A quick thank you to everyone who stopped by yesterday’s community market at the 800-block of Robson Street. Despite murmurings to the contrary, the weather turned out to be awesome — a perfect backdrop for the 30+ local vendors and dj who set up shop, and the many many visitors that took in the fun.

This was the first of our VPSN experiments with the space — all designed to see how the 800-block could function were the street to be remain closed to vehicular traffic. On that note, we’re pleased to report that the 800-block worked extraordinarily well as a market area. The surrounding architecture – the neoclassical finesse of the Art Gallery and the modernist trappings of Arthur Erickson’s Law Courts — created an all-important human-scale. This, in turn, allowed the market to enhance the ‘feel’ of the space, rather than appearing at odds with it. Add to that the high volume of pedestrian traffic (the 800-block is one of the city’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares) and the fit worked quite well. As one visitor from Italy noted: “it’s lively, like one of our piazzas.” Fantastico!

And talk about complimentary activities — the excellent Picnurbia installation (a rolling picnic “beach” located on the east end of the block) – provided a great resting area for people once they’d taken in all the local arts and crafts on display. If you haven’t yet checked it out, have a peek.

The VPSN would like to thank our collaborators: Blim (www.blim.ca) for their hard work assembling vendors and handling so many of the logistics, as well as the City of Vancouver’s “Viva Vancouver” program – which supported the endeavor.

Finally, as a number of you have noted, the trolley wires were reinstalled through the 800-block. We are sad to report that, despite our efforts to the contrary (and despite being closed for two years), it seems the plan is to re-open Robson Street to vehicles sometime around Labour Day. We’re not yet clear on whether the plan is for buses only, or buses and cars. Either way, it’s unfortunate. As yesterday’s market – as well as the Picnurbia installation – continue to show, this small segment of Robson is one of the best spots in the City for a pedestrian-only gathering space.

For that reason, in addition to doing a number of research studies (timing, vendor studies, and pedestrian counts) as part of yesterday’s market, the VPSN crew was also on hand to gather signatures for a petition to keep the space free of vehicular traffic. If you’d like to add your voice to the list, please follow this link or send us an email noting your support. You can reach us at robsonsquare [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca. To make it official, we’ll need your full name and address — just as if you were signing a petition on the street. Please consider joining on — and with any luck we can still turn this one around.

A quick thank you to everyone who stopped by yesterday’s community market at the 800-block of Robson Street. Despite murmurings to the contrary, the weather turned out to be awesome — a perfect backdrop for the 30+ local vendors and dj who set up shop, and the many many visitors that took in the fun.

This was the first of our VPSN experiments with the space — all designed to see how the 800-block could function were the street to be remain closed to vehicular traffic. On that note, we’re pleased to report that the 800-block worked extraordinarily well as a market area. The surrounding architecture – the neoclassical finesse of the Art Gallery and the modernist trappings of Arthur Erickson’s Law Courts — created an all-important human-scale. This, in turn, allowed the market to enhance the ‘feel’ of the space, rather than appearing at odds with it. Add to that the high volume of pedestrian traffic (the 800-block is one of the city’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfares) and the fit worked quite well. As one visitor from Italy noted: “it’s lively, like one of our piazzas.” Fantastico!

And talk about complimentary activities — the excellent Picnurbia installation (a rolling picnic “beach” located on the east end of the block) – provided a great resting area for people once they’d taken in all the local arts and crafts on display. If you haven’t yet checked it out, have a peek.

The VPSN would like to thank our collaborators: Blim (www.blim.ca) for their hard work assembling vendors and handling so many of the logistics, as well as the City of Vancouver’s “Viva Vancouver” program – which supported the endeavor.

Finally, as a number of you have noted, the trolley wires were reinstalled through the 800-block. We are sad to report that, despite our efforts to the contrary (and despite being closed for two years), it seems the plan is to re-open Robson Street to vehicles sometime around Labour Day. We’re not yet clear on whether the plan is for buses only, or buses and cars. Either way, it’s unfortunate. As yesterday’s market – as well as the Picnurbia installation – show, Robson is perhaps the best space in the City for a pedestrian-only space of this sort.

For that reason, in addition to doing a number of research studies (timing, vendor studies, and pedestrian counts) as part of yesterday’s market, the VPSN crew was also on hand to gather signatures for a petition to keep the space free of vehicular traffic. If you’d like to add your voice to the list, please send us an email saying so. You can reach us at robsonsquare [at] vancouverpublicspace.ca. To make it official, we’ll need your full name and address — just as if you were signing a petition on the street. Please consider signing on — and with any luck we can still turn this one around.

Jointly presented by VPSN and Blim, with support from Viva Vancouver, this special one-day event will feature more than 30 vendors offering an eclectic mix of locally produced arts and crafts. It also represents a great opportunity for the public to discover how markets can transform streets from thoroughfares to destinations.

With the recent completion of renovations to the 800-block of Robson Street, the Blim Community Market is the first of many initiatives supported by the VPSN to revitalize and animate Robson Square. A vibrant, centrally located public space is overdue in Vancouver, and a renewed Robson Square has the potential to support community building, enhanced public life, celebration, and the local economy at the very epicentre of Vancouver’s civic life.

“The Olympics taught us that Robson Square has the capacity to be the gathering place in the city,” says VPSN director Andrew Pask. “Through events like this weekend’s community market, we have an important opportunity to undertake a major enhancement of Vancouver’s downtown public realm.”

The Blim Community Market will take place between 12 and 5 p.m. at the south end of the Art Gallery between Hornby and Howe streets.

“We’re excited to bring the Blim market to Robson,” says Yuriko Iga, director of Blim. “This is a great opportunity to showcase the work of our talented artists and craftspeople in the heart of the city.”

Blim is an independent, family-run art and craft facility located in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. Its aim is to help build community through the spirit of fun and creativity, making the arts and crafts accessible to a wide range of skill sets and aims.

For more information about the Blim Community Market, check out our event page on Facebook.