Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Yeah it kind of has a render quality to it lol. Great shot of Edmonton's revujinated skyline for sure.



Edmonton still has a ways to go I would say, another dozen good size towers would do it though. With a 25% office vacancy rate and a glut of condos downtown, Calgary won't be building anything big after Telus is done, so Edmonton has the chance to catch up...

I would agree, if not for the fact that Calgary has more than double the amount of high rises under construction than Edmonton does (19 vs. 9 currently), with another 6 minimum set to begin construction in the relatively near future. On top of the fact that Calgary has nearly 100 more high rises in the skyline than Edmonton does (379 vs. 285), and obviously with the faster rate of development in Calgary, that dynamic will not be changing for the foreseeable future. Edmonton's skyline will certainly continue to improve drastically as it has been of late, but it's still no contest, and likely won't be for a long time, especially in relation to architectural quality/skyline interest factor.



Annnnd some homemade skyline shots...



By me on SRC

By me on SRC

By me on SRC

[Martin Mtl]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kTlaZn-m2/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kJZ_NnpwL/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kcxqCHtwn/


https://www.instagram.com/p/B1XYynjnlsN/

[ScreamingViking]

I love these two.

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

By me on SRC

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1kcxqCHtwn/

[itom 987]

Edmonton

Low morning fog over downtown Edmonton by Jennie, on Flickr

Low morning fog over downtown Edmonton by Jennie, on Flickr

2019-08-15 12.32.44-2 by Brandon Bilinski, on Flickr

[Razor]

Nice shots of Edmonton these past few posts!

[isaidso]

There's no walk way along the river's edge?

[Calgarian]

Those Edmonton shots with the fog in the river vally are awesome!

[Sonog]

@jefrosonic

[Calgarian]

The way DT Edmonton comes owver the hill there definitely adds some interest to the skyline.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by isaidso

There's no walk way along the river's edge?

Most of the river valley is very under-utilized, most of the paths aren't even paved, let alone widespread programmable space. Though the natural beauty aspect is quite nice, and they do have a decent amount of actual park space/usable space in the inner city part of the valley. However, they do have some nice infrastructure on the rim of the valley, like the Victoria Promenade.


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_Promenade.jpg

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Most of the river valley is very under-utilized, most of the paths aren't even paved, let alone widespread programmable space.

What a pile of bullshit. Stick to talking about Calgary. You don't know much about this city aside from whatever you've experienced as a tourist.



The river valley has hundreds of kilometres of paved bike paths going throughout the entire valley as well as some unpaved hiking/mountain biking trails.


Source: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Re...s-Revolution_Cycle-Edmonton_Alberta.html


The red lies on this map are bike paths, and those paths extend further away from the map in both directions.

Source: https://dnproulx.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/edmontons-cycling-lane-network-a-review/

Louise McKinney Park has a water front promenade as well as programable spaces.

Soure: http://www.dialogdesign.ca/projects/louise-mckinney-riverfront-park/

Kinsmen Park, Hawrelak Park, Victoria Park, and Rundle Park etc. all have programable spaces.

[Chadillaccc]

I stand corrected, about the paths. But of course the majority of the space, as I said, is not programmable, and that there's a lot of beautiful areas. Chill the fuck out dude.

[mintzilla]

^ as a former Edmonton resident i agree with you. the city spent the last 5 decades trying to keep people away from the river to keep it and the valley "natural" (lol at all the xeri-scaped golf courses for wealthy old men to enjoy taking up so much space in the valley though)

Try to find 1 single restaurant that even has a view of the river let alone is directly beside it. maybe hotel mac and marriot but those are expensive. Louise Mckinney is kind of a dump right now as well, but i can blame that on LRT construction.

things are changing though. this year quite a few boat launches were added which is nice. also there is plans being made for a river walk near the rossdale/ river valley road area. so give it 5 years and its gonna be pretty sweet. i can see some events with food trucks and the like being set up.

[isaidso]

Are there plans to build a river's edge walk way along its entire length on both sides? From what's been posted thus far paths line it in only a few spots. Protecting it is one thing but not being able to walk along it is bizarre. I would have thought it would be one of the first things a city would build.

[_Citizen_Dane_]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Are there plans to build a river's edge walk way along its entire length on both sides? From what's been posted thus far paths line it in only a few spots. Protecting it is one thing but not being able to walk along it is bizarre. I would have thought it would be one of the first things a city would build.

Edmonton’s River Valley is interesting in that was, and largely still has been kept free of development on purpose. It all dates back to around 1907 when the City commissioned Montreal landscaper Frederick G. Todd to come up with a vision for the valley. Since this was still the height of gross coal-burning, pre-war industrialization, Todd proposed that the river should be a place to escape the scourge of an industrialized city and be able to immerse yourself in untamed nature, and for the better part of the 20th Century that's what the City more or less followed. Now you can argue whether or not that that kind of philosophy is needed in the 21st Century, and the City seems to agree, as they're slowly starting to deviate away from it with plans like the Touch The Water and North Shore Promenades, which will be akin to what Calgary has along the Bow River. But thats not to say there's no trails, or stops along the river already; most follow it pretty closely in fact, and as itom points out plenty of them are true multi-use paths.

https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/parks_recreation/north-shore-promenade.aspx

https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/parks_recreation/touch-the-water-promenade.aspx


https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n...ter-project-advances-to-a-funding-debate

[Chadillaccc]

Oh that would be fabulous! Reminds me of the East Village section of Calgary's RiverWalk.


https://www.calgarymlc.ca/riverwalk

[Marshal]

Both of these are great. I was just out for a seawall walk with an architect from Zurich. We both wondered about Vancouver's long pedestrian water front which is devoid of any actual access to the water (save beaches and some stone ballast work that can be scrambled down. It is as if the walks are about views only and do not consider any interaction/access with the ocean as being important.

Like the Edmonton proposal and Calgary RiverWalk, it seems obvious that steps or ramps allowing people to contact the ocean would enhance the Seawall.

Also, places where watercraft could be deployed would activate and enhance that access further.

I know how amazing it is to look down into the water when kayaking (illegally) around Deadman's Island (HMCS Discovery) and the seawall to its east. The water is remarkably clear and you can see rock formations covered in barnacles and other growth, seals, small fish, crabs, starfish, sea cucumbers, and more. A dock-like walkway could be placed (carefully) over this area: something like a curving walk out over the water and back to the seawall further along. People could then view what is typically hidden along the shore line - things that do not exist at the beaches.

[Chadillaccc]

I was thinking about the recently as well. With how much Vancouver is developing, I would have expected more attention be paid towards emphasizing ocean interaction. Conversely, Calgary has added a ton of sites for river interaction over the past 5 years. Just off the top of my head... the pebble beach on St. Patrick's Island Park in the East Village, the RiverWalk in the East Village, the Delta Garden lounge steps at the Peace Bridge, Harvey Passage in Inglewood, and they are about to start construction on another one in West Eau Claire which will include the 'standing wave' which is where people learn how to surf/teach surfing classes on the river downtown. Another proposed/imminent one is RiverWalk Stage 2, which will go from its current terminus at Fort Calgary, along the Elbow River just past Stampede Park. It'll include a couple areas for water interaction.

I guess when you have so few aquatic resources, you put a lot more money into emphasizing them.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Are there plans to build a river's edge walk way along its entire length on both sides? From what's been posted thus far paths line it in only a few spots. Protecting it is one thing but not being able to walk along it is bizarre. I would have thought it would be one of the first things a city would build.

Leave it natural, the parks are so much better when you can forget you're in the city (except right beside downtown, there should maybe be some promenades there). I also love where there is singletrack along the river for hiking and biking, Calgary has a ton of this and I would expect the same in Edmonton.

[SFUVancouver]

In fairness to the Vancouver Seawall, and with the greatest of respect for the phenomenal new section of Calgary's Riverwalk(?), Vancouver's Seawall it is literally a seawall and first and foremost must protect the shoreline from tides, king tides, and storm surges.

With that said, limited access to the water is a valid and widely acknowledged complaint about the legacy sections of the seawall. The original Seawall around Stanley park is more than a century old and still includes several beaches and points of access to the water. The beginning of the modern Seawall was built out during the Concord Pacific- (False Creek North) and Marathon/ASPAC- (Coal Harbour) eras of urban redevelopment megaprojects and creating the amenity was honestly the priority, not making it the very best it could be, especially since those were built as community amenity contributions by the developers at no capital cost to the City.

There is still some direct waterfront access in David Lam Park [example) but those darn King Tides and their extra meter of tide are a real thing [example1, example 2]. They don't just affect False Creek, either: King Tide at Jerico Beach.

The new Seawall in the Olympic Village is totally different with respect to water access. It's a far more naturalized shoreline and even includes direct water access in the more hard-scaped core areas of the village. It also includes a new 1 acre man-made island to compensate 2:1 for the loss of red-listed shoreline in the village core area and create a brackish intertidal area for the outflow of the naturalized stormwater detention system. The City spent about $100M on Seawall landscaping in the Olympic Village, FWIW.