Not sure if this has been discussed yet, but is there any possibility that parts of VLW open before the (planned) grand opening in 2028? Like if they finish work on Alex Decoteau or NorQuest stops, could the western terminus be extended earlier? They did something like this with the Capital...

You can definitely go in and do your own thing. I can't remember how accessible taking things out or using their computers are for non-students, but if you're showing up with your own books or laptop to work, then there's no issue. Free Wi-Fi even.

I look at this and just see what could be the Telus Toll/Neon Sign Museum building tbh.

Edmonton’s post-secondary schools are commuter schools, often with students still living at home in the suburbs. That, and even for those that have moved out and live more centrally, we’ve been so culturally conditioned in Edmonton to just go to the mall or South Common as the expected norm...

Portage Place in Winnipeg is in roughly the same position as City Centre. Hamilton’s Jackson Square (last I checked) was maybe about where City Centre was 8-10 years ago — not great but with a decent amount of amenities. Citi Plaza in London is worse off. I haven’t been but I’ve heard...

That rocks!!

Yes, I think we can get a bit lazy as Anglophones because we're so used to the world just orienting around our language.

I'm guessing it's not yet public.

My last experience in Bridgeland, last year, made its vibrancy feel quite similar to West Oliver around the Promenade, Exchange, and lower 124th. It was quite nice and should probably be a model more for Ritchie than Oliver. I agree Inglewood is on Old Strathcona's level, but so is the...

I mean that's cute, but a very specific metric. Bridgeland doesn't have Safeway (though Superstore is right across the river) but does have small scale, specialty grocers, including bakeries, Bridgeland Market, and a Japanese food market. There are a couple bars too. But the areas focus is on...

Montreal as an Anglophone is quite easy to visit, but it's a different story for living. Not only are the job prospects much weaker (and usually quickly gobbled up) but over time you can start to feel excluded from a large part of the city's culture by not indulging in the language of the...

West Oliver has potential. So does McCauley, Alberta Ave, Ritchie, Downtown, and Garneau. But we're talking about where these cities are now, not in 5 or 10 years. This applies even more so to Blatchford, which may be an amazing development in time, but the story of that has yet to be...

They have more than one vibrant urban neighbourhood too. The infill is nicer quality in general too. There's nothing like Bridgeland or the East Village here. Calgary also doesn't have freeways downtown. Both cities have the remnants of a larger freeway network that never panned out just...

Oslo is actually smaller than Vancouver! At 1.5 million in the metro area, it's basically Edmonton-sized. Europe is absolutely a place that Edmonton/Canada in general should take more inspiration from in many ways but we're too invested in our North American bubble. Rotterdam is another great...

Ok, and? I never said Vancouver was the best model, just a model. But yes, Montreal is a better model. My point still stands.

I think it can still be a model in urban design and transportation planning, but the rest of it we can do without.

I was on the fence about bringing up Southgate. I agree that there's potential, but the mall is a bit of a fortress. This means that the parking lots on mall property lend themselves well to densification at some point, but beyond that it seems harder. There's Empire Park to the east, which...

There is potential on the Capital Line and arguably Blatchford will eventually be a giant TOD. Though I'd overall put the Metro Line in a worse position for TOD potential than the Capital, mostly because the area it will be going through looks like this: Kind of hard to retrofit that loopy...

Not quite sure what this has to do with the Edmonton real estate market, but my times on the peninsula in the summer showed a much more vibrant core than you're portraying. Didn't feel very overwhelmed with unhoused outside the DTES, streets downtown like Granville, Burrard, Hastings, Water...