Regina Construction

[Boris2k7]

Just for Planner2008's info, building any more expressways through Calgary could have and would be a huge mistake. We don't need to encourage any more people to drive downtown, and it would just turn the downtown core into a giant bottleneck as you can't expand the roads at that end either. The city also has been putting many efforts over the years to discourage commuting to the core using cars by jacking up the parking rates. And the expressways we are left with are ugly, unfriendly, and limit the fuller development of different areas of downtown by presenting problems both in regards to access issues as well as to street frontage and the movement of pedestrians.

And we did think 10 or 20 years ahead, by being one of the first North American cities to build a light rail system that, along with our bus system, now captures over 50% of downtown commuters. That has also taken over 100,000 would-be car drivers off the road, and can really only go up as the number of lines and transit capacity both increase.

[CCF]

Its been confirmed that VIP Mens Wear will be moving into the former Pant Shack. A sign is hanging up stating so.

[youngregina]

When is construction on albert street and gordon road supposed to be done? It's a real hassle trying to get into whitmore park from albert street.

[Planner2008]

Originally Posted by babo

Don't be dissing teh C argaly. Give me one example of how Cargaly didn't think ahead in their urban planning?

Babo, I hope that's not how you spell regularily, wow... Sorry I will respond soon, sorry, mom had another seizure, 3rd one!! Why am I always there?? My third. My dad was there for her anyeurism... I will rrspond soon sorry guys, there's some more important things on hand....

[babo]

Originally Posted by babo

Don't be dissing teh C argaly. Give me one example of how Cargaly didn't think ahead in their urban planning?

Originally Posted by Planner2008

Babo, I hope that's not how you spell regularily, wow... Sorry I will respond soon, sorry, mom had another seizure, 3rd one!! Why am I always there?? My third. My dad was there for her anyeurism... I will rrspond soon sorry guys, there's some more important things on hand....

Pot, meet kettle.

[drm310]

Good thing I read this... I will be visiting family in Regina and they live in Whitmore Park. Guess I'll have to enter via Wascana Parkway.

Originally Posted by youngregina

When is construction on albert street and gordon road supposed to be done? It's a real hassle trying to get into whitmore park from albert street.

[StealthGirl]

Last night, executive council passed the issue of licencing landlords off to the province/federal governments stating they do not have the authority to deal with housing laws. The rentalsman is a provincial dept, is it not?

This seems like a passing the buck arguments. Landlords are complaining that it's the tenants wrecking the places and the renters should be licenced, but at the same time it's being argued that landlords should be licenced. Really, I can't see licencing renters working. A few years ago, they changed the rules to allow damage deposit to be raised to a month's rent, stating it would help landlords with damages but it still seems to be a problem. I don't know this so I'd like to ask: are landlords doing regular (yearly, bi-annual, quarterly) checks of properties and evicting tenants for excessive damage or is the damage being allowed to accumulate? I think the media hasn't covered enough as to what rules are in place now.

http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=5318dfba-c382-47be-a366-f2ec96bd4c5d

[StealthGirl]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

Its hard to find the right way to prevent properties from becoming dilapidated. I always think about this when I'm driving through north central and even in Glencairn, where I live. Although not dilapidated, some houses are just a mess: uncut grass, weeds, garbage all over the yard and on the street and in the gutter in front of their house (save whatever mess is inside). Some people just don't have a care for their neighbours and their city, which this stuff affects (i.e. property values). This goes for both renters and property owners. Its hard to blame landlords when some renters just don't give a damn, but why don't these landlords evict their tenants? I think a lot don't because its too much hassle, even in today's market.

What I think should be done is have property taxes based on the quality of your property. That way, if someone's yard is a mess or their interior is uninhabitable, their taxes will be higher than it would be otherwise. Landlords could and will pass this on to the renter (either by raising their rent if it becomes a mess, or reward them with lower rent by keeping it clean). This will encourage both the landlord and renter to do something and actually have some sense of pride.

I totally agree that sometimes it is the tenants. I think there are bad landlords and bad tenants. It's pretty much impossible though to base tax on quality though. There are already bylaws in place which deal with yard mess. If the property is deemed unsightly/untidy, they can be ordered to clean it up; if the city goes in to clean it up, then the cost is added to property tax.

Besides, it's hard to get anything changed with property tax.

ETA:
Property Maintenance Bylaw - http://www.regina.ca/Page2498.aspx

[BrannyMuffin]

Originally Posted by youngregina

When is construction on albert street and gordon road supposed to be done? It's a real hassle trying to get into whitmore park from albert street.

Depending on the weather, it should be finished in the next couple of days. It's a mess there right now, for sure!

[BrannyMuffin]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

Its hard to find the right way to prevent properties from becoming dilapidated. I always think about this when I'm driving through north central and even in Glencairn, where I live. Although not dilapidated, some houses are just a mess: uncut grass, weeds, garbage all over the yard and on the street and in the gutter in front of their house (save whatever mess is inside). Some people just don't have a care for their neighbours and their city, which this stuff affects (i.e. property values). This goes for both renters and property owners. Its hard to blame landlords when some renters just don't give a damn, but why don't these landlords evict their tenants? I think a lot don't because its too much hassle, even in today's market.

What I think should be done is have property taxes based on the quality of your property. That way, if someone's yard is a mess or their interior is uninhabitable, their taxes will be higher than it would be otherwise. Landlords could and will pass this on to the renter (either by raising their rent if it becomes a mess, or reward them with lower rent by keeping it clean). This will encourage both the landlord and renter to do something and actually have some sense of pride.

I think the best thing you can do about that is call the city and complain. I'm lucky, we have a city councillor in our neighborhood...I complain to him any time I have a problem. If he can't do anything about it, he finds someone who can.

[Planner2008]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

Hey, I'm not saying your ideas are dumb. I'm just saying they aren't of priority, in my opinion. Freeways and interchanges are very expensive, especially now when its so hard to even find labourers to help build them. That's not to say we shouldn't plan for the future. In my opinion, we should be planning huge public transportation upgrades including light rail before we think of freeways to downtown. Like it was said before, and proven elsewhere, freeways only encourage more traffic, pollution and noise, and comes at a significant cost. Don't we want to prevent these things?

Great to know. Sure expressways and interchanges are expensive! But they are needed! Lewvan Dr. needs to be recognized as the major NORTH/SOUTH COORIDOR... There are intersecions including HWY 1, Ring Rd., and Saskatchewan Dr. as well as others that need upgrading to interchange status!! Soon, some others downt the road! Hey, I'd love light rail, or C-train or a trolley system too, but that's more expensive by far than road infrastrucure upgrades! Sure let's prevent pollution, but in Regina, it starts with our roads first, we aren't ready for light rail!

With the Ring Road to the north and Highway 1 bypass to the south, these interchanges at Pasqua/Lewvan are past due and need to be put in place as soon as we can get funding.

Agreed!!!

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

Just for Planner2008's info, building any more expressways through Calgary could have and would be a huge mistake. We don't need to encourage any more people to drive downtown, and it would just turn the downtown core into a giant bottleneck as you can't expand the roads at that end either. The city also has been putting many efforts over the years to discourage commuting to the core using cars by jacking up the parking rates. And the expressways we are left with are ugly, unfriendly, and limit the fuller development of different areas of downtown by presenting problems both in regards to access issues as well as to street frontage and the movement of pedestrians.

And we did think 10 or 20 years ahead, by being one of the first North American cities to build a light rail system that, along with our bus system, now captures over 50% of downtown commuters. That has also taken over 100,000 would-be car drivers off the road, and can really only go up as the number of lines and transit capacity both increase.

Calgary was never up for the challenge, afterall where's a truly dedicated freeway, well there isn't one fully anyways, in IMO a true lesson to everyone else!!

[drm310]

What kind of interchange could be built at Ring Rd and Pasqua? I was looking at Google Maps seeing what configuration could fit in that space, with the two reservoirs. The space seems too tight for anything with loops. A diamond could probably fit, but could it handle the traffic volume?

[J_M_A]

I remember reading rumours about Jaguar and Land Rover coming to the city and I was talking with an employee from bennett dunlop and they were telling me that its Trevor Boquist that is going to be opening here in the city. She did say that they were going to use the old carpet store on dewdney and broad st. as there show room but the stock was going to be kept at the ford lot. The only thing she didnt know was when it was going to open.

[Chaps]

I didn't know that the Western Pizza on Vic was no longer going to be a Western Pizza. I thought they were just renovating...but it looks like it will be a brand new restaurant, "The Rooftop Bar and Grill."

Anyone know who is behind this and what type of menu it will be?

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by Planner2008

Calgary was never up for the challenge, afterall where's a truly dedicated freeway, well there isn't one fully anyways, in IMO a true lesson to everyone else!!

Man, you really are determined to be a brick wall, aren't you? If you aren't even going to bother reading what I wrote, then there is simply no point in trying to debate with you like an adult.

[darthrider]

Originally Posted by Chaps

I didn't know that the Western Pizza on Vic was no longer going to be a Western Pizza. I thought they were just renovating...but it looks like it will be a brand new restaurant, "The Rooftop Bar and Grill."

Anyone know who is behind this and what type of menu it will be?

When I spoke with the managers and staff they indicated a possible name change and I guess that was decided but they said that Western Pizza pizza's would still be included on the menu.

[Chaps]

Originally Posted by darthrider

When I spoke with the managers and staff they indicated a possible name change and I guess that was decided but they said that Western Pizza pizza's would still be included on the menu.

Cool. Yeah the sign is up outfront and it's now called "The Rooftop Bar and Grill."

Sure looks nice compared to the old dump!

It's just too bad that the corner lot beside it remains empty...like almost every other corner lot downtown. What is so scary about corner lots that they all just end up parking?

[A4Regina]

Wow, check out the commercial space proposal for Harbour landing.
http://www.regina.ca/Page2992.aspx

Im pretty dissapointed that these arn't going up in and around downtown.
Imagine some of these buildings lining up on Albert,Broad,and Sask drive. They would certainly add alot of business and life to the core, but unfortunately, these will be going up in Sprawling neighbourhoods .
This development has the potential to draw people away from downtown (similar to vic east, rochdale).

[StealthGirl]

John Deere has announced plans to expand its parts centre in Regina to a regional parts centre. Renovations should be complete next year, but have to wonder if the coming new intermodal hub influenced that decision.

http://www.newstalk980.com/story/20080816/4268

[caveat.doctor]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

What I think should be done is have property taxes based on the quality of your property. That way, if someone's yard is a mess or their interior is uninhabitable, their taxes will be higher than it would be otherwise. Landlords could and will pass this on to the renter (either by raising their rent if it becomes a mess, or reward them with lower rent by keeping it clean).

As StealthGirl said, it would be difficult to play around with the property tax, since the bases are somewhat arms-length from the property itself (eg mill rate, "fair market value" in the neighbourhood overall, etc). If they went ahead with the licence/registration idea though, they could set the fee according to the quality/cleanliness/safety of the property - the same way a car's model/theft-deterrent devices/etc contribute to the registration cost for vehicles. Better, safer buildings would be cheaper to register than bad, riskier ones. A landlord or tenant licence system would be great too, but I'd fear the possible discrimination against first-time landlords/renters/newcomers without established track records, and the litigation of people challenging their rating, would outweigh the benefits.

Originally Posted by djforsberg

I'm sure it will either be a diamond interchange or a diamond interchange combined with some loops. There are already four phases of signals in that intersection, so an interchange with diamonds will get rid of at least two of those on the Ring Road/9th Ave. N., so I'm sure Lewvan could handle the traffic.

A roundabout could easily be accommodated within that space, especially if the centre of the junction could be shifted slightly to the northwest. I know there isn't much experience with traffic circles in Regina, but in the rest of Canada (which generally doesn't have many roundabouts either) they work quite well. There's one on the Trans-Canada leading to/from Confederation Bridge to PEI, and accommodates exchanges at highway speeds (you can coast in at ~80km/h) pretty easily and conveniently





Even at lower-speed junctions that usually end up with a 4-way stop or traffic light, roundabouts are a good choice and eliminate complete stops, saving the wear/tear/pollution from having to stop/start completely all the time - here's another leading to UBC (~50km/h)







Plus the circle is a great opportunity for landscaping and public art (think the Champs-Elysees and Arc de Triomphe - really just an multi-lane arterial roundabout with trees and an arch). A roundabout at the T-Can/Lewvan could make a fine monumental entrance to the city from the southwest.

Originally Posted by A4Regina

Wow, check out the commercial space proposal for Harbour landing.
http://www.regina.ca/Page2992.aspx

Im pretty dissapointed that these arn't going up in and around downtown.
Imagine some of these buildings lining up on Albert,Broad,and Sask drive. They would certainly add alot of business and life to the core, but unfortunately, these will be going up in Sprawling neighbourhoods .
This development has the potential to draw people away from downtown (similar to vic east, rochdale).

Agreed, kind of a mixed blessing - it's great that they're making some effort into this design, but it makes the negative impact on Downtown that much greater than the regular grey big boxes. That said, now that Harbour Landing's a done deal and Regina's not going to stop the sprawl, I'm actually interested to see how this development will turn out. At least the standard for Regina's future sprawl has bumped up a notch!