I quite like the sun shades on the north side of the building. It's a nice touch.

sun...north?

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Yeah, seems kind of useless...

To be fair, the downtown streets are not oriented on a true north-south axis. That side of the building actually faces north-northeast, so it would get one or two hours of sun in the early morning in late spring and early summer. Other than that, though, it would be in shade.

has someone said something on their thread?

I use to look at Regina thread, but it so often is a bully fest between posters there...very weird how it can get off on personal attack tangents. So, I stopped visiting.....

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BDC has moved from their main level shop at the corner of 21st and 2nd to River Centre I on 2nd Ave. I was initially horrified that we maybe lost another downtown business to the suburbs but it’s actually nice to see a business that doesn’t have a front facing presence climb up into a new tower with some nice new upgraded gigs. Hopefully the space they left open opens up an opportunity for a company that has more retail traffic as that’s a great corner for both parking and walkability downtown!

Yeah, doesn't make sense. But mainly what I was getting at is that they add a nice touch, regardless of their utility.

If you are referring to me, yes I live in Regina, I am not one of those who see it as a Regina-Saskatoon competition. Growth in Saskatoon can only be good news for the whole Province including Regina. I am also a former resident of Saskatoon and own a house and business there. I have a warm place in my heart for Saskatoon.

Saskatoon is definitely doing better than Regina right now. Regina is being held back by Government/Crown Corp retrenchment as well as the slump in the oil sector. The Provincial Government minus healthcare (which has a much larger presence in Saskatoon) has been retracting as a share of the overall economy for decades.

Regina has its own advantages including the presence of some big private companies such as Evraz Steel, Mosaic, Viterra, Co-op Refinery Complex and AGT Foods. Still, I do not see Regina as keeping pace with Saskatoon as we are just too dependent on Government which is going to continue to languish.

Not to get political but as an FYI I know the 10,000 or however many main government employees in Regina have been without a contract for 3 years now - that’s a zero wage increase for 3 solid years, let alone any adjustment for the 2% increase in annual inflation. That’s a huge detriment to Regina at the moment. I don’t see it happening, but a contract at 4% year over year which is what they got previously would be a huge boom to Regina. Let’s be honest - the budget ain’t balanced when 60,000 gov employees in the province are out of a contract for years on end ...

Quote me if I’m wrong but our government employees are the lowest paid versus Manitoba and Alberta. That’s definitely leading to out migration.

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However, the balance of government jobs are for the most part very well paying jobs. I am an independent contractor in a fairly 'soft' industry. I have not been able to increase my contract fees for about 5 years now. I will not be shedding any tears for government employee's who have decent paying jobs with excellent benefits. I have neither....not complaining, as it is my choice to work independently and have flexibility, but I also have little sympathy for those that complain about a good job with excellent benefits.

Such is the life of the self-employed...

Now...back to construction news.....

Maybe in your industry, but overall private industry has seen more gains in SK in the past decade compared to public service - average earnings for public vs private are at parity right now as public wages have been stagnant in SK. That’s a huge detriment to a public service city like Regina - just doesn’t have the pizazz of struggling oil workers that made some insane dough prior to the crash in oil. That’s the only reason that I would argue Regina struggles so hard on the construction side to get things like Capital Point or Urban Capital to town.

The universities have been absolutely hammered in recent years. There have been occasional flashy new projects but this disguises the steady decline (in real terms) of the operating grants. Staffing is on life support, basic building maintenance work often doesn't get done, and financial reserves and assets have been liquidated.

The university cuts probably affect Saskatoon more than Regina (given the size of our university) but then again Saskatoon's economy is more diversified. Whatever party is in power following the next election I hope that the policies are more forward thinking with regards to innovation and education.

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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b4d252f4_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3cdfb28b_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3fee7290_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7d68c2ae_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3b8f8e46_c.jpg

That building sure turned out great, if they ever build the tower next to it i expect it would be the same quality

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I agree! First of all, they did a fantastic job redesigning the exterior of this building. Between the sleek design, and Echoes' fabulous photography, I literally had to look at the photos for a few moments because, like Ricopedra stated, they looked like renders. A stunning improvement.