While much has been made about the success of the Granville Pedestrian Zone, Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood is also seeing a boost.
The area is now offering its own pedestrian pop-ups and Car-Free Sundays, and the Gastown BIA’s Jessica Dizon says local shops have been enjoying a great summer.
“We have three DJ stages along Water Street, we have a vendor market on the 100 block, we have a bike valet, we have some amazing businesses activating on the street,” she said.
“There has been a great benefit from FIFA coming into town, and we have had a handful of businesses have such a lift in foot traffic because of that.”
But another big reason for the boost is another record cruise ship season, which is seeing an 18-per-cent jump compared to last year’s all-time-high volume.
“We are seeing some really, really strong numbers this year,” said Mandy Chan, director of land operations for Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
“We are anticipating a very, very busy July, with about 290,000 passengers in and out of Canada Place cruise terminal. July is actually going to be the busiest July that we’ve seen, ever.”
All indications are that the record cruise traffic and other initiatives will be the cherry on top of a great summer for Gastown.