Edmonton Construction 9 (2008-08)

[MrOilers]

I remember Ed Ledger's name but I don't know what he was notorious for.

[Rocket252]

Originally Posted by edmontonenthusiast

240, very interesting, and yeah you're right about Van. I guess every city has ups and downs . But we have A LOT still going for us, I think we have a lot of untapped potential. Rossdale, Quarters, North Edge, now Muni, 124st, Alberta Ave, East Whyte, Strathcona Junction, Ft Rd, Stadium, etc. could all turn into amazing places in 5-25 yrs. Another thing to note is Van is two times our size though.

Re uptown: I have to agree completely with newfangled I think. Everything save the townhouses is amazing, except the wall facing Jasper Av. Could have been better. You really don't see what a gem it is until you turn the corner. But a pretty decent looking condominium, would look quite content in other cities, so that's a positive thing .

If we want to compare ourselves to Vancouver or Calgary we need to work twice as hard to overcome the advantages they have ie vancouver -climate and oceans, calgary - proximity to mountains and competition of being the other big city in Alberta. The muni decision is a good start but other issues have to be resolved.

Edmonton has to have an identity all its own that attracts people. We have disadvantages that need to be overcome with smart ideas on how to make our city "the" place to come and live.

I still firmly believe we need an Iconic building /tower of some kind in our downtown. Now that the height restrictions will be lifted make it a tall one.

[Kevin_foster]

^ but but but we have the mall?

[ue]

^lol.

Originally Posted by Rocket252

If we want to compare ourselves to Vancouver or Calgary we need to work twice as hard to overcome the advantages they have ie vancouver -climate and oceans, calgary - proximity to mountains and competition of being the other big city in Alberta. The muni decision is a good start but other issues have to be resolved.

Edmonton has to have an identity all its own that attracts people. We have disadvantages that need to be overcome with smart ideas on how to make our city "the" place to come and live.

I still firmly believe we need an Iconic building /tower of some kind in our downtown. Now that the height restrictions will be lifted make it a tall one.

While I agree with most of your points, we don't need to work twice as hard to get up to Calgary. They're already having a lot of similar stuff as us. Or things replace each other. We have a better historic centre (Ft Ed) and they have a better Zoo (Cgy Zoo).

And I love how we seem to get down on our negatives, but don't recognize the faults of other cities too. We I think overanalyze ourselves. I know I'm a victim of it too.

I really think the Muni will turn around a lot, even though a lot already is. I'd put us as a city overall in the up and coming category.

[Coldrsx]

great to see them responding to events

ear Captains,
On Tuesday July 21, 2009 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers from City departments, ATB Financial, Kingsway Business Association, Edmonton Police Service, Via and CN Rail will come together to clean up litter and paint over graffiti on designated buildings, where permission has been received from property owners facing 121 Street across from the City Centre Airport. This cleanup is in support of welcoming Edmontonians and visitors that will be attending the 2009 Indy the following weekend and will be using 121 st to access the raceway. CCCU has conducted an inventory of the area and property owners did receive notices to remove the graffiti off of their property. Many properties have complied, but many have been retagged with graffiti. CCCU has contacted all property owners on 121 Street to participate in the event. Approximately 2000 square feet of graffiti has been secured for removal.
Media will be invited to the event which will promote property owners, business and the community partnering with the City to remove graffiti, clean up litter and weeds. The event will be fully supported by CCCU.
We are currently looking for a few more volunteers and would like to extend the invitation to you to come out to pick up litter and wipe out graffiti in the area that day. Lunch and refreshments will be provided; along with all of the supplies and protective clothing to do the clean up.
Please RSVP by Tuesday, July 15 for this event.
Please note that you may bring your team members as long as we know that they are coming and as long as they are over the age of 15. Once you have RSVP you will be contacted via email with further details. Thank you and I am looking forward to your reply.


Tamara Brunelle
Capital City Clean Up Volunteer Coordinator
City of Edmonton
Community Services
Beaufort Building
2nd Fl, 10835 – 120 Street
Edmonton, AB T5H 3P9
Phone: 780-496-8047
Cell: 780-721-8642
Fax: 780-498-7098

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

I remember Ed Ledger's name but I don't know what he was notorious for.

He was one of the most negative backward thinking Alderman of his time, Voted against the Convention centre, LRT and a number of other high profile projects.

[Kevin_foster]

^ Hey I think our company is participating in that

[newfangled]

So even with the airport gone all of the old zoning is still in place, complete with height restrictions. That means that anyone who wants to build something will have to go the DC2 route?

Or could the city/EDC just start handing out height bonuses (imagine that...height bonuses in Edmonton!) to anyone who is willing to jump through the hoops.

Is the city likely to ammend all of the current zoning, and how long would something like that take?

And if someone does want to build something (like maybe now Procura will ditch their 10 storey Jasper Avenue parkade for something sensible) what's the route it's likely to take?

Any thoughts?

[ue]

Probably keep the current height limits for now, even when the runway closes, but allow developers to apply for higher limits if they need or want.

[newfangled]

Okay, and further to what I just said I didn't realize that the DC1 that runs along Jasper in Oliver, and the CCA over the CBD don't specifically mention height. North Oliver, Jasper downtown, the government district, and lots of other areas in the core are all under the restrictive zonings though.

Is the 45m limit that's all over the place just because of the airport, or is there some zoning ideology in there?

[Coldrsx]

^both is my guess.

The new downtown plan will likely reflect the revised zoning when it comes out (if it ever does - 2yrs late).

But yes, zoning will require amendments to the bylaws.

[noodlenoodle]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

"However there are shady characters in the building. EPS tactical busted down the door of a unit on the fifth floor because they were selling drugs out of the unit."

can happen anywhere and i suspect most buildings have the same... mine did, a friend of mine's did... both 'upscale buildings'.

And now our condo board's kneejerk reaction is a special assessment for "improving the security", none of which will stop/prevent/hinder anything like what has happened before from happening again... All it'll do is make me have to go down to the lobby to pick up every guest. Woo. Hoo. Hoo. I'll be a bellhop during my drop-in-drop-out housewarming party.

[MrOilers]

And you could still just as easily deal drugs out of your home if you wanted. Stupid condo board.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by noodlenoodle

And now our condo board's kneejerk reaction is a special assessment for "improving the security", none of which will stop/prevent/hinder anything like what has happened before from happening again... All it'll do is make me have to go down to the lobby to pick up every guest. Woo. Hoo. Hoo. I'll be a bellhop during my drop-in-drop-out housewarming party.

ridiculous... no building should make you, the owner, go down every time unless it is say past a certain hour. Ours requires us to go down past 11pm which i feel is a great solution.

[Jasper and one o nin]

Originally Posted by Airboy

He was one of the most negative backward thinking Alderman of his time, Voted against the Convention centre, LRT and a number of other high profile projects.

that doesnt sound anything like any of the current members of city council...

[noodlenoodle]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

ridiculous... no building should make you, the owner, go down every time unless it is say past a certain hour. Ours requires us to go down past 11pm which i feel is a great solution.

Yeah, that's what I'm pushing for. We already lock the outer vestibule door at that time, so putting the elevator restrictions in place at that time isn't a big deal, cos I'd have to go down to let someone in anyways...

[Kevin_foster]

That's it. I'm voting Steamwhistle as one of my top 5 favorite Canadian Pilsners.

[240glt]

Heading home to Edmonton from Van tihs morning. A few notes:

-The cycling infrastructure in this city is far superior to anything we have in Alberta. I've been skeptical of just paining lines on streets but it appears to work very well in Van.

-Closing two lanes of the Burrard bridge for cycling and foot traffic is an incredible idea. I wish our Albertan cities would grow a pair, stop bowing to cars and start doing innovative things like that.

-It's a lot harder to score weed at wreck beach than it used to be.

-My mind is blown at how well Kits and the area around 4th, Broadway close to the university has developed.

-Nobody in Vanouver cares what Seattle is doing, or what Toronto is doing, or what Calgary is doing. Very refreshing to be in a place that isn't comparing all the time

-Vancouver has a plethora of tall glass towers that put anything in Alberta to shame. But it is the low rise infill that is making the real difference at the street level. THe quality of the 4 to 6 story low rises are far. far superior to anything we've seen in Alberta.

-Vancouverites are still not as friendly as Edmontonians. In fact the gap is widening.

-In certain places in this city, you could not find a cigarette butt on the street if you tried. Other areas are very dirty. DTES still looks awful.

-I love Edmontons' natural beauty, but the manicured areas of Stanley park are impeccable and stunning. I would like to see a smaller area of the valley done up nice.

-You don't see many pick up trucks in the city proper, but you only have to go as far as PoCo and there's just as many as Edmonton. I have yet to see a pair of balls hanging from any motor vehicle.

-Prius taxis. Edmonton ? hello ? Can we get the smokin' blue Crown Vics of the road sometime soon ?

-People on streets, and walkable streets. Davie. Granville. Broadway. Commercial. Robson. Denman. 4th W. and on and on. I love our little whyte ave and 124 tries so hard, but it's plain to see how far we've got to go in our Alberta cities to creating these types of streets. 124th should definitely be converted to Edmonton's Davie.

-Oh god PLEASE do something like Granville Island at the Rossdale PP.


Got a good photo tour from a boat trip yesterday that I will post in the city section when I get back in a couple of hours.

[IKAN104]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Heading home to Edmonton from Van tihs morning. A few notes:

-The cycling infrastructure in this city is far superior to anything we have in Alberta. I've been skeptical of just paining lines on streets but it appears to work very well in Van.

-Closing two lanes of the Burrard bridge for cycling and foot traffic is an incredible idea. I wish our Albertan cities would grow a pair, stop bowing to cars and start doing innovative things like that.

er... for every person who thinks this is a great idea, there are probably 1000 who hate it. A lot more people drive to work than cycle and it's not because they're lazy or eco-unfriendly, it's because they have no choice.

So the idea that making driving more difficult will cause everybody to hop on their bikes is ridiculous. People are going to drive regardless. All they're doing is pissing people off by taking away driving lanes.

I'm all in favour of excellent cycling infrastructure, but not at the expense of automobile infrastructure.

Originally Posted by 240glt

-Nobody in Vanouver cares what Seattle is doing, or what Toronto is doing, or what Calgary is doing. Very refreshing to be in a place that isn't comparing all the time

That's because they don't share a province with any of those cities. Must be nice to be the only big dog in the neighbourhood. Sounds peaceful.

Originally Posted by 240glt

-Prius taxis. Edmonton ? hello ? Can we get the smokin' blue Crown Vics of the road sometime soon ?

Don't cab drivers buy their own vehicles? On the one hand if I was a cabbie I would want my customers to be comfortable, but on the other hand I would want my car to be fuel efficient. But surely you're not suggesting that the city force all cabs to go hybrid. That's a little too totalitarian for me.

[ue]

Welcome back 240!

The thing about Vancouver not caring what Calgary or Toronto or Seattle is doing is because Vancouver is the city people look up to, not the other way around. Calgary, Seattle, Edmonton, and Portland look up and compare themselves with Vancouver. Not to mention they're a very innovative city.

I agree with you that we need to up our cycling infrastructure, as although it's not one of our top issues, looking at many many cities across North America and Europe, we don't have near as much cycling infrastructure. I think our strong point though is the trails in the river valley, but also our bridges - I see a lot of cyclists on some of our bridges.

I agree it's pretty sad that the only cool urban neighbourhood we can compare with other cities is Whyte Av/Old Strathcona/Strathcona. While 124st is a decent strip on it's own right now, it still needs a further push and shops that will bring more clientelle, and add pedestrian life. And we need to keep pushing for further revitalization of Jasper Av, 104st, East Whyte, 109st, Quarters, 118ave, the North Edge, Rossdale, and 99st.

And a farmers market like Granville while great for Rossdale, we already have two farmers markets nearby, so I'm thinking a museum or college there.

But overall I agree we need to up our game in terms of urban development!