People over cars: making Athens walkable
Over the pandemic, the small College Square area in downtown Athens was closed off to cars, and tables were added in the street. The space provided a place for people to gather and host public events, including some political protests like the abortion rights protest on June 25 in 2021. It’s a lovely addition to the downtown area. My one complaint: it should be bigger.
In addition to College Square, the county government expanded sidewalks on Clayton Street, and for a short period during the lock down, parklets next to restaurants allowed people to eat outside. More recently, protected bike lanes were added to a section on Prince Avenue near downtown as an experiment to see if a new road/bike lane configuration would allow for safer bike travel without causing traffic disruptions. This has since been made permanent and now the commission is considering expanding to Barber Street.
Besides College Square and a few other restaurants downtown, most restaurants have little to no outdoor seating anymore. With dedicated pedestrian areas, there would be room for more tables in the street like we already see on College Square. This change would maximize land use, so spaces that are now used for parking and driving could be used for kiosks, pop-up shops, and food carts.
Pedestrian areas like these also improve economic productivity. If people are walking, they are more likely to stop by shops that have pop-ups. Without cars driving around, pedestrians have more freedom to move about without having to worry about their safety. It would also allow for open air gathering spaces, which have been popular since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fewer cars in the area would also decrease carbon emissions, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. During the 2018 London Marathon, the closing of streets to cars caused local air pollution to drop by 89%, proving that even short term actions can have dramatic effects on the environment. Imagine if this change was permanent.
Many places around the world have added permanent pedestrian-only areas that have become globally famous including Carnaby Street in London England, Buchanan Street in Glasgow Scotland and Qianmen Street in Beijing China, along with many others. In addition some cities also close off areas to cars seasonally, for example some areas of Montreal in the summer.
Buchanan Street became pedestrian-only in 1978 and has become extremely well known for its shops, restaurants and art. Carnaby Street was pedestrianized in 1973. Qianmen street opened as a pedestrian tourist destination in 2008 before the Beijing Olympics. The street was completely renovated in the process.
Downtown in the summer can feel like the surface of the sun, making fun events like Athfest and Twilight Criterium miserable when temperatures are. If more pedestrian areas were added, some roads could be converted to greenspaces, which would help cool down downtown while also improving water management, increasing biodiversity, and overall just making the area more pleasant.
Of course there are potential downsides and unknowns. With fewer parking spaces, how will handicapped drivers be affected? Will downtown have enough parking spaces for big events? Will deliveries to businesses become less convenient?
The answers to some of these questions can even be found in the past. Athens actually used to have street cars in 1885 and they were in use for 45 years until they were closed down in 1930. Bringing this back could help a lot of these issues.
Despite the challenges of changing some of the look and feel of downtown, questions should not stop us from imagining a greener pedestrian friendly downtown.
