Quote:
Originally Posted by Ant131531
That's something a lot of US cities seem to be missing. A place to just people watch and be amongst the crowds.
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I realize this was discussed ages ago, but I wanted to clarify some things...
There are many places to "just people watch and be amongst the crowds" in Edmonton, at least. 104 Street, Jasper Ave, Rice Howard Way, Churchill Square, the Legislature, McKay Ave, and so forth. This is without mentioning other inner neighbourhoods with plenty more of that, such as 124th St, the Victoria Promenade, Chinatown, Whyte Ave, Garneau, and increasingly, Alberta Ave. We still have a ways to go but Edmonton has a lot of potential.
Quote:
Originally Posted by seamusmcduff
So I stumbled across this thread, and there was a lot if talk about how much better Canadian cities are doing than American ones. Thought I'd make this to show that isn't always the case. I think its because our prairie cities have a lot in common with most of the American cities that aren't on the coast. Unlimited room to spread, and car is king.
So anyways, ended up doing one for Edmonton. Ended up being a lot more depressing than I had realized. I knew Edmonton had a long way to go, but I don't think I'd ever grasped just how far. Anyway, obviously not all encompassing, missing a lot of proposed buildings and probably some parking lots but oh well, you get the picture.
Red=Parking Lot/Parkade, Empty Lot
Yellow= Proposed
Green=Under construction
[IMG]
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Good stuff. This really highlights the toll failed urban renewal projects had on Downtown Edmonton (ie the boom went bust and the torn down buildings turned into parking lots). It's really unfortunate and makes for a very disjointed and hodgepodge core. Edmonton is very unlike cities such as Vancouver or Ottawa or even Winnipeg, where there are blocks upon blocks of intact (or with minor improvements, potential for) and walkable main streets. Edmonton is more scattered, especially downtown, where you'll have a block, maybe two of interesting urban fabric, only to be assaulted by a concrete bunker or parkade, then some infill condos with horrible street interaction, then another block of good fabric further down. It means our core isn't made up of destination districts, more just singular destinations disconnected from one another (perhaps the Arts District being an exception).
You did miss two parking lots that have been gobbled up -- the Utima lot on 103 St and the Hyatt hotel on Jasper and 96th. There are also now condo proposals for in and around 96th Street, but those have been quite recent.