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  #101  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2008, 8:41 PM
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^What kind of change do they mean, just no more Wells? The politics might get dull.

Bitstop has some cool icebergs in their Current Photos Section this week.
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  #102  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2008, 10:57 PM
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^Funny. I was out in Pouch Cove on Friday. It wasn't as close and I don't own a zoom lens of any magnitude.



I know so little about St. John's municipal politics so it will be a good time to learn some.
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  #103  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2008, 11:05 PM
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The iceberg in my avatar is from last year BTW.

I think St. John's politics might become much more conservative; it needs some visionary people. But then, I don't know that much about it either, just heard lots of stories.
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  #104  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2008, 11:20 PM
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^My wife was just asking me who the iceberg was.

My first reaction to "change" as one of the three words in the catchy slogan was that it wouldn't have been a word I would have chosen. I think Danny has helped out that front quite a bit, but overall change and Newfoundland are not two words I'd usually put together. But hey, things have to change some time, so why not now? It's easier to swallow change when times are good (or at least much better than they have been.) Although the caveat is that man is only truly creative when he's in trouble.

I think it will be an interesting election given the money potentially floating around.
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  #105  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2008, 6:40 PM
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Yes, Danny, man of change will not be in any trouble for awhile.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes View Post
Tourism needs to extend the season. Yes, I know winter in Newfoundland can be crazy, but there's snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and some just crazy spectacular scenery with the snow and the ocean that we're missing out. Outside of Marble Mountain skiing there's no advertisements for travel here in the winter.

I just drove my parents to the airport this morning and it was disappointing that nothing was open to take them to outside of the city. I took them around a bit: Cape Spear, Petty Harbour, and down some of the Irish Loop and around Middle Cove, Outer Cove and up to Pouch Cove to hunt some icebergs (managed a couple.) Thankfully Beachy Cove Cafe was open so I could take them for a dinner out by the ocean.

Universities can be a good route to diversification (think UofA with biotech, medicine and nanotechnology) and Memorial is a good institution with a well known name and reputation.
^Just wondering; had you ever seen an iceberg before? When I grew up there, I took icebergs for granted, but now I find them more fascinating.

Education is always a good investment. I also agree with extending the tourist season, and I believe they have already done that generally for the fall season when the weather tends to be milder. Spring is colder than the Canadian average, but when summer weather comes (June?) everything goes into high gear.
___________________________________

Some things I noticed were included in the budget for the St. John's area:

* $7 million cost-shared with the Federal Government to start construction of Torbay By-Pass
* $4 million for extension of the Team Gushue Highway, subject to municipal and Federal Government cost-sharing (I presume that would be from Kenmount Rd. to Topsail Rd.)
* $2 million for extension of the CBS By-Pass, subject to Federal Government cost-sharing

____________________________________

Changes to the City's Heritage areas, with expanded boundaries to include the Battery:

http://www.stjohns.ca/pdfs/Heritage%20Area%20Map.pdf
http://www.stjohns.ca/pdfs/Heritage%...egulations.pdf
http://www.stjohns.ca/csj/NewsDetails?id=683

____________________________________

New Development

Tiffany Village Inc. - 50 Tiffany Crt

168 condominium units were approved by the city, called 50 Tiffany Court. (Tiffany Village), units numbered from 201 through 1022 - 8 storey building, with 2 parking levels.

http://www.stjohns.ca/csj/Tiffany_Vi...ort15Feb07.pdf
http://www.stjohns.ca/cityhall/counc...ail.jsp?id=362

From the land use assesment (PHB Group):
"Exact Location and Height

The building is located on property next to the former Salvation Army Training Facility off Tiffany Lane. The Site Context Plan prepared by Tract Consulting Inc. shows the general location of the site and surrounding uses. The Site Plan prepared by Kavanagh & Associates Ltd. shows the exact location. The height of the building is eight storeys with two basement/parking levels. Height above grade
will vary because of the sloping ground. At the building main entrance, the height will be 26.6m, including the parapet. A mechanical penthouse in the middle of the building will be 2.4m in height."


Last edited by Architype; May 1, 2008 at 7:53 PM.
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  #106  
Old Posted May 1, 2008, 12:21 AM
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Tiffany Village looks very Edmontonish, which isn't really a good thing for me. How well does acrylic stucco stand up to St. John's weather? I'd assume regular stucco would be the absolute shits.

The Gushue extension to Topsail would be nice for me.

I had seen an iceberg before, but not until recently (2005.)

From my trip to Patagonia (Torres del Paine area in Chile here):

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  #107  
Old Posted May 1, 2008, 6:08 PM
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^ Great looking very blue iceberg.
Edit - Also - Check this out:
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq/yq232.html

That development (Tiffany Crt) is also described as phase one, meaning there willl be more, around 500 units total. I think I also read that the original plans may have called for ten storeys.

Re: the stucco - I think it's only a small part of the building, it appears to be mostly masonry and glass. I like the design; for that area it's appropriate. I'm not sure, but I've seen lots of commercial buildings, esp in the new developments with that kind of material, also possibly some townhouses on Henry St. Climate might be a consideration, but I guess time will tell. It seems to stand up (with some maintenance) in Vancouver's damp climate, and other colder Canadian climates. Many people don't like it, but IMO, it actually is more pleasing than vinyl siding if used properly. Is Edmontonish a bad thing?

Last edited by Architype; May 1, 2008 at 8:48 PM.
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  #108  
Old Posted May 1, 2008, 10:16 PM
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^Yes, Edmonton is that bad. Go read the Edmonton development thread to hear the cries of anguish in many cases.

exhibit one
exhibit two
exhibit three
exhibit four

All of this has gone up in the last five years. All of it is tragic. When I see beige and orange I see Edmonton.

I'm guessing the top beige, middle tone and sandy base are all stucco (at least they would be in Edmonton.)

Massing is okay and no tacked on balconies cleans up the look a lot.

Vancouver doesn't get as much freeze and thaw here which is problematic for regular stucco which is somewhat absorbant of moisture. I don't know a lot about the acrylic stucco, but I'm guessing it's mixed in to provide some water defense. Time will tell. Anyone have more information on the product in question?
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  #109  
Old Posted May 1, 2008, 11:42 PM
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Maybe you are misreading the materials. I'm pretty sure that it is all brick (veneer), and stone (veneer) except for the top floor. I think it is a nice basic low profile design, just my opinion. Those Edmonton ones do look a lot worse.

This is from the pdf file:
"The final design of the building is in progress. While the exact configuration is still to be
determined, exterior materials will include the following:
• Stone Masonry Veneer - Natural Colours
• Brick Veneer - Colours, Red Range
• Acrylic Plaster - Colours, Earth Tones, complimentary with the brick
• Metal Railings Factory Painted Aluminium
• Windows Factory Painted Aluminium"
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  #110  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 12:40 AM
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I did skim the pdf and I might be misreading. I would read that as the bottom layer is stone veneer, the red portions are brick veneer and the rest would be acrylic plaster (stucco) and subject to more stucco being configured, but then I am a worst-case scenario person and I've seen too many atrocities with that kind of exterior material list.

Speaking of atrocities, take a look at this one. You might want a stiff drink before you look. It's being built right now as we speak.

Some days I cry for Edmonton. I loved the three years I lived there.
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  #111  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 2:36 AM
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OK, you were right, I need a drink now. Try getting that one approved in St. John's. Maybe low rise & suburbs are better after all. However, I was in Edmonton years ago, and I actually liked the city, because of the river valley, better than I liked Calgary.
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  #112  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 11:46 AM
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I love Edmonton. The river valley is probably my favourite park area in Canada out of places I've lived. It's getting better in Edmonton, but it's been a struggle for them and the bar has been set so low the past decade. The urban format Sobey's on Jasper Avenue should be up for national awards.
Overall I'd give St. John's a decent grade for having a plan and sticking with it. I think there's room for improvement with the plan and a bit more flexibility, but there is some infill happening. For a metro ~200,000 that's decent. Way more units being built centrally than in Regina. In some respects I'm a nimby and hope they error on the side of caution with the feel of the core. It's a special place. Seriously special. That said, I think there's opportunities for some height in the West End of downtown and still preserve most of the character and give some people some spectacular views as well. Time will tell how the population actually changes given this round of economic activity and if zoning regulations even need to be looked at. Edmonton's zoning is causing problems because everything is a special case given the economics of building there. The height restrictions due to the municipal airport and general zoning overlays make it difficult to build anything economically feasible without a DC2 intervention. St. John's could learn from Edmonton's issues. Edmonton could learn from St. John's heritage concepts.
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  #113  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 4:30 PM
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Quote:
Some things I noticed were included in the budget for the St. John's area:

* $7 million cost-shared with the Federal Government to start construction of Torbay By-Pass
* $4 million for extension of the Team Gushue Highway, subject to municipal and Federal Government cost-sharing (I presume that would be from Kenmount Rd. to Topsail Rd.)
* $2 million for extension of the CBS By-Pass, subject to Federal Government cost-sharing
For a city the size of St. John's the highway network is extrely impressive, you can get from one end of the city using an endless number of networks - now if they could only fill in the potholes on this networks, things would be great!
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  #114  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 4:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Architype View Post
The iceberg in my avatar is from last year BTW.

I think St. John's politics might become much more conservative; it needs some visionary people. But then, I don't know that much about it either, just heard lots of stories.
Speaking of the politics becoming more conservative, I was listening to the radio the other day and they said that city council and the liquor corp and trying to scale back hours at bars and clubs in the city and potentially the province.

I'm not even totally sure what the cutoff time is, I read it was 2am, but, 90% of the bars serve until 3am, with another large portion serving until 5,6, and even 7am depending on where you go and if you stay in after they lock they doors.
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  #115  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 4:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nuks View Post
Remax has some interior pictures. I've always loved the exterior, but I'm not so hot about the inside:





Wow... Is that place still on the market? I looked at it back in October and also didn't care for the inside. The outside is beautiful and the location is wicked, but, they really lost the mark on the inside. The angles and corners are too 'squared off' for me, and the ceilings are not really high enough for what they are advertising as a loft, feels more like a cage inside.
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  #116  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 4:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Architype View Post
Map of St. John's Heritage Area:
(roughly covers from the Battery to Waterford Bridge Rd, Empire Avenue and Lemarchant Rd. (about 3.5 km x 1.5 km).

(source MUN)

The four storey height limit applies to all areas in red (some exceptions have been made). This is essentially all of the commercial downtown core and it's surrounding areas which are primarily heritage residential, small commercial, and institutional areas. The grey areas are excluded, but are all about 90% occupied by high-rise or mid-rise, parking lots, or contain newer or lower grade residential use such as public housing and non heritage type structures. Downtown contains only about two medium size rental buildings I believe; the tallest is 6 floors. If a developer wants to build anything greater than that, they would likely have to go to suburban areas outside of this map, or go through a sometimes lengthy process which would most likely be rejected, which happened recently. Most of what surrounds the heritage area is also residential with restrictive zoning, including some upper class neighborhoods, port industrial land, The Battery Heritage area, and a lot of very steep terrain including Signal Hill National Historic Park.
Thanks for sharing that map, it really answered a lot of questions for me - I didn't realize that the heritage area spanned such a great area.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this though, I love how St. John's has kept the old town feel, but, at the same time, the urban area is starting to sprawl out of control. The inner city should have more flexibility to build up instead of being forced to build out. The area east of the Delta has a lot of open land and slummy houses that could be pulled down to make room for some highrises.
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  #117  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 7:48 PM
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^I agree with both your views in the posts above. The city is special, but there are areas which will have to be redeveloped (mainly West End/Central). Either in a piecemeal in-fill/renovation fashion, or otherwise. These areas extend beyond the heritage area (ie. towards Mundy Pond). I think the Lemarchant Road area is best suited to higher density, and the Pleasantville lands have a lot of potential if done properly.

When new suburban areas are developed, almost nothing is zoned for higher density, and it's in the least desired spots (like Blackmarsh Rd). Poorly placed parking lots take away any chance of these developments having a good urban feel. Like any other place facing rising oil prices which makes travelling more expensive, the attitude of planning everything suburban style will eventually have to change. Agricultural land should be preserved for future needs, and even smaller cities will need real transportation systems.

Mount Pearl will continue to have a declining population if they don't include higher density, and it is a question whether they will keep their autonomy. Amalgamation is still an issue. High density doesn't neccearily have to be more than 6 storeys, but has to be more continuous (higher FSR).

Regarding road networks, the newer routes and connectors are great, but some of the street network connections could have been improved more for traffic flow starting back in the 60's before everything got developed; ie. Elizabeth Ave could have been connected to Cashin Ave. Empire Ave could have been be a through street. Columbus Drive could have been planned without so many turns. Regarding maintenance, I noticed areas being re-paved last year, but they are torn up for the whole summer, while serious rough spots on major streets were ignored. Instead of fixing them, they put up bump signs or barricades.

Regarding club hours, well, when people come to St. John's they have heard about the "famous" nightlife, and will expect it. When you have bars concentrated in one area (entertainment district) it will always have some problems (Vancouver has problems). Otherwise, that concept is very good.

^ MrChills - Here is a better heritage area map from the city:
http://www.stjohns.ca/pdfs/Heritage%20Area%20Map.pdf

Edit - I shoud add; I've read up on the history of St. John's, and a lot of the substandard conditions go way back to the times when the Nfld govt did not give the city enough money or control. It was controlled directly by the colonial (or whatever) government until 1888, and its autonomy was taken away twice after that ( in 1892, and 1914 ).

Younger cities had more control much earlier in their history:
Calgary - 1884
Vancouver - 1886
Victoria BC - 1862
Halifax - 1841
Toronto - 1834
Winnipeg - 1873
Charlottetown - 1855
(St. John's - 1888, after more than 200 years)

^Sorry, too many words -

Last edited by Architype; May 3, 2008 at 1:05 AM.
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  #118  
Old Posted May 2, 2008, 11:15 PM
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^ Lots of good points.

In my earlier post, I meant to say West of the Delta, for some reason I always confuse east and west downtown. Speaking of that area, my girlfriend works in the Cabot Building on New Gower, and I was up there this afternoon looking down across the city, and there are a lot of areas in that immediate area that could reach for the sky, the direct area across the street where K Cafe and the Ultramar being one of them.

LeMarchant would also be a great area for highrise, espically where the Grace is being pulled down, and the surronding area, even pull down some of Buckmaster Circle for that matter.
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  #119  
Old Posted May 9, 2008, 5:02 AM
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Why St. John's will continue to have growth

This is a map I came across, which shows the extent of the city's land area, as well as surrounding municipalities:


map from statscan/NL stats agency

This map covers an area roughly 40 miles north-south. Because St. John's has been granted such a large land area, in comparison to other towns, especially Mt. Pearl, most future growth will likely occur within the city limits. Even though some of this area is unsuitable for development, it still leaves large areas to be developed. By today's suburban-oriented planning standards there is no need for densification of the present urban areas.

However, if oil costs/transportation costs continue to go up there is not much chance that anyone will want to live that far away from their jobs and the downtown area.
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  #120  
Old Posted May 9, 2008, 12:27 PM
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^ I didn't realize that Mount Pearl was so small, makes sense (from their perspective) that they are trying to retake land from St. John's to grow the city; however, the entire area should be amalgamated as far as Im concerned.
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