Saskatoon Construction II

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by Wyku

Seems like a fair idea, but I can't imagine it ending well with citizens in the area .

I can't really remember what 22nd St. and Circle Dr. looked like before the interchange was put in, but I do remember thinking it was a horrible plan for an interchange at the time it was announced--which it has turned out to be. It would be interesting if you could find an aerial shot of what it used to look like and come up with a better interchange for that area now (which does nothing except make us wish for something better (with no chance of it happening) of course, but it would cool to see what could have been anyway).

That intersection was hell. Imagine making a left turn south with no advanced green. You'd be lucky if two cars could make the left turn after waiting for oncoming traffic to finish driving through the yellow light.

18th and 20th streets used to be connected to a street leading to this intersection, which was fairly convenient at the time, but would never work now.

[Tomgood04]

Someone bought the site at the corner of 25th and 2nd ave. across from the fandangos store. Anyone has any info on what would be proposed there?

[Temperance]

Originally Posted by macca

Road 'improvements' of the variety that are typically discussed in this thread will not "significantly reduce congestion" in the long run. Quite the opposite.

I agree. We seem to be really aspiring to be Calgary 2.0 with hundreds of kilometres of freeways, thousands of kilometres of roads, and tremendous urban sprawl of bland, characterless neighbourhoods where you need to get in a car to reach any restaurant or shop. I would love to see somebody step forward with some intelligent city design. Having been living in The Netherlands the urban design culture in Saskatoon (and appreciation of good urban design in city government) is very disappointing. I am not aiming those comments at this board, as I know there are many thoughtful people on here. I just wish there was less discussion in our city about freeways and bridges and more about liveable neighbourhoods and mass transit.

[North_Regina_Boy]

Originally Posted by macca

Road 'improvements' of the variety that are typically discussed in this thread will not "significantly reduce congestion" in the long run. Quite the opposite.

Correct, in the long run these will not make it better. Urban sprawl is a plague that must be contained. Superior transit options need to be implemented and money needs to be directed there. However, changing the mindset of the older populous is going to be the challenge. And that is the issue. The status quo here is small town mentality. That is the biggest hurtle to overcome.

I may draw these systems, however I am a very large lover of all transportation types. Bikes, Trains, Buses, Cars. All of these must be accounted for as we live in a free society everyone will want something different. Heck even Calgary which has a very active mass transit system is blighted by some of the worst urban sprawl in North America. The biggest thing I here is (I want my own space, yard and such) which is the driver of single family homes. However, when I drive through these neighborhoods, I don't see people out in their yards. I don't see Kids out playing. How much of a disconnect is that? What people "want" and what people are doing seem to be contrast from reality in a good amount of cases.

[drto]

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Mayor+talks+growth+groceries/9694191/story.html

Atchison repeated his goal to see greater density in Saskatoon's downtown; he said the only way to accomplish this is by building up. "We also need to have 30-storey high-rises," he said.

Yet we have a nearly impossible time getting the premier site in downtown Saskatoon to proceed with highrise residential development!

[Jezza]

I'd like to see the mayor committing to moving downtown himself. Enough cheerleading, let's try some plain old leading. He works downtown, they are empty-nesters, he attends a lot of events, it makes sense to be centrally located, not in the Willows. Drop a line to Victory Majors, I hear they're selling. The Willows contracts out their own recycling and snow clearing, and transit doesn't even have a route out there. You pay taxes to the city but you might as well just be living in Warman.

I'm just shaking my head over the 35,000 people remark. Maybe feasible if you consider Caswell, Riversdale, City Park, and North Park to be downtown?

[WoodlandCritter]

Originally Posted by drto

[url]

[B]Atchison repeated his goal to see greater density in Saskatoon's downtown; he said the only way to accomplish this is by building up. "We also need to have 30-storey high-rises,"

Would be nice to see things moving on River Landing, but as has been mentioned before, it costs a lot of money to build such a large underground parking structure. Big cost to take on without firm tenant commitment. Maybe some redesign or phase plan should take place to eliminate this problem and get things moving on parts of the project. I'm just speculating of course.

The other downtown tower will make a nice addition to the urban landscape.

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by WoodlandCritter

The other downtown tower will make a nice addition to the urban landscape.

Any idea when the public might get a peek? I've been dying to see it since September!

[Echoes]

Originally Posted by Jezza

I'm just shaking my head over the 35,000 people remark. Maybe feasible if you consider Caswell, Riversdale, City Park, and North Park to be downtown?

His claims and goals rarely have any basis in reality. He likes to pick numbers out of the air and inflate or exaggerate them a little more each time he repeats them.

[WoodlandCritter]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Any idea when the public might get a peek? I've been dying to see it since September!

I don't know a confirmed date of release. But there have been issues with the rendering company, that's why its taking some time. Nothing to do with the design. That's the hold up at this point.

[slats]

Originally Posted by drto

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Mayor+talks+growth+groceries/9694191/story.html

Atchison repeated his goal to see greater density in Saskatoon's downtown; he said the only way to accomplish this is by building up. "We also need to have 30-storey high-rises," he said.

Yet we have a nearly impossible time getting the premier site in downtown Saskatoon to proceed with highrise residential development!

The City is really guilty of sending mixed messages with statements like this while still moving full speed ahead with Kensington, Evergreen, and Aspen Ridge. As long as there is cheaper, larger real estate available, despite being much further away, the downtown will struggle to increase population. Maybe the city should start buying up vacant/under utilized lots downtown and building highrises themselves. I know having the city involved in building houses seems ridiculous but is it really that much different from them being the primary land developer in the city?

[EpicPonyTime]

35,000 people living downtown is ridiculous. Imagine that wave of people coming onto Idylwyld or University Bridge every morning on their way to work.

Originally Posted by slats

I know having the city involved in building houses seems ridiculous but is it really that much different from them being the primary land developer in the city?

Public housing everywhere. Let's get Saskatoon looking like Hong Kong.

[macca]

Originally Posted by EpicPonyTime

35,000 people living downtown is ridiculous. Imagine that wave of people coming onto Idylwyld or University Bridge every morning on their way to work.

Ideally there would be a commensurate increase in jobs downtown we would have a wave of people walking from their 30 storey condo tower to their 30 storey office tower.

[bastinado]

Originally Posted by North_Regina_Boy

Correct, in the long run these will not make it better. Urban sprawl is a plague that must be contained. Superior transit options need to be implemented and money needs to be directed there. However, changing the mindset of the older populous is going to be the challenge. And that is the issue. The status quo here is small town mentality. That is the biggest hurtle to overcome.

I may draw these systems, however I am a very large lover of all transportation types. Bikes, Trains, Buses, Cars. All of these must be accounted for as we live in a free society everyone will want something different. Heck even Calgary which has a very active mass transit system is blighted by some of the worst urban sprawl in North America. The biggest thing I here is (I want my own space, yard and such) which is the driver of single family homes. However, when I drive through these neighborhoods, I don't see people out in their yards. I don't see Kids out playing. How much of a disconnect is that? What people "want" and what people are doing seem to be contrast from reality in a good amount of cases.

I don't even know if you can blame the elders of our community, Saskatoon is the youngest city in the Nation (http://ckom.com/story/saskatoon-has-youngest-population-canada/266984). It's the younger people in Saskatoon that would rather live in the suburbs than downtown.

[drm310]

Denser population needed before grocery store heads downtown Saskatoon
Commerical real estate agents say grocers are interested in downtown, waiting for more people

Reported by Karin Yeske, News Talk 650 CKOM
First Posted: Apr 3, 2014 2:23pm

It’s going to take more people living downtown Saskatoon to get a grocery store in the area, according to two commercial agents in the city.

Mayor Don Atchison said in his state of the city address Wednesday that he would extend a tax break of at least five years to the first grocer that moved downtown.

While mainstream grocers have been interested in the idea for the last couple years, they’ve been holding out until the population starts growing.

“It's a bit of a chicken and egg. You need the population to drive the grocery store and you probably need the grocery store to drive the population. We need to get to a level with a little more density,” Tom McClocklin, president and broker with Colliers International Saskatoon, said. [...]

Read more: http://www.newstalk650.com/story/denser-...ry-store-heads-downtown-saskatoon/302480

[North_Regina_Boy]

Chicken before the egg? Or Egg before the chicken? Your choice Grocers.

[prairieguy]

Maybe all it will take is for a project like the City Centre Tower to break ground to motivate a grocer to seriously look for options downtown. Man I hope that project releases some news soon as I have given up on River Landing.

I feel bad for Nasser Sr., as I believe he passionately wanted to make this happen no matter what, but it appears Nasser Jr. is far more pragmatic.

[jrochest]

Hi all -- I was listening to CBC this morning, and they mentioned that they were going to talk with the Riversdale BIA about the new tenant for the Great Western Warehouse building on 20th.

But then I missed the interview, and I can't find the info via Google. Anyone know what's going in there?

[SaskScraper]

Originally Posted by Jezza

I'm just shaking my head over the 35,000 people remark. Maybe feasible if you consider Caswell, Riversdale, City Park, and North Park to be downtown?

Originally posted by drto

http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/M...191/story.html

Atchison repeated his goal to see greater density in Saskatoon's downtown; he said the only way to accomplish this is by building up. "We also need to have 30-storey high-rises," he said.

I'm curious if it's even possible to increase downtown population by 35,000 people.
The City of Saskatoon North Downtown development plan between Idylwyld, 33rd & 1stAve after complete build out is suppose to house only 5,500 people.
Major downtown areas of residential developments in cities like Vancouver and Toronto probably didn't increase the population there by 35,000 people.

Simple math would help put into prospective how may 30-storey buildings would have to be built to increase Saskatoon's downtown by 35,000 people..
Average condo residence has about two inhabitants,
each floor of a average 30-storey condo high-rise has 8 suites,
times by 30-stories..
How likely would Saskatoon's downtown have 73 resident towers that size any time soon? (currently there are no buildings that tall in the city btw)

[circle33]

Originally Posted by jrochest

Hi all -- I was listening to CBC this morning, and they mentioned that they were going to talk with the Riversdale BIA about the new tenant for the Great Western Warehouse building on 20th.

But then I missed the interview, and I can't find the info via Google. Anyone know what's going in there?

Heard the interview..they said, without much on specifics, retail and office space. What they did mention that is a little different is they are considering parking in the basement.