Quote:
Originally Posted by goodgrowth
The problem is broader than just piers. It's that the downtown core/harbour front is trying be multiple things at once when there isn't nearly enough room for it. Between the topography of the area and NIMBYism there is only a small strip in the downtown core so there has to be more focus on what it should be.
I think at one time it probably made sense for the harbour front to act as a typical downtown core but in my opinion it needs to choose whether it's a productivity/working area or a tourist/entertainment area. And in my mind it should be rezoned and designed as a tourist/entertainment/retail district only. Like why are there office buildings in the along the harbour front? That brings hundreds of workers....that then requires parking spaces...into this crammed area of arguably prime real estate. Some lawyer or executive working in an office all day does not need to be on the harbour front. I'm sure tourists sailing into the harbour they are just in awe of Atlantic Place and the ugly parking garage smack dab in the middle of the downtown...
Downtown only has so much space and it should be hotels/bars/restaurants/small retail shops/music/sports(mile one) with an accessible harbour-front and the entire area designed for walking and public transit in mind.
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I just wanted to mostly agree with you on this. The amount of space taken up by these office towers and their parking lots is atrocious (even more so when you consider that where they stood there were once rowhouses and shops and the like; whole neighbourhoods.) I can think of no good reason why such things need to be in the downtown core rather than up on Kelsey Drive, Hebron Way, etc., where parking is plentiful.