Quote:
Originally Posted by Berklon
The problem with this approach (not that they have much choice anyway) is that the development is happening in isolated spots. The Gibson condo will be nice, but around it will still feel slumish.
What needs to be done is developing along Barton starting at James North and working your way down. This way the newly developed area on Barton will always be next to an already developed/up-and-coming area.
This project is good, but I think it may be years too early.
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By the time Harry gets to completion it may be perfect timing.
(I do appreciate what he's doing in the city though, and wish there were a few more like him)
I see what you're saying - but I think that would require more intervention by the city to direct development to particular blocks, and I'd rather see them just maintain the right conditions to support private investment and let it happen more organically. A few strategic investments wouldn't hurt though.
With such a long stretch, I feel like improvements at points all along might better bring more of the street condition up at the same pace. Whether it would take longer or not overall, who knows, but it might improve perceptions of most of those blocks instead of just a few at a time (and it might result in a great mix of land uses)
I'm eager to see plans for the new soccer fields near Gage, and it seems like development of new medical buildings around the General has become a fairly regular occurrence. There's been some private investment in industry going on too - the new business park getting under way between Victoria and Wentworth, and the re-use of the Siemens plant at Sanford (I seem to recall interest in finally doing something with the Westinghouse office building that has sat vacant far too long). Some of that isn't right on Barton St., but it's the closest commercial strip and more employment down there again should benefit the street. These all mean some improvement is happening at various points along the corridor, and hopefully in time the dots can be connected with more.