Burnaby Updates

[griswold]

I dont understand why they want to get rid of the Metrotown mall. It's huge and it's always busy. As far as retail is concerned it must be doing well. Plus its indoors.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by griswold

I dont understand why they want to get rid of the Metrotown mall. It's huge and it's always busy. As far as retail is concerned it must be doing well. Plus its indoors.

Maybe it's the "Georgia Viaducts" of Burnaby?

[ecbin]

Originally Posted by griswold

I dont understand why they want to get rid of the Metrotown mall. It's huge and it's always busy. As far as retail is concerned it must be doing well. Plus its indoors.

It's the opportunity to build density on top of it. Metrotown has been intended to be the downtown of Burnaby for a long time (50 years?) and the mall is in the way of that.

It is a bit of a shame to get rid of the existing mall though - it's a very busy mall and I'm not sure the replacement for it will fill the demand

[ecbin]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

But all those great urban cities did that just come as a result of stuffing a lot of people into a small place and gradually migrating to that urban form? More than any zoning/policy direction from urban planners etc?

The only saving grace is that these areas are still surrounded by massive areas of suburban SFH sprawl so I mean they could always try to correct their mistakes in design over there (not in terms of more tower housing but some kind of art/cultural zones)

I think the great urban centres came about organically for the most part (though Manhattan had a pretty strict form) but when I look at places like Olympic Village, Marine Gateway or even earlier forms of False Creek North/Yaletown that you can still be a young and developing urban centre but have character or a sense of place.

There's nothing about Burnaby's town centres that even hints at that character - when I think about basic pedestrian navigation at Brentwood compared to Marine Gateway (diff scale yes) the gap is just huge. Brentwood is confusing, Gateway is straightforward.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by griswold

I dont understand why they want to get rid of the Metrotown mall. It's huge and it's always busy. As far as retail is concerned it must be doing well. Plus its indoors.

The city thinks it looks better. Land developer wants to maximize the value of their property.

I mean your statement assumes that there is no economic benefit in constructing all the towers.

[GenWhy?]

Is there anything stopping the developer from building pedways connecting the new city blocks to one another to build a new mall in the podiums of the new structures? Or is Burnaby anti-pedway?

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

But all those great urban cities did that just come as a result of stuffing a lot of people into a small place and gradually migrating to that urban form? More than any zoning/policy direction from urban planners etc?

In the cases of New York and Hong Kong yes famously so. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", so to speak. But Burnaby is nothing like them. It's all zoning and policy direction from urban planners in Burnaby even if it doesn't feel like it.

Not to mention New York, Hong Kong, and London have all been ruined by zoning and policy direction ever since they became great.

Originally Posted by ecbin

I think the great urban centres came about organically for the most part (though Manhattan had a pretty strict form)

Manhattan actually adopted its extremely strict requirements after the population boom. The population of Manhattan is currently 28% less than it was at its peak around 1910. The current population is still lower than it was in the 1960s. The first major zoning reform was in 1916. The population would keep declining until the 1980s. Makes you think.

[Beepboop]

Originally Posted by griswold

I dont understand why they want to get rid of the Metrotown mall. It's huge and it's always busy. As far as retail is concerned it must be doing well. Plus its indoors.

You're talking as if Metrotown is going to be torn down in the next decade. But the master plan is phased out so that the mall portion gets demolished way later. I would assume in 20-30 years. Who knows what foot traffic in metrotown will be like down the line as storefronts get built out around the mall. But I agree that an indoor connection would be nice. I hope they do something like Pacific centre and Holt Renfrew where they have an enclosed walkway that would connect different buildings.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Beepboop

You're talking as if Metrotown is going to be torn down in the next decade. But the master plan is phased out so that the mall portion gets demolished way later. I would assume in 20-30 years. Who knows what foot traffic in metrotown will be like down the line as storefronts get built out around the mall. But I agree that an indoor connection would be nice. I hope they do something like Pacific centre and Holt Renfrew where they have an enclosed walkway that would connect different buildings.

I mean they'll eventually end up with 12K homes above the mall. And the area will be like close to 70K by 2041?

https://www.burnaby.ca/our-city/about-burnaby/town-centres

[Beepboop]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I mean they'll eventually end up with 12K homes above the mall. And the area will be like close to 70K by 2041?

https://www.burnaby.ca/our-city/about-burnaby/town-centres

https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/burnabynow/...wn-burnaby-buildout-phase-1(1).png;w=960

Phase 1 is in pink and is from 2025 to 2054. The mall will be here for decades. I bet half this forum would be dead by then.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Wouldn't be surprised if everybody wanting to demolish the mall is past-tense as well.

[jollyburger]

Or they'll invent technology in 20 years to build a giant floating city over the mall.

[WBC]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Wouldn't be surprised if everybody wanting to demolish the mall is past-tense as well.

The way things are going in 30 years the mall will consists only of fast food restaurants and a gigantic Zara.

I am not sure if you guys noticed but there is more and more food places in the mall and less and less shops. And the remaining shops are getting bigger. The mall is really slowly becoming more of a place to socialize and hang out then shop. After all, you can buy all that stuff online amd more...

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by WBC

I am not sure if you guys noticed but there is more and more food places in the mall and less and less shops. And the remaining shops are getting bigger. The mall is really slowly becoming more of a place to socialize and hang out then shop. After all, you can buy all that stuff online amd more...

Not sure if you've noticed, but Walmart moved in, while Chef Tony got kicked out - even Chapters and Gamestop are still around.

More to the point, we'll see how many mallgoers still want to travel in from Vancouver/New West/etc to socialize and hang out when they've all been booted from the climate-controlled pedestrian space into just another generic Metro Van mixed-traffic shopping street (sans rain/snow/sun protection, at that). Might as well head to Oakridge or Brentwood or Royal City.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by WBC

The way things are going in 30 years the mall will consists only of fast food restaurants and a gigantic Zara.

I am not sure if you guys noticed but there is more and more food places in the mall and less and less shops. And the remaining shops are getting bigger. The mall is really slowly becoming more of a place to socialize and hang out then shop. After all, you can buy all that stuff online amd more...

It's becoming what Asian malls have been for years.

My favourite malls in Shanghai were always at least 50% food stalls/restaurants. The top two floors would usually be occupied by movie theatres and KTV bars.

[djmk]

IMHO, Metrotown is starting to show it's age. Last time I was there, the mall looked pretty run down

[Spr0ckets]

A few more images from the proposed (soon-to-be) western Canada's tallest tower at 5000 Kingsway in Metrotown.

These ones highlight the public amenity features such as the observation deck at the tower rooftop - insipired by the likes of the Rock Observatory at 30 Rockefeller Plaza tower in New York City, and the Edge observation deck at Hudsons Yard in New York City (both also shown below), along with a podium level indoor basketball court they hope will be usable bythe public like their art collection gallery.


I didn't realize before that this tower's geodetic height 1,279 ft, thanks to it's Metrotown location will actually be higher than Burnaby mountain (1,214-ft-tall), meaning it's rooftop observation deck will practically be at eye-level with SFU's Burnaby Mountain campus buildings.

That's just nuts!









The Rock Observatory at 30 Rockefeller Plaza tower in New York City.


the Edge observation deck at Hudsons Yard in New York City






Source :

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/mcarthy-...n-5000-kingsway-burnaby-observation-deck

[jollyburger]

Rezoning application:

https://burnaby.widen.net/s/8vrlwzrk88/development-plan-rez-24-16

More ground level renderings too.

6 elevators, only 3 go to the very top. Surprised they don't have more penthouses.

[Beepboop]

Originally Posted by djmk

IMHO, Metrotown is starting to show it's age. Last time I was there, the mall looked pretty run down

Yeah and imagine 30 years later

[Innsertnamehere]

I feel like Burnaby is increasingly becoming Vancouver's new "downtown". Very impressive.