To be honest. The last picture looks too sterile and lacking character. And The shops have become transparent.
But most importantly it has the mark of an elitist urban designer who goes everywhere by car and doesn’t really use the spaces they design, otherwise they would have never missed to provide benches for walking people to rest. Especially the elderly and the obese.
They should add one more photo. 1989, at the end of the Soviet occupation and then you will understand why nobody wants the fucking Russians occupying and influencing their countries.
Cost of housing in Poland takes up less of one’s budget than practically any other OECD nation. That being said, Krupnicza is right down in the center of town. It makes sense it’d be expensive to have a flat there. But there are lots of more reasonable options outside the Old Town.
Here are two photos of Plac Szczepański, another public space in Krakow, first in the 1960s(?) followed by the 2020s. It went from being a carpark to being a public square and splash park.
A single block if Google maps is any indicator, it’s just not that impressive, but I guess good job closing down one part of a road, sure seems like it hurt the businesses?
Another example is the area around the main train station, which used to be a carpark and bus station. It’s now an open public space and shopping center, viewable here. No cars, plenty of places to sit, and plenty of commerce.
That section of Krupnicza at the top of the post is doing fine in terms of business. There’s a nice stationery shop, a couple of bakeries, takeaway spots, and even a Starbucks–among others.
If you insist on a larger area full of trade with cars banned, you might consider ulica Grodzka, running from plac Wszystkich Świętych all the way to Wawel Castle. Several city blocks in length and full of shops and restaurants.
If none of that impresses, then maybe give us a concrete rubric, and I’ll see what other nice places in Krakow I can suggest.
If you look more carefully you can see that in the oldest photo cars are parked at parking places. In the newest photos the parking places appear to have been replaced by trees. Trees which were lacking in the oldest photo.
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