Comment 39515

By Glass Half Full (anonymous) | Posted April 07, 2010 at 08:28:53

adam2: "Not to mention Hamilton is over 600,000 people and yet downtown sidewalks are barely wide enough for two friends to walk side-by-side!"

On top of which, any attractive patio example I can think of doesn't involve the establishment annexing all but a four-foot wide sliver of sidewalk, something that's taken as a given in Hamilton. Consider Hess. When the street was narrowed, the patios nudged further out. Look at the example of McGill College Ave: the setback allows them to preserve the boulevard dynamic, which in turn creates an air of ease and simple luxury. Contrast that to the mercifully departed Joe Buttinsky's patio just east of King and John, which treated drivers to a view of a maxed-out petting zoo for hustlers and hard luck cases (along with the neighbouring billiards hall and the strip joint, not exactly a Tourism Hamilton campaign... and they actually used to be located just a few doors east!), and forced pedestrians to cut an even wider berth around the place. Even Burlington's Lakeshore patios are generally pushed right to the curb.

And yeah, Gringo's is stuck in the last commercial space on a residential street. Forget Hess Village, they have less patio-ready real estate than Hess Variety.



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