[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[niccanning]

I am not surprised we were rated car-dependent: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/jon-packer/walkable-city_b_2718545.html#slide=2019886

The article also references this YouTube video on urban planning/ walkability from Collingwood, ON. Very simple, but good - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKOB-d3uds

[Copes]

Ha!

Patrick.

[SignalHillHiker]

It's true - BUT certain neighbourhoods of St. John's scored very well. Mine, for example, was rated Very Walkable (Prince of Wales Street).

The CMA includes vast areas - such as CBS - that have, literally, 0-15 ratings. Downtown St. John's scores well. And our rowhouse districts score higher than most of the country's single-family dwelling neighbourhoods.

[Townie709]

I don't agree with the article placing Halifax at 4th place, ahead of Montreal. Montreal is much more walkable than Halifax. xD

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Townie709

I don't agree with the article placing Halifax at 4th place, ahead of Montreal. Montreal is much more walkable than Halifax. xD

Agreed - Montreal is very walkable, especially it's downtown core.

[SignalHillHiker]

There are really only two categories where Halifax can even compete with Montreal:

1. Percentage of English speakers.

2. Proximity to Atlantic Ocean.

Everything else, Montreal wins by several orders of magnitude. It's easily my favourite of Canada's big cities and our only one with real, world-class identity. It's our only city that could compete with NYC, Paris, Milan, etc... in terms of urbanity, strength of local, unique identity, etc.

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

There are really only two categories where Halifax can even compete with Montreal:

1. Percentage of English speakers.

2. Proximity to Atlantic Ocean.

Everything else, Montreal wins by several orders of magnitude. It's easily my favourite of Canada's big cities and our only one with real, world-class identity. It's our only city that could compete with NYC, Paris, Milan, etc... in terms of urbanity, strength of local, unique identity, etc.

I would argue that Toronto and Vancouver have just as much world-class identity (if not more in some respects) than Montreal, but they should definitely be the top 3. Not Halifax

[jeddy1989]

awesome

Bannerman Park Expansion and Renovation

The federal government and the City of St. John's are coming together to give Bannerman Park a boost. At City Hall this morning, MP Peter Penashue announced that the federal government will offer almost $500,000 in funding to expand and renovate the 60-year-old pool house building in the park. The City of St. John's, in partnership with the Bannerman Park Foundation, is putting up just over $1-million in the project. The project will include construction of fully accessible washrooms and change rooms, a new filtration system, and a space designed to enhance community use in the park. Mayor Dennis O'Keefe says the park is a vital part of the history of St. John's, and wants to keep the upgrades coming to the city's green spaces.

He says Bannerman Park is an icon for the city. He adds that Victoria Park is set to be the next space to get an upgrade.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=31232&latest=1

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Townie709

I don't agree with the article placing Halifax at 4th place, ahead of Montreal. Montreal is much more walkable than Halifax. xD

I also find that a bit strange - the article is also seems to be using actual cities, and not CMA's (e.g. Richmond & Surrey BC are listed separately, and not as part of Vancouver). Halifax then would have to include all it's suburbs since they are all part of it, while St. John's would not include Mt Pearl, etc.. The only thing I can think of that would make Halifax more walkable than Montreal would normally be its smaller size - except its actual boundary size is huge. In this case they may have just made up their own rules for what they are defining, and that would refer to what is normally perceived as being Halifax.

[wrwalsh]

Perhaps a little off-topic.. but here's good look at London in the "World's largest Picture"

http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by Architype

I also find that a bit strange - the article is also seems to be using actual cities, and not CMA's (e.g. Richmond & Surrey BC are listed separately, and not as part of Vancouver). Halifax then would have to include all it's suburbs since they are all part of it, while St. John's would not include Mt Pearl, etc.. The only thing I can think of that would make Halifax more walkable than Montreal would normally be its smaller size - except its actual boundary size is huge. In this case they may have just made up their own rules for what they are defining, and that would refer to what is normally perceived as being Halifax.

Halifax peninsula is probably one of the most walkable mid-sized cities in the country, much like our downtown. It's once you factor in everything else in the HRM where things start to fall apart.

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by wrwalsh

Perhaps a little off-topic.. but here's good look at London in the "World's largest Picture"

http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html

Very cool!

[Townie709]

Not sure if/where I should post this, but I just discovered something interesting that shows that many people in this city are in support of development. I was going through old "VOCM questions of the day" (don't ask me why, haha) and I saw one caught my eye as I read "Fortis Properties". I clicked on the question, from 2010, and the question read:

"Are you pleased Fortis Properties has withdrawn its application for a controversial development in the capital city's downtown?"

I was quite surprised by the response, because the response to most of these responses are always either negative, or 50-50. But here were the response

12% of people answered yes, they were happy the proposal was trashed
4% of people answered unsure
84% of people answered no, they weren't happy that the proposal was withdrawn!

I just thought it was interesting that most people were for the development, when such a small group of people created such negativity that the project had been cancelled. If those 84% of people had spoken out in favor of the project before it was withdrawn, I guarantee you it wouldn't have been withdrawn.

I guess the lesson here is that a small group of vocal people, be it pro or anti-development, can make a big difference if nobody else with other opinions is willing to speak out. Just something interesting I found that I thought I would share!

[jeddy1989]

edit

[SignalHillHiker]

February 23, 2013

351:





Fortis:



Henry-Bell Condo Complex:



Livingstone Street:

[Marty_Mcfly]

Wow, Fortis is really coming along nicely!

[JCE]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

REALLY cool video being shared on facebook!

http://vimeo.com/59970182

imagine when the rest of the West end DT is built

This has nothing to do with St. John's but I seen a similar video of Toronto though it would be cool to share. Only posting this since the threads have been a little slower lately awaiting the many development announcements to come out.(fingers crossed)

http://vimeo.com/53072482#

[Architype]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

February 23, 2013

351:

Great photos today.

That first one with the snowy hills behind it instantly gave me the impression of a ski resort. It made me wonder if there is any potential on those hills for that?

[SignalHillHiker]

I'd say it's too steep and rocky... and there's not enough of a flat area at the bottom to come to a stop before going straight to the bottom of the harbour. But... anything's possible.

[Architype]

I thought they might go straight into the harbour, but it would have to be planned to avoid that. There are other slopes in back, but I don't know how suitable it would be there's also land ownership issues. However, potentially it could be a miniature version of the experience of skiing in the mountains with the views of Vancouver.