It is extremely common for large tourist areas to have a problem with foot traffic. To mediate these problems, cities decide to close off entire roads from cars and enable pedestrians to walk on them freely, which, locally, can be seen in Carlsbad Village during the Wednesday market or the Carlsbad Street Fair. However, this is a short-term occurrence and not a long-term solution to the problem at hand.
Carlsbad Village is continuing to grow at a rapid rate, and this will only bring in more tourists. This large number of tourists will heighten the issue with overpopulated sidewalks and safety issues. While some argue that the Village Faire Restaurant & Shops is already an area for pedestrians, it is not currently big enough to solve this problem. An addition of a designated pedestrian area in the Carlsbad Village is necessary due to current safety hazards and to make an increase in business profits.
The lack of pedestrian areas are putting people at risk: the overpopulation of sidewalks has led people to go into the road with traffic. For example, on State Street, in between Carlsbad Village Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard, the mix of heavy foot traffic and businesses building into the sidewalks has left pedestrians with no room to walk. This leads to people either going into the bike lane, or even in the car lanes, which is extremely dangerous to pedestrians. When pedestrians leave the sidewalk due to a lack of space to walk, they put themselves in danger of a collision in the road. If this section of road on State street was closed off, it would allow pedestrians to walk freely and not put themselves in harm’s way.
Furthermore, by creating a safer area, tourism is bound to increase. When closing a section of a street off just for pedestrians, it boasts the idea that Carlsbad City is a safe place for tourists and visitors. With this reputation, Carlsbad Village will attract much more tourists than the Village has previously had, and with more tourists in the village, there are more customers for local businesses in the Village to profit from. As a result, the Village will expand into greater areas, looking to build more businesses for customers to go to. This will see not only the businesses flourish, but also the entirety of Carlsbad Village extend.
Some do argue that Carlsbad Village already has a pedestrian area, which is true. When they speak of this, they are referring to the Village Faire Restaurant & Shops. This is a great start to the idea of increased pedestrian areas, however, this is also extremely congested: restaurants and businesses set up taking away areas for pedestrians. While this area is not bad at all, it isn’t enough: there needs to be another designated, year-round, pedestrian area.
Safety hazards and the ability to promote business in the village are causes for the addition of a designated pedestrian area. The Carlsbad Village is a place many cities wish they could create and the people of Carlsbad are thankful for. However, there are still some minor adjustments that should be made in order to better the city the community knows and loves. It’s clear that Carlsbad needs to create a pedestrian area in order to benefit the lives of everyone visiting or living in the village.
