dunno said:
If you're Downtown. But Downtown already has a frequent express bus that will likely get you to that main west end attraction much faster than the LRT will.
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Not just if you're downtown. Pretty much anywhere within the LRT network will be connected, which is a much more streamlined and reliable way to do it than with buses.

Also, unlikely that the bus route will be faster than the LRT. Currently, if you use the express route it takes about 35 min (and for that you'd have to take it in one of the few stops along the way, which can add substantial walking distance/time to the trip), and about 1hr if you use the regular lines. I doubt the LRT will take more than 45min from 102st to WEM.
 
ChazYEG said:
Not just if you're downtown. Pretty much anywhere within the LRT network will be connected, which is a much more streamlined and reliable way to do it than with buses.

Also, unlikely that the bus route will be faster than the LRT. Currently, if you use the express route it takes about 35 min (and for that you'd have to take it in one of the few stops along the way, which can add substantial walking distance/time to the trip), and about 1hr if you use the regular lines. I doubt the LRT will take more than 45min from 102st to WEM.
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If you're downtown, you will have easy access to, well, all corners of the city, basically. If you live in Mill Woods, you're not taking the LRT to get to Southgate or the UofA, even if those technically are connected by LRT. I fail to see what is unique to Valley Line West that will "finally" make ditching the car feasible in Edmonton in a way that Valley Line SE, the Capital Line, or Metro Line haven't done. It'll be a boon for those on/near the line, or Downtown, and will likely be used if you're going from, say, Stadium to WEM, but probably not if you're going from Century Park to WEM. For people in the suburbs, even if there's an LRT line nearby, the likelihood it'll actually connect you to all of your daily needs is lower unless you live Downtown and you have tremendous LRT access. Once the Metro Line goes to Castle Downs, you still won't be able to get to where most in the area go for shopping, Skyview, by LRT, because of foolish routing choices.

Regarding travel times, the 900X was faster before the LRT construction. Valley Line SE does not promise a faster ride than the bus from DT to Mill Woods and although I haven't seen anything similar for the west line, because it is being built similarly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's about the same speed, just higher capacity and grade-separated. These low floor trams are not the highly efficient trains we're used to on the Capital Line. The Valley Line, as slick as it looks, feels like it's going to be less efficient once it finally opens. More stopping, higher likelihood of car crashes, lacking true signal priority, and at-grade through downtown (we will regret this I'm sure... look at Calgary).
 
dunno said:
If you're downtown, you will have easy access to, well, all corners of the city, basically. If you live in Mill Woods, you're not taking the LRT to get to Southgate or the UofA, even if those technically are connected by LRT. I fail to see what is unique to Valley Line West that will "finally" make ditching the car feasible in Edmonton in a way that Valley Line SE, the Capital Line, or Metro Line haven't done. It'll be a boon for those on/near the line, or Downtown, and will likely be used if you're going from, say, Stadium to WEM, but probably not if you're going from Century Park to WEM. For people in the suburbs, even if there's an LRT line nearby, the likelihood it'll actually connect you to all of your daily needs is lower unless you live Downtown and you have tremendous LRT access. Once the Metro Line goes to Castle Downs, you still won't be able to get to where most in the area go for shopping, Skyview, by LRT, because of foolish routing choices.

Regarding travel times, the 900X was faster before the LRT construction. Valley Line SE does not promise a faster ride than the bus from DT to Mill Woods and although I haven't seen anything similar for the west line, because it is being built similarly, I wouldn't be surprised if it's about the same speed, just higher capacity and grade-separated. These low floor trams are not the highly efficient trains we're used to on the Capital Line. The Valley Line, as slick as it looks, feels like it's going to be less efficient once it finally opens. More stopping, higher likelihood of car crashes, lacking true signal priority, and at-grade through downtown (we will regret this I'm sure... look at Calgary).
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The point I'm making is that it's now a simple choice to live in a more central location than to live in a newer suburb and be forced to own a car. My suggestion would be to live along the valley west line between Oliver and Jasper place, or the South line between Quarters and Bonnie Doon.

I'm choosing to move centrally for a better quality of life day to day.

I also don't really care for busses, so I'm not really interested in the ride times. I'll stick to the trains, and so will many others.
 
It has been established that all things equal, trains attract more riders than busses for the simple reason that people prefer trains, as you noted.

The line will be a very nice addition to the city.

We should aim for a complete, multimodal system, both a great tram like network for urban interface and a robust subway like network for mass capacity, commuting and speed as the city grows. We can and now will have both and should expand both.
 
The central locations are generally more expensive, even though there are deals to be had in some locations. Any family starting out will probably live in the suburbs or even bedroom communities.
 
The_Cat said:
The central locations are generally more expensive, even though there are deals to be had in some locations. Any family starting out will probably live in the suburbs or even bedroom communities.
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It's cheaper for many to live in central Edmonton when you factor in vehicle costs. Having grown up in both Grovenor, and later Ormsby, I can tell you that it was the same amount of money for a worse quality of life.

More large apartments and townhomes are definitely needed in the central areas for families.
 
Barnaby said:
It's cheaper for many to live in central Edmonton when you factor in vehicle costs. Having grown up in both Grovenor, and later Ormsby, I can tell you that it was the same amount of money for a worse quality of life.

More large apartments and townhomes are definitely needed in the central areas for families.
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100%

How have areas like Westmount and Grovenor not seen any real movement in regards to multifam projects? Westmount especially. I lived there for awhile and loved it, but didn't love my 60s built lowrise building, but of course there's extremely few apartments built within the last 30 years anywhere in the whole neighbourhood.
 
northlands said:
100%

How have areas like Westmount and Grovenor not seen any real movement in regards to multifam projects? Westmount especially. I lived there for awhile and loved it, but didn't love my 60s built lowrise building, but of course there's extremely few apartments built within the last 30 years anywhere in the whole neighbourhood.
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They are getting there. The south end of Grovenor is getting alot of infill. I expect Valley West to speed up development in the SW and SE corners. East Westmount is getting very expensive, due to its proximity to 124th shops the Valley Line should help encourage multifamily across the street from where Western Cycle used to live.

The best value in the city for both proximity to DT and access to the LRT is probably Parkdale. A young family can get a brand new duplex for $300k-$330k.
 
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globalnews.ca

‘Never going to end’: Businesses frustrated with Stony Plain Road construction - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

The Stony Plain Road Business Association said many of its members have been getting increasingly frustrated, as they've noticed construction moving ahead at a very slow pace.
globalnews.ca globalnews.ca

What this article failed to mention is that Brandon Schatz is the owner of Variant Edition Comics who moved his store to Stony Plain Road just a couple of years ago when he fully knew that the LRT construction was forthcoming and would disrupt his business.
 
The_Cat said:
^^ I think some Stony Plain Road businesses complain for the sake of complaining. I don’t think the pawnshops will be there long after Valley Line West opens.
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You're not a business owner on SPR, it's not your money and livelihood at risk.

We saw much the same happen on Cambie Street in Vancouver during the Canada Line construction, where businesses withered and died due to the disruption caused by the project. It is also understandable that SPR area business owners, having seen the absolute disaster of the Valley Line Southeast, are wary about what may be in store for the West line. Remember that this is supposed to be a short-term pain, long-term gain situation: businesses (and residents) put up with massive disruption for a certain period, and in return the transit line brings major traffic and exposure to the businesses and area once completed. That is, assuming that a given business survives the construction.

The fact that the Valley Line SE is three years overdue--businesses and residents put up with construction and havoc for years and STILL can't derive any benefits from an operational line--should make business owners and residents along the West route very dubious about anything they are told in terms of timelines.
 
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