Gaukel St Plans

For most of us, when we think of streets, we think of vehicles driving from one place to another. However, we are seeing more streets being designed for people, and less focused on getting vehicles through as fast as possible. These people-friendly streets often slow down traffic (or redirect it to nearby arterial routes altogether) and encourage people to linger and explore. In fact, they remind me a lot of this Jane Jacobs quotation where she encourages us to really look at cities, "While you are looking, you might as well also listen, linger and think about what you see." There's so much to see, listen to, and think about in well-designed streetscapes.

That's why I'm pretty excited about a reimagining of what Kitchener's Gaukel St could be. This past summer, a pop up experience happened over 4 days on Gaukel which included picnic tables, basketball, and even live theatre. There's now a working group exploring options for Gaukel Street improvements and you can learn more about the possibilities and have your say in this survey. ​#365ofgoodWR

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