im really starting to like that stretch of 8th ave bt 4th and 8th st. new road congifuration, new mural, crack macs park finally finished, this development, a few funky bars and restaurants, the only cinema in the cbd/beltline. even the ramada inn has its charms.
 
1875 said:
im really starting to like that stretch of 8th ave bt 4th and 8th st. new road congifuration, new mural, crack macs park finally finished, this development, a few funky bars and restaurants, the only cinema in the cbd/beltline. even the ramada inn has its charms.
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If only 8th Ave Place would create some actual active frontage. That's relatively low hanging fruit that would go a long way to improving this stretch.
 
Silence&Motion said:
If only 8th Ave Place would create some actual active frontage. That's relatively low hanging fruit that would go a long way to improving this stretch.
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Agreed. When Penny Lane was torn down, there wasn't much concern about the loss of retail due to EAP having retail also, but it's not even close to the retail street vibrancy that Penny Lane had.
 
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Stephen Ave said:
Agreed. When Penny Lane was torn down, there wasn't much concern about the loss of retail due to EAP having retail also, but it's not even close to the retail street vibrancy that Penny Lane had.
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Couldn't agree more. The retail bay on the west end of EAP stayed vacant for about 6 years before becoming an ATB branch.
 
Calgcouver said:
Penny Lane! My high school grad party was at Quincy's in this building. I honestly wish the block still looked like this:
View attachment 167172

EAP podium now is a steaming pile of shit that absolutely killed any hope for a decent street feel or any sort of life on that block. It is the most sterile podium i have ever seen and can't believe it was built in the era it was.

I mean look at the street activity! What a gem EAP is. Nothing sterile and uninviting about this:
EAP Street Life
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This post needs a bump. It's so sad what EAP did to that block
 
It is a big miss that the city did not have a long term vision for Stephen Avenue for at the very least ... street level. I think most would agree that this thoroughfare is central to downtown from a historic and cultural standpoint. Instead we have a 'hodge podge' of old and new buildings that have no integration with each other at street level. Only now is the city commissioning design teams and focus groups to get ideas. After all of the teardown and building that has gone on in in the last 30-40 years, it is much too late for this.
 
Is there any talk at all anymore of the future red line subway along Stephen Ave? I recall it being a higher priority in the pre-Greenline days, then slowly moving down the list and fading from the discussion altogether in the past 5 to 10 years.
 
CBBarnett said:
Is there any talk at all anymore of the future red line subway along Stephen Ave? I recall it being a higher priority in the pre-Greenline days, then slowly moving down the list and fading from the discussion altogether in the past 5 to 10 years.
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The red line subway was pitched as a long-term capacity reliever for the shared Blue/Red section on 7th Ave, it's the next step after 4 car trains. Given that work-from-home and downtown office vacancy have seriously shaved peak ridership, reaching capacity on 7th Ave seems very, very far away indeed. Even if downtown surges back with a lot of residential or post-secondary development, it's hard to imagine packed rush hour trains anytime soon. There is obviously also an argument that it would make 7th Ave, Stephen Ave and the LRT system better in many other ways (faster, more resilient in bad weather, better urban design, safer) but without the "there are too many people to fit" argument I expect it to drop way down the list of priorities.
 
Calgcouver said:

No it was where EAP is. In the first image I posted you can see the building where Barcelona Tavern is next to Penny Lane. I think losing Penny Lane was a huge loss when you have empty parking lots on 9Ave directly south of EAP it could have been built on and left Penny Lane alone. EAPs sterile at grade relationship would’ve been fine on the south side of 9 Ave. Not Stephen Ave.
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Not to belabor something so minor, but I don't think Darwink was stating that Penny Lane was on 7th where Manulife is, but that Quincy's wasn't in Penny Lane. I also had my high school grad in Quincy's (the one on 7th), maybe it moved after Penny Lane was demoed but you can still see Quincy's on 7th Ave on streetview as recently as 2012.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0469...FP5CHsLg!2e0!5s20120901T000000!7i13312!8i6656
 
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