No viewcones in North Van, but given the north shore's culture, midrises with a few select short highrises is all you will ever see there. Still, it does have decent density (and is continuously becoming more dense).
PS, I just love the Toronto and Winnipeg shots on this page. Two fantastic sets!
^Are there view-cones in North Van or just Vancouver proper?
Not officially but people will fight to the death to protect their view of the downtown skyline/ocean. And the bridge traffic situation has become legit terrible over the last few years so even I'm starting to understand why people have become such militant NIMBYs. I assumed government would eventually catch up with infrastructure improvements like the rest of Metro Vancouver, but we've been abandoned with not even a long term plan.
20 storeys has become the unofficial maximum, and it's actually getting tougher to build high over time.
Not really the city... but, hey, a glimpse at how we live. I'm one beer away from wandering the streets showing random people these pictures, I'm that excited to be finished.
Living room
Before:
Now:
Kitchen
Before:
Now:
Bedroom/Office
Before:
Now:
__________________ Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."
The TD Building looks so good reclad. There's just something so expensive-looking about it.
I think it might be the nicest office tower in the city now, which is interesting since before the renovations I might have called the TD tower the ugliest of the bank towers.
The ground floor finishes are pretty good too. They used sandstone, copper, and granite (some of the 60's-80's bank towers in Halifax are like this and some aren't). Another good feature of the development is that there are outward-facing ground floor retail spaces. The old building facade that was preserved still has its own retail space and entrance.
There are some other examples of facadism in Halifax like Founder's Square that aren't as successful. That building has a few brick facades that were closed off on the ground level. They are maybe nicer than not having preserved anything at all but they're pretty lifeless. I think there might be an atrium/arcade type space in this building that may have originally been intended as a mall but it doesn't feel very public at all. It just looks like an office building.
I still prefer 1801 Hollis, although some would consider it too dated looking. Just personal taste I suppose.
The TD does have a nice effect when viewed from the harbour at night. Makes the ferry crossing that little bit cooler.
__________________
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw Don't ask people not to debate a topic. Just stop making debatable assertions. Problem solved.
Halifax's TD building redo/expansion turned out awesome.
__________________
Strong & Free
Mohkínstsis — 1.6 million people at the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 400 high-rises, a 300-metre SE to NW climb, over 1000 kilometres of pathways, with 20% of the urban area as parkland.
I thought this was an interesting companion to the shot above. Some of these photos make it look like there isn't much of a hill and others look like there's a big drop in elevation:
The brick building in the foreground on the left is only 2 storeys tall, while the building with the copper dome has around 14 floors. The low point of the foreground building is maybe in line with the 8th floor of the buildings farther down the hill (it goes down about 8 blocks and each block changes in elevation by 1-2 floors). The top of Citadel Hill is 70 m above sea level.
The Nova Centre is only 16 floors or so but it looks quite tall when viewed from below because of its location about halfway up the hill. Similarly TD is a bit shorter than some of the other bank towers but looks like it's the same height because it's a bit farther up.
Tonight we went to see my favourite band, The Once, perform their Christmas concert at Gower Street United Church (these sorts of things generally continue for the full 12 days of Christmas).
Set to a few highlights from the concert, including their full (and awesome) performances of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day and Rudolph and Clarice. And they sang a few of my favourite songs... Nameless Murderess, Fool For You, Song for Memory, etc.
Wow that pic of NPS almost looks like a huge riot! Knowing that it's not though, looks like a great time!
__________________
Strong & Free
Mohkínstsis — 1.6 million people at the Foothills of the Rocky Mountains, 400 high-rises, a 300-metre SE to NW climb, over 1000 kilometres of pathways, with 20% of the urban area as parkland.
Not officially but people will fight to the death to protect their view of the downtown skyline/ocean. And the bridge traffic situation has become legit terrible over the last few years so even I'm starting to understand why people have become such militant NIMBYs. I assumed government would eventually catch up with infrastructure improvements like the rest of Metro Vancouver, but we've been abandoned with not even a long term plan.
20 storeys has become the unofficial maximum, and it's actually getting tougher to build high over time.
Does the GRVD coordinate things like bridge expansion/construction or is the onus on the North Shore municipalities and Vancouver proper to plan that kind of thing? Or is it provincial?
Waterside centre turned out pretty well and although I'm not sure if all the retail spaces are filled, there's a nice "public" passageway through the building that connects with the RBC branch. The upper floors all seem to be filled.
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