Creating “safe spaces” was a selling point in the city's decision to close down the 400 block of Gay Street to vehicles on select weekends in November and December.
But there are two things Gay Street business owners and urbanites are whispering about even if the city isn’t addressing them directly in this effort: That open streets seems like a natural segue to open container and that redirecting traffic would cut down on excessive car noise.
Downtown reporter Ryan Wilusz and visuals journalist Brianna Paciorka discuss their experience trying out the open streets concept, including some suggestions for how to make this concept work longterm.
"The Scruffy Stuff" is presented by Knox News. Want more downtown analysis? Sign up for the free weekly Urban Knoxville newsletter by clicking here, and join the downtown discussion by becoming part of the Urban Knoxville group on Facebook.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Death, Sex & Money
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.