My personal opinion is that pedestrian only streets are great—and Church Street is a great example of this great idea. However, you are correct in stating some reluctance to embrace the idea wholeheartedly without first taking into consideration the supporting factors that need to be in place, or be put in place, prior to or concurrent with such a place working well.
Wharf Street in Portland is another great example. That street is at the heart of the City’s night life, and gets packed with people on most nights (like a sardine can, literally elbow to elbow on many evenings). Exchange Street was tried as a pedestrian only street, but that idea flopped. I don’t know why some places make it and others don’t, but you are probably onto something with the variables you listed above.
A key component is the number of residents in the area. A city is nothing if not its people, and if most people arrive via car, what appeal does a ped only street have? Then again, if most people live in the units above Hanover street, what appeal does an auto corridor have?
This street looks like the sort of place people come to visit, not somewhere people aspire to merely travel through, so maybe ped only can work here. However, cars are occasionally an unobtrusive addition to otherwise narrow ped friendly streets, and can even serve as a buffer between sidewalk life and the traffic (via parallel parking). One option, as the article and you note, is to close it at certain times of day (whether day or evening). Church Street and Wharf Street are both closed days only, and are open early mornings and late evenings (for deliveries and, in Portland’s case, puke cleanup). Installing all cobble stones might be one way to keep this open to traffic while also deterring that traffic by causing an artificial speed limit by virtue of the fact that no one speeds along cobble stones. In that case, remember the women in high heels cannot walk across the cobbles, so installation of some flat “bridges” at key crossing areas is key. I know that sounds funny, but just like ladies’ night the key is to attract women because where they go the gentleman are sure to be as well. The same is not always true the other way around. This is just an anecdotal observation from much time spent in the Old Port (and overhearing conversations in Providence by the riverwalk, as well, where cobblestones stretch underneath a bridge walkway).
I think Church Street works incredibly well and there are other examples, but it seems like there are just as many--maybe more--examples that fail. Wharf Street in Portland and the much smaller Commercial Alley in Portsmouth are really different animals than Church Street, or Exchange or Hanover for that matter, I think. They're essentially pedestrian-only alleys, which I think tend to work very well, and are on a much smaller scale than Church Street (which I think works
in part because it essentially an open-air mall, right down to the piped-in music) or the much less successful Downtown Crossing in Boston.
I know at least some of the buildings, including the Opera House, have apartments above, so there are definitely residents along Hanover Street, and I think you're right that it's really more of a place that people visit rather than pass through, at least at night. But much more so than Exchange or Church, it is also a major road into downtown from the east, though I'm sure traffic could be diverted if it was ever closed down more permanently.
For the time being, I think trying it on Friday nights during the summer (and I'd be up for all day during the weekend as well) is a good idea. I can see bards and restaurants setting up tables over the entire sidewalks with the street open, maybe with buskers or performers in the middle. I also love the idea of changing the paving--either to cobblestone or even just brick or something with a pattern that would at least psychologically signal people to slow down.
Although a great idea, I see two problems, well not problems, but, things I would rather see happen that may be better.
#1 Close Hanover 24/7
#2 Rather than closing a single street to create foot traffic, I think upgrading more of the downtown streets to be more like like Hanover would be much more effective, but this obviously has the much higher price tag
#3 Bring more unique businesses, and venues to down town, which again, would in my opinion, be a better option and should be addressed first. This has a lesser price tag than upgrading the streets, but still costs more than closing a street to cars. (the conversion of the old bank drive through to an ampitheatre is a good concept I like a lot)
#4 expand the down town area and spruce up and upgrade the streets like most of down town has down, further into the city center, not only along main roads, but side roads too
But obviously closing the street one night is better than nothing and I think is a simple, great idea. Many people go to Hanover Street for dining, shopping, and the Palace Theatre. Having the area be more popular will only help the surrounding area. But again, many great proposals are presented in the city, but very few actually happen. I know the economy is not the best, but there are many things that can happen in a bad economy.
And the new Down Town Market Basket is basically complete (not open yet) but looks fairly nice. The electrical and telephone wires along southern end of Elm still are awful, but the new fences, facade, and trees (once the trees grow in this coming summer) will be a HUGE improvement to the area. Hopefully the Market will bring traffic to the area and help many fo the local business owners and building owners.
I actually think closing it down for one evening a week during the summer is a smart move. Hanover is a beautiful street with some nice restaurants and decent bars, but I think closing it 24/7 would make it feel underwhelming. It doesn't have enough going on yet to support that. Doing it only one night a week (at least to start) makes it sort of an event, especially if the city, Intown Manchester or some other group can get performers or something like that to fill the space of the street. If it proves successful, it will make the block increasingly attractive as a place for bars, restaurants and even shops, and that could lead to making it more feasible to close it 24/7, or at least all weekend.
I think the same could be said of the other ideas. I agree with all of them, but I think focusing on making an already attractive area even more of a destination might be a good way of creating a stronger nucleus for downtown, which can then spill over onto other side streets. Trying to upgrade and make all the streets happening right away could lead to the area feeling underwhelming without a strong center. I think it's kind of the strategy of revitalizing the whole city (which has stalled since the Baines ere) on a smaller scale: start with the downtown, then help it radiate out from there; start from Hanover Street and help it spread throughout downtown.
The idea of closing the Citizens Bank drive-through and sprucing up Manchester Street is really interesting. I think you could even make an argument that the drive-through could be reconfigured some and maintained during the day if the bank doesn't want to give it up entirely, but closed off at night and open as an ampitheatre or outdoor bar or something.
As far as expanding the downtown and sprucing up more streets outside the central downtown goes, this is actually something the city is working on. I think I read that the budget this year includes money for fixing up sidewalks and beautifying streets--especially Elm--north of Bridge and south of Granite. I know a few years ago, the definition of downtown was expanded beyond those borders to include the "North of Bridge" and Gaslight District/Downtown South areas. That increased the area subject to the downtown business tax, which funds infrastructure, beautification and promotional programs for the area, so I imagine those areas will see some physical benefits soon.
