Edmonton Construction 9 (2008-08)

[Hardhatdan]

That is a lot of drunken posts.

[Shodan]

Originally Posted by Hardhatdan

That is a lot of drunken posts.

[240glt]

Not you Shodan

[Kevin_foster]

Moving on.......


I encourage everyone to pick up a Journal today or read the Arena thread. Front Page!

[Pavlov]

This thread was well worth a visit this morning. Lol.

[240glt]

http://www.dubarchitects.ca/project.php?project_id=23&start=5

[ue]

^That looks fantastic. It will really enhance the nearby park.

[bulliver]

Pano of Edmonton Clinic South from last Tuesday. Links directly to 4435 x 2484px original so beware!

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by 240glt

http://www.dubarchitects.ca/project.php?project_id=23&start=5

—. hopefully they do a good job recreating the old bar. that could be a fun time.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by 240glt

http://www.dubarchitects.ca/project.php?project_id=23&start=5

fantastic it does look and balances off the pink palace, brutal berlin wall, and precast mess.

[Coldrsx]

Just returned, at least in body, from a surprise weekend in Toronto. Hung out in the Annex (bloor/bath) and while 'grity', was amazed at the civility, interaction, and smooth interaction between pedestrian, driver, and transit operator. How the vast majority of people crossed not at crosswalks or lights but middle street and how they waited for cars and how cars waited for them in return.

In the El Camino (427) death wish i had from YYZ, I also had a quick glimpse at Bay-Addelaide (so —), concrete land er i mean cityplace, and MLS. Impressive all around except for that city place is too planned. It lacks the idea that through evolution it can be unique and I do not foresee that area being capable of that through time. (same could be said about yaletown though)

I could not get over the amazing 3 storey houses, how some were somehow allowed to be converted into shops and restaurants in residential areas, how traffic calming made the pedestrian and pedalist king, how recycle bins were beside garbage bins that were beside newspaper bins and how they were actually being used.

This was the first time I have stayed central toronto without going into the core and it reminded me how little of 'that' we have developed.
-----------------------------

With that said I have a few interesting observations/comments:

1. YEG is a very nice airport to leave from/come home to if you can avoid 7-9am.

2. Many people complain about the pathetic service that is the TTC. More than I hear about the ETS it seems.

3. and i quote 'I love Toronto in the summer, but winter hear it is so dead on the streets.... everyone hibernates'.

4. $52.25 plus tip from west downtown to YYZ with almost no traffic. (i can go from downtown edm to yeg for less)

5. WE NEED LRT TO YEG within 10 yrs.

6. WE NEED TO ALLOW MORE INTENSIFICATION ON CORNERS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.

7. WE NEED TO BRING PEOPLE BACK TO CENTRAL AREAS.

8. WE NEED MORE HOUSING OPTIONS TO ACHIEVE #7.

[Daveography]

^ I loved staying in The Annex when I visited Toronto. It is an amazing neighborhood, so vibrant and diverse and lively, and man-oh-man did I love that old housing stock.

It's been so long since I've been to TO now that most of my friends there have moved away, at least 5 years I think. I'd love to head out that way again to see all the changes that I've only read about on SSP.

[Daveography]

Also,

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

6. WE NEED TO ALLOW MORE INTENSIFICATION ON CORNERS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS.

THIS.

I just bought my first house (yay, woo, go me) in Holyrood. While looking around the neighborhod, at maps, figuring out where everything is, etc., I noticed that nearly all of the major commercial strips in the city are former downtowns of cities amalgamated into Edmonton - Beverly = 118 Ave., Jasper Place = SPR, Strathcona = Whyte, etc. Every neighborhood built since lacks true commercial corridors like these, and this is especially noticeable south of the river.

While it's pretty unlikely we'll ever new new strips built like these, there are many many little pockets of commercial areas and many fairly-major-but-not-too-major intersections where we can still build some higher density (not neccessarily towers of course) places for people to live, gather, play, shop, and maybe even work (on a small scale). While we've seen some quality mega-project proposals like CP and Strathearn that I like, I really really would rather see more smaller-scale developments in these aforementioned commercial pockets and intersections.

[Coldrsx]

kinda on/slightly off topic...

C2E is having a seasonal meet and greet this thursday and so since many of us go back and forth between here and there I would like to suggest we call that an open opportunity to have SSP people show up for we will likely hit a pub after.

details:


Place: Three Bananas Cafe, Churchill Square
Date: November 26. This Thursday!
Time: 6-8pm at 3B. Following this we can decide what to do on the fly. Anything following will be un-official.

[oiler-dude]

I also just returned last night, however mine was a surprise visit to Vancouver. Typical November weather (ie: nothing but rain), but even then, the downtown was hopping with activity, it was nice to see. I hadn't been to downtown Vancouver since I've actually gotten interested in architecture, cities, buildings, etc (thank you SSP!), but seeing how dense their downtown is, it's really something to strive for.

One Wall Centre is a stunning piece of architecture, would absolutely love to see something of that nature in Edmonton. I wanted to bring it with, but my carry on simply wasn't big enough.

I agree with Cold, YEG is quite a nice, albeit smaller, airport on the departures level. Arrivals needs some work, IMO, but it has also gotten better amongst renovations (whenever the last batch was).

Skytrain to YVR is a great piece of engineering, managed to snag a front-seat and get a nice view of the entire tunnel, and overground section. I agree with many comments I've read however regarding small platforms. Outside of the first few downtown stops (Waterfront, CityCentre, etc) they look very small.

All said and done, I was so excited to leave the drab rain of Vancouver, for my beloved, -10 Edmonton. It's homey.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by RTA

^ I loved staying in The Annex when I visited Toronto. It is an amazing neighborhood, so vibrant and diverse and lively, and man-oh-man did I love that old housing stock.

It's been so long since I've been to TO now that most of my friends there have moved away, at least 5 years I think. I'd love to head out that way again to see all the changes that I've only read about on SSP.

That's my hood now (again for the second time). It's quite a place.

[MrOilers]

Originally Posted by Rogie

When is Edmonton going to start realizing it's worth protecting some of the city's heritage?

I agree with you, but we can't have public dollars buying or protecting churches. What could the city realistically do regarding St. Stephen's church?

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Just returned, at least in body, from a surprise weekend in Toronto.

Yep, gotta love feeling more or less free to just go for it when crossing, but I find that this behavior varies greatly throughout central Toronto. It's quite rare in some neighbourhoods, though nothing like it is back in the Edmo

I'm not sure how many times you used TTC, but transit operators here are notorious for their awful attitude towards riders...not to say they're all like that, but more often than not. Anyways, I'm surprised you didn't try taking the airport bus for a spin: $2.25 (with advance token, and soon to be $2.50) for a complete one-way trip anywhere in town. It takes about an hour to get downtown

City Place is an unmitigated disaster...It's a prime example of how these sorts of developments have isolated people from their city (there's much more to it than that, but just my 2 bit summary). Planners and citizens are pretty pissed at how how exclusive the whole development feels, like it's not part of the city. A prime example of what the arena district should not be going for. Anywho, it's led to some pretty cool initiatives coming down the pipe, including the future "decking" of the rail yards behind union station to try to link the city with condo-land/the waterfront

[Coldrsx]

^zero TTC, walked, cabbed, or rode in a sweet Camino. Perhaps carried as well...

[Kevin_foster]

Anyone know who owns these buildings? man would it be ripe for something tall and vibrant. If I'm not mistaken, the front of the eastern-most building is occupied by "sage"... this is looking east along 102a ave along the pedway


pic: me