Quote:
Originally Posted by Halifax Hillbilly
How many people feel there is ZERO value protecting views from the Citadel? Polls suggest a modest majority of Haligonians think the views are valuable. I would bet that the support for view protection is broad, but very shallow. People weren't asked: views or housing downtown; or views or office space; views or density. That's the real question, what are the tradeoffs we are willing to make for the views? HRMbyDesign was a miserable failure at discussing this question, since the viewplanes were one basis for the new plan.
And finally, how much density do people think we need downtown? You don't need skyscrapers to get density. The Vic is ten storeys tall, and has 82 units. Since it sits on just a third of an acre it's net density is almost 250 units/acre. The W suites is well over 100 units an acre. That's high density development, just not high rise. I doubt that land was cheap either, but I'm assuming the developers made money on these mid-rise buildings. Edward Gleaser's argument that we need skyscrapers for affordability holds in places like London, Paris, NY, where there is a huge shortage of supply and the only place to go is up. In the context of Halifax I think it's more appropriate to frame Gleaser's argument as more units are needed for affordability - we have lots of empty lots and room for infill. Plus the demand is less extreme. Don't restrict demand is the key. You can do that and still regulate the number of tall buildings.
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I think when polls are conducted regarding views from the Citadel, people should be asked what they like to view from the Citadel. In my opinion, the city and all of its buildings are part of the view from the Citadel. So having tall buildings/modern architecture just adds to the view (especially at night when the building lights are on).
I think that residential density should be maximized in the downtown area. More residents will lead to more commercial development. Parking requirements could be minimized by having parking located on the perimeter, more rapid transit and shared car ownership (
http://carsharehfx.ca/).
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