Calgary's Public Realm - Page 12

Joborule · #**221** Posted **Apr 9, 2015, 2:29 AM**

The nighttime concept image for the "Great Lawn" in the West Eau Claire project makes me chuckle since they have a render of a couple having a bottle of wine out for public display. Don't think the bylaw is in favour of that.

O-tacular · #**222** Posted **Apr 9, 2015, 4:20 AM**

Wow thanks for sharing Speedog! I definitely plan on checking that out this summer.

Policy Wonk · #**223** Posted **Apr 12, 2015, 3:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Sounds good, but the link you posted was only a small snippet of a link and didn't work.

Was this the link you were looking for? http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/1320144...-to-weld-beltline-downtown-and-stampede/

What's the timeline for west of the Louise Bridge, I don't recall a peep about that in more than a decade. East of the Louise Bridge isn't too bad as it is, while the west is dark and narrow and aggressive cyclists don't make walking there too pleasant.

nick.flood · #**224** Posted **Apr 12, 2015, 5:51 AM**

delete

Policy Wonk · #**225** Posted **Apr 12, 2015, 8:04 AM**

I didn't know that, but I don't work downtown anymore either.

What does it entail?

What I saw suggested more than a decade ago required moving the street back about 150 feet by turning to the southwest right at the intersection of 9th Street and 4th Ave rather than further down the block where the road meets the river.

nick.flood · #**226** Posted **Apr 12, 2015, 5:14 PM**

delete

nick.flood · #**227** Posted **Apr 13, 2015, 9:39 PM**

delete

Policy Wonk · #**228** Posted **Apr 18, 2015, 8:55 PM**

I was downtown yesterday and I walked along there to take a look, some of those trees look awfully precarious.

CalgaryAlex · #**229** Posted **Apr 30, 2015, 3:18 PM**

I went to the d.talks (link) "Lost Spaces Found" event last night (Facebook event link)... amazing. I think 260 entries from 40 different countries. Only one Calgary entry won an honorable mention (for an amazing public realm development under the raised West LRT tracks north of Sunalta that included kiosk restaurants and a climbing wall ALL THE WAY up to the tracks), but there were some amazing entries from around the world. Some of these people (from such places as Indonesia and Spain) did some astounding research on Calgary's history and ecology before mapping out their ideas.

Even though it was just an ideas competition, the city was quite involved and saw all of the entries while working with the judging panel. City personnel from parks, the art program and water services were present. I'm hoping that some of the more feasible ideas will be taken by city personnel back to city hall and potentially used in the future.

One thing that struck me (and resulted in surprised and enthusiastic applause) was when Susan Szenasy, the editor of Metropolis Magazine in New York, stated that Portland has always been her go-to city as an example of what to look to for the future, because of the involvement of the city in public engagement and competitions like this. She said that going forward, she would use Calgary as her example of a progressive and involved city administration. As a side note, I have attended some walkability, main street and cycle track events and have to agree that the people I talked with have a good, progressive and realistic picture of what needs to be done to create a successful public realm in the city. Their engagement with the public is also quite open and frequent.

The winning entries will be on display from May 7-23 at Contemporary Calgary at City Hall. I would encourage everyone on this forum to go take a look. I'll be going for sure to take a look in more detail at each one of them.

UofC.engineer · #**230** Posted **Apr 30, 2015, 5:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CalgaryAlex

I went to the d.talks (link) "Lost Spaces Found" event last night (Facebook event link)... amazing. I think 260 entries from 40 different countries. Only one Calgary entry won an honorable mention (for an amazing public realm development under the raised West LRT tracks north of Sunalta that included kiosk restaurants and a climbing wall ALL THE WAY up to the tracks), but there were some amazing entries from around the world. Some of these people (from such places as Indonesia and Spain) did some astounding research on Calgary's history and ecology before mapping out their ideas.

Even though it was just an ideas competition, the city was quite involved and saw all of the entries while working with the judging panel. City personnel from parks, the art program and water services were present. I'm hoping that some of the more feasible ideas will be taken by city personnel back to city hall and potentially used in the future.

I really wanted to go to this, I'll check out the winning entries at city hall. It will make for a good date night

Quote:

Originally Posted by CalgaryAlex

One thing that struck me (and resulted in surprised and enthusiastic applause) was when Susan Szenasy, the editor of Metropolis Magazine in New York, stated that Portland has always been her go-to city as an example of what to look to for the future, because of the involvement of the city in public engagement and competitions like this. She said that going forward, she would use Calgary as her example of a progressive and involved city administration. As a side note, I have attended some walkability, main street and cycle track events and have to agree that the people I talked with have a good, progressive and realistic picture of what needs to be done to create a successful public realm in the city. Their engagement with the public is also quite open and frequent.

The winning entries will be on display from May 7-23 at Contemporary Calgary at City Hall. I would encourage everyone on this forum to go take a look. I'll be going for sure to take a look in more detail at each one of them.

It's good to hear that, and we all know Calgary is a great city but sounds like she was just pandering to the masses with her comment. Don't get me wrong, we have a progressive mayor and a progressive head planner, but to say that we are a leading example might be a bit of a stretch. Yeah sure, those of us in the inner city want to further develop the public realm but the inner city only makes up about 100,000-120,000 people. Don't get me wrong, there are good things coming out of this administration but we still have a long way to go.

CalgaryAlex · #**231** Posted **Apr 30, 2015, 5:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

It's good to hear that, and we all know Calgary is a great city but sounds like she was just pandering to the masses with her comment. Don't get me wrong, we have a progressive mayor and a progressive head planner, but to say that we are a leading example might be a bit of a stretch. Yeah sure, those of us in the inner city want to further develop the public realm but the inner city only makes up about 100,000-120,000 people. Don't get me wrong, there are good things coming out of this administration but we still have a long way to go.

There is definitely still work to do. I guess her point was that not all city administrations will enthusiastically support grassroots events like this. She said she went to a similar competition in Portland seven years ago and that was the last time she saw this level of support from the city for the design community. I don't think she was really saying that Calgary is the #1 example in the world of what a city should be.

In any case, I wish they would show more entries from local Calgarians. It would be cool to see some local ideas for small lost spaces that some people pass by every day, get annoyed by, and would like to see changed.

Spring2008 · #**232** Posted **Apr 30, 2015, 7:51 PM**

Very interesting posts. Think there still needs to be more funding allocated though so more of these proposals actually get built.

Full Mountain · #**233** Posted **May 1, 2015, 7:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

I really wanted to go to this, I'll check out the winning entries at city hall. It will make for a good date night

It's good to hear that, and we all know Calgary is a great city but sounds like she was just pandering to the masses with her comment. Don't get me wrong, we have a progressive mayor and a progressive head planner, but to say that we are a leading example might be a bit of a stretch. Yeah sure, those of us in the inner city want to further develop the public realm but the inner city only makes up about 100,000-120,000 people. Don't get me wrong, there are good things coming out of this administration but we still have a long way to go.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CalgaryAlex

There is definitely still work to do. I guess her point was that not all city administrations will enthusiastically support grassroots events like this. She said she went to a similar competition in Portland seven years ago and that was the last time she saw this level of support from the city for the design community. I don't think she was really saying that Calgary is the #1 example in the world of what a city should be.

In any case, I wish they would show more entries from local Calgarians. It would be cool to see some local ideas for small lost spaces that some people pass by every day, get annoyed by, and would like to see changed.

IMO the city administration is progressive, that said there are a number of vocal CA's and resident groups that are not.

Spring2008 · #**234** Posted **May 1, 2015, 8:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

IMO the city administration is progressive, that said there are a number of vocal CA's and resident groups that are not.

Inner city nimby-ism is beyond me. The concept of a local minority fighting every redevelopment possible regardless of whether it falls within the ARP guidelines is beyond me. Oh no the horror of having property values rise along with increased amenities and better landscaping in their neighbourhood.

UofC.engineer · #**235** Posted **May 15, 2015, 2:27 PM**

Looks amazing! I can't wait to see these underpasses when they are complete. Hopefully they stay piss free for a while.

http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/1369824...ial-with-4-street-sw-underpass-redesign/

Calgarian · #**236** Posted **May 15, 2015, 4:00 PM**

Not sure how the aurora feature is supposed to work, interesting idea though.

nick.flood · #**237** Posted **May 15, 2015, 5:55 PM**

delete

CalgaryAlex · #**238** Posted **May 15, 2015, 9:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick.flood

Distracting drivers, pedestrians and cyclists is exactly what you should be doing as lanes and sidewalk width on a commuter route narrows.

I was thinking about that as well, but if it's just some light well above the driver, it shouldn't be a problem. The cars are pretty deep and surrounded by concrete walls as well.

Anyways, as I've read in pedestrian realm conversations, experienced drivers are always mindful of their actions and know what they're doing... so not to worry

Spring2008 · #**239** Posted **May 16, 2015, 4:54 PM**

This site's fenced off now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyLucky

We aren't going to remove existing trees, right?

suburbia · #**240** Posted **May 22, 2015, 8:00 PM**

The Cultural Landscape Foundation just published a "What's Out There Toronto Guide" on-line, which I found very interesting. Thought it might be of interest to others who are interested in public realms in cities, and seeing what of these things could work in Calgary also.

http://tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/wot-guide-toronto/index.html