What do you think of this project?

  • I like it a lot

    Votes: 73 78.5%

  • I like it

    Votes: 14 15.1%

  • I neither like nor dislike it

    Votes: 6 6.5%

  • I dislike it

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I dislike it a lot

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    93
NicolBolas said:
I think alot of these people want single family homes, particularly if they are transplants from GTA or the Lower Mainland. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to go from downtown Toronto or Vancouver and end up on 104st and Jasper.
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Maybe some people would like the downtown life without having to fork over $3000+ a month...
 
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That's not a apples to apples comparison. For $3000 a month you are also getting an actual downtown lifestyle, unfortunately Edmonton can't really provide a similar experience, we can't even provide a similar experience to Calgary now.

While I agree with developing downtown, what we are doing now isn't working as well as we had all hoped it would. Perhaps we need to do something like New York did in the 1970s and offer significant tax breaks to outside developers and REITs. While also mandating street level commerical in all new buildings.

We also need to realize that we are winter city, people don't want to walk outside in -30. Another mandate should be the expansion of our pedway system to all new builds, similar to the system in Calgary.

I find the single biggest problem Edmonton has, is that we don't seem to take lessons learned from other cities and apply them here.
 
I'd argue we were also chasing a Toronto/Vancouver/Calgary corporate demographic. We have significantly more success attracting students, new immigrants and a lower income level than these other cities in the core.

Interprovincial migration towards the suburbs towards SFHs isn't also a sure bet. A significant majority have, but there's enough new transplants moving to DT and the core. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't have a vacancy level of 3-4% in downtown.
 
NicolBolas said:
That's not a apples to apples comparison. For $3000 a month you are also getting an actual downtown lifestyle, unfortunately Edmonton can't really provide a similar experience, we can't even provide a similar experience to Calgary now.

While I agree with developing downtown, what we are doing now isn't working as well as we had all hoped it would. Perhaps we need to do something like New York did in the 1970s and offer significant tax breaks to outside developers and REITs. While also mandating street level commerical in all new buildings.

We also need to realize that we are winter city, people don't want to walk outside in -30. Another mandate should be the expansion of our pedway system to all new builds, similar to the system in Calgary.

I find the single biggest problem Edmonton has, is that we don't seem to take lessons learned from other cities and apply them here.
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-30c?
Our average daytime winter temp is nowhere near that cold.
 
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ADob said:
Increasing the pedway system is 100% guaranteed to kill whatever nascent street vibrancy we might have. Nope.
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We don't have a ton of vibrancy as it is, which is largely driven by social problems. Montreal has an extensive pedway system and their street vibrancy is still better than here. If anything, a pedway system offers people another mode of moving in the winter, particularly those with accessibility challenges, which means more people downtown even if they are inside. I'd rather more people in general downtown than the constant notion that pedways = bad when that isn't really true. Increased foot mobility should be seen as a good thing given more people will translate to supporting businesses.
 
I don't buy that an increased pedway system will kill downtown vibrancy. It would provide a comfortable way to get around during the cold months. When its nice out people will still choose to walk outside. What it would do is provide ways to comfortably get around downtown year round. Montreal, Calgary, Toronto, Minneapolis, and more have extensive pedway/underground walkway systems.

When I worked downtown I utilized the system to get around in the winter to use downtown businesses. In the fall, spring, and summer I would usually walk outside.
 
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I would support a Cartmell moratorium on expanding our pedway spaces until we significantly increase office workers and residents downtown (unless developer is paying for it, which maybe they usually do).

Same argument I've heard in terms of limiting pedestrianized spaces until greater population, except pedways cost more I would expect.
 
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