[Halifax] The Keep | 27 m | 8 fl | Completed - Page 8

dtown · #**141** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 2:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoser111

Another area that would be well served by some undergrounding of wires! Hopefully that'll be part of the eventual renewal/street-scaping that's been talked about.

Up here in Ontario, (Waterloo Region) it took me a bit of time to realize from when i moved here but pretty much every subdivision even older ones that look like they were built in the 70's, 80's looked a little different and i couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me. There isn't a single power line to be found anywhere. Not so much for main roads but in subdivisions it looks like its been standard practice for a long time. How come no subdivisions in Halifax even new ones are like this? i understand cost is the main reason but it just seems very behind the times....Although a lot of things in Nova Scotia are like that

Dmajackson · #**142** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 2:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtown

Up here in Ontario, (Waterloo Region) it took me a bit of time to realize from when i moved here but pretty much every subdivision even older ones that look like they were built in the 70's, 80's looked a little different and i couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me. There isn't a single power line to be found anywhere. Not so much for main roads but in subdivisions it looks like its been standard practice for a long time. How come no subdivisions in Halifax even new ones are like this? i understand cost is the main reason but it just seems very behind the times....Although a lot of things in Nova Scotia are like that

To be fair it should be noted that some newer subdivisions have buried utilities.

Thistle Grove (off HPR in Bedford)

In Waterberry Park (West Bedford) the main road (Amesbury Gate) has overhead power lines but some of the cul de sacs are buried.

My main issue with the overhead lines is how they are being treated in the Regional Centre. Almost every major development requires the sidewalk to be removed for quite awhile. They always just put the power poles back in place. These sidewalks last for over 40 years and Halifax only considers burying utilities if the sidewalk is removed.

P.S. some sidewalks on major arteries like North Street date back to 1979 and are still in great shape.

Drybrain · #**143** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 3:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtown

Up here in Ontario, (Waterloo Region) it took me a bit of time to realize from when i moved here but pretty much every subdivision even older ones that look like they were built in the 70's, 80's looked a little different and i couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me. There isn't a single power line to be found anywhere. Not so much for main roads but in subdivisions it looks like its been standard practice for a long time. How come no subdivisions in Halifax even new ones are like this? i understand cost is the main reason but it just seems very behind the times....Although a lot of things in Nova Scotia are like that

It probably has less to do with being "behind the times" and more to do with the relatively small size of the new subdivisions, and the difficulty of tunnelling through granite.

yal · #**144** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 4:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtown

Up here in Ontario, (Waterloo Region) it took me a bit of time to realize from when i moved here but pretty much every subdivision even older ones that look like they were built in the 70's, 80's looked a little different and i couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me. There isn't a single power line to be found anywhere. Not so much for main roads but in subdivisions it looks like its been standard practice for a long time. How come no subdivisions in Halifax even new ones are like this? i understand cost is the main reason but it just seems very behind the times....Although a lot of things in Nova Scotia are like that

It is a shame. The Keep shows us again what a lack of vision looks like in Halifax. Imagine buying one of the round corner units with a fantastic view of dangling wires on a rotting tree trunk. Yup. (Maybe they will bury them towards the end of the construction or is it too late for it?)

Drybrain · #**145** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 4:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yal

It is a shame. The Keep shows us again what a lack of vision looks like in Halifax. Imagine buying one of the round corner units with a fantastic view of dangling wires on a rotting tree trunk.

Boy, Haligonians are world-champion civic disparagers. This has nothing to do with a "lack of vision" in Halifax. It's not like utility undergrounding is standard practice everywhere else.

Here's a new development in Toronto. And another. And another.

Or Vancouver.

Or Montreal.

OldDartmouthMark · #**146** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 5:52 PM**

While underground wires do make it look pretty up above, there are negatives involved in that they invariably fill with water and then freeze up in the wintertime. Try running new wires through a frozen-up underground conduit sometime.

There's also the expense of having to dig everything up should you ever have to do some kind of major repair or changes.

Not an expert on the subject, but there may be more to Halifax's "lack of vision" than is readily apparent while admiring the clean appearance of a wireless street.

yal · #**147** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 6:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Boy, Haligonians are world-champion civic disparagers. This has nothing to do with a "lack of vision" in Halifax. It's not like utility undergrounding is standard practice everywhere else.

Here's a new development in Toronto. And another. And another.

Or Vancouver.

Or Montreal.

None of those locations are as central and as visible as Quinpool Road. You are cherry-picking at best. Maybe not much in Canada but undergrounding is a pretty common practice in Europe. I am still calling it lack of vision.

Drybrain · #**148** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 6:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yal

None of those locations are as central and as visible as Quinpool Road. You are cherry-picking at best. Maybe not much in Canada but undergrounding is a pretty common practice in Europe. I am still calling it lack of vision.

Relative to Toronto's size, the inner west end is definitely as central and visible as Quinpool, and those examples are all on main streets. The one from Montreal is in The Plateau.

But here as some even more central Toronto ones. Notice the CN Tower not too far from this 2015 building.. Here's one at Queen and Bathurst, finished last year.

The architecture is leagues better than The Keep, but they've all got the same lean-y utility poles we see in almost all Canadian cities.

yal · #**149** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 6:43 PM**

Man, I guess it is a Canadian/North American thing. I still see them as abominations in such central and well developed locations even in wealthier cities. So do you think having those in Toronto makes it okay to have it somewhere else as well? Like, "Oh they have them in Toronto as well, we can now stop striving for better"

I am just trying to understand why you are valiantly defending overhead utilities.

OldDartmouthMark · #**150** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 6:53 PM**

Imagine if you had to live with the overhead wires that they used to have in Halifax...

https://novascotia.ca/archives/MacAs...es.asp?ID=3813

https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=112

https://novascotia.ca/archives/Notma...ves.asp?ID=203

https://novascotia.ca/archives/MacAs...es.asp?ID=3967

Relax... just trying to lighten the mood a little...

yal · #**151** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 7:18 PM**

I also urge you guys to go on Google Maps and pick random streets that have StreetView enabled, in random towns and cities in Europe. Even the Scandinavian countries that have lots of cold weather and snow that would be on par with Canada.

Bonus challenge: After your world tour, come back to Halifax and check the Spring Garden and Robie intersection on Street view.

Jstaleness · #**152** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 7:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Imagine if you had to live with the overhead wires that they used to have in Halifax...

https://novascotia.ca/archives/MacAs...es.asp?ID=3967

Relax... just trying to lighten the mood a little...

I'd love to have street car wires again

TheGreenBastard · #**153** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 7:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

I'd love to have street car wires again

Now living in Toronto, I use streetcars quite often. It was neat at first, but now it's no more special than taking a bus. It often times takes longer to get there than a bus on same/similar route, you have to jump into the middle of the street most times to catch it, smaller/smellier, etc.

Buses just make sense for Halifax. I believe Toronto keeps them around simply for the historic purposes.

OldDartmouthMark · #**154** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 8:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGreenBastard

Now living in Toronto, I use streetcars quite often. It was neat at first, but now it's no more special than taking a bus. It often times takes longer to get there than a bus on same/similar route, you have to jump into the middle of the street most times to catch it, smaller/smellier, etc.

Buses just make sense for Halifax. I believe Toronto keeps them around simply for the historic purposes.

When I was in San Francisco a few years ago, I rode the electric trolleybuses and noted how nice they were in terms of being quiet, smooth, and absent of diesel fumes. Additionally the low-end torque characteristics of electric motors are ideal for hilly areas in cities such as San Francisco and Halifax.

I wouldn't complain if Halifax got rid of its noisy, polluting diesel buses and adopted electric trolleybuses again. The wires wouldn't bother me one little bit...

http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki..._San_Francisco

Drybrain · #**155** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 8:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yal

Man, I guess it is a Canadian/North American thing. I still see them as abominations in such central and well developed locations even in wealthier cities. So do you think having those in Toronto makes it okay to have it somewhere else as well? Like, "Oh they have them in Toronto as well, we can now stop striving for better"

I am just trying to understand why you are valiantly defending overhead utilities.

Not defending them (though I am used to them, so they don't usually bother me too much) but I don't think it's an example of local backwardness or anything. It's just a North American/Canadian thing, not a Halifax thing.

OldDartmouthMark · #**156** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 8:31 PM**

Frederick Jelfs collection of bus and tramway material

OK... sorry for the derail (lol), back to "The Keep"!

TheGreenBastard · #**157** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 8:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I wouldn't complain if Halifax got rid of its noisy, polluting diesel buses and adopted electric trolleybuses again. The wires wouldn't bother me one little bit...
[/URL]

I would be all for this.

fenwick16 · #**158** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 10:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGreenBastard

Now living in Toronto, I use streetcars quite often. It was neat at first, but now it's no more special than taking a bus. It often times takes longer to get there than a bus on same/similar route, you have to jump into the middle of the street most times to catch it, smaller/smellier, etc.

Buses just make sense for Halifax. I believe Toronto keeps them around simply for the historic purposes.

Living in the GTA/Hamilton for the past few decades, I can say that I detest riding on streetcars, and having to share the roadway with them. Fortunately, I only go into to Toronto when I absolutely have to. I live in a medium sized, beautiful, town-like suburb of 100,000 and have little need to venture outside of my pleasantville.

fenwick16 · #**159** Posted **Jun 16, 2017, 10:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Imagine if you had to live with the overhead wires that they used to have in Halifax...

I have to say burying overhead wires makes a very positive aesthetic effect and it would make the "Keep" look even better.

Back to being off topic, I love the picture of the old car in the snow. Except for the model of the vehicles, there is little to distinguish the snowy scene from old Halifax and modern day Halifax.

ILoveHalifax · #**160** Posted **Jun 17, 2017, 12:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dtown

Up here in Ontario, (Waterloo Region) it took me a bit of time to realize from when i moved here but pretty much every subdivision even older ones that look like they were built in the 70's, 80's looked a little different and i couldn't figure out why. Then it hit me. There isn't a single power line to be found anywhere. Not so much for main roads but in subdivisions it looks like its been standard practice for a long time. How come no subdivisions in Halifax even new ones are like this? i understand cost is the main reason but it just seems very behind the times....Although a lot of things in Nova Scotia are like that

Only a person with a lack of knowledge would post a statement like you did. You obviously know nothing about the costs of building on granite and shale as compared to building in a pasture or corn field. Have you ever been to Halifax? It is NOT backward to anywhere especially Kitchener/Waterloo