What's missing from your city?

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Vancouver's biggest deficit is not having any form of public square. There is no central meeting point in the city for cultural, artistic, or political events. Even City Hall isn't downtown and it has no frontal area at all.

London does need a downtown grocery store but the huge population gains in the Core recently, that will definately come but I can imagine a bit of a pushback from Covent Garden Market merchants.

Not true. I visited Vancouver in 2005 and its the Vancouver Art Gallery that has steps and has a plaza where people can sit.

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Ronson McSquare is very small and not up to the task and Stanley Park is exactly that, a park, and definately not a public square. As for breaking up the urban fabfic that is silly as a great city square doesn't break up the urban fabric but rather unites it into common space.

Err...so either you are blind and completely oblivious to the large square on the North Side of the Art Gallery or you are talking out your ass again like you are prone to do.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

Err...so either you are blind and completely oblivious to the large square on the North Side of the Art Gallery or you are talking out your ass again like you are prone to do.

Speaking of that square, it looks very bare. Shouldn’t they do something to make it more welcoming ? Fountains ? Public art ? A few trees ? Is it supose to stay like that ?

[logan5]

We got rid of the fountains and trees. Feels like a real square now, imo.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28331...=en&authuser=0

Water features and trees - Robson Square South...

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28182...=en&authuser=0

[logan5]

Another public space for smaller events - Vancouver Art Gallery North.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28222...=en&authuser=0

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by logan5

We got rid of the fountains and trees. Feels like a real square now, imo.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28331...=en&authuser=0

Water features and trees - Robson Square South...

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28182...=en&authuser=0

Why should a square be empty and desolate like that to feel like a real square ? In Montreal every square has fountains, trees, sculptures, monument, etc.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Why should a square be empty and desolate like that to feel like a real square ? In Montreal every square has fountains, trees, sculptures, monument, etc.

Art Gallery North is meant to function as a large gathering place for large political rallies or other outdoor events. Robson Square functions more like an urban park similar to Place du Canada. Thornton Park in Vancouver could almost be called a square. There's a fuzzy line between square and park.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.27342...=en&authuser=0

Vancouver doesn't have much to offer in the monument department. Victory Square has one, but I think that's about it. Again, this feels more like a park than a square.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28224...=en&authuser=0

Jack Poole Plaza has a water fountain and a sculpture, and digital whale, which I'm not a huge fan of. Art work nonetheless. Nice view though, and it's fairly active with a restaurant patio space.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.29006...=en&authuser=0

The area where the Gassy Jack statue is would make an excellent public square. Get rid of traffic and bollards, put a fountain in the middle and then you have an excellent public square that has all the important elements. It's been talked about, but this is one thing Vancouver has missed the boat on.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28338...=en&authuser=0

[Graham_Yvr]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Vancouver's biggest deficit is not having any form of public square. There is no central meeting point in the city for cultural, artistic, or political events. Even City Hall isn't downtown and it has no frontal area at all.

How about the relatively newly rebuilt north plaza at the Art Gallery fronting Georgia Street? Robson Square on the South Side? Jack Poole Plaza at the waterfront, while not being centre of downtown is also large and very well used for events.

Maybe you haven't visited Vancouver for a while.

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by Graham_Yvr

Maybe you haven't visited Vancouver for a while.

Oh I believe he lives in Vancouver. He also lives in a world created entirely by his delusional mind as well.

[SpongeG]

White Rock is pretty far from Vancouver though, most suburban people I know don't go downtown unless they are forced to. A woman I know who lives in Richmond hadn't gone into Vancouver or downtown for over 10 years and had to go last month for something. It's pretty easy to not know what's going on in the city for many people.

[Prometheus]

Yeah, this guy knows fuck all about Vancouver post Expo 86.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Speaking of that square, it looks very bare. Shouldn’t they do something to make it more welcoming? Fountains ? Public art? A few trees? Is it supose to stay like that?

If you are talking about the recently renovated plaza on the north side of the Vancouver Art Gallery, then of course there should be a fountain. It's uncivilized. But the last city council, which was responsible for the previous plaza's neglect and the new plaza's design, had zero interest in (or grasp of) the classical elements of civic greatness. Indeed, they seemed to have a hate on for water features in the city, and a number of major public fountains (including the Art Gallery fountain) fell into disrepair under their watch.

[SpongeG]

I like it as is. A nice open space.

[zahav]

It is a nice space as part of the historic building. But I wish we had something (even a smaller version of course) of Yonge-Dundas Sqaure, with the message centres and lights. Granville and Robson would make sense but I don't see it happening

[Pinus]

Originally Posted by Spocket

I know you're sorta playing around but I'm actually getting irked by people in the Winnipeg forums who insist that the city needs trains. The fact that it has no need for them is completely lost. The fact that it couldn't justify such a thing in the next 50 years is way over their heads. They love to cite cities such as Calgary and Edmonton but gloss over the fact that those are both boomtowns that have been booming for decades and built their systems knowing full well that the boom would continue indefinitely.

Some of us would like to see a modern metropolitan train transit system as opposed to BRT. It definitely adds to the urban fabric and would be much more accepted as legitimate mass transit, especially as we will likely reach 1 million by 2030.

But you don't even live here anymore. You live in bloody China. So it's hard to take expats opinions too seriously when they've up and left with no intentions of coming back.

[ssiguy]

Ièm sorry but if you guuys think a staircase or a front lawn qualify as a great public square then you are delutional.

[Log1988]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Ièm sorry but if you guuys think a staircase or a front lawn qualify as a great public square then you are delutional.

Don't shift the goalpost. What you originally said is objectively wrong and everyone is right to call you out on it.

[logan5]

I think we are at the point where we should see some plazas outside of the downtown core. With the Broadway Subway intensifying neighbourhoods like Mt. Pleasant and Fairview, decent sized plazas would be appropriate. Kingsway and Broadway would be a good location for Mt. Pleasant. The large Kingsgate Mall site will be redeveloped and could easily accommodate a plaza.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by megadude

Montreal has been lacking a horse racing track for several years now since the Hippodrome/Blue Bonnets closed down. Horse track is a good way to kill a couple of hours. But I don't think this is much a part of Quebec culture? There's only one in the province. In Trois Rivieres.

Toronto lacks a proper casino like Montreal has. Just Woodbine racetrack, which has slots. Don't know if they have a few table games now? City is still opposed to it I guess. Have to venture out to Niagara, Rama, Brantford and Port Perry.

I had no idea about this until my colleague mentioned it. So it's not Toronto, but neighbouring Pickering. Close enough.

I'm still conflicted about major casinos being in the city. As someone who has worked in a bank branch and seen the consequences of gambling addiction I have so far been happy that there are no proper casinos in TO. But that's just my perspective. I suppose many locals will benefit from this.

And I can confirm that the local race tracks do in fact have some table games these days.

Plans to construct a "mini Las Vegas" in Pickering, Ontario are now underway. According to a report by Retail Insider, the massive entertainment complex will feature a concert venue, hotels, a casino, a movie studio, a convention centre alongside hundreds of thousands of feet of new retail space. Durham Live in Pickering, Ontario hopes to rival Toronto's Yonge Street as a place for both quality entertainment and tourism. Durham Live hopes to solidify itself as one of the province's top spots for fun.

“Durham Live is a 240-acre entertainment destination. A tourist destination in Pickering,” detailed managing partner for Pickering Developments Steve Apostolopoulos to Retail Insider. “There’s going to be a tremendous amount of restaurants. There’s also going to be entertainment offerings which could span from kids entertainment all the way through to entertainment for adults."

http://www.movemag.ca/field-of-dreams/

[vicdevelopments]

Victoria lacks a good size arena and stadium. For a city of almost 400,000 we only have a 7,000 seat arena and a stadium of about 3,000. Also being on the island where the population is over 800,000 there is no facilities to draw big events. So frustrating. Maybe one day they will build something worth being proud of.