Daljit Singh Sidhu, president of the Punjabi Market Association, says the area needs revitalizing. (CBC)

Merchants in Vancouver's Punjabi district say business is down and storeowners are struggling — but they're hopeful a Vancouver city council initiative could help revitalize the area.

The Punjabi district in south Vancouver, near 49th Avenue and Main Street, isn't as busy as it once was. In one block alone, seven stores sit vacant.

Tourists like Rebecca Iyer from Edmonton, who first visited the market in 2004, wonder what's happened to the once-vibrant area.

"It's disappointing. The street just doesn't seem as busy at it should be or [as] it used to be," Iyer said.

The biggest problem, according to Daljit Singh Sidhu of the Punjabi Market Association, is people in the community moving to other areas in the Lower Mainland.

"Especially in this tough time, we need injection in this area. We need any support we get from the government, or the people, or the Tourism Vancouver," Singh said.

That injection could come in the form of car-free Sundays, already an annual tradition on East Vancouver's Commercial Drive.

Car-free Sundays have become a summer tradition on East Vancouver's Commercial Drive. (CBC)

Vancouver city councillor Andrea Reimer plans to put forward a motion on Dec. 16 that would see the city organize car-free Sundays every week for three months during the summer.

The Punjabi district is one of three areas Reimer has named as a possibility.

"Here's an opportunity to really literally take back the streets and use them to have a little bit of fun," Reimer said.

The proposal isn't without its hurdles. Trolley buses along Main Street would have to be rerouted, and one storeowner wonders how customers would respond.

"I think it's a good idea, very good for the environment, but if someone wants to buy a bag of 50 pounds of onions, how they're going to carry it?" asked Harinder Singh Toor, owner of the Punjab Food Centre.

But Sidhu is confident the event would bring in some much-needed customers.

"Anything we can make happen to bring people here. We need more bodies here, we need more people here, we want to have it more fun in this area," he said.