Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgarian
One thing we have here that is probably different than most of those cities, is the population of the downtown work force. And once you take into account how many of the downtown employees commute from the suburbs and the price of parking, the success of our LRT makes sense. Cities where the workforce is more spread out will probably not ever get to the numbers Calgary has currently. Just my $.02.
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Yup. But that is something Calgary has done well. As much as urbanists hate it, the +15 system does a lot to foster a concentrated downtown culture, as does Stephan Avenue. It definitely helps that we are essentially a one business town, but Calgary has done a lot to create a strong downtown office culture. Concentrating employment in the downtown has led to transit success, which has reinforced the concentrated downtown. It is a virtuous cycle.
And here I am beating the dead horse again- spreading employment out is a horrible idea, unless it is industrial employment that does need space for warehousing, outdoor storage, etc. Cities should try and concentrate office employment as much as possible in their downtown, and if not, in concentrated areas that can be served by transit. I.e. cities should try and be San Francisco and not San Jose.
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