Great Canadian Skyline Thread II - Page 613

suburbanite · #**12241** Posted **Feb 4, 2020, 2:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marshal

Does that last Edmonton shot indicate that Stantec is still 1/2 unleased?

Stantec is the taller tower and the top portion is condos. Thought they would've been open for residents by now though.

SteelTown · #**12242** Posted **Feb 4, 2020, 2:34 PM**

FreshBrick
https://twitter.com/FreshBrick

Chadillaccc · #**12243** Posted **Feb 4, 2020, 3:03 PM**

The Piggot Building may have my favourite rooftop form of any historic skyscraper in Canada. Just beautiful.

https://www.instagram.com/ana_shahnovich/

By 1875 on SRC

https://www.instagram.com/p/B77sbo3B3IB/

Martin Mtl · #**12244** Posted **Feb 4, 2020, 3:11 PM**

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8IDoT2nesR/

Pavlov · #**12245** Posted **Feb 4, 2020, 4:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nite

Calgary

https://www.flickr.com/photos/baileyparsons/48790922087/

Reposted from City Photos section.

skylinegazer · #**12246** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 12:27 AM**

came across this great aerial of the Brentwood area of surburban Vancouver that was posted in the Vancouver section 8-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by officedweller

From Trish Jewison twitter Jan 25th, 2020:

Really shows that the Staples / Executive Inn / Steve Nash area is a mish-mash of parking lots.
Also, how the density at Gilmore Station will contrast with the tower spacing at Tandem and OMA.
You can also see that the Aoyuan Brentwood project isn't too far from Brentwood Station.

https://twitter.com/TrishJewison/status/...l=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vancouvermarket.ca%2F

isaidso · #**12247** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 3:11 AM**

Looks very suburban. A lot of those are basically towers in a park. Having row housing incorporated like it has is only a marginal improvement.

Marshal · #**12248** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 5:16 AM**

Yes, it does in that view. The point towers are located well apart from each other. They are more spread out than at Metrotown or downtown New West. But, from the ground it feels quite dense. There are just a couple of towers in the park, and the rowhousing is two-three floors high, so it does present a minimally significant street presence/closure. This is still an area in the early stages of transition from the pre-existing light industrial. 3/4 is still to come. Four to six story street front blocks are just starting to come on line as well.

isaidso · #**12249** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 5:28 AM**

But is this area going to end up being one of those dense areas that don't feel urban like West Georgia in downtown Vancouver? That street shocked me. From photos it looked like it would be an urban delight like 5th Avenue. When I visited it was lifeless, empty of people, and a total disappointment. West Georgia looks like city but feels like some boring suburb. Hopefully this won't be like that at all.

scryer · #**12250** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 6:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

But is this area going to end up being one of those dense areas that don't feel urban like West Georgia in downtown Vancouver? That street shocked me. From photos it looked like it would be an urban delight like 5th Avenue. When I visited it was lifeless, empty of people, and a total disappointment. West Georgia looks like city but feels like some boring suburb. Hopefully this won't be like that at all.

I definitely don't think that it will feel like that in 2-3 years time. Once the Brentwood Mall starts opening its stores (which is happening THIS year), it's going to catalyze other developments in the area. Most of them, admittedly will be residential with a mixed use component at street level as Burnaby doesn't really do a whole lot of Office development. And then there is Gilmore Station as well.

ssiguy · #**12251** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 6:14 AM**

Often urban planners and pro-development mayors like to portray such bi developments as being "pedestrian friendly" and "transit friendly" like somehow the words are interchangeable which they most decidedly are not.

Brentwood is just a mall surrounded by condos as is Metrotown. Ditto for Coquitlam Centre.Transit friendly certainly but not at all pedestrian friendly. They are simply more sterile, soulless, and bland corporate developments that happen to be near a transit station.

SpongeG · #**12252** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 7:07 AM**

I worked in the area before most of the towers. In my last recent walk around in December I was surprised how pedestrian it has become, even with Brentwood basically being empty there are a lot of people in the area. There are so many areas that are still to come. It reminds me of Bellevue near Seattle.

skylinegazer · #**12253** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 7:28 AM**

I wonder if the street that runs east from the Gilmore skytrain station will become a pedestrian oriented commercial strip. It used to be more industrial oriented commercial but now that the area is becoming more residential it could become home to more restaurants and home shops.

logan5 · #**12254** Posted **Feb 6, 2020, 8:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

But is this area going to end up being one of those dense areas that don't feel urban like West Georgia in downtown Vancouver? That street shocked me. From photos it looked like it would be an urban delight like 5th Avenue. When I visited it was lifeless, empty of people, and a total disappointment. West Georgia looks like city but feels like some boring suburb. Hopefully this won't be like that at all.

Brentwood will never be as urban as West Georgia. The best Brentwood could hope for is a North York CC vibe. West Georgia is more of an office district, (which Brentwood will never be) so maybe that’s why it seemed boring. It’s not suburban though.

isaidso · #**12255** Posted **Feb 7, 2020, 12:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by logan5

Brentwood will never be as urban as West Georgia. The best Brentwood could hope for is a North York CC vibe. West Georgia is more of an office district, (which Brentwood will never be) so maybe that’s why it seemed boring. It’s not suburban though.

West Georgia doesn't feel urban. St. Catherines Street, Yonge Street, and Gastown do. West Georgia has tall buildings but they somehow manage to add next to nothing to the urbanity of the area. West Georgia isn't something to aspire to.

giallo · #**12256** Posted **Feb 7, 2020, 12:49 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

West Georgia doesn't feel urban. St. Catherines Street, Yonge Street, and Gastown do. West Georgia has tall buildings but they somehow manage to add next to nothing to the urbanity of the area. West Georgia isn't something to aspire to.

It's a street that predominantly houses office buildings. It's like Vancouver's version of Wall St. Whatever gave you the impression that it was like 5th Ave? W.Georgia has never been advertised as a shopping street or something that tourists should check out.

Metro-One · #**12257** Posted **Feb 7, 2020, 12:59 AM**

You can say that West Georgia isn’t vibrant, but to say it isn’t urban is a stretch. Not every street in an urban area is going to be Granville.

Even in Osaka and Tokyo there are major streets / areas in the built up urban cores that have very little excitement or pedestrian activity simply because they are primarily residential or office, not commercial / entertainment.

I actually really like West Georgia. A nice clean escape from the grime, but still close to many great restaurants and the Seawall and Stanley Park, which are packed. It has an uptown feel.

Marshal · #**12258** Posted **Feb 7, 2020, 1:35 AM**

Yes, I think people's ideals are getting a bit mixed up with reality. Urbanity is a wider concept than a busy dense compound condition of multiple uses. Brentwood is not Bloor and Yonge, it's not even Metrotown. It is very urban in its own way. Just compare it downward to Phoenix, Dallas, or Portland. Who would expect to find the conditions of Sherbrooke in suburban Burnaby. The Brentwood area is developing a new urbanity/suburbanity that is rare in NA, even Toronto. West Georgia is different again. It is really just a high end, high density inner city neighbourhood. The foot traffic has developed to a reasonable level. There are areas in Manhatten, Paris, Vienna, Tokyo, etc. that are just as quiet. Is it urban? Depends on the perspective. Ask someone from Kansas City, like a friend of mine who visited in December. She was blown away by our downtown/Coal Harbour/WestEnd, as well as our suburban nodes. She, an urban planner, thought everything was extremely urban.

We can always do things better, and I bitch a lot about our planning and architecture, but really, Vancouver is doing a hell of a lot right.

someone123 · #**12259** Posted **Feb 7, 2020, 2:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marshal

Yes, I think people's ideals are getting a bit mixed up with reality. Urbanity is a wider concept than a busy dense compound condition of multiple uses. Brentwood is not Bloor and Yonge, it's not even Metrotown. It is very urban in its own way. Just compare it downward to Phoenix, Dallas, or Portland. Who would expect to find the conditions of Sherbrooke in suburban Burnaby. The Brentwood area is developing a new urbanity/suburbanity that is rare in NA, even Toronto.

Given that Brentwood started out as postwar suburbia oriented around arterial roads and a nearby highway, with large blocks and the SkyTrain added in relatively recently, it was never going to turn into something like the good parts of downtown Vancouver. But it's going to turn into something much better than what the old mall was and what most suburban areas in North America area like. It's nice that all of the people priced out of inner Vancouver can at least have an ersatz urban environment like this nearby instead of just a bunch of Port Coquitlams.

I think it's interesting to look at the different parts of Vancouver and why they do or don't feel satisfying in terms of urbanity. I find Coal Harbour pretty lackluster. A lot of the periphery around Yaletown also feels boring even though it is densely developed.

logan5 · #**12260** Posted **Feb 7, 2020, 3:04 AM**

The periphery of Yaletown is almost purely residential, so yeah, not much happening. Though the vibrancy of the core of Yaletown greatly relies on the residential density surrounding it. Yaletown is certainly an urban residential neighborhood. Richards street for example, has a very urban feel with the townhouses and low rise apartments that come right to the sidewalk.