Patrick.1980
Active Member
True. Every time I drove past it it looked the same, glad that they're finishing it.
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- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
A few updates from Seton. It's still coming along. Definitely a much busier place than the last time I was there.
Casadona
Mark's Work Warehouse store or condo?
Casadona
Mark's Work Warehouse store or condo?
Myles86
Active Member
Just remembered I took this shot of the progress at Engineering E Block at U of C a few days ago. Still not sure what it's going to end up looking like exactly.
GoVertical
Senior Member
gsunnyg
Senior Member
Now lets imagine had all those midrises been built in the inner city instead at the edge of the city, how hype that would have been?! I couldn't even bother to ever visit that area since its so far off. Just another reason I despise this so called "pro density" sham for more greenfield development.
Golfing guy
Active Member
I get your liking for low rise/mid rise buildings. I don’t get how you think any developer is going to build 4-6 story building any where in the inner city. The economics just aren’t there. Please explain if you were financing a project like that how you could justify it?
gsunnyg
Senior Member
I never said anything about the economics. Im just saying id rather see more midrises in the inner city instead of dumping all this supply in the suburbs.
If the city really wanted to make it feasible to build more midrises in the inner city it can start by taking bigger levies from greenfield developers and using them to upgrade water, sewer, electrical lines in the inner city. At the end of the day, the only real big expenses that developers pass on to buyers is land costs and underground parking in the inner city. If developers had the infrastructure in place and bureaucratic red tape was cut, buying a midrise in sunnsyside or Bridgeland wouldn't be as expensive as it is now. I think I can speak for most people with this example, if a condo cost 250k in Seton and 280k in Sunnyside within a 5 min walk to an LRT station, I'd rather buy the one in Sunnyside without a question assuming everything else is controlled. The reality is if a condo costs 250k in Seton, that same size condo probably starts at 350k+ in the inner city.
Everyone should have the right to their choice of affordable housing but just dumping cheap suburban units into the market isn't the most ideal thing IMO. It'll just comes back to haunt us in property taxes. A lot of inner city schools are emptying out while families move to the suburbs. Not the prettiest thing to see.
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haltcatchfire
Senior Member
5-8 stories is like a lot of what’s been and being built in Marda Loop, Bridgeland and Inglewood.
Atticus
Active Member
I think the city had its heart in the right place when they started driving toward more density in new subdivisions, but I think the idea is a failure. Parts of Seton look good, and there are things I like about it, but IMO it's a round peg trying to fit into a square hole. Seton/Mahogany area is quite dense, and has some inner city feel to it, but it's still a subdivision with wide highway like artery roads and only two entrances in and out. As a result the area has terrible traffic, and it's not even built out yet.
Message to The City: No matter how dense you try and make these neighborhoods, they're still auto-oriented, auto dependent neighborhoods, and making them denser only worsens them. Yes, the LRT will be there some day, but still won't help. I know it's higher tax dollars/sq km but still. The city would be better to try and look for solutions to add more development in the inner city. If they had have found a way to have all these buildings built in an established area near an existing LRT station, we wouldn't be spending 5 billion on getting one out there.
zagox
Active Member
The political reality is that there are two choices for edge suburb development:
1) Denser with mixed use nodes and some nod to transit - eg Seton
2) 70s-90s style single family dominated
The idea that Alberta would implement a Toronto/Portland style greenbelt and halt all edge growth is a fantasy. So are massive increases to development fees. Maybe Calgary could pull it off for a few years but I just don’t see a sustainable political coalition at city hall or at the provincial level to pull it off.
I think Nenshi has smartly seen that an “all of the above” approach where we try to do both the densification in the inner city and some densification of the edge suburbs is the best politically feasible outcome from an urban design point of view. He’s suffering from the cost consequences of that path now but I still agree with the strategy.
Silence&Motion
Senior Member
I agree. If we’re not getting a greenbelt, then forcing new developments to have inner-city level density is the way to go. Now we need to work on making the streets walkable. That will reduce gridlock within the neighborhoods, as more people will be able to make local trips on foot. As for gridlock during commutes, that will build support for more investment in public transit.
Golfing guy
Active Member
No one said anything about 5-8 stories though. What is being built in seton and other suburbs are 4-6. 8 stories would be great in inner city. There is a big difference between the two. Love that bridgeland has unbraced that kind of building. Have you thought that they build out in the suburbs because people wanna live there? Possible because it’s close to the hospital? Not everyone has a love for the inner city. If there was a demand for more inner city mid-rise then they would be built
haltcatchfire
Senior Member
You said “I don’t get how you think any developer is going to build 4-6 story building any where in the inner city. The economics just aren’t there.”
The economics are there.
The economics are there.
Golfing guy
Active Member
If they are there why aren’t the developers pounding out them? Nobody is buying condos anywhere near downtown right now. Marda Loop, Sunnyside, inglewwod, Bridgeland have a few Mid-rise. Belt line has no condo activity just rentals. The vast majority of condo demand is in the suburbs. I think most of you live in dream land if you think any developer will use their valuable inner city land on 4-6 storey low rises
haltcatchfire
Senior Member
Five Eleven 6s
Catalyst 6s
Courtyard 33 6s
Avli 7s
South Bank 5s
Windsor 6s
Rhapsody 6s
August 6s
Anthem Memorial 5s
Archer 5s
Spider site 4s
Coco 4s
The Edward 5s
Irvine 6s
Marda 6s
Maple 4s
Mantra 4s
Grow 3s
Lyfe 5s
Radius 7s
Switch|block 4s
Infinity 4s
should I go on?
Catalyst 6s
Courtyard 33 6s
Avli 7s
South Bank 5s
Windsor 6s
Rhapsody 6s
August 6s
Anthem Memorial 5s
Archer 5s
Spider site 4s
Coco 4s
The Edward 5s
Irvine 6s
Marda 6s
Maple 4s
Mantra 4s
Grow 3s
Lyfe 5s
Radius 7s
Switch|block 4s
Infinity 4s
should I go on?