Transit oriented development in Canada

[J.OT13]

TOD at Algonquin Station. The station is under the plaza, next to the building with the green roof on the upper left.

Originally Posted by Harley613

Guess who learned to do perfectly accurate (height only, base is freeform) basic 3D modeling overlays in Google Earth? Get ready for a massive dump of future skyline angles from all over the city in the coming days!

What those towers will look like. Certainly no lookers, but the added density is welcome near the future Line 1 terminus, in a fairly suburban area.

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Some of the updated renderings:

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Higher-quality renderings of the latest redesign. The charcwhiteification is now complete.





https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applica...2-0164/details

[Truenorth00]

They build that much density with no retail at the bottom?

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

They build that much density with no retail at the bottom?

Unfortunately, yes. There a strip mall at the intersection of those two roads (Baseline and Woodroffe) and the developer and City seem to think that's enough.

There are a lot of big projects in Ottawa, often near transit, often clusters of big projects, with little to no retail.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/c...!1e3?entry=ttu

[ssiguy]

High/mid density around transit stations is good transportation policy but often it's lousy urban planning policy and disastrous housing policy.

Many of these TODs do allow one to live car free but many are also incredible ugly and NOT pedestrian friendly. Metrotown is a great example. Tons of high rises up against SkyTrain but the area is a wasteland unless you consider a mega-mall a pleasant urban environment. Ditto for the new "Amazing Brentwood" and Surrey Central Station. These are places you would never want to go to unless you were going to the mall. They have absolutely no sense of place, community, or urban vitality. They are made even worse by the fact that hundreds have been kicked out of their affordable rentals for the condos they will never be able to afford. They are basically just gated communities without the gate.

For newer developed areas give me pedestrian friendly over these bland and socio-economic stratifying TOD any time.

[casper]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

High/mid density around transit stations is good transportation policy but often it's lousy urban planning policy and disastrous housing policy.

Many of these TODs do allow one to live car free but many are also incredible ugly and NOT pedestrian friendly. Metrotown is a great example. Tons of high rises up against SkyTrain but the area is a wasteland unless you consider a mega-mall a pleasant urban environment. Ditto for the new "Amazing Brentwood" and Surrey Central Station. These are places you would never want to go to unless you were going to the mall. They have absolutely no sense of place, community, or urban vitality. They are made even worse by the fact that hundreds have been kicked out of their affordable rentals for the condos they will never be able to afford. They are basically just gated communities without the gate.

For newer developed areas give me pedestrian friendly over these bland and socio-economic stratifying TOD any time.

In fairness, the development around Brentwood mall basically replaces car dealerships lots and mall parking lots with residential towers. I would not be overly worried about displayed renters in that area.

Metrotown is interesting. The area is pedestrian friendly. There are walking and bike paths. Central park is close. The public library has a very open square.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Unfortunately, yes. There a strip mall at the intersection of those two roads (Baseline and Woodroffe) and the developer and City seem to think that's enough.

There are a lot of big projects in Ottawa, often near transit, often clusters of big projects, with little to no retail.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/c...!1e3?entry=ttu

It's amazing. They've succeeded building something as bad a subdivision. But done it vertically.

[WhipperSnapper]

Well stated ssiguy. We won't all agree on the quality of the living environments including pricepoint being built. What these communities replace matters the least.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

High/mid density around transit stations is good transportation policy but often it's lousy urban planning policy and disastrous housing policy.

Many of these TODs do allow one to live car free but many are also incredible ugly and NOT pedestrian friendly. Metrotown is a great example. Tons of high rises up against SkyTrain but the area is a wasteland unless you consider a mega-mall a pleasant urban environment. Ditto for the new "Amazing Brentwood" and Surrey Central Station. These are places you would never want to go to unless you were going to the mall. They have absolutely no sense of place, community, or urban vitality. They are made even worse by the fact that hundreds have been kicked out of their affordable rentals for the condos they will never be able to afford. They are basically just gated communities without the gate.

For newer developed areas give me pedestrian friendly over these bland and socio-economic stratifying TOD any time.

I didn’t think The Amazing Brentwood or the adjacent Solo towers displaced any residential buildings. A decade or more ago the area around Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Ave was all parking lots and car dealerships. However residential displacement has definitely been the case around Metrotown.

What does bother me around Brentwood is that it is not a pedestrian friendly area. Cars are heavily prioritized at that intersection, as a pedestrian you still have to push a beg button (yes, we still have these in active service here) in order to cross, and it’s often a long wait. And cars are constantly trying to turn right without any respect for the pedestrians crossing. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a fatality there in recent memory, but it seems like it’s just a matter of time.

From a traffic standpoint the intersection is still treated like the semirural/suburban highway intersection that it was back in the 60s and does not take the significant increase in pedestrian traffic over the past few years into consideration. TransLink is rebuilding the grade-separated access from the SkyTrain station to the south side of Lougheed which will help, but that will still force pedestrians to cross Willingdon at Lougheed to get to the bus to BCIT or the Solo buildings.

I would be in favour of banning right turns on red at that intersection, and implementing advanced walk signals, which I’ve seen in both Seattle and San Francisco.

[giallo]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I would be in favour of banning right turns on red at that intersection, and implementing advanced walk signals, which I’ve seen in both Seattle and San Francisco.

I bet it's only a matter of time. It should be implemented ASAP.

[J.OT13]

Gladstone Village, Ottawa. This area is an urban neighbourhood just west of Downtown, at the intersection of Little Italy and Chinatown. It's fairly dense, even today. A large Federal Government warehouse was purchased by the City and torn down to make way for a mixed-use, mixed-income development.

This area is between Bayview, where Lines 1 and 3 intersect with Line 2, and Dow's Lake, where we've had significant TOD over the last decade, and the site of the future Civic Hospital (station still having only one platform).

A new infill station, Corso Italia at Gladstone, should open within the next few months, along with the expanded Line 2.

The site this week.

Originally Posted by zzptichka

Here's the plan. It includes a new French public elementary school and an expanded recreation complex.













From Public Consultation Link - https://engage.ottawa.ca/1010-somerset

And here's what the general area may look like within a decade or two, courtesy of Harley613.

Originally Posted by Ottawacurious

To echo williamoforange, if you show 3D of proposed towers and potential here (ie towers along Loretta, bayswater and Laurel including the proposed pedestrian overpass at Laurel), it'd show how you are right...they will eventually get developed into a lot of height.

[giallo]

Wow. That's a lot of new stuff. Ottawa's development is really impressive. It's really underrated compared to other cities in Canada.



Speaking of TODs, the area between Lougheed and Burquitlam Stations in Burnaby and Coquitlam has started to reach overdrive as more and more projects begin construction.

Here's a video of the area from a couple of days ago.

• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Updated secondary plans for TOD around Stage 2 West stations.

Lincoln Fields, a major three track station where riders will be able to transfer between outbound Line 1 and Line 3 towards Algonquin and Moodie respectively. Major bus loop. Area is between Carling Stroad and Richmond Road and where the Ottawa River Parkway (not know as Kichi Zībī Mīkan after a decade known as Sir John A.) ended at Carling, with space intensive on/off ramps to be removed.

Redevelopment potential largely in parking lots, a former (now demolished) mall and other commercial spaces.

• Video Link

Pinecrest and Queensview, both neighbourhood stations. Pinecrest serves sfh and towers, and will include minor bus loop. Ottawa Community Housing property, parking and strip malls offer TOD opportunities.

Queensview is directly adjacent to suburban style low-rise office buildings, warehouses, a Leon's and an OC Transpo bus garage. Across the new pedestrian bridge are low-rise commercial buildings and a large big box retail parking (with IKEA).

• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Riverside South, Ottawa at Limebank Station. The immediate area today is farm fields and bush, with lo density suburbia 500 meters north.

The vibrant coloured block in the middle is a real proposal, so are the retail parking lots on the other street corners of Earl Armstrong and Limebank.



Location: https://www.google.com/maps/search/l...!1e3?entry=ttu

We have two more of these middle of nowhere Stage 2 stations in the south end with no development plan in site. Those two other station are supported by park and rides and bus loops.

[ericmacm]

Love what’s been going on in Ottawa. Excited to continue seeing more of these O-Train stations get more density around them.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

Love what’s been going on in Ottawa. Excited to continue seeing more of these O-Train stations get more density around them.

The plans don't mean squat. I live beside an O-Train station. The area didn't see much development for the first 15 years I've owned the place and it's only the last 2-3 years that development has really picked up. This being Ottawa, you can bet most of these plans will either go nowhere or really be watered down when eventually delivered...in about 20 years. This city is quite adept at mediocrity and procrastination.