General Updates and News

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

There are a number of places where this works--the key is designing the space so that it's obvious that cars must proceed with caution. One way is to lower the speed limit to, say, 20 km/h, but it should be obvious to a driver on the street that this is a slow-go zone. Removing lane markings and curbs and permitting pedestrians to spill out all over the place has the same effect.

Throw a bunch of people together in different transit modes, and they'll figure it out intuitively. I think even drink (most people, after all, aren't going to be falling down all over the place wasted.) If the street is narrow and there's a high volume of pedestrians, cars to slow. Kensington Market is a good example of this, though its streets aren't officially "shared." Pike Place in Seattle is a good example, and surely there must be drunk people there.

Interesting. I imagine that this type of situation would be enough to motivate most drivers to find another route, unless they absolutely had to go there, or if they had a need to show off their vehicle or whatever.

Personally, I'm a fan of the safety of clearly defined areas, as even relatively minor accidents like getting a foot run over (though a broken foot is not a minor injury) or getting hit with a mirror are unacceptable outcomes that could easily happen in that situation. Even a motorcycle can cause significant injuries.

But that's just me, the safety guy. I worry about stuff like that. As a pedestrian, I'd prefer to have the ease of mind to not have to be on the watch for a vehicle driving through the area I'm walking in, otherwise I'll choose the sidewalk, thank you.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

From the CH:

Council OKs land-use amendment for Burnside office space

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1300686-council-oks-land-use-amendment-for-burnside-office-space

Nothing every changes with these City Staff and Councillor morons when it comes to pro-sprawl policies. 14-2. Clown show.

I'm also sick and tired of reading quotes from Coun. Gloria McCluskey. I literally feel dumber each time I read one of her soundbites.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

Nothing every changes with these City Staff and Councillor morons when it comes to pro-sprawl policies. 14-2. Clown show.

I'm also sick and tired of reading quotes from Coun. Gloria McCluskey. I literally feel dumber each time I read one of her soundbites.

There better be a an IKEA going in.

[stevencourchene]

what's the word on the Fenwick tower project? any word or updates on this?

[Metalsales]

I know the owner is talking with a few people about the cladding of the building. There is also an architect firm involved. They are working on pricing and then go from there

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Metalsales

I know the owner is talking with a few people about the cladding of the building. There is also an architect firm involved. They are working on pricing and then go from there

I hope sometime soon. The big "for rent" sign is pretty tacky/awful.

[someone123]

Here's the new proposal for the Green Lantern/Keith building on Barrington Street. It's a simple change but part of an interesting trend on the street. I like how Barrington is becoming more and more of a medium-scaled street with a base of 6+ storey buildings and some highrises. It'll look a bit more imposing, like less of a small town main street, and more importantly the new residents will help support businesses in the area.





The renderings come from the DRC website: https://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/DesignReviewCommittee-HRM.php

[someone123]

Crombie is planning to move forward with Scotia Square improvements along Barrington in the fall as well, so there are lots of improvements still to come.

[alps]

Great news on both fronts! The Granville facade of the Green Lantern building looks much better than what's there currently.

[alps]

I was bored just now and decided to compare the downtown area taken up by surface parking lots in 2010 vs. today. I used this Google Maps tool for a not-so-precise comparison. Here is the study area:



The results:

• 2010: 10.16 hectares of surface parking
• 2015: 7.28 hectares of surface parking

A 29% decrease! For comparison, Grand Parade is about 0.61 ha and Citadel Hill around 21 ha. So we still have about 12 Grand Parades worth of surface parking lots downtown.

Major outstanding undeveloped lots include:

Infirmary/Dalhousie: 1.49 ha
Salter: 1.09
Waterfront Warehouse: 1.07
Queens Landing: 0.79
Cunard: 0.61 ha
Remaining sister site: 0.50 ha
Alexander: 0.34
Texpark: 0.29
Beside "The Maple": 0.28
St. Mary's block: 0.25 ha
Citadel Inn: 0.16 (unlikely to be developed)
International Place: 0.13
Ralston: 0.13
Birks: 0.09
Dominion Public Building: 0.06

[Nouvellecosse]

The amount that's left is obscene. It may be progress but I can't help but view the glass as being 71% empty.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

The amount that's left is obscene. It may be progress but I can't help but view the glass as being 71% empty.

There is way too much but what I like at least is that a large contiguous area is developing where you find lots of medium and high density buildings and almost no surface parking.

It — that the waterfront is half parking but it would be far worse if those empty holes were along the city's main streets. It is better to have some good areas and some bad areas than a bunch of mediocre, dysfunctional streets.

The Cunard and Alexander lots should at least be gone soon.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's the new proposal for the Green Lantern/Keith building on Barrington Street. It's a simple change but part of an interesting trend on the street. I like how Barrington is becoming more and more of a medium-scaled street with a base of 6+ storey buildings and some highrises. It'll look a bit more imposing, like less of a small town main street, and more importantly the new residents will help support businesses in the area.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img537/69/SyX6qe.png

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/7126/FvY6BN.png

The renderings come from the DRC website: https://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/DesignReviewCommittee-HRM.php

This is a great looking project in my opinion. It is good to see the architecturally interesting side of the Green Lantern Building being saved.

[Metalsales]

Originally Posted by someone123

Crombie is planning to move forward with Scotia Square improvements along Barrington in the fall as well, so there are lots of improvements still to come.

The tender for this project is out. Very nice looking extension and will greatly improve the street face on this

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

The amount that's left is obscene. It may be progress but I can't help but view the glass as being 71% empty.

Hey, in only five years, that's really good, especially for a city where we're bombarded with "death of downtown" news all the time.

Surely we've all seen what Toronto's most historical downtown neighbourhood looked like by the late 70s/early 80s.









Halifax came later to downtown revitalization, but we're catching up fast.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Hey, in only five years, that's really good, especially for a city where we're bombarded with "death of downtown" news all the time.

Surely we've all seen what Toronto's most historical downtown neighbourhood looked like by the late 70s/early 80s.

Halifax came later to downtown revitalization, but we're catching up fast.

Some aspects Toronto came to first (some great density development to full in those ugly spaces around there as you note), but others we were there before them. And in ways, Toronto is still screwing it up, though, with spineless City politicians pandering to selfish sprawl denizens. By that, I mean John Tory, who, against City Staff and all the best urban planning advice, has decided to half-— dealing with the ugly Gardiner, just to save commuters a few minutes drive in. Not Rob Ford bad, but still cretinous pandering.

This is one thing Halifax got right and Toronto got wrong. Thankfully, we stopped the bulldozing of Historic properties in the 1960/70s (ironically, only to let them decline via bad maintenance... but anyways) while Toronto mostly allowed it, with the building of the Gardiner. Besides destroying their waterfront for a generation with that ugly and unhealthy expressway, they literally tore through Toronto's version of Coney Island to do it-- Sunnyside Amusement Park to do it, which was really popular:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnyside_Amusement_Park

Place was huge in the 30s, with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Paul Whiteman and the Dorsey Brothers all playing at Palais Royale there during the height of the swing era.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by alps

I was bored just now and decided to compare the downtown area taken up by surface parking lots in 2010 vs. today. I used this Google Maps tool for a not-so-precise comparison. Here is the study area:



The results:

• 2010: 10.16 hectares of surface parking
• 2015: 7.28 hectares of surface parking

A 29% decrease! For comparison, Grand Parade is about 0.61 ha and Citadel Hill around 21 ha. So we still have about 12 Grand Parades worth of surface parking lots downtown.

Major outstanding undeveloped lots include:

Excellent post, by the way, alp. Thanks for that!

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's the new proposal for the Green Lantern/Keith building on Barrington Street. It's a simple change but part of an interesting trend on the street. I like how Barrington is becoming more and more of a medium-scaled street with a base of 6+ storey buildings and some highrises. It'll look a bit more imposing, like less of a small town main street, and more importantly the new residents will help support businesses in the area.

The renderings come from the DRC website: https://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/DesignReviewCommittee-HRM.php

Agree with Fenwick, I really, really, like this. Mid scale but really adds another import shot of residential density that will feed and rejuvenate the street.

[someone123]

Here's a small project under construction on Maitland Street called Maitland Mews. It's between the older Maitland rowhouses and the newer Brickyard development:



http://maitlandlofts.com/maitland-mews/

[Jonovision]

I just happened to grab a picture of that construction site last week.