What could the future of Granville Street look like?

It's been a street party unlike anything this city has ever seen. Yes, the Olympics were roaring good fun — but the vibe on Granville Street during the World Cup has been unique in a few different ways.

On the one hand, there's been nary a hint that the city could break out in a riot at any moment (which wasn't exactly true for the Olympics… and obviously not for certain other street parties).

For those participating in the experience, there’s a multicultural energy that's been decidedly unique, with the city's various ethnic communities flocking to the city's centre to rally for their country. It's been a vibey, consistently celebratory good time.

The pedestrianization of Granville Street has been so popular that the City of Vancouver has extended the project until the end of summer. It begs the question — how will Granville Street look if, or when, the street is fully closed off to vehicles, given that it’s part of the 20-year Granville Plan? What will it take to get there?

We spoke to Jane Talbot, President and CEO of the Downtown Business Improvement Association, about all of this.

Stephen: I want to start by asking what your thoughts are on how it's going right now? Has it improved on your expectations? What's going on in your head?

Talbot: Well, I'll say this — I don't think any of us anticipated how enthusiastically people would embrace the space as quickly as they did. We thought we might ease into it with the World Cup, word would get out, then people would come. But from day one, it's been very busy, and overall very successful.

Stephen: What makes it a success in your view?

Talbot: There's a lot, right? A lot of planning went into it. This was done in partnership with Vancouver Police, which is really important to the success of the street, Vancouver Fire and Rescue, TransLink — moving the buses off the street was huge — and the City of Vancouver. We've been in lockstep with them. All of that had to come together to create a successful experience.

But what's made it special is that there's a vibe around the World Cup and the games that's contagious. On Granville we have 28 extended patios — people can come down, watch the game, hang out. There are buskers, live music, tons of selfie stations, things for families to do. It's a combination of all of those things.

Stephen: I was talking to my dad about this, who’d been in Europe for most of the World Cup so far and hadn’t been downtown yet. He asked if it's been anything like the Olympics. I told him it's actually different in a few key ways — mainly that the Olympics felt very much like a Canadian celebration. This feels international.

Talbot: It is. It's definitely drawn in tourists from out of town, but it's also brought out our different cultural groups who live in Vancouver but don't often get the opportunity to celebrate on a large scale when their country is doing something, or playing in a game. It's got a great energy. Everybody's been really respectful and celebratory. It's given people an opportunity to celebrate their culture in a way we haven't had here in a long time.

Stephen: I think that's the key. Granville Street has for a while felt… I don't want to say homogeneous, but it's been bringing in certain kinds of people because of the types of businesses there. Not necessarily people from all factions of the city.

Talbot: There's no doubt the strip has struggled in recent years. That's one of the reasons it's so great to see people embrace the street — people care very much about the Granville Entertainment District. It's an iconic street, and when people have the opportunity to support it, they do. This has been a really positive experience for the business owners too, because people are coming down and either being introduced to the street for the first time or reintroduced to it, reminded of what this strip can be when it performs as intended, as an entertainment district.