[Moncton] Downtown Developments

[jonny golden]

Originally Posted by flyer99

I don't often post but I have to weigh in on this one. I am in the camp of getting away from these cheap looking, cookie cutter apartment complexes. I am also against cheap prefab wooden buildings. We need more concrete and steel buildings like Vaughn Harvey and Main, 55 Queen and the new one in Dieppe. The apartment at the corner of Botsford and St, George is terrible. I could have designed that and I have no architectural experience. And the siding materials placed on these new projects is terrible and lack any creativity whatsoever.

I agree that we need more downtown area development but at what cost? Cannot we have better designed buildings made of better materials. I agree its "Maritime Cheap". I've been watching the construction of the apartment building at Victoria Street block. Pure wooden prefab. Another square, cookie cutter building. Where is the ingenuity? Where is the architectural complexity? Oh yes, it's all about building cheap and charging high.

Perhaps go back to using true architectural firms, not a "Spitfire", a company that uses computers to spit out a terrible design. But these complexes will be fully rented. Monctonians wanting to live downtown will essentially pay anything. I am lucky to live in a concrete and steel building but when an "old-time" renter moves out the rent for that apartment is increased a full 40%. It's all about $$$$$. It irks me because I love architecture, good architecture, and we are not getting this these days except for a couple of buildings here and there.

End of rant. Sorry if this raises the hackles of many here. I had to get this out.

When you say it's all about the $$$$, you hit the nail on the head.