Great summary. Would love to see an "urban format" hospital in Calgary one day. Something along the lines of Hospital row in central Toronto which has more-or-less infilled a few large hospital sites with more towers and infrastructure over 100 years. Great subway access: Or either of the...

Isn't the idea for the floorplate of the Chumir to grow as needed over time? which is why they kept the surface lot for future expansion?

I know there's studies that talk about how retailers tend to under-estimate the amount of people who go to their business by walking and bicycling. Would be really interesting if there was a Calgary study about 17th Ave specifically. For places like Trolley 5 and the Ship and Anchor, I have a...

It's simple, by Elgin Street in Ottawa got all the details right: Wide crosswalk ramps that actually line up with the crosswalk in direction and width (practically an unheard of innovation in Calgary) Narrow poles and street furniture out of the way of pedestrian movements Tight corner radii to...

Needs are tricky because it's all about who defines what's needed - the status quo approach is needs are defined by a few business association members with media access and a poorly responded to survey, as well as some transportation engineers. Needs are defined as street parking and vehicle...

I've added every airport people have talked about to this table that looks at travel time in a "perfect" scenario (no walks/no waits) for transit. The destination is somewhat arbitrary but always a centrally located transit station. All are single transit routes, no transfers. I didn't...

17th Avenue is emblematic of many of the frustrating elements of urban life in Calgary, and most cities forever in a state of change and trade-offs for public space. We remain stuck in the anti-congestion-for-cars hegemonic perspective from local leaders and transportation officials. Keep in...

I am increasingly leaning towards a faster and direct downtown-airport connection being preferrable. This should be an LRT or train eventually, but should exist today as a direct bus. The city and airport are growing rapidly, there is a market for efficient transit connections to the core. The...

I like it. I think it's the right balance of being big, but not overpowering. Something about the tapered look with round edges, but still simple shapes, seems appealing. It's trying to go for something "timeless" and leans into wood and glass which are safe, competent bets. That high, glass...

I can't even imagine what this means and how a building can do this. Yet another example of ivory tower architects failing to reflect on the local design vernacular! It doesn't even have a big surface parking lot or a pointless curvy swooping roof design! Did they even visit Calgary before...

Yikes - it's making more sense why we are seeing so many apartments (so far mostly the 6 storey wood variety) start despite all the headwinds for construction costs, interest rates etc.

I generally agree, but also have a hard time imagining how this will play out in reality as an issue we actually have to worry about. Or at least, to me it seems more of a missed opportunity broadly than a consequence of R-GC citywide rezoning. My issue is that essentially all areas of Calgary...

Thanks for this summary. It reads to me as if we don’t really know what we want here and what the purpose of it is. Despite this we also have $100M+ set aside. I also find this whole project kind of strange where the U of C doesn’t seem like a player in the project, despite the whole proposal...

I wonder if it’s just political vision lacking. It seems we have long struggled to deliver regular, but competently designed, public facilities. Perhaps it’s a related problem because politics and process become intermixed and slow everything down But it’s been so long since this idea has...

And we should keep in mind - 10th Street is "good" by Calgary standards when it comes to pedestrian accommodation and priority in walkable, main street areas. Relatively "good" means pedestrians are accommodated with narrow sidewalks (in good condition at least!) and haven't been prioritized at...

I think the word “freely” is doing a lot of work here. How free? Crowchild is free-flow about a block away. All of Calgary's main streets feature cars, many/most nice retail and shopping streets in Toronto and Montreal also allow cars. What is less common in Montreal and Toronto is how often the...

A lot really depends on how the street is designed, not the number of directions of travel. I don't mind 33/34th construction one-ways very much as I am finding both streets easier to cross as a pedestrian (apart from insanely long cycle timing to accommodate real and imaginary vehicle flows...

It's instructive that most of our best infill/incremental intensification did not happen right on main streets that maintain a dominate role for vehicle movements. 34th Ave in Marda Loop, 1st Avenue NE in Bridgeland, 1st Street SW, even mini-main streets like 19th Street NW all share the same...

Successful planning outcome everyone. No notes.

I mean - it is the city's and Stampede's fault because they literally did much of the buying and tearing down of the community , and used your tax dollars to do so. Their impact destabilized the rest of the property market in the area, accelerating the decline of everything that they didn't buy...