So I've made a few posts over the past few months about the issues and challenges facing Saskatoon's downtown district, most of them focused on impacts that are difficult but ultimately solvable (assuming there's the will), like homelessness, crime, traffic, parking, and overall attractiveness.
However, I believe there's a significant issue that rarely gets discussed and is, for all practical purposes, unsolvable:
Saskatoon's downtown streets are too wide.
Go to cities with a thriving downtown core. What do they all have in common? With perhaps the exception of a few streets/avenues, they all have narrow streets, usually two lanes in width. New York City is the classic example, but you can find many urban centres in Canada whose downtown areas are dominated by two-lane roadways. Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax are excellent examples. Even Regina follows this principle (most of its streets and avenues are two or even single lanes).
Why does this matter? Because so much of what differentiates an attractive/inviting downtown core is a sense of intimacy. Wide streets not only create the impression of vacancy but also give the sense that the area is unsafe. Additionally, wide streets disincentivize pedestrian traffic, not only because they're more difficult to cross, but studies have shown that wide downtown streets result in increased speeding by vehicular traffic.
Look at Saskatoon. Perhaps its most inviting street is Second Avenue, populated by a variety of stores and shops, creating a greater sense of intimacy. Compare that street to 4th Avenue, which has four lanes. Now ask yourself, which one is more appealing to walk or browse?
What's the solution? Obviously, the city can't easily expand the width/length of its blocks, which would reduce street widths, but it should at least consider future strategies which might include the expansion of storefronts, which would allow for the conversion of 4-lane streets and avenues into 2-lane roadways.