Ugly Shoppers signage tends to ruin everything, but yeah, that is a significant improvement.

About 10 years ago, I had a chance to drive a 458 Italia in the outskirts of Maranello Italy for about 20 minutes. Easily amongst the top 5 hilights of my life.

The noise is definitely a factor...but then again, cycling on a busy road next to cars speeding by is no aural picnic either. One is constant and loud, and the other is periodic and louder. Choose your own adventure? Less noise is often why I prefer side-streets and alleys. As far as the...

It would be a bit crass to tie his name into a commercial enterprise. Naming the community rink, or a street around the arena, I can see....but leave the sports-themed restaurant stuff to the usual retired athletes looking to lose all their savings.

It's probably a non-starter with CP, but any chance they could build bike lanes adjacent to the train tracks on 9th? Looking at an overhead map, I could potentially see room for a bike corridor separating from the river pathway under Crowchild till about 4th St when it goes into a tunnel...

Yes, but only if there was some serious separation, not just painted lines or low curbs. I personally hate biking next to heavy traffic or fast-moving cars and much prefer the comparatively slower side streets (ie. would prefer a bike lane down 10th instead of 9th).

Looking at that new rendering, I wish they took the majority of the height of the SE tower, and plopped it into the NE tower. I'm not a huge fan of that much height directly on 17th.

I could also picture an Apple store in the 17th Ave/4th Street proposal.

Even if not across the entire wall, I think the addition of the vertical mullion strips would've not only added some tasteful mid-century details back, but would've also helped take attention away from what is some pretty craptastic looking spandrel. I don't mind the balconies breaking things...

While there are definitely positives about this development, I would have loved to see a little more care and consideration on the design side. I don't think it would've broken the bank to add back some of those mullion strips, and perhaps go with a glass color that is a nod to it's mid-century...

Clearly I haven't been to Olympic plaza in a long time, but I didn't realize that it too has its own collection of dense poles. Now I see where the Eau Claire inspiration came from. It's our thing!

If the end product looks anywhere close to that (and they keep the brick), that'll certain take things to the next level. I don't even care about the towers if that's how the plaza/podium ends up. Can Vesta pull this off?

I'd take that...under the condition that any street-facing facades have to be brick or stone. Keep the ugly panel crap to the back/sides.

Looking at the city website renderings (https://www.calgary.ca/planning/projects/eau-claire-plaza.html) it does seem like some will support a canopy (you can see it in the last photo above). But the ones on the south end just appear to be there for no functional reason.

I would definitely be curious to hear the design thinking behind that one. The only thing I can come up with is it's a connection to the lumber yard Peter Prince ran in Eau Claire. Either that, or Timbertown greased a few palms at City Hall...

Yeah, that makes sense. I would definitely prefer a shift back to condos over rental. I think neighborghoods are better when more people have skin in the game.

Woosh, I don't necessarily disagree with your points, although you sure seem to love coming at these topics from a confrontational angle. I think Calgarians have more depth than you give them credit for, and plenty of suburbanites use and enjoy many aspects of a more people-focused inner city...

I think our suburban/low-rise design game has improved...but I think there's an argument that our high-rise game has take a step back over the last decade or so. Atleast when it comes to condo towers, I think we're in "one of the ugliest soulless designs phases of our lifetime" as we speak.

You see it over and over around the world. Even with cities known for the great skyscrapers, almost without fail, the most desirable neighborhoods to actually live and be in are low/mid-rise. A focus on density and height often make sense on paper and in the boardroom...but it's a focus on...

Yeah, I stopped caring about height a long time ago. Tall buildings are great for postcard skyline shots, observation decks, and egos...but not much else. They are almost always the coldest and most oppressive feeling areas of any cities. And, unlike many people on here, I frankly also care...