Quote:
Originally Posted by spring lake
I not a native Frederictonian. Please forgive my lack of historical reference here. These are my thoughts:
When I first came here in 2013, I was impressed. Finding a city with a harmonious “built environment” is like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack these days.
Some people in city planning seemingly want to mar what is unique about Fredericton. Lately, they are allowing structures that are more symbols of developer greed, and detract from the local neighborhood. There is a new very large, bulky apartment building that you see on the right when going over the Westmorland bridge to the North side. It is on St Mary’s St., and dwarfs the nearby lovely homes in that riverside neighborhood. (The other dominating building on the north side of the river is Southview. I wonder who allowed that eyesore).
There is a new mid-rise going up on west Queen Street and the developers supposedly bought the land from the city for $1. That new building is massive compared to the other structures in the city. Yes, there are other buildings as tall, but the new building is broader. It likely has more square footage than any other building in the city. I understand that mayor Woodside likes development for the sake of development alone; the "any development is good” mentality. What does this building add to the city beyond the tax income? It does not contribute aesthetically. I have lived in South Florida and I am used to developers getting their way with ugly structures on waterfronts, but why allow that here?
I can see a more modest structure on the site making a contribution to the city. Some of those in power here must think that bigger is better. Too bad they are eager to mimic places that are not as nice.
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I've lived in Fredericton since 1999. When I arrived here, there were very few condo buildings or townhouses because you could buy a small home for under $100k - sometimes well under. As the housing market rallied, people began to be priced out of single family homes and construction of low-rise condos, garden homes, and townhouses increased throughout the city.
A single family homes often isn't a realistic option for people who want to live in or near the city centre and thus we are seeing these larger developments. I applaud them because they are bringing density to our downtown, which makes for a more vibrant downtown with more shopping, entertainment, and dining options.
That said, I will say that many of the buildings being constructed lack visual appeal. While the Westpointe building looks quite nice I'm concerned that the Royale T Suites (worst name ever!) will be quite ugly. I do wish that developers would more often hire good architects.
I don't really see an issue with the apartment building you mention on St. Mary's Street. It isn't directly adjacent to any single family homes and also borders a commercial property. That area of Devon has always had a mix of developments and having an apartment building near older single family homes is pretty typical no matter what city you're in.
The apartments on Queen Street are near existing apartments buildings so they fit in well in my opinion.
When you talk about developer greed I think we need to contextualize exactly what it takes to generate a profit. As mentioned above, the land for Royale T. Suites was basically given to the developer but the cost just to prepare the land for construction was over $1M. To justify that expenditure you need a large building.
I really like the vision that Fredericton has for its downtown. It will take decades to truly realize but it's great to see the city doing long term planning. Having more residents in the downtown area is a critical step in the process and hopefully it won't be too long before we see a new Playhouse, a redevelopment of the old Playhouse, a new hotel adjacent to the convention centre, and development of the Irving lands at Regent and King.