[HomeInMyShoes]

Nice Berlin wall they placed around Keynote with no street level interaction for at least half the site.

[onishenko]

I swear the architect for this project just got off the boat from a small town of 3,000 in Yugoslavia. He probably was pan-handling condo designs downtown to make money.

[freeweed]

I at first thought it said "Pancake".

Then I looked at the building, and realized I wasn't that far off.

[Wooster]

Ouch, that is bad.

Oscar is our biggest shame.

[ProudlyCanadian]

Is the roof element really necessary on Oscar? It's horrendous.

[Calgarian]

I hope it blows off with the first high wind, right on to the senior designers mercedes.

[AUM]

I am in agreement here....both projects to me, make me wonder if our urban design review panel is doing their job. I know they are for the most part but when projects like theses come to fruition it makes one wonder how easily these are approved. Yet we continue to pick apart great projects like the BOW for being too tall and casting shadows. I wish the same amount of energy that has been exuded in revising the BOW would have been placed on Keynote and Oscar!

[freeweed]

Housing affordability tops out in Calgary
Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007

The pace of erosion in housing affordability appears to have topped out in Calgary and has slowed significantly, according to a national report released Thursday.

And the RBC Economics Housing Affordability report says that “on average, Calgary still offers more affordable housing than both Toronto and Montreal — a reflection of its very strong household income growth.”

Derek Holt, assistant chief economist at RBC and author of the report, said Calgary did not see an improvement in housing affordability in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared to the third quarter “but at least the pace of deterioration slowed.”

“There seems to be that sign of an approaching plateau in the market in Calgary,” he said.

The report captures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home. For example, an affordability reading of 50 per cent means that homeownership costs, including mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes, take up 50 per cent of a typical household’s monthly pre-tax income.

In Calgary, the affordability measure for a detached bungalow was 40.9 per cent, a slight decline from 41 per cent in the third quarter of 2006. The Canadian average was 39.4 per cent which rose from 40.3 per cent in the previous quarter.

The affordability measure of a standard two-storey home in Calgary jumped to 43.1 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to 42.6 per cent in Q3. The Canadian average was 44.9 per cent, a drop from 45.8 per cent reported in the previous quarter.

For a standard townhouse, Calgary affordability measure rose to 31.5 per cent from 30.8 per cent in the third quarter. The Canadian average was 31.7 per cent, a decline from 32 per cent in Q3. And for a standard condo, Calgary’s affordability measure was 26 per cent, a slight increase from 25.6 per cent in Q3. The Canadian average was 27.5 per cent, rising from 28 per cent in the previous quarter.

According the Calgary Real Estate Board website on Thursday morning, a total of 1,718 residential properties have sold so far this month. The 30-day average residential sale price is $405,146, while the 30-day median sale price is $368,000.

============================================================

So, we're still just hovering around the Canadian average. I guess that's why city officials are estimating another 26,000 new residents in 2007, even with the inflated housing market.

[jeffwhit]

^^That is an excellent point.

[Coldrsx]

^I am curious to see how close Edmonton comes to Calgary's avg. price this yr....id put money on it being within 5%

[murman]

In honour of this thread, may I submit for consideration:

http://www.highlevelcrossing.com/home.html

[Calgarian]

Are there any nice projects going up in the chuck?

[WhipperSnapper]

Ouch, that is bad.

Oscar is our biggest shame.




Sasso/Vetro or Five West are equally shameful

[feepa]

Are there any nice projects going up in the chuck?

Take a look at the first page of the sticky and come back and report if theres anything nice going on. :notacrook:

[feepa]

In honour of this thread, may I submit for consideration:

http://www.highlevelcrossing.com/home.html

My god, that looks pretty close to Panache. Change a few things here and the colour, and voila, Panache.

[WhipperSnapper]

Are there any nice projects going up in the chuck?


Century Park which could yield the best residential design in the province

[The Chemist]

Sasso/Vetro or Five West are equally shameful

Not even close, IMO.

Sasso is a bit too busy, but I think the added height of Vetro will clean up the design. I actually kind of like the way Sasso looks now that it's completely finished.

I have no complaints about 5 West.

[The Chemist]

Century Park which could yield the best residential design in the province

Arriva, Nuera, Chocolate, Colours, and Nova, for example, have set the bar pretty high. It'd have to be pretty damn spectacular to beat those ones.

[Wooster]

Sasso is pretty crappy. A product of an older condo cycle. Design has been improved to a more acceptable point. From what I've seen, the stuff coming down the pipeline raises the bar even more.

[Habanero]

^I am curious to see how close Edmonton comes to Calgary's avg. price this yr....id put money on it being within 5%

How much money would you put on it?

[Calgarian]

Take a look at the first page of the sticky and come back and report if theres anything nice going on. :notacrook:

nothing but shite.........just kidding.

[ctown.myth]

What's the deal with Milton? I don't understand how a community from Ontario thats outside the GTA get such a high growth percnetage.

[Coldrsx]

^a case of beer, but considering my "odds" id want 2 in return.


Edmonton - feb 07 = Residential average price $321,307

Calgary - feb 07 = Residential average price $405,146


a difference of $83,839

or

26.09%

so we need to be 26.09% above calgary's 07 growth to equal you or 21.09% to be within 5%...

hmmm

so that means edmonton's avg dec 07 price must be $384,888.70 if you stayed the same.

We are up 10% since dec 06...but that is irrelavant as im saying from now till dec 07....

which means if we have a 30% increase from now till then....or 3% a month, we will be at $417699.10.

so 5% above that is $438,584.06

which means only 8% growth for cal....

and id bet calgary has 15-20% this yr.

oh, bet retracted.

[JBinCalgary]

we should be the god damn urban design panel

[ctown.myth]

I like the plan, but it should be only applied to already existing small communities. To make a whole new communities, or even to apply it to the existing large communities...just my two cents.

[Beltliner]

What's the deal with Milton? I don't understand how a community from Ontario thats outside the GTA get such a high growth percnetage.

Twenty-five miles from downtown T.dot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton%2C_Ontario) is not so bad in the grand scheme of things. A good comparison is with Strathmore, which is 40 km from downtown Calgary, and which grew 34.2 percent (http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=4805018&Geo2=PR&Code2=48&Data=Count&SearchText=Strathmore&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=&GeoCode=4805018) over the past five years. What will really be scary is when Strathmore hits Milton or Chestermere (http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=4806017&Geo2=PR&Code2=48&Data=Count&SearchText=Chestermere&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=&GeoCode=4806017) growth levels.

[Wooster]

Twenty-five miles from downtown T.dot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton%2C_Ontario)

T. dot? seriously? :sly:

Apologize at once! ;)

[Wooster]

Yeah, it will be really sustainable when 100% of people will have to drive to work. Brilliant. It is just pretty exurban sprawl.

[vid]

You just described Thunder Bay! :D

Though our rurban areas actually have bus service, at least the most populated one.

Lots of people like the small town rural feeling though. :(

[Kevin_foster]

http://www.highlevelcrossing.com/home.html

DEAR GOD

Put that bitch up in this here thread-izzle. It deserves the Platinum Metal YO'

[Kevin_foster]

we should be the god damn urban design panel

Here here!

Keynote isn't TERRIBLE (I mean EDMONTERRIBLE) but the wall has to go. Whats with the wall.

We should collectively, seriously, start a lobby group - other than on the internet. Call ourselves....

Association for the Prevention of Mediocre Urban Fabric...

or ... ASSHAT (Association for the Social-economic Sustainability of Highrises and Towers)

[Coldrsx]

there are a few in the pipeline which will suprise many people here...

[LordMandeep]

it also opened the floodgates to growth and its very cheap compared to the the GTA...

[Bokimon]

Oscar to me is disgusting.
I also don't like London either, not just the advertising but the design itself is another one of the Vantage Pointes.

[Wooster]

I don't understand what you guys are talking about with the wall. It is retail all around.

[mersar]

The issue is that the rendering makes the roof look like its on the ground.

[Wooster]

^surprise how much worse they can get, or good?

[ibz]

Just wait and see ;)

[Arriviste]

I don't find they design very pleasing. They may have ground level retail, but I wonder if the building will suffer from the same fate as some of those '70's apartment buildings in the West End such as Calgary Place ( I think). Public spaces like the ones proposed on top of the podium seem to not work very well. I think it will become a sterile environment quickly. It seems sloppy, and unresolved. The office portion is atrocious.

[feepa]

http://www.highlevelcrossing.com/home.html

DEAR GOD

Put that bitch up in this here thread-izzle. It deserves the Platinum Metal YO'

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/4388/shitcrapiy4.jpg

[freeweed]

T. dot? seriously? :sly:

Apologize at once! ;)

Yeah, where the hell did that phrase come from all of a sudden? Kids got too lazy for T.O. when texting on their phones?

In the past 12 months it's sprouted up all over the Internet, and I've even heard people speaking it. In the past 30+ years I've never heard anyone in western Canada use it, I've never heard anyone in Ontario (the majority part, OR the southern part) use it, I've never seen it in a newspaper or on TV - did I miss some important cultural shift here? :shrug:

[Rusty van Reddick]

I say T-Dot, have since I saw the Bakardi Slang video. I love the sound of it.

I like "C-Spot" too. What can I say, I'm down with this shit.

[freeweed]

:previous: I LOVE the 1970s!!!!!! My 8-track player would go sooo good in there. I can just imagine the veneer wood panelling and padded walls now. Oh, and the red and orange deep pile shag. Oh baby! :haha:

The worst part is, prices START in the 350s. Yup, now you can pay $350,000+ for the privledge of your own apartment in one of the ugliest buildings on the planet.

No wonder people think Alberta real estate is stupid.

[CanadianCentaur]

there are a few in the pipeline which will suprise many people here...

Is that a good or a bad thing? :shrug:

[Western Spaghetti]

^a case of beer, but considering my "odds" id want 2 in return.


Edmonton - feb 07 = Residential average price $321,307

Calgary - feb 07 = Residential average price $405,146


a difference of $83,839

or

26.09%

so we need to be 26.09% above calgary's 07 growth to equal you or 21.09% to be within 5%...

hmmm

so that means edmonton's avg dec 07 price must be $384,888.70 if you stayed the same.

We are up 10% since dec 06...but that is irrelavant as im saying from now till dec 07....

which means if we have a 30% increase from now till then....or 3% a month, we will be at $417699.10.

so 5% above that is $438,584.06

which means only 8% growth for cal....

and id bet calgary has 15-20% this yr.

oh, bet retracted.


I'm not sure Calgary will get 15-20% growth this year, I think we are coming up to the plateau, if we aren't already at it. Edmonton is unlikely to see 30% growth this year, expect to see another 10% and then a slowdown

[JBinCalgary]

i hope your right

[Distill3d]

Oscar doesn't even have a face for radio.

however, my calgary construction nightmare was built a long while back. its called Bow Valley Square. my question is why the hell do you build 4 towers when you could build one?

[Bling Bucks]

Edmonton av price has already increased 10% for the two months of the year Jan & Feb 2007. RE Board predicted a 15% increase for all of 2007. (they are now backpedaling) Workers are still streaming in. Boomtimes have not leveled off here!!!

[Policy Wonk]

I have a few months of work comming up in Edmonton and I was wondering what there was in the way of housing in the general area around the Legislature, I am not looking for anything fancy as I will be comming home to Calgary every weekend.

Just something like a private one bedroom suite,

Anybody?

[Distill3d]

This goes up there with the Facebook and such post, but anyone here use BlackBerry Messanger?

[Mikemike]

The leg is close to Oliver, so there's lots of apartments in the area. I lived in one overlooking the grounds a couple years ago, it cost $750/mo. then, and I'm sure it's gone up. Oliver is home to something like 28,000 people, mostly in apartments, but vacancy is low, so finding something short term might be tough.

Another good option is the university area, which is an awesome 1km walk/bike accross the high level bridge, and is home to thousands of apartments and basement suites. If the few months that you're talking about are may-august, you should be able to lease or sublet in the university area pretty easily.

[Jasper and one o nin]

I know Murray Brown from Canterra and I once asked him about the Canterra Suites on Jasper and hundred and tenth. He said that it is fully furnished and the draw is for people who are staying for extended periods ie people doing business with government, professors, doctors etc..
I imagine its not cheap... but might be what your looking for.
http://www.canterrasuites.com/

[Kevin_foster]

I dont. My blackberry Pearl HAS it, but I'd rather use Googles GTALK.

[S_B_Russell]

http://edmonton.craigslist.org/apa/

[Coldrsx]

supply is a huge issue here...

[Coldrsx]

there are lots of rentals and condos both on the east and west side of the legislature...

[Riise]

I like "C-Spot" too. What can I say, I'm down with this shit.

Yeah, "C-spot" ain't bad! It's urban and it's way better than calling Calgary "C-town", I don't really fancy that name. Sounds too much like E-town... That city has done so much damage to the "-town" suffix that even our great amount of coolness can't save it! :P I kid, I kid!

[CMD UW]

/\ A big issue....

[Bad Grizzly]

House prices are all about supply and demand and not much else, so it makes sense that Edmonton prices should go up.

[Boris2k7]

Yeah, C-Spot is a nice abbreviation. I like it.

[240glt]

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s124/240glt/elementloftsge5.jpg

I think this is hideous, and it looks way, way worse in real life

[Mayo]

Well i do hear that sask, saskatoon is the new alberta, calgary, due to a new found oil reserve. so i think that perhaps calgary is going to see a less substantial growth rate this year and for the years to come. People are already buying acres of land there because the economy is booming. If you awnt property i suggest you go buy as well! People will probably end up moving there now, due to this intriguing fact.

[Arriviste]

Yah, I'm cool with Calgary. Seems appropriate.

[vid]

How about "Cal-Gary"??? Huh?? Huh?? :)

[nunuangel99]

There is a 2 storey building which is now about one year old located on 127 Street & approx. 150 Avenue, home of a Remax Office and a pub called Duke's, built by NOVA Builders WHICH IS BY FAR THE UGLISET BUILDING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!!

Has anyone else seen this abortion??

I will try to get a photo of it to post here, (if my camera lens doesn't crack from it's pure ugliness!!):yuck: :yuck: :yuck:

[Rusty van Reddick]

yeah- let's do it one better:

Gary Indiana= "the G.I." (thanks, youtube!)

Cal Gary= CGI. Nobody would understand it.

[vid]

CGI is a Québec company. :P

[freeweed]

CGI is a Québec company. :P

And a webserver technology. And an abbreviation for computer graphics. :P

/nerd

[vid]

:tup:

[lubicon]

If Calgary is 'C-spot', then logically Grande Prairie would need to be 'G-spot'.

[lubicon]

Well i do hear that sask, saskatoon is the new alberta, calgary, due to a new found oil reserve. so i think that perhaps calgary is going to see a less substantial growth rate this year and for the years to come. People are already buying acres of land there because the economy is booming. If you awnt property i suggest you go buy as well! People will probably end up moving there now, due to this intriguing fact.

I can assure you that no new oil reserve has been found anywhere near Saskatoon, nor is one likely to be in the future.

The economy may be strong, but it is not due to oil.

[Surrealplaces]

Well i do hear that sask, saskatoon is the new alberta, calgary, due to a new found oil reserve. so i think that perhaps calgary is going to see a less substantial growth rate this year and for the years to come. People are already buying acres of land there because the economy is booming. If you awnt property i suggest you go buy as well! People will probably end up moving there now, due to this intriguing fact.


I don't see it happening to be honest. They could discover alot of oil near Saskatoon, but the head office/engineering jobs will stay in Calgary. Take the oil sands in Fort Mac as a good example. Huge amounts of work up there, but it's not causing much of a drain if any on Calgary.

[Policy Wonk]

does anyone know of a particularlly good management company? I just want something quick and painless, I don't want to deal with sublets or redneck landlords with broken everything. I really don't want to go more than a few blocks from the Legislature.

I guess my budget is $900 to $1200 a month,

[Edmonchuck]

I use it...

[Coldrsx]

KDM has been good for me...

[Lee_Haber8]

I really wish they would factor if you need a car or not into these affordability surveys. Like Winnipeg is very affordable in that it housing is ultra cheap, but you need a car to go everywhere which adds at least $8000-10000 annually

[Champion3]

Yeah, where the hell did that phrase come from all of a sudden? Kids got too lazy for T.O. when texting on their phones?

In the past 12 months it's sprouted up all over the Internet, and I've even heard people speaking it. In the past 30+ years I've never heard anyone in western Canada use it, I've never heard anyone in Ontario (the majority part, OR the southern part) use it, I've never seen it in a newspaper or on TV - did I miss some important cultural shift here? :shrug:

I lived in Waterloo from 2000-2005, where most of my peers at university came from Toronto. I can confirm without hesitation that T.dot was used all the time - this is by no means a recent development.


Yeah, "C-spot" ain't bad! It's urban and it's way better than calling Calgary "C-town", I don't really fancy that name. Sounds too much like E-town... That city has done so much damage to the "-town" suffix that even our great amount of coolness can't save it! :P I kid, I kid!

In university I had a discussion from one of my roommates about this (he was from Calgary) along with some people from Toronto, and we all thought it was silly. The Toronto people thought it was a ripoff of T.dot, and frankly the Alberta boys in the discussion kind of agreed.

[jeffwhit]

So does anyone have an adjusted metro population estimate that includes the south of Calgary area (Okotoks, Turner Valley/BD etc.. what should be included in our CMA) Or do I have to not be lazy and ready through the whole thread?

[DizzyEdge]

As far as the infill thing, my dad has worked with those infills for the better part of the last decade working as a freelance architect/project manager, averaging about ten projects a year. He is constantly bemoaning the red tape coming out of city hall over it (not the least of which is the "architectural style" which some of us are very familiar with from the Beltline ARP), and the vicious resistence of area residents.

Does he find that much red tape in Mt Pleasant? I live there and houses seem to go down at least every 3 months in the neighbourhood, there's a block a few blocks north of me where there is not one original (40s/50s) houses on the block, it's been entirely redeveloped over time. I agree that roads like center are ideal for pretty high density developments, and even 4th could do with some medium ( 4 story?) development. I'm very much in favour of strategically determining ideal spots for high density rather than just upzoning a whole lowrise neighbourhood and then throwing the dice and see what gets built where.



What i would personally love to see though is more development in ramsey... with the work going into East Vic and East Village it would turn that part of the Elbow river into our own yaletown/false creek area, with a gorgeous little stream inbetween... it could definately become a nice urban playground.

As a board member for a heritage society I definately have some love for Ramsay's.... museum-like qualities, some might say stagnation but I don't believe much has changed there for 100 years so it's more like in suspended animation, but at the same time I think there's definately room for very considerate densification, perhaps along 12th street, around the Bridgeworks site that Torode is planning, and perhaps even on parts of Spiller Road. Also both Ramsay and Inglewood abutt directly onto industrial, I'm personally of the opinion that reclaiming some of that industrial for high density (even very high density) development would be a good thing.

[DizzyEdge]

My main worry about densification of historic neighbourhoods is rezoning and creating a free-for-all vs choosing the most ideal areas for the redevelopment... which is why I think Varsity is letting and opportunity slip by, if I lived there I'd love to be able to wear the "we did our part to increase our density" tshirt by creating a big dense development in an underutilized parcel vs having the city upzone the whole neighbourhood some time in the future.

[DizzyEdge]

You say that like this is anything other than a gold medal design winner:

http://www.viewcalgary.com/downtown/pBVS.jpg

(or 'the projects')

[JBinCalgary]

yeah, i too am not really a fan of BVS

[SteveP]

Does he find that much red tape in Mt Pleasant? I live there and houses seem to go down at least every 3 months in the neighbourhood, there's a block a few blocks north of me where there is not one original (40s/50s) houses on the block, it's been entirely redeveloped over time. I agree that roads like center are ideal for pretty high density developments, and even 4th could do with some medium ( 4 story?) development. I'm very much in favour of strategically determining ideal spots for high density rather than just upzoning a whole lowrise neighbourhood and then throwing the dice and see what gets built where.


As a board member for a heritage society I definately have some love for Ramsay's.... museum-like qualities, some might say stagnation but I don't believe much has changed there for 100 years so it's more like in suspended animation, but at the same time I think there's definately room for very considerate densification, perhaps along 12th street, around the Bridgeworks site that Torode is planning, and perhaps even on parts of Spiller Road. Also both Ramsay and Inglewood abutt directly onto industrial, I'm personally of the opinion that reclaiming some of that industrial for high density (even very high density) development would be a good thing.



I'd like to see the city rezone areas along main arteries like Center Street and 4th Street, etc.. I agree, rezoning a whole neighborhood can really throw things out of kilter.

The way to do it is to create a creeping effect. Rezone streets like Centre Street N, and after it gets developed and matures a little, start working inward..rezone another row of blocks inward.

[LordMandeep]

reall if you build a high density Lrt or a subway even in a crappy area with nothing around and you will have lots of new density.

[DizzyEdge]

I'd like to see the city rezone areas along main arteries like Center Street and 4th Street, etc.. I agree, rezoning a whole neighborhood can really throw things out of kilter.

The way to do it is to create a creeping effect. Rezone streets like Centre Street N, and after it gets developed and matures a little, start working inward..rezone another row of blocks inward.

Agreed, even if eventually over decades an entire neighbourhood gets redeveloped, the rezoning should be done in a way that even once you're at the last block of original single family houses, that block is in good shape, rather than the seemingly historic steps of
1) rezone willy nilly
2) chaotic developments go up
3) remaining houses become run down rentals
4) city bulldozes them into parking lots for 3 decades
5) redevelopment occurs

and the thing with upzoning around arteries is you get 2 benefits, higher density for no real bad effect on the neighbourhood, and also the higher density can shield the interior single family housing from traffic noise and the like.

[DizzyEdge]

urban fare, vancouver -- condo podium, underground parking
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/410852059_ea75206a60.jpg?v=0



That's really cool. :tup:

[freeweed]

I really wish they would factor if you need a car or not into these affordability surveys. Like Winnipeg is very affordable in that it housing is ultra cheap, but you need a car to go everywhere which adds at least $8000-10000 annually

That's a pretty expensive car to use in a "needs" category.

We have a brand new snooty make car and it's running us just over $600/month, including everything. And that's way too expensive. Get a KIA and I'm sure a person could do it for under $400/month. Never mind used cars...

However, I think they don't bother factoring in cars, as it's assumed that everyone in Canada just owns one anyway. Right or wrong. :shrug: Actually, they likely don't care, because it is in fact possible to live in just about any large city without a car. I've done it in both Winnipeg and Calgary, it's just annoyingly inconvenient.

[Calgarian]

I don't find they design very pleasing. They may have ground level retail, but I wonder if the building will suffer from the same fate as some of those '70's apartment buildings in the West End such as Calgary Place ( I think). Public spaces like the ones proposed on top of the podium seem to not work very well. I think it will become a sterile environment quickly. It seems sloppy, and unresolved. The office portion is atrocious.

Calgary Place has a pool on the terrace! lots of people use it too in the summer I think.

[Boris2k7]

You know, I think that BVS is a little boring, but I wouldn't say it is necessarily an ugly complex. At night I think it is actually quite nice. But there are definately worse buildings in Calgary...

Bow Valley Square
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7135/dscn1823cs9.jpg

Public Library/Courts Block
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2407/dscn1801jt7.jpg

4th and 4th
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/5582/dscn1334yf2.jpg

Ugly Ass Building behind the Palliser
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6262/ugliness2vx4.jpg

[DizzyEdge]

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/2407/dscn1801jt7.jpg

^---------------------^WORST



Ugly Ass Building behind the Palliser
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6262/ugliness2vx4.jpg

Ugly, but I'm gonna start that passport tomorrow! :D
It's like a giant 80's brick rocketship

[DizzyEdge]

I wonder what's the tallest building that's been torn down in calgary in order to build a taller one? (excluding things like grain elevators in downtown, I mean office/residential -> taller office/residential)

[onishenko]

I have actually.... I have to agree, pretty ugly.

[Calgarian]

^---------------------^WORST




Ugly, but I'm gonna start that passport tomorrow! :D
It's like a giant 80's brick rocketship

That would be Mount Royal House, Bottlescrew Bills is a cool pub, home of the Around the World in 80 Beers club, you get a year to do it, but those beers can be pretty pricey, $14 for a bottle of Chimay Red (made by Belgian monks lol).

[DizzyEdge]

Here's what I would do:

1) Take one of the city owned parkades and convert it to carpool parking only. Only cars with 3 or more people can park in the designated parkade.

2) Take the other city owned parkades and change the rates to help out short term parking.......example, the first 3 hours, it's 3 dollars an hour.... 10 dollars an hour for each hour past the three.


I like both these ideas!

[ScottFromCalgary]

Ugly, but I'm gonna start that passport tomorrow! :D

I started that passport once and got into it pretty good, but then I realized what a waste it was to spend so much on bottles of beer in a mediocre bar simply to get my name on the wall. Cool idea though.

[DizzyEdge]

That would be Mount Royal House, Bottlescrew Bills is a cool pub, home of the Around the World in 80 Beers club, you get a year to do it, but those beers can be pretty pricey, $14 for a bottle of Chimay Red (made by Belgian monks lol).

Yeah, but I made a discovery a month ago, that I really like Guinness (hated it when I last tried it 5 yrs or so ago), so St Paddy's seems the perfect day to start my passport.

[DizzyEdge]

I started that passport once and got into it pretty good, but then I realized what a waste it was to spend so much on bottles of beer in a mediocre bar simply to get my name on the wall. Cool idea though.

There's some truth to that, but for me I'm more intending it as a way to steer me through 80 beers, many of which I likely haven't tried nor would otherwise.

Mmmm beer :cheers: :slob:

[ScottFromCalgary]

^The problem me and my buddies had with Bottlescrew Bill's is not the drinking of 80 beers in one year or the $500 its gonna cost you to do it, but that we would have to go there for a few beers every couple weeks, or get pissed there every couple months. Frankly, there are a lot of other places I would rather patronize that Bottlescrew Bill's, so after getting through maybe 15 beers we just dropped the place. If it was a nicer bar closer to where I live, I would have done it.

[DizzyEdge]

You make far too much sense

[IntotheWest]

I thought Sunterra was taking up two floors in that Keynote - along with some patio area? Is that not in that building?

I think depending on the glass it may not look too bad - may even be good. I think most everyone just simply sees the obvious similarity to PCC and doesn't like it?? Then again, I think my tastes in buildings seem a little different than others here...

...having said that, Oscar is simply the worst there is. I still can't get over that thingy on top, or the front/podium. Terrible.