PRINCES Street is "one of the world's greatest public boulevards", in the words of the acclaimed architect Sir Terry Farrell.
It is easy to take for granted anything that you see on an almost daily basis, so sometimes it's useful to stop for a moment to appreciate our city as others see it. The setting of our most famous street is undoubtedly majestic.
That is why it's s
o good to see the debate about pedestrianising the street opened up again by deputy council leader Steve Cardownie.
The ongoing tram works, despite the obvious pain they are causing in the short term, have given us pause for thought. They have offered a tantalising taste of what Princes Street might be like without traffic on it.
Walking down the street on days when the trams work is not in full swing, it does not take a great leap of imagination to see how things might be if traffic were banned.
Just imagine sitting there outside a cafe soaking up the sunshine and the beautiful views, with only the occasional murmur of a passing tram and the noise of other visitors to disturb your peace.
This isn't just idle day-dreaming though.
The experience of the current traffic diversions shows that it is possible to achieve.
The pedestrianisation of Castle Street and the reopening of St Andrew Square have also shown already what a difference creating a high quality environment can make to parts of the city centre.
Those areas have bucked the national trend by seeing a number of new store openings despite the credit crunch and industry experts say that uplift is directly linked to the recent improvements.
This vision is not without its drawbacks.
Pedestrianisation of Princes Street would surely spell the end of any such ambitions for George Street.
But don't forget once trams are up and running there would be fewer buses running through the city centre so the volume of displaced traffic would be less than at the moment.
Such a bold move on Princes Street should ideally be coupled with more improvements to public transport and better car parking around the city centre.
A network of trams, rather than a single line, which would allow people to get quickly into the city centre from all corners of the city, and those long-promised underground car parks, would be a good start.
But now we are really dreaming.
FRINGE FACTS – A WORD FROM THE SPONSORSThe main sponsor of the Fringe itself, Royal Bank of Scotland, will return for 2009.
The Assembly Rooms has lost the backing of Belhaven, thought to be worth £60,000. The banner on its website carries the prominent plea: "Your company can become part of the Edinburgh Fringe – Sponsor Assembly 09."
The if.comedy awards have lost the backing of Intelligent Finance, but organisers plan to unveil a new-look awards next month.
The So You Think You're Funny newcomers award, run by the Gilded Balloon, has the backing of Sony Pictures again for 2009.
