony.

Half of the tables outside were people eating market food.

I give it two months.

That explains why literally everyone was drinking bottled beer when I walked by. I was wondering if they just had a special on Corona because that was all I saw anyone drinking.

 

[Coprolite]

Downtown doesn't have a shortage of pubs. Kelly's, Sherlock's, Craft, Banquet/ Ice House. I don't understand why anyone would try to enter such a saturated market. Especially when the DT market is seeming to better support higher end dining and cocktail/wine bars these days.

I went to Kelly's Saturday, and it was packed. Many recognizable faces from television were present. Obviously plenty of out of towners.

This Saturday was probably Edmonton's best ever PR campaign, because the city felt alive with the events. 104th Street being pedestrian only was huge in making this happen. This needs to be made permanent like Stephen Ave in Calgary.

I was at the corner of 105 and Jasper a few weeks ago waiting for the light to change and a couple of younger guys asked me, "Do you know where there's a bar around here?"

I ended up gesturing wildly and basically repeating the word, "There," over and over and over.

And I don't know. Maybe the market isn't COMPLETELY saturated, but Slap Shot certainly got there last with the least and picked a space that's proven very hard for restaurants with more convincing foot to make a go at things.

 

[Coprolite]

Tried to get into Kelly’s after the game last night at 10ish and the lineup was massive. So we walked next door to this spot and asked for a table and they said sorry we are full. Except the entire one half of the restaurant already had the chairs up on the tables and was closed up, while the other open half had maybe 3-4 tables occupied. There was nothing about this place that stood out or made me want to return and I likely will not be.

Yeah, it was telling to me that Kelly's was absolutely cleaning up, and Slap Shot was struggling despite being best positioned to catch spillover and having all of that foot traffic.

Side note: when a manager at Kelly's freaked out on Facebook years ago that the downtown bike grid was going to ruin his business because it was taking away parking spaces, I guess he was being a touch dramatic.

 

[Greenspace]

Market photos

 

[IanO]

Is that Madrid?

 

[Barnaby]

Is that Madrid?

Yes, those are Atlético's new kits

 

[Coprolite]

The very least they can do is relocate the street furniture so that they no longer impede pedestrian movement.
A bike lane akin to 103 St that connects 100 Ave to the ICE District would be nice but it's not a hill to die on.

As big as I am on bike lanes, 104 Street is one of those streets that's sufficiently calmed that it's not hard to ride on as is. I would just give it a paver block surface , bump outs and such basic traffic calming features and turn it into a "shared street" like Rice-Howard or 108 Street. Given that the street itself has gotten rather beaten up, and the LRT construction that will be occurring in that intersection, perhaps the next couple of years are opportune for such a thing.

 

[Greenspace]

FYI -- on redoing 104 Street. Streetscape was completed in 1998. It's been 25 years. City has 30-40 year renewal cycles, but Council can adjust that. It needs a bit of maintenance (residential paver blocks are disintegrating in some areas) and lots of street lights and such need fixing. Problem is we don't do proper maintenance ever.