Although I can see why you might draw a comparison between Cambridge and Brantford they are quite different. One of the main differences is that Cambridge is a fast growing city and so an urban renwal can still take shape. Brantford's economy is not doing well. It was just announced that Brantford will be losing 112 manufacturing another jobs.
Still when it's all said and done it is the citizens of Brantford that must ultimately take responsibility.
Chatham has a very desperate economy and is not growing. It also doesn't enjoy the benefits of being able to tout yourself as an affordable alternative tto the near by big city, in Brantford's case Hamilton. It is half the size, an old city like Brantford but the city went out of it's way to make sure that suburban retail was limited and the downtown thrived. It has worked well and has a lovely and vibrant downtown.
 
New Brantford YMCA design selected

complex.jpg


More information here: http://www.wlu.ca/homepage.php?grp_id=12742
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
Huh? That is one strange looking athletic complex.

AoD
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perhaps someone mismatched the title with the design...
I don't see how this design would be functional as an athletic complex. None of the people in the building even appear to be doing athletics. And what is with the large crowd underneath?
 
Student99 said:
perhaps someone mismatched the title with the design...
I don't see how this design would be functional as an athletic complex. None of the people in the building even appear to be doing athletics. And what is with the large crowd underneath?
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It is supposed to be an athletic centre. I just think the scale of the people is way off, since it's uspposed to be 5 levels.

Conceptual drawings prepared by Cannon Design were on display at two open houses, at Laurier's Carnegie Building and at the Y building on Wellington Street.

The proposed design calls for a five-level structure that would nestle into the slope and stretch across about half of the land left vacant after the demolition of about 40 derelict buildings on the south side of downtown Colborne Street.

Plans call for the 115,000-square-foot building to include: a double gym with retractable bleachers; a multi-purpose gym; a six-lane, 25-metre pool; and an aquatic "teach tank" with moveable floor.

There also would be a student lounge, yoga studio, and open green areas that could incorporate indigenous plants and public art.
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Yeah, that's kind of what I was presuming--the geography of the site being such. (And remember that one of the pre-demolition heritage arguments was, indeed, the multi-story rears.)
 
Prometheus The Supremo said:
i sometimes pick a random american small town on google earth and virtually explore "main street". i can't believe how well and vibrant these places look, with their historical buildings and all. maybe brantford city council should have taken a trip to one of these towns so they could see how it's supposed to be done.
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I know this post is old but if you're veiwing american small towns you're missing the ones right in your backyard in Ontario. Basically every town that you pass through or by in Ontario has an old wonderful downtown. Some have seen better days, yes, but many of them vibrant and bustling.

I'm originally from Cobourg which has a wonderful downtown and even better waterfront.

Streetview....
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=cobou...f-92ywpll-36Xr7TQ&cbp=12,265.68,,0,18.45&z=14

Right next door to Cobourg is it's neighbour (rival) Port Hope which also boasts a wonderful downtown.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=port+...XA7wmVYpl0EyXSBvgnQ&cbp=12,109.3,,0,5.75&z=11
 
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While you are right that most places have an old downtown that is often fun to look at and be in, I wouldn't quite say the typical Ontario downtown is at all "bustling" or "vibrant". Unlike in other places in the world, most of the downtowns in ON (aside from basically just Toronto and a handful of others) have been killed by the car. This is even more clear in American towns.

In most towns, every useful thing has been moved into asphalt covered farmers fields, in "bustling" strip plazas on the edge of town. That is where all the people sadly are. downtown is usually home to yoga studios, cupcake shops, struggling businesses and vacancies. You could roll a bowling ball down the street at 9am and 9pm and you wouldn't hit a soul.

I do not know Cobourg or Port hope very well, so they quite possibly are an exception to the rule, like Toronto.

What happened in Brantford is incredibly sad, but not unbeleivable. Suburbanites still exist, and they still do not value or take part in village living. big shock.
 
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It's true that both Ontario and many regions in the US have great small towns and cities, but it's not that common to find downtowns that are particularly vibrant or bustling. Ontario fortunately seems to have fewer small town downtowns with many abandoned buildings than the US. But it seems like every town, no matter how small, is now ringed by generic, low-density sprawl. Sprawl is the only way any development happens in these places if they have any amount of growth.

They could be so much more interesting with their downtowns augmented by some 3-6 storey mixed-use condos, rowhouses, office space by the train station, lofts, new public spaces like squares, and even LRT. Major metropolitan cities like Toronto should provide guidance and ideas. There are small towns and cities in Europe that are like a slice of a big city in their architecture, dense built form, and busy streets. In Ontario, Kingston reminds me of that kind of vibrant and refined small city. Waterloo has also recently begun to show an increased zeal for polished and ambitious urban projects with interesting loft conversions of historic buildings, urban infill, great new architecture in the educational sector, and even plans for a LRT line.
 
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Dandy Horse said:
While you are right that most places have an old downtown that is often fun to look at and be in, I wouldn't quite say the typical Ontario downtown is at all "bustling" or "vibrant". Unlike in other places in the world, most of the downtowns in ON (aside from basically just Toronto and a handful of others) have been killed by the car. This is even more clear in American towns.

In most towns, every useful thing has been moved into asphalt covered farmers fields, in "bustling" strip plazas on the edge of town. That is where all the people sadly are. downtown is usually home to yoga studios, cupcake shops, struggling businesses and vacancies. You could roll a bowling ball down the street at 9am and 9pm and you wouldn't hit a soul.

I do not know Cobourg or Port hope very well, so they quite possibly are an exception to the rule, like Toronto.

What happened in Brantford is incredibly sad, but not unbeleivable. Suburbanites still exist, and they still do not value or take part in village living. big shock.
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There are definitely more than a handful of healthy downtowns in Ontario. Other than Port Hope and Cobourg, there's Picton, Peterborough, Lindsay, Almonte, Orillia, Collingwood, Kingston, Huntsville, Waterloo, St. Mary's, and Guelph off the top of my head. Brantford is an extreme example of decay. That said...

junctionist said:
It's true that both Ontario and many regions in the US have great small towns and cities, but it's not that common to find downtowns that are particularly vibrant or bustling. Ontario fortunately seems to have fewer small town downtowns with many abandoned buildings than the US. But it seems like every town, no matter how small, is now ringed by generic, low-density sprawl. Sprawl is the only way any development happens in these places if they have any amount of growth.

They could be so much more interesting with their downtowns augmented by some 3-6 storey mixed-use condos, rowhouses, office space by the train station, lofts, new public spaces like squares, and even LRT. Major metropolitan cities like Toronto should provide guidance and ideas. There are small towns and cities in Europe that are like a slice of a big city in their architecture, dense built form, and busy streets. In Ontario, Kingston reminds me of that kind of vibrant and refined small city. Waterloo has also recently begun to show an increased zeal for polished and ambitious urban projects with interesting loft conversions of historic buildings, urban infill, great new architecture in the educational sector, and even plans for a LRT line.
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Kingston unfortunately has some of the worst sprawl in the province. You're right that most small cities and towns haven't added to their downtowns recently and where they have, the results have been less than stellar. We're pretty much stuck with our existing building stock, it's basically impossible to build a proper downtown anymore in a small town. Even in the GTA it's hit and miss at best.
 
MisterF said:
there's Picton, Peterborough, Lindsay, Almonte, Orillia, Collingwood, Kingston, Huntsville, Waterloo, St. Mary's, and Guelph off the top of my head. Brantford is an extreme example of decay. That said...
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Im going to have to disagree with that, on the basis that Peterborough, Kingston, Waterloo, Orillia and Guelph are cities, not towns, and were buffered by their size from complete suburbanization. Collingwood and Huntsville are complete outliers as well, due to their respective tourism and historic relationship with the elite of Toronto.(Cottaging and skiing).
The small towns ruined by suburbanization and gutted of useful things ( banks, grocery stores, schools, trees, buildings etc etc) are more along the lines of Bradford, Barrie, Newmarket, Aurora, and countless others elsewhere. Although there is probably more money in these areas now due primarily to geographic or psychological distance to Toronto, the original towns within these towns are quite boring, dead, and (sadly) useless to most residents.
This tragedy was brought on by building towns for cars, not people. Even Peterborough, a lovely small city is picking up speed in its race to the bottom, closing the only high school downtown, and expanding the car detritus between downtown and the highway, around Costco and all those other heinous temporary structures dedicated to anonymous consumption.
 
port perry in my opinion has an amazing and thriving downtown. I went through it on a weekend last summer, and there was a street performer outside their post office, dozens of people milling up and down the streets, and dozens more enjoying their waterfront park directly beside the downtown. now thats just one town. and quite frankly, I find lindsay's downtown to be quite dead. (though one of the largest in ontario that still feels like a town, i.e. just a singular street with urban 19th century buildings lining it)
 
Dandy Horse said:
Im going to have to disagree with that, on the basis that Peterborough, Kingston, Waterloo, Orillia and Guelph are cities, not towns, and were buffered by their size from complete suburbanization. Collingwood and Huntsville are complete outliers as well, due to their respective tourism and historic relationship with the elite of Toronto.(Cottaging and skiing).
The small towns ruined by suburbanization and gutted of useful things ( banks, grocery stores, schools, trees, buildings etc etc) are more along the lines of Bradford, Barrie, Newmarket, Aurora, and countless others elsewhere. Although there is probably more money in these areas now due primarily to geographic or psychological distance to Toronto, the original towns within these towns are quite boring, dead, and (sadly) useless to most residents.
This tragedy was brought on by building towns for cars, not people. Even Peterborough, a lovely small city is picking up speed in its race to the bottom, closing the only high school downtown, and expanding the car detritus between downtown and the highway, around Costco and all those other heinous temporary structures dedicated to anonymous consumption.
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Peterborough is smaller than Brantford...

In any case I'm sure the construction company behind this ridiculous athletic complex is getting a massive payday. It's sad how universities are taking on the mentality of corporate developers instead of acting in the public interest like they should. There is something seriously wrong with the administration at most of these academic institutions.

This entire story is so sad. They couldn't find a better location for this athletic complex? Or is there too much money to be made here?
 
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