Regina Construction

[ReginaGuy]

Originally Posted by babo

I do my best to avoid going downtown and I am very happy that work is not there. I am also happy that there this nothing of interest downtown that would force me to go there. More for you to enjoy.

I don't know about other cities of comparible size and maybe someone can enlighten me, but why is there no local bus service out to the airport?

There is no doubt that downtown Regina would be quite different from the way it is today were the railyard relocated. The reality is that the railyard downtown will never be removed. If memory serves me correctly, it's been put to vote a few times in the 1970s and residents have voted in favor of it, but the City has balked because the railways always wanted to share the cost of relocating north of the City.

Would I be willing to foot the bill for rail relocation to happen? No. While rail relocation would better Regina as a whole by removing a very physical barrier, such a project is tax money collected that I will see little benefit of. When voting, I keep my interests close to home. I'm certainly more interested in them repairing the 40-year-old asphalt in front of my house and maybe correcting the grading and drainage problems on the goat paths in the neighborhood.

If you don't like downtown, aren't you on the wrong forum? lol

And how do you know the rail yards will never be removed? Things were a lot different in the 1970's, and the city was quite a bit smaller (therefore didn't have as much money)

I'm not saying it will happen, I'm just saying that it is possible

[HomeInMyShoes]

In Edmonton the issue is they built the airport a good 15km from the edge of the built up city. Saint Louis is awesome because the light rail goes to the airport. Spectacularly convenient.

In Regina I seem to remember that the taxi cab association shooting down any transit heading into the airport. Ludicrous. Not that a cab to almost any part of town costs that much in Regina.

[6VDC]

Ahhh, out come the I heart Regina buttons. Lovely.

I no longer live in Regina but would be hard pressed to believe the downtown has changed that much in less than a year. So, ReginaGuy, you can't tell that I don't live in Regina and don't know anything about the city. Perhaps some of your other mighty intuitive assumptions are also incorrect.

My girlfriend lives downtown and some nights its hard to find a parking space, even at 10 or 11pm

That's because there is no parking downtown.

If you don't work downtown you don't go downtown? Totally false. Want proof? I go downtown all the time, and I've never worked in the area.

Uhh, you're girlfriend lives there dude.

I don't see any boarded up buildings in downtown Regina

On Broad street near 11th, where the boards are covering up the fronts of the buildings, those are boarded up buildings. Perhaps they have been reduced to large piles of rubble now, I can't be sure. You could be thinking of the 4 blocks surrounding Scarth and 12th as the downtown area.

Downtown Regina, like so many other downtowns, is a collections of 9-5 office spaces. They get that way from years of neglect. Businesses in the downtown must cater to that crowd and will only find it worth while to be active during office hours.

I hope you get your grocery store. Lord knows that all the seniors living downtown will need it.

[CCF]

Originally Posted by 6VDC

Ahhh, out come the I heart Regina buttons. Lovely.

I no longer live in Regina would be hard press to be believe the the downtown has changed that much in less than a year. So, ReginaGuy, you can't tell that I don't live in Regina and don't know anything about the city. Perhaps some of your other mighty intuitive assumptions are also incorrect.



That's because there is no parking downtown.



Uhh, you're girlfriend lives there dude.



On Broad street near 11th, where the boards are covering up the fronts of the buildings, those are boarded up buildings. Perhaps they have been reduced to large piles of rubble now, I can't be sure. You could be thinking of the 4 blocks surrounding Scarth and 12th as the downtown area.

Downtown Regina, like so many other downtowns, is a collections of 9-5 office spaces. They get that way from years of neglect. Businesses in the downtown must cater to that crowd and will only find it worth while to be active during office hours.

I hope you get your grocery store. Lord knows that all the seniors living downtown will need it.

And where exactly do you live now that makes you such an expert on Regina?

[Migs]

Originally Posted by CCF

And where exactly do you live now that makes you such an expert on Regina?

I wouldn't worry about it CCF. The guy probably got dumped by his girlfriend at the Casino or something and he just feels as though he has some kinda axe to grind by voicing his anger in the wrong direction. Best thing to do with trolls like that is simply ignore them.

[babo]

And where exactly do you live now that makes you such an expert on Regina?

Not to defend 6VDC, but I fail to see how where he lives now has any bearing on his opinions of Regina.

If you don't like downtown, aren't you on the wrong forum? lol

Ell Oh Ell. While I'm not completely illiterate, the title of this thread appears to be Regina Construction, not Downtown Regina.

To whoever has a hate-on for The Plains: I agree that the hotel is far from picturesque. I'd think the owners realise the value of the location, though, and are holding on to the property. I'd certainly hold out and keep the hotel running if I knew doing so angered people. Isn't Good Time Charlies one of the only bars to bring in blues shows on a regular basis?

Aren't there a few "toxic" sites downtown as well that no one is cleaning up because of the money involved in proper reclamation of the land? I'm sure the lot of the old Queen City Cleaners has not been cleaned up. Was it not on the corner of 12th Avenue and Osler Street, northwest corner? What about the Commercial Printers building site on Albert Street?

I was upset to see the Coronet Theatre pulled down and replaced with ... nothing. It's been two years now?

[CCF]

Originally Posted by babo

Not to defend 6VDC, but I fail to see how where he lives now has any bearing on his opinions of Regina.


Ell Oh Ell. While I'm not completely illiterate, the title of this thread appears to be Regina Construction, not Downtown Regina.

To whoever has a hate-on for The Plains: I agree that the hotel is far from picturesque. I'd think the owners realise the value of the location, though, and are holding on to the property. I'd certainly hold out and keep the hotel running if I knew doing so angered people. Isn't Good Time Charlies one of the only bars to bring in blues shows on a regular basis?

Aren't there a few "toxic" sites downtown as well that no one is cleaning up because of the money involved in proper reclamation of the land? I'm sure the lot of the old Queen City Cleaners has not been cleaned up. Was it not on the corner of 12th Avenue and Osler Street, northwest corner? What about the Commercial Printers building site on Albert Street?

I was upset to see the Coronet Theatre pulled down and replaced with ... nothing. It's been two years now?

The Plains isn't even the downtown hotel we should be worrying about.

[ReginaGuy]

Originally Posted by 6VDC

Ahhh, out come the I heart Regina buttons. Lovely.

Yeah, we "heart" Regina, so what?.. There's a reason for it, we actually live here and happen to think it's a great city.

Originally Posted by 6VDC

That's because there is no parking downtown.

Well, that shouldnt be a problem since apparently no one is downtown after 6 And isn't lack of parking a good thing? That just means that downtown is dense. I guess new york city REALLY sucks, because they have no parking [/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by 6VDC

Uhh, you're girlfriend lives there dude.

Good point, but it should have mentioned that I've only been dating her for 5 months, yet I've been frequenting downtown since I was 15 (I'm 20 now)

Originally Posted by 6VDC

On Broad street near 11th, where the boards are covering up the fronts of the buildings, those are boarded up buildings. Perhaps they have been reduced to large piles of rubble now, I can't be sure. You could be thinking of the 4 blocks surrounding Scarth and 12th as the downtown area.

Good point again, but I was thinking of the buildings within the limits of broad, albert, sask drive and victoria, which is what most people consider to be downtown (even though it technically does include that side of broad and parts of the transition area).

But still, you were trying to portay downtown regina as being "filled" with boarded up buildings, which isn't even remotely true, and since you're such an "expert" on downtown, you should know that area of broad street is currently being completely redeveloped (that boarded up building will be surrounded by a new shiny glass bus depot, a new hotel, and a new office building within a year), so that building will probably be torn down and replaced very soon


I know, I shouldnt be feeding the troll, but I just like rebutting

I don't know what you have against Regina, I don't really care. But you shouldnt be surprised that we're arguing with you, because we all love this city. We think its a great place to live, and we believe it has a comparatively healthy downtown .

We also know a lot more about downtown than you do (I mean, it's why we're here), so don't bother trying to sound like you know what you're talking about

[ReginaGuy]

Originally Posted by babo

Ell Oh Ell. While I'm not completely illiterate, the title of this thread appears to be Regina Construction, not Downtown Regina.

Yes, Regina Construction.. on SKYSCRAPERpage.com

The focus of this forum is to provide a community for skyscraper enthusiasts. And obviously Skyscraper enthusiasts tend to go hand in hand with downtown/urban living enthusiasts, which is why it is weird for someone who hates downtown to even be viewing this website.

I'm not saying you're not welcome, just saying it's odd.

[CCF]

I do believe the building he is trying to mention as "boarded up" is in use by that Wonderland gaming. It'd be nice if the property was in better shape, but at least it's in use.

[adeep88]

Apparently there are currently advertisements of the jobs available in Saskatchewan and of the low housing costs, in the U of A newspapers

[babo]

I can say that Regina's skyline is far nicer than that of Saskatoon, apart from the monstrosity called Roberts Plaza, athough it can hide it's ugly self with the highrise construction at the University of Regina. Saskatoon will rebut "But we've got bridges!"

I did not I explicitly said that I hated downtown Regina. I did say that I don't like going there, true enough. "Don't like" and "hate" are different things in my book. I "don't like" downtown Regina, I "hate" Saskatoon. Dubious comparison. Your mileage likely varies.

While the new Saskatchewan Transportation Company Bus Terminal may be a welcome construction project downtown, although I question it's relocation as part of the City's and Province's overall plan to have more money funnelled into Casino Regina by people that maybe shouldn't be gambling in the first place (red herring), how will it add to Regina's skyline? Will it even break the tree line with it's three skyscraping stories?

New construction projects are nice to see. It gives me a (false) sense that the economy isn't struggling. I do question the need for a hotel on the corner of Broad Street and Saskatchewan Drive, but maybe it ties into the new bus terminal's placement. Doesn't Regina have enough hotels? Didn't the owners of what used to be the Imperial 400 on South Albert (it seems to have changed names more often than the Ramada/Renaissance/Delta hotels downtown) bulldoze half of the existing structure? Must not be close enough to the casino.

Bridges!

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by babo

I do my best to avoid going downtown and I am very happy that work is not there. I am also happy that there this nothing of interest downtown that would force me to go there. More for you to enjoy.

I don't know about other cities of comparible size and maybe someone can enlighten me, but why is there no local bus service out to the airport?

There is no doubt that downtown Regina would be quite different from the way it is today were the railyard relocated. The reality is that the railyard downtown will never be removed. If memory serves me correctly, it's been put to vote a few times in the 1970s and residents have voted in favor of it, but the City has balked because the railways always wanted to share the cost of relocating north of the City.

Would I be willing to foot the bill for rail relocation to happen? No. While rail relocation would better Regina as a whole by removing a very physical barrier, such a project is tax money collected that I will see little benefit of. When voting, I keep my interests close to home. I'm certainly more interested in them repairing the 40-year-old asphalt in front of my house and maybe correcting the grading and drainage problems on the goat paths in the neighborhood.

I don't know what the chances of the proposed multi-modal terminal are of actually going through but I wouldn't go as far as to say that the railyard downtown will never be removed.

Several stakeholders have already bought into the idea that Regina is a prime location for such a terminal. The Canadian Pacific Railway considers Regina a priority location for infrastructure funding for a project such as this. It currently owns the container yards just off Dewdney Avenue in downtown Regina. That yard would be moved to the west side of the city by the airport, Hiles said.
That would leave 20 acres of land in downtown Regina that could be used for residential development. This multi-modal terminal could lead to Regina having one of the most significant infill projects in Canada, Fiacco said.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/n...?id=50374710-3041-4726-af3e-655727d8d571

[HomeInMyShoes]

I don't doubt that there's interest in a SouthWest container yard, but given the cities previous track record or dealing with vacant infrastructure that should be removed, I'd be surprised if the railyards disappear, even with all the action moved elsewhere. We've still got the eyesoar that is the old Superstore. A bigger concern is that Edmonton is touting itself as a big shipping hub and if companies set up using Edmonton, then Regina's interest in a shipping terminal is probably done.

Port Alberta: they've already got information on the web and a snazzy video with snappy music. I have no taste in music. :/

As far as downtown versus all-over development, it is a Regina development thread and not just downtown. Although this is skyscraperpage.com, unlike skyscrapercity, most of the forumers I've met tend to like discussing all development and not just skyscrapers and not just core areas. I am totally behind liking and discussing downtown Regina. There's a lot of potential there, but if we don't discuss other development topics in the city we will lose information about some of the factors affecting the core.

As much as I like the concept of SouthWest development to balance out Regina's urban form and transportation issues, I think without enough population growth we're just going to get another huge sucking sound depleting any life that's struggled to make it in the core. We saw it happen with Victoria Avenue East and we'll probably see it again unless we're ready for it.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

I don't doubt that there's interest in a SouthWest container yard, but given the cities previous track record or dealing with vacant infrastructure that should be removed, I'd be surprised if the railyards disappear, even with all the action moved elsewhere. We've still got the eyesoar that is the old Superstore. A bigger concern is that Edmonton is touting itself as a big shipping hub and if companies set up using Edmonton, then Regina's interest in a shipping terminal is probably done.

Port Alberta: they've already got information on the web and a snazzy video with snappy music. I have no taste in music. :/

As far as downtown versus all-over development, it is a Regina development thread and not just downtown. Although this is skyscraperpage.com, unlike skyscrapercity, most of the forumers I've met tend to like discussing all development and not just skyscrapers and not just core areas. I am totally behind liking and discussing downtown Regina. There's a lot of potential there, but if we don't discuss other development topics in the city we will lose information about some of the factors affecting the core.

As much as I like the concept of SouthWest development to balance out Regina's urban form and transportation issues, I think without enough population growth we're just going to get another huge sucking sound depleting any life that's struggled to make it in the core. We saw it happen with Victoria Avenue East and we'll probably see it again unless we're ready for it.

I know that Edm has a snazzy video and all but I wonder how long their proposal has been in the planning stages?

It looks like Saskatchewan has been studying this for quite some time now. Here's a link from a report that was initiated back in 2001.
http://www.agrivision.ca/ContainerProject/media/SAC_Summary.PDF

And this report initiated by the Regina Regional Economic Development Authority was from just over two years ago.
http://www.rreda.com/download.jsp?jkY2TEfdSFa+fV2VxivGkDBIzBf0QfLQkUwK4QBZaJsSd5Wddh1Jjg==

[HomeInMyShoes]

^I am aware of Regina's planning documents, but how long anyone has been planning this really isn't the question here. If we go down that path then Regina has sort of been planning this since the 70's when they originally tabled rail relocation. But, then it's 2007 and, in thirty years, nothing has been done. Edmonton has the planning, and already has parts of the AirLINKS Business Park in development.

Regina can write and plan as much as they want. If they don't start doing, someone else will.

[CCF]

Police Reseacrch Centre...

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=cbdfa7b0-24a5-4ddc-96e5-a3e23b3e5fe6

Anyone know what the article says?

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^I am aware of Regina's planning documents, but how long anyone has been planning this really isn't the question here. If we go down that path then Regina has sort of been planning this since the 70's when they originally tabled rail relocation. But, then it's 2007 and, in thirty years, nothing has been done. Edmonton has the planning, and already has parts of the AirLINKS Business Park in development.

Regina can write and plan as much as they want. If they don't start doing, someone else will.

I could be wrong but I think the rail relocation talked about in the 70's and 80's was a totally different plan?

I think this has more to do with the job creation and economic activity that a terminal would bring with it. It seems that it's only been in the last 10 years or so that the benefits of containerized shipping of goods has even been realized.

I totally agree about Regina starting to actually do something before it's too late. I just wanted to show that this wasn't something Regina just decided was a good idea six months ago, that they've actually done their homework on it first.

CTV did a story on this about a week ago and if I remember correctly it was the agriculture sector that was really pushing for it and that the main decision now is where to have it, Regina, Moose Jaw or Saskatoon. I don't like our chances on competing with Edm for federal funding though.

[MadMax]

Originally Posted by CCF

Police Reseacrch Centre...

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=cbdfa7b0-24a5-4ddc-96e5-a3e23b3e5fe6

Anyone know what the article says?

It's not a done deal yet but Fiacco has had discussions with Stockwell Day in Ottawa the last few days about it. Fiacco said it won't be fully nailed down until it is announced and he's hoping that could happen during the federal budget.

[CCF]

Originally Posted by MadMax

I could be wrong but I think the rail relocation talked about in the 70's and 80's was a totally different plan?

I think this has more to do with the job creation and economic activity that a terminal would bring with it. It seems that it's only been in the last 10 years or so that the benefits of containerized shipping of goods has even been realized.

I totally agree about Regina starting to actually do something before it's too late. I just wanted to show that this wasn't something Regina just decided was a good idea six months ago, that they've actually done their homework on it first.

CTV did a story on this about a week ago and if I remember correctly it was the agriculture sector that was really pushing for it and that the main decision now is where to have it, Regina, Moose Jaw or Saskatoon. I don't like our chances on competing with Edm for federal funding though.

I hadn't heard of any of those cities vying for the container yard. From what I read the decision was between Regina and Winnipeg.

Obviously I hope that Regina is selected, but my second choice would be MJ.