I don't see ugly, I see character, history, and potential. It's often the visible social problems and general rundown condition that paint these streets as "ugly" in the eyes of many.
I agree. There's a ton of potential there. It's still ugly how the character and history is being so unappreciated in its current state.
Not my picture, this is in Winnipeg. It gets thrown in here because that street corner is absolutely horrendous and goes against all basic city design knowledge.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
There was some sort of restaurant or banquet hall or something in there. I ate there once. It was U/C I suppose because the building didn't come out to the corner - it was on ground level inside and directly underneath the tower behind.
__________________ Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."
Yeah, definitely. The Exchange is already perfect, just needs some more everyday draws for more classes of society. Corydon is great. The village needs a bit of infill but, impressively, it already has all the foot traffic and people. The more modern downtown area is what's struggling most, or was when I lived there, but that's already filled in a shitload since. That new building incorporating the old bank facade wasn't even started when I lived there.
__________________ Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."
I'm sorry if you're from Winnipeg and this is unnecessary - but that's not the Exchange. The Exchange is the old core and it's perfect to me, at least. Just needs more businesses and of additional types.
__________________ Note to self: "The plural of anecdote is not evidence."
I was stating that those photos are not flattering, knowing they were not of the Exchange. The first photo is of Albert Street which is dying, the second photo, the Lindsay building, the entire main floor is vacant, as is the brown building to the left (the discount framing store is still open), and across from it is the deteriorating St. Charles hotel, the third picture shows a portion of the Gault Building which has some run down book store where perverts hang out, to the left of that is a drop in centre/boxing facility, to the left is the Kay Building which has a music store.
In Halifax, you will find so many bars, pubs, etc. Trust me: the Exchange is far from what it should be.
SignalHillHiker's old workplace was a tower that is somewhat unfortunately located in the no man's land between the Portage and Main office cluster and Broadway. That area used to be something of an "automotive district" with plenty of garages, car dealers, car rental agencies, service stations, etc. which explains the building stock.
For all of the efforts at improving downtown in the last 40 years, that particular stretch has not been the target of any of them, and I guess it shows somewhat.
SignalHillHiker's old workplace was a tower that is somewhat unfortunately located in the no man's land between the Portage and Main office cluster and Broadway. That area used to be something of an "automotive district" with plenty of garages, car dealers, car rental agencies, service stations, etc. which explains the building stock.
For all of the efforts at improving downtown in the last 40 years, that particular stretch has not been the target of any of them, and I guess it shows somewhat.
I've always wondered about that area. When visiting the city it feels like the core has a strange hole in it.
I've always wondered about that area. When visiting the city it feels like the core has a strange hole in it.
With all of the attention and focus on The Forks at the SE corner of downtown, I guess it's more prominent now than it once was. Next to the northern extremes of the "old downtown" up by the CP tracks, this will probably be the last part of downtown Winnipeg to become renewed. It's still mainly a mishmash of 1920s era garages and automotive buildings interspersed with surface parking and the occasional 1970s midrise... it's not the most inviting pedestrian area.
Not my picture, this is in Winnipeg. It gets thrown in here because that street corner is absolutely horrendous and goes against all basic city design knowledge.
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That was legit my view.
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