In 2016 I wrote an article asking “Is Knoxville the Boulder of the East?” My article was a response to an article declaring as much in Denver Life. Turns out I was able to make it to Boulder for the first time just over a year later and wrote “Is Boulder the Knoxville of the West?” It turns out the two cities do have some things in common, though there are obvious differences. The key similarity? Market Square here and Pearl Street there.
Both are large pedestrian zones planted in the center of the city. At the time I guessed that Pearl Street covered an area five or six times larger than Market Square. The two are otherwise similar, with Pearl Street having more of about everything: More coffee shops, more art, lots of book stores and just more everything. It’s one of the premier pedestrian destinations in the country.
So, what would happen if we expanded Market Square?
That is kind of the idea behind the City of Knoxville’s expansion of our “downtown non-motorized, pedestrian zone.” It’s only a small step given that it isn’t 24-7, but it’s an interesting experiment. The new pedestrian zone will include Market Street between Clinch and Union (one block bordering Krutch Park) and Union Avenue between Walnut and Gay Street (about two blocks). It’s not much, but it’s something. And with the Park, it effectively more than doubles the pedestrian-only zone.
As noted above, the days and hours are limited. The expanded zone will be in effect the remainder of this year starting Friday nights at 6:00 pm and running through Sunday nights at 6:00 pm. The footprint was already closed on Saturday mornings for the Farmers’ Market and is already closed Thanksgiving weekend for the lighting of the Christmas Tree and related revelry. It’s a small, but significant addition.
The immediate impact will be a safer pedestrian zone for a very busy part of downtown. Anyone who has driven though the area on the weekends, understands that the mix of automobiles and jay-walking pedestrians is a recipe for an unfortunate confluence. Why not separate them a bit? It may not matter much on a Sunday afternoon such as in the photos included here and it may take a while for people to realize they can walk in the streets. That said, it will inevitably make the Vols who travel here for the games, other tourists, and the rest of us just a bit more safe.
I walked around on the first Sunday evening of the expanded pedestrian zone and found that people generally avoided the street, presumably because that’s something so engrained it takes a paradigm shift to change. But all around the streets was an amazing range of humans being humans: A group protested in favor of the Palestinians while another group took senior portraits, using sculptures to hang their clothes. Homeless people sold newspapers while religious believers cast their nets. Patios buzzed with diners, the square hosted dozens or more, and the city sparkled. Each group doing their thing, oblivious of the others. Now we will have more space for all of these disparate people and activities.
What comes next? Well, we might hope the experiment goes well, becomes permanent, and is expanded. Short-term, maybe we join almost every other major city and allow adults to walk about with festive drinks in a designated area? Long-term, maybe the bank offices and other commercial spaces sense an economic opportunity to use their valuable street space in a more pedestrian-oriented fashion, giving us more restaurants, bars, book stores, art venues, and more, similar to Pearl Street. We have about twice their population, so what’s up with them having more of the cool stuff?
And if it creates a horrific, cataclysmic mess? Well, we just undo it and know that we tried. I’m guessing that won’t happen.
So what now? Well, now its time for Dancing in the Street!