[CBBarnett]

They should also water their grass.

I remember walking by daily when they installed the grass getting increasingly nervous day-by-day they weren't going to water it - sure enough was dead in about 1 month after install and never saw any watering. Wouldn't hurt to have had few trees there too.

Signs, trees and grass - all small and relatively cheap stuff in the scheme of a big new mid-rise building - but details so often missed. Just sloppy, lazy behaviour and apparently no part of the development regulatory system seems able/willing to enforce any of this to encourage better behaviour.

 

[Calgcouver]

I remember walking by daily when they installed the grass getting increasingly nervous day-by-day they weren't going to water it - sure enough was dead in about 1 month after install and never saw any watering. Wouldn't hurt to have had few trees there too.

Signs, trees and grass - all small and relatively cheap stuff in the scheme of a big new mid-rise building - but details so often missed. Just sloppy, lazy behaviour and apparently no part of the development regulatory system seems able/willing to enforce any of this to encourage better behaviour.

We need to start native seed bombing these areas of dead grass. So much of this throughout Mission i might just start seeding the hell out of this spring.

 

[CBBarnett]

We need to start native seed bombing these areas of dead grass. So much of this throughout Mission i might just start seeding the hell out of this spring.

These roadside strips are apparently a near impossible thing for developers to figure out - I would guess the rules likely ask for a minimum that is just a useless grass patch, ignoring that the daily pedestrian/dog traffic on these Beltline blocks is about 1000x what a similar design in the burbs would experience. Tough conditions for sure, but not insurmountable - and in the case of the Redstone one they didn't even bother to water it anyways so the conditions weren't the issue.

The weirdest strip like this is the renovation at the Boardwalk building on 14 Ave & 4 Street. For whatever reason, they converted old crumbly sidewalk to sloped, polished pavement with drains. I would have loved a few tree or planters something - but short of that, at least a level sidewalk with drains?

Hard to imagine they haven't had a slip and fall on this thing since it was built. I find it hard to imagine how something like this was approved as it's such an obvious safety risk.

Worse is the trend for fake grass and loose-packed rocks - sure it's cheap and permeable for rain water, but a totally trashy way to do it. Lots of ugly and inaccessibility added just to save a few square metres of ground permeability in front of a tower.

 

[haltcatchfire]

That Boardwalk area is absolutely brutal for such a pedestrian heavy street.

The boulevard in front of Anthem Memorial Aspen and Bow was new sod after construction. Watered once and then went through a full hot dry summer. A year later it was all resodded just to be again watered only once and dead again near immediately. Just a joke of an effort.

 

[potatopizzafan]

Its almost as if grass isnt the answer in this city. What about clover?

 

[artvandelay]

We need to start native seed bombing these areas of dead grass. So much of this throughout Mission i might just start seeding the hell out of this spring.

It probably won't survive either - it usually doesn't make sense to mandate boulevard soft landscaping in front of high pedestrian traffic buildings like this. If not trampled the grass will be killed by dog pee. Montana and Emerald Stone down the street have replaced theirs with astroturf.

The weirdest strip like this is the renovation at the Boardwalk building on 14 Ave & 4 Street. For whatever reason, they converted old crumbly sidewalk to sloped, polished pavement with drains. I would have loved a few tree or planters something - but short of that, at least a level sidewalk with drains?
View attachment 449514

Can't speak to the concrete finish choice, but it looks like there is likely a basement or parkade under there - hence the above ground planters. Unfortunately it's tough for perennials to survive in planters like that.

 

[FriendlyDrunks]

It's almost as if grass isn't the answer in this city. What about clover?

It seems there have been tests with micro clover.

Micro Clover Pilot in Nolan Hill

www.calgary.ca

 

[Surrealplaces]

Its almost as if grass isnt the answer in this city. What about clover?

IMO grass is almost never a good solution in Calgary. Not just in Calgary, but in most cities. At the same time concrete, asphalt or rock isn't good for the climate change side of things. It seems like a mix of drought tolerant shrubs and grasses along with mulches and some rick/stone etc.. mixed is a good balance. It's not cheap, but covering a large part of the grass area with deck space is good.

 

[Chinese_T]

https://everydaytourist.ca/city-planning-101/calgary-crown-park-a-suburban-meets-urban-experiment

Not all LRT stations are suited to large density development

it was determined retail would not succeed at this site

what

This site’s development is limited as access points - 26th Street SW offers the only two-way access, with 24th Street SW offering entrance only for west bound Bow Trail traffic. Yes, the site has easy access to the LRT, however ...

Car dependence strikes again!

 

[CBBarnett]

IMO grass is almost never a good solution in Calgary. Not just in Calgary, but in most cities. At the same time concrete, asphalt or rock isn't good for the climate change side of things. It seems like a mix of drought tolerant shrubs and grasses along with mulches and some rick/stone etc.. mixed is a good balance. It's not cheap, but covering a large part of the grass area with deck space is good.

There's the myopic stormwater issue here - yes it's best to be impermeable as possible, everywhere possible and allow as much stormwater to infiltrate where it falls. This minimizes all the work to manage the flow and movement of that water on the storm system, reducing the need for major infrastructure at a macro-level. Most stormwater issues are localized in rainstorms, so makes sense to try to do this. So we mandate this to encourage permeability.

The problem is a blunt application of this principle devoid of context - ultimately what we are talking about here is reducing the site coverage and forcing permeable surfaces in places where they are near-impossible to maintain using the standard, suburban approach (i.e. grass). The places where this is an issue like the Beltline also have demonstrable, measurable alternative demands for that same space - both in terms of additional density and population from the structure, but also far higher foot and dog traffic requiring quality, high capacity pedestrian spaces far beyond the suburban average for just any random large-lot development located anywhere where there is unoccupied land sitting unused in perpetuity.

It also begs the question, if stormwater and impervious materials were so important as to mandate them and run into this issue repeatedly in the Beltline, why aren't we taking out every on-street parking lane in the Beltline to achieve the stormwater need? Replace 50% of all Beltline streets with trees, swales and other native vegetation green spaces so no concentration of people or dogs could ever overwhelm the local greenspace due to sheer supply. Problem solved

Unfortunately, street parking in a neighbourhood where most people walk is more important than stormwater could ever be, so tiny, ugly, hard-to-maintain grass strips are the next best thing. It's a bizarre outcome of competing prioritizes but not really achieving anything useful (except to maintain street parking everywhere).

 

[Jodietoo]

Both these projects in the Beltline are okay buildings, but largely forgettable. If the Kensington project develops like the Beltline examples, one thing the community should fight back against ugly rental signage. Walking by the Beltline ones regularly the signs are not only tacky, but also frustratingly blocking parts of the sidewalk.

The OCD side of me can't forgive them for not putting these sign at 45 degrees to the intersection either - the development controls likely required them to angle the sidewalk 45 degrees to the corner and everything. What's the point of requiring 45-degree cut-back from the intersection and then wall it in with a sign later? The first sign is also lit brightly at night on a residential only side-street:

View attachment 449433

View attachment 449434

It's a small complaint but really makes the development more trashy-looking than it needs to be.

It reveals a lack of attention to detail or understanding of the community context to have large, back-lit signs permanently blocking the sidewalk on side-streets of urban pedestrian communities. I am sure there's examples out there but I can't recall any other major Canadian city I have spent time in having this issue with signage.

Typically, the City of Calgary is the one that approves signage. They might even be the ones that are setting the criteria to follow.

 

[Atticus]

There's the myopic stormwater issue here - yes it's best to be impermeable as possible, everywhere possible and allow as much stormwater to infiltrate where it falls. This minimizes all the work to manage the flow and movement of that water on the storm system, reducing the need for major infrastructure at a macro-level. Most stormwater issues are localized in rainstorms, so makes sense to try to do this. So we mandate this to encourage permeability.

The problem is a blunt application of this principle devoid of context - ultimately what we are talking about here is reducing the site coverage and forcing permeable surfaces in places where they are near-impossible to maintain using the standard, suburban approach (i.e. grass). The places where this is an issue like the Beltline also have demonstrable, measurable alternative demands for that same space - both in terms of additional density and population from the structure, but also far higher foot and dog traffic requiring quality, high capacity pedestrian spaces far beyond the suburban average for just any random large-lot development located anywhere where there is unoccupied land sitting unused in perpetuity.

It also begs the question, if stormwater and impervious materials were so important as to mandate them and run into this issue repeatedly in the Beltline, why aren't we taking out every on-street parking lane in the Beltline to achieve the stormwater need? Replace 50% of all Beltline streets with trees, swales and other native vegetation green spaces so no concentration of people or dogs could ever overwhelm the local greenspace due to sheer supply. Problem solved

Unfortunately, street parking in a neighbourhood where most people walk is more important than stormwater could ever be, so tiny, ugly, hard-to-maintain grass strips are the next best thing. It's a bizarre outcome of competing prioritizes but not really achieving anything useful (except to maintain street parking everywhere).

Rain barrels at every house 😎

 

[Surrealplaces]

If every house or building had a rain barrell system it would certainly cut down on some of the water volume in the storm sewer system. Might even save you some $$ in water charges.

 

[MichaelS]

Looks like the old Kensington Manor site was purchased by Maple Properties. Good in the sense that Maple has already built and finished projects in Calgary , but negative in the sense that their projects have been pretty banal. Let's hope they up their game a bit.

City of Calgary recoups costs after sale of former Kensington Manor site - Calgary | Globalnews.ca

The City of Calgary said it received full payment of all the taxes owed on the property, which included demolition costs, after the property went through foreclosure in late 2022.

globalnews.ca

View attachment 449067

The land use for this has now been submitted:

DMAP

 

[Urban Outdoorsman]

Wow, Tenth Street is looking pretty busy! There's like 8 or 9 projects on or adjacent to 10th in the works right now