London Coffee Talk Thread

[MolsonExport]

Anybody know what is happening at the bank building at the northeast corner of Dundas/Richmond? Major construction inside, with an escalator going up to the second level!

[haljackey]

2 floor Pharma Plus.

The new Shoppers at Richmond and Carling must be pissed.

[MolsonExport]

Pharma plus with an escalator? Wow, what a let down. I thought maybe something cool was going on. Just another boring pharmacy. Still that prime intersection can use all the help it can get. Now, if they could get rid of the smell of cheeseburgers, pee and cigarette smoke...

[Simpseatles]

In case anyone's interested, I managed to get a letter to the editor regarding downtown revitalization published in the Free Press today. It's the first one on this page:

http://www.lfpress.com/2013/10/20/le...-editor-oct-21

They edited my original letter quite a bit though.

[Pimpmasterdac]

The whole redevelopment of Dundas and downtown as a whole is riding on the BRT being the lynch pin of it. The BRT Downtown Plan will cause a major realignment of all the streets and will have Dundas be either seasonal closed off, as well a extended sidewalks and patios on many streets.

However I doubt we'll see 5 to 10 storey redevelopments of surface parking lots. Some of them, like where London Mews Mall where they have the foundation, ready and waiting for the next Renaissance like redevelopment. Especially if BRT system comes, city will be pushing heavy intensification in downtown!

[ScreamingViking]

It always makes me feel a bit better to know that people in other cities talk about the same kinds of things that get discussed in my hood.

From the talk around Hamilton, it's like we're the only city that isn't taking advantage of the right opportunities, or righting the urban wrongs. We're not the only ones. Most medium-sized cities seem to face the same kinds of challenges and issues.

I haven't spent enough time in London but I've been downtown a few times and was impressed. I went to a Knights game a couple years ago and got toured around a little, but I wish we had taken more time to walk about... it deserves a road trip to do just that.

[Simpseatles]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

It always makes me feel a bit better to know that people in other cities talk about the same kinds of things that get discussed in my hood.

From the talk around Hamilton, it's like we're the only city that isn't taking advantage of the right opportunities, or righting the urban wrongs. We're not the only ones. Most medium-sized cities seem to face the same kinds of challenges and issues.

I haven't spent enough time in London but I've been downtown a few times and was impressed. I went to a Knights game a couple years ago and got toured around a little, but I wish we had taken more time to walk about... it deserves a road trip to do just that.

For sure, most medium-sized cities in Ontario are dealing with similar issues through things like: downtown revitalization, re centralization, limiting urban sprawl, and transit improvements. However, it's frustrating to see some, like Kitchener-Waterloo, so much further ahead than others. Not saying K-W doesn't have its problems, especially in terms of sprawl, but they seem to have put forth a more consistent effort to increase the number of residents in their downtowns, not to mention the fact that they have an LRT system that's ready to begin construction. Meanwhile in London, we've just begun discussing the possibility of BRT. Even Hamilton has a serious LRT proposal.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Simpseatles

For sure, most medium-sized cities in Ontario are dealing with similar issues through things like: downtown revitalization, re centralization, limiting urban sprawl, and transit improvements. However, it's frustrating to see some, like Kitchener-Waterloo, so much further ahead than others. Not saying K-W doesn't have its problems, especially in terms of sprawl, but they seem to have put forth a more consistent effort to increase the number of residents in their downtowns, not to mention the fact that they have an LRT system that's ready to begin construction. Meanwhile in London, we've just begun discussing the possibility of BRT. Even Hamilton has a serious LRT proposal.

It is definitely relative.

The expressions of frustration are often very similar though.

[haljackey]

Time for some real coffee talk.

London's going to be a test market for a dark roast from Tim Hortons: http://london.ctvnews.ca/tim-hortons...#ixzz2j26FTcHY

I'll likely end up giving it a try. Most locations should have it starting Nov 4.

[haljackey]

Gave the dark roast a try today. I think it's better than the regular brew, but nothing special.

[MolsonExport]

Steve Ballmer after drinking the dark roast at Rim Whoreton's:

always-parbaked

[GreatTallNorth2]

Wondering if people from the London forum would be interested in a meetup sometime in December. I can't say I've met any of you except haljackey.

[haljackey]

I built this split in Simcity 4 using the Dundas/Queen/Riverside split as a source of inspiration.



This is the split if you don't know what I'm talking about: http://goo.gl/maps/oogSN

Zoom out if interested:

[MolsonExport]

too bad London doesn't have those skyscrapers. Instead we have Shoeless Joe Fraudtana.

[haljackey]

lol

Here it is with some development. I put a small museum there too to mimic Museum London



Zoom out:

[MolsonExport]

I still play SimCity4, but alas on my old laptop as I can't find a version for my Macs.

[GreatTallNorth2]

The newest version is available for mac.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

The newest version is available for mac.

You mean SimCity (2013)? Trust me, SimCity 4 is 100x better. The new game should be called SimTown, due to the tiny city sizes.

[MolsonExport]

^which is why I gave it a pass. Leave it to EA to ruin their games.

[MolsonExport]

Tired of shovelling yet?