UrbanWarrior said:
True, but I feel like if CMLC can do it from scratch once, they can do it again. They control the three largest underdeveloped regions in the inner city: EV, WV, and Victoria Park.
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Plus, I think the city owns 90% of the land in WV, while they only owned 50% on the land in EV in 2007.
 
maestro said:
My biggest fear is that Calgary pride. It's so easy to get lost in it. We have come a long way. So has everyone else and there's still so much to do. Urban living is hot. It is staging ourselves to pull off another East Village for the eventually when urban living isn't so hot that will separate us from the pack. The East Village has an amazing scale but, it's the exception form the norm instead of being the norm.
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I didn't really understand your comment, but I think I know what you're getting at. Can you elaborate a bit?
 
It's just an observation. It's fine to be proud how far Calgary and the East Village has progressed in the last ten years. It comes up very frequently on forum. No opportunity is really ever wasted to pad one's back on the forum and living in Calgary. It's a little worrying. So many have come to Calgary and found a better life. It's easy to become comfortable.

This isn't exclusive to Calgary. I don't see development like the West Village Tower lasting should there be a cultural shift away from high density living. In fact, the continued building of these banal, repetitive blocks may be what ultimately pushes people away.
 
maestro said:
It's just an observation. It's fine to be proud how far Calgary and the East Village has progressed in the last ten years. It comes up very frequently on forum. No opportunity is really ever wasted to pad one's back on the forum and living in Calgary. It's a little worrying. So many have come to Calgary and found a better life. It's easy to become comfortable.

This isn't exclusive to Calgary. I don't see development like the West Village Tower lasting should there be a cultural shift away from high density living. In fact, the continued building of these banal, repetitive blocks may be what ultimately pushes people away.
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Ahh, I understand now.

Yeah, it's funny how the culture & demographics change. We went from 60's pro-suburb living to pro-urban living. Neighborhoods that were once poor(Inglewood) are now hip & wealthy. Neighborhoods that were once middle class(The properties) are now lower class.

I found starting in the mid-90's( and gaining momentum in the 2000's) there was a shift in the way Calgarians saw the inner city. We started banging our drums yelling "Density!" But I think density for the sake of density does not make for a beautiful and livable city. Good design does. It breaks my heart to see the continual bulldozing of pre-WW1 houses for new developments...no matter the design quality of the development.
 
maestro said:
It's just an observation. It's fine to be proud how far Calgary and the East Village has progressed in the last ten years. It comes up very frequently on forum. No opportunity is really ever wasted to pad one's back on the forum and living in Calgary. It's a little worrying. So many have come to Calgary and found a better life. It's easy to become comfortable.

This isn't exclusive to Calgary. I don't see development like the West Village Tower lasting should there be a cultural shift away from high density living. In fact, the continued building of these banal, repetitive blocks may be what ultimately pushes people away.
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Interesting. Looking at some of the older high rise apartments right in downtown Calgary, it appears that Calgary went through a downtown living craze at one time back in the 70's.
I'm not sure that it's a craze that will go away easily though. Slow down, sure, but as Calgary gets bigger urban living becomes more attractive, like it did in larger cities like NYC, Toronto, etc..
 
It's always a cycle.

Future urban Calgarians will probably shun the West Village Towers in the same way we shun average 1970s apartment blocks. The human scale is off. There's no points of interest to explore. There's no interactivity except some CRUs for chain retail. The trendy design will be just dated.
 
Not everything is a cycle. The factors driving urbanization/densification are more fundamental than mere fashion.

That said, I agree with your other two points: (1) we could do a hell of a lot better in building density (the West Village Towers being a perfect example of what not to do), and (2) Calgarians have a level of civic pride that is... (how to put this) "irregular", "uncommon", "extraordinary". Of course, this is coming from a former Torontonian. In Toronto, every conversation starts with "You know what's wrong with this city?"
 
I found in Toronto, as a former Torontonian and born and raised near the city, that the biggest problem is that literally every conversation about the city leads to a Torontonian comparing the city too New York. Literally, always and only New York. A friend of mine actually just moved there, and as a point he only refers to Toronto as either little Chicago or cut-rate Chicago just to defy that norm and piss people off, and it works very well as intended.

On the flip side, I enjoy Calgary in that we look for the best ideas from around the world, work with them to see if they can work here, and then implement them if possible. The administration is looking at everything on the table and trying to pick the best available. It is starting to create a civic and built identity that is distinctly Calgarian, not coopted from anyone else.

This is not meant to be overly boostery, I don't find it to be. It's just what I've noticed watching the city develop quite rapidly and having also lived in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, London (ON) and now here, all during my most formative years (17 - 26).
 
I like this project. Whether the reusable part pans or not is a guess, but the building looks good, and that won’t change. It has an interesting look to it that won’t get dated IMO.
 
I saw the Harry Potter thing on twitter, since the parkade is between 3rd and 4th streets it is 'Platform 9-3/4'. I do believe this is the train platform in Harry Potter that you use to access the magic realm. Feel free to correct me, as I'm more of a Lord of the Rings guy.
 
Silence&Motion said:
Not everything is a cycle. The factors driving urbanization/densification are more fundamental than mere fashion.
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That's true. I don't see the rate of urbanization changing anytime soon, but the factors driving it could change. Maybe more people will work from home in the future? Maybe there will be a social/economic change and the inner city becomes increasingly dangerous...who knows, stranger things have happened.


Silence&Motion said:
That said, I agree with your other two points: (1) we could do a hell of a lot better in building density (the West Village Towers being a perfect example of what not to do), and (2) Calgarians have a level of civic pride that is... (how to put this) "irregular", "uncommon", "extraordinary". Of course, this is coming from a former Torontonian. In Toronto, every conversation starts with "You know what's wrong with this city?"
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\

It's good to listen to what outsiders have to say about your city. They look at it with a different lens. Not all the criticism or accolades may be true, but usually there is something to keep in mind from it.
 
Nimbus said:
I saw the Harry Potter thing on twitter, since the parkade is between 3rd and 4th streets it is 'Platform 9-3/4'. I do believe this is the train platform in Harry Potter that you use to access the magic realm. Feel free to correct me, as I'm more of a Lord of the Rings guy.
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lol, I would have figured by your name and Icon that you were a biog Potter fan. That would be awesome if they named the parkade Platform 9 3/4
 
I love this design. I don't know how to describe it, except that it's different. That fact they are making it a multi-use building is great, but it's funky dilly even as a parkade on its own.

Is there any chance the name Platform hints to a future train station...maybe high speed rail?
 
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