[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Pugsley

You seem pretty rigid Envision on the belief that a skyscraper is a catalyst for growth in a city's core. However, it has been proven multiple times from studies and scholars that a single tower does very little to rejuvenate a downtown. In fact, most Urbanists and Urban Planning Academics would argue that socially and economically healthy cities are actually ones that have a consistent degree of mixed-use density across a dense and highly-walkable plat - think Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, etc. Cities with a consistent mix of these uses results in more people on the street and a more vibrant socio-economic environment.

I get this site is called Skyscraperpage, but it doesn't mean that your proposals are best practice. When I say walk, crawl, run - I will again repeat myself - I am referring to the need for the Uptown to prove itself as a place people want to live and worth investing in. For example, last evening I walked through City Hall and Brunswick Square. It was completely dead at 5pm. Even the City Market was lacklustre activity-wise, and this was right after work. But there was some activity on the street and the restaurant we went to was busy. That said, most were those that had driven into the core for the BTO concert, not locals who walked there or lived nearby - according to the owner.

If the Uptown is to grow, then it needs to see these empty blights turned around. You do that, not by building a single residential tower (or turning one into residences) and hope they spill out into the area - studies show that does not happen. Instead, you develop a variety of housing types in the area by renovating existing spaces, building new complimentary in-fill to the area's aesthetic, and other incremental improvements to improve the desirability of the area. These things are all happening right now, some by people I believe are active on this site.

This leads to more families and small businesses moving to the area (AKA - Gentrification), which results in improved streetscape vibrancy and activity, which in turn spurs greater confidence from private and corporate investors to make more serious investments. This is how Portland's Downtown was transformed. Small, incremental improvements that snowballed into a vibrant and desirable place to live. And NOW, they are getting a signature tower in their downtown like you'd desire in Uptown. That tower would NEVER have happened 20 years ago in a Portland that was dirty, full of empty storefronts, and had few people living there. However, it is feasible today because the area has proven itself as both desirable to live and economically viable through thoughtful and incremental changes that made it more desirable to live.

I'm not rigid about skyscrapers being the only type of catalyst for growth in a city's core... not at all actually. However, I certainly do believe they can be a catalyst for growth and development. Do you have a link to those articles or papers regarding single towers? I'd be interesting in reading that. Though, I take issue with calling any proposal for Uptown Saint John a "single tower", given its the most densely populated area of the metropolitan region, and already has quite a lot of mid rises and high rises as is. So any sort of 30+ storey tower proposed for Uptown could hardly be described as a lone tower or isolated development... though, that's probably how one could describe Moncton's proposed Infinity Tower, as it's certainly not being built in core of the city there.

As for Uptown having to prove itself as a place people want to live and worth investing in... how much more does it really have to prove itself? I guess it wasn't enough to draw you in... you prefer Saint Andrews... but Uptown Saint John generally considered the most desirable location to rent in the Saint John Region, and one of, if not the, trendiest place to buy in the entire region, if one can afford. West Side property values have basically doubled since I moved here in late 2016... whereas property values Uptown have tripled or more in that same time period. I don't think even the most desirable suburban neighbourhoods of Saint John's bedroom communities have seen such explosive growth in value as Uptown Saint John. So I really disagree that Uptown Saint John has to do much more to prove it's worth or value. I think it just needs an attitude change or change in focus more than anything... change the attitude and perception of the area to attract more young professionals who would want to buy condos (if they existed) instead of the heavy focus on young professionals who want to rent really fancy places. While at the same time, massively increasing the supply of affordable rentals throughout the Uptown core/central peninsula. However, that would be a threat to the way that Landlords are currently doing business, a threat to their livelihood, but it's needed.

I'm all for further gentrifying the Central Peninsula, and none of what I've suggested so far in these recent posts should take away from the many infill developments continuing to occur throughout Saint John. It's not about pouring resources into expanding and redeveloping Brunswick Square's office tower into a mainly residential development by taking them away from other developments... it's about turning something bad into something great, which is what it would do. Do they have a lot of studies on the impacts of turning office towers adjacent to dead malls into residential developments? Because, I still think building hundreds of residential housing 36 storeys above Brunswick Square remains one of the best possible single projects to revitalize Brunswick Square on its own, and it's not a project that would exist in a vacuum. 😅

Saint John continues to make a lot of progress with infill and residential developments Uptown, and around the city, but there needs to be more progress. I get where you're coming from, as someone with an urban planning background, but look at the rest of the world, and look at history... few great cities have developed in a rigidly planned manner. History is defined by people pushing for big ideas to happen, not those who follow textbook planning practices. As for the examples of walkable European cities, I'm not sure how much Saint John can really hope to emulate them, but it would certainly be nice to see. Though, I'd mention that cities in East Asia have far less planning regulations and height restrictions than the European cities you've listed... yet, cities like Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul are highly walkable and just as fascinating or more to explore than the European city's you've listed as "the best". I'd argue the tall buildings and lack of planning regulations make East Asian cities far more interesting and fulfilling to live in or visit than many North American and European cities with far more planning regulations or height restrictions. Regardless, I don't think Saint John will ever have to worry about high rise developments getting out of control, at least not in our lifetimes, though, one can dream. 🥹 lol

I've never once Saint John adopt a "drop everything" and chase skyscrapers development strategy. I have; however, multiple times, suggested that Saint John try to get more ambitious with high rise residential, and not take such a sit around and wait approach, or a "crawl, walk, run" approach. There's a lot the city and our regions leaders could do better to even try and attract some bigger high rise developments to the Uptown core, or other areas of the city for that matter. So, please don't try and frame this as me saying the city shouldn't prioritize infill developments and should focus on attracting high rise developments instead... as that would be nonsense. It's not binary, and I'm not a fan of false dichotomies. There's a lot of good paths Saint John could take, not just one textbook path according to urban planning textbooks. I think the city should have a more multifaceted approach, and explore options to try and spur on high rise residential developments as part of the strategy to address housing needs not just in Uptown Saint John, but throughout the city.

Mark Carney isn't going to be Prime Minister forever, and it's likely his successor won't be as keen on big investments. So, I think Saint John and its leaders should strike while the iron is hot, and try and get some big private-public projects in our development pipeline while "the great Keynesian" remains in office. Saint John have the "most tariff exposed city" card to play, has one of the country's largest ports, and the largest oil refinery... the Prime Minister gets why the city is important, and so does the premier. If there's a chance to jumpstart high rise development in Saint John through a private public partnership in a major project, our city's leaders should take a chance and try and make it happen. No high rise residential projects have happened though purely market forces yet in Saint John, not even Fundy Quay. Whether its realizing the 36 storey potential of Brunswick Square, or a separate 20+ storey development, I think Saint John has a chance to get a really big development project in the pipeline while Carney is still Prime Minister and Holt is still premier... as long as we play our cards right.

Anyways, appreciate the discussion as always, and hope you consider submitting something for Brunswick Square Design Competition on the main board! Cheers.