Edmonton Construction 11 (November 2011)

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Lamphier: Money, co-ordination could solve Edmonton’s long-standing image problem

Nothing new here except for this:

In an interview Wednesday, Ferguson reiterated his blunt message. It’s time for the city to take its image problems far more seriously, he says. And that means adopting a more strategic approach toward branding, messaging and marketing.

“If this city was a company, we’d spend one to two per cent of our revenues on marketing. That would give us about $12 million a year. But we operate at about a quarter of that today and the monies are distributed to different groups that aren’t aligned.”

The result, he says, is that the city, key local companies and organizations don’t project a simple, coherent ‘take home’ message, leaving outsiders scratching their heads and wondering what Edmonton is all about.

“I’ve been here at EEDC for about three months now and I’ve welcomed six or seven foreign ambassadors or consul generals to this region during that time,” says Ferguson.

“All of them but one told me: ‘You know, I didn’t know what was here.’ They said they knew about Calgary and Fort McMurray, but they didn’t understand the strategic importance of Edmonton,” he notes.

“But they became quite excited about it when they were here, and now they want to come back. So it’s clear that we’ve got some work to do and that’s really why I made that statement (to city council’s executive committee).

“I didn’t just throw it out there. I want to raise the bar in terms of what it’s going to take for us to be competitive. And it’s going to take alignment and it’s going to take money.”

[Kevin_foster]

^ Agreed. $12m would be chump change to spend per year, even for a few year commitment (2-5 years). I'm sure the results would pay the cost, and more.

[itom 987]

I've come to realize that houses with front attached garages are very desirable to live in. I've been living in the Hamptons for 3 years and have come to realize that the residential streets that have houses with front facing garages are more vibrant than residential streets that have houses facing an alley. They are more vibrant because all traffic is concentrated on one street instead of being split into two. The alleys in the Hamptons get no love from the residents and are looking run down creating opportunities for crime to happen. This is in a neighbourhood that is barely 10 years old. To date, I have never seen a crime ridden, run down residential street that has houses with front attached garages anywhere in Edmonton.

Downtown needs to be able to compete with the suburbs and we shouldn't be discouraging the development of houses with front attached garages.

[CMD UW]

Originally Posted by s4.audios

Front attached garages are only nice if all the houses are alike, and in a cul-de-sac. They don't look nice in grid style neighborhoods even if all the houses on the block are like that. Street front presence is uninviting; unless, like a cul-de-sac, you feel invited when you enter the block IMO.

As for front drives not allowed, does this include houses with a detached garage in the back but a driveway from the front leading to it? I don't think there is anything bad about that. Its the presence of a big garage door right up front that I don't see fit.

I disagree. Most of the houses in Toronto's older neighbourhoods are front drive on a grid street configuration. I don't have an issue with front attached garages as long as they do not 'dominate' the frontage of the house. Snout nose garages should NOT be allowed in mature neighbourhood period!

[sdimedru]

Originally Posted by itom 987

Downtown needs to be able to compete with the suburbs and we shouldn't be discouraging the development of houses with front attached garages.

Using your ideas, wouldn't that result in front attached garage homes with back alleys that are unsafe and dangerous?

[itom 987]

The alley would be removed to make way for more space in the backyard.

[hilman]

I agree itom, plus alleys waste space/land by adding an extra less used road and add extra maintenance cost like paving, lights, snow removal, etc.

[SHOFEAR]

Many older neighbourhoods have services running down the back alley.... good luck getting rid of that access...

I find lanes work in mature neighbourhoods quite well. The lots are wider, building pocket is smaller and when you park a camper in your backyard it doesn't overwhelm the space. In newer neighbourhoods lanes are typically only seen on duplex and entry level homes with small lots and larger building pockets. When people park a trailer back there it sticks out and looks out of place.

[Coldrsx]

I don't mind the side saddle garages or drive through garages of the 'Wonder Years' era, but the 'snout nose' (thanks CMD) are completely and totally incongruent with mature neighbourhoods.

[Daveography]

Personally I love having a back alley, it's a lot easier to pull out from than onto the street we live on (it's relatively busy). It adds a lot of character to the neighborhood, and I find it presents far more opportunities to visit and chat with neighbors that wouldn't exist if there was nothing there but a six-foot fence. Most of us have gardens in the back, and the alley connects us to each other to share in what we grow. We even grow raspberries along our driveway that we welcome our neighbors and passer-by to share in freely.

Back to garages, there are a couple of newer houses on our block with big, jutting, front-facing garages. They break up the open feel of the block and seem to insulate the house and their immediately adjacent neighbors. They don't feel at all in place where they are, it's like someone took a house designed for St. Albert and plopped it in the middle of our block. It just doesn't work. And I have to wonder what that says about a person, when the feature they want to be most prominent of their home is a big closed door where they park their car.

[Coldrsx]

That said, look to Ter Towne in the SW to see how not to do rear garages... that being, putting them in a society where people want 3 cars or are too lazy to drive around. That place is a gong show.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by itom 987

To date, I have never seen a crime ridden, run down residential street that has houses with front attached garages anywhere in Edmonton.

*cough* Millwoods *cough*

Sorry, just personal experience there.

[ciudad_del_norte]

Front drives/garages in and of themselves aren't evil and can be integrated fairly reasonably into urban neighbourhoods, if the nieghbourhood is designed in a way that they work. Many of Edmonton's mature neighbourhoods are desireable because of consistent sidewalks separated from the street by treed boulevards, along with the sidewalk interaction with the front of houses instead of garage doors. I think these are actually some of the characteristics that make central neighbourhoods competitive with suburbs. Although this generally refers to the early 20th century neighbourhoods, the MNO actually covers a pretty wide area. Westmount and AB ave are pretty different than some of the neighbourhoods on the outer fringes of the MNO boundary.

[Hardhatdan]

Front garages are aesthetically terrible.

I would not move to a neighborhood without a lane.

The two front garages on my street are an eyesore of white pressed metal.

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by Hardhatdan

Front garages are aesthetically terrible.

I would not move to a neighborhood without a lane.

The two front garages on my street are an eyesore of white pressed metal.

that's like saying you would never move into a high rise building because peregrine point is ugly...

[itom 987]

http://www.homeplans.com/plan-detail/HOMEPW11387/imaginative-narrow-lot-opportunity

Does this look ugly?
The average bungalow built from 1955 to 1965 aren't that great either.

Hardhatdan, I used to be just like you until my wife forced me to give it a try. Now I'm sold, these houses function very well, better than the standard bungalow.

The alley was designed in North Amercica solely for the automobile. There are no alleys in great cities like London, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Manila, Mumbai, Paris, Istanbul, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Cape Town etc. Some of those cities have very narrow streets that look like alleys but aren't because buildings face them.

You will only see 2 roads serving one house in North America.

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by itom 987

http://www.homeplans.com/plan-detail/HOMEPW11387/imaginative-narrow-lot-opportunity

Does this look ugly?
The average bungalow built from 1955 to 1965 aren't that great either.

Hardhatdan, I used to be just like you until my wife forced me to give it a try. Now I'm sold, these houses function very well, better than the standard bungalow.

The alley was designed in North Amercica solely for the automobile. There are no alleys in great cities like London, Amsterdam, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo, Manila, Mumbai, Paris, Istanbul, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Cape Town etc. Some of those cities have very narrow streets that look like alleys but aren't because buildings face them.

You will only see 2 roads serving one house in North America.

This house is a good example on how this can work in a more mature neighborhood for sure.

Two lanes IMO is one to many to serve a property. But I think Hard Hats example is when the garage extends from the property like in any new 2 story currently being built in our Suburbs. It would look fugly in an older more mature neighborhood me thinks.

[MalcolmTucker]

In Calgary the solution seems to be basement garages. At least keeps the footprint of the house set back. The extra cost in both operating and construction is quite high however.

[240glt]

^ there are quite a few infill houses with basement garages in the Bellevue/Highlands area, especially along the ravine side where the properties back onto the ravine.

The problem with the picture that Itom posted is that it won't fit onto a great number of central lots. In the Alberta Ave/ Parkdale neighbrohoods, most lots only have 33' frontage. A double garage plus minimum sideyard separations means that the only thing you'll see from the front is the garage, and a front door off to the side. A few of these were built before the MNO was put in place, and they do deter from the distinct character of the neighborhood. Also, on the narrow, central streets, parking is at a premium as you can only park on one side of the street. Front attached garages eats up street parking space. It can also damage the beautiful mature Elms that line our streets.

[240glt]

Well now this is interesting...

Job No 114534603-010: To construct exterior alterations (change the pitched roof to a flat roof) to a four Storey Apartment House (154 Dwellings) having an underground Parking Garage.
11332 - 95 STREET NW
Plan RN43 Blk 24 Lots 16-30
GLENWOOD DEVELOPMENTS LTD

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