[Echoes]

I'm sorta of two minds on skywalks.

I fully agree with Macca that they are detrimental to the public realm. But I also know how *nice* it is to traverse the U of S campus in winter through their system of tunnels and skywalks.

But skywalks are not only detrimental to the public realm for removing pedestrians from the street (people may descend from the convenience of the skywalk system in nice weather, they may not). It's also the effect the physical structures have on the actual street outside. They clutter up views and vistas (imagine one blocking our view of the Bess down 21st St), and makes spaces below and around them foreboding. I want my streets to be open and airy above my head, except for the streetwall of buildings on either side. Have you been in the heart of Calgary's downtown and felt how the tall buildings and criss-cross of skywalks feels on some streets? It's not pleasant. Now, Saskatoon will never get there ever, even if we allowed skywalks. But maybe we're better off if we just focused on making our streets more comfortable, sheltered, and inviting in the winter? Awnings, canopies, windbreaks, heated sidewalks, etc. It's not like we have a cohesive network of office buildings that would make stringing them together with a skywalk system worthwhile anyway.