Development Rumours

[christopher_chafe]

Originally Posted by Townie709

So chris, did you manage to get the "Proposal 23" render for us before you leave on Tuesday or will you get the opportunity to?? or will we have to wait until March 11th?

I will have access to this proposal 10 days before it is made public. As my other post in the general thread, I have accepted a well paying job with an IT company that is starting in NL very shortly, a company that I hope will put those bastards at Blue Drop off the map.

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by christopher_chafe

I will have access to this proposal 10 days before it is made public. As my other post in the general thread, I have accepted a well paying job with an IT company that is starting in NL very shortly, a company that I hope will put those bastards at Blue Drop off the map.

So we should hear from you this week?

[Townie709]

Yup sounds like if this project exists, we will hear about it on Friday. Looking forward to hearing some real news, but I'm not holding my breath..

[mrjanejacobs]

I have a few comments on this forum (I just read through from the beginning).

First - great idea for a thread.

Second - I'm an Architect/Designer/Urbanist originally from St.John's but currently living in Montreal/Brussels - I am kind of out of the loop with the St.John's developments, but if you guys ever need a quick spatial rendering on the skyline or something - shoot me a message and I will do it for you. I have no idea what your backgrounds are - but I saw some comments about not knowing how to do these renderings. They're not too tough - so if you don't know - I'd be happy to help.

Third - let's get political. I am kind of disconcerted to see so much support for O'Keefe. I understand that O'Leary isn't the most popular when it comes to pro-development folks but I think that her reputation has kind of been skewed by the media. Pro-heritge district does not mean anti-development or anti-modernization. I met with her once last year for a chat and she has some pretty legitimate ideas when it comes to modernizing the City. She is not as stubborn as you guys are portraying her.

My bigger problem resides with Mr. O'Keefe. He might be 'pro-business' - but he is certainly not pro-sustainability or pro-quality of life. This is the man who, when metrobus was on strike for a few months, said something along the lines of 'we all did just fine without it' as if public transit wasn't an asset to the City. I understand you're a majority of pro-development-minded people - but think about how public transit would change the face and form of our City. With public transit that carted people from CBS, Paradise, Mount Pearl to downtown, paired with costly/limited downtown parking then we could begin to develop our parking wastelands in the downtown that are currently unsightly as well as hurdles to densification. Public transit is key - Mr. O'Keefe doesn't understand this.

O'Keefe simply has no vision. He is sitting on his Mayor's chair collecting some extra cash, enjoying the feeling of being important but unenthusiastically pushing the agenda of the City. Let's talk about SUSTAINABILITY. Not ecological sustainability exclusively, but more generally as a concept. Renewable communities, urban spaces, downtowns - nearby amenities, walkable communities, cultural sensitivity, density, etc. Being pro-business doesn't make you a good local governor. I am not arguing the case of Ms. O'Leary, FYI.

We need to acknowledge that development and heritage conservation are not mutually exclusive concepts. Attention to heritage conservation is simply a more sustainable approach by managing our cultural resources as a City. We can't exploit our great historic downtown without being VERY cautious. The height laws are important because we developed on a hillside/slope. If we are too liberal with our height laws and allow anything to go up then we will have a literal concrete/glass/man-made wall blocking all residents to the water and narrows. That's not fair. There are better alternatives. Let's just be creative.

[SignalHillHiker]

Wow, welcome! It's always wonderful to welcome new members with such extremely relevant expertise.

And, politically speaking, great post. Lots to think about. I started in the pro-O'Leary camp. Lately I've been leaning to Doc. But there's really no one who is saying exactly the types of things I want to hear.

Doc has hit the ball out of the park a couple of times lately while O'Leary has seemed... as quick to jump to conclusions and act publicly on them as I am. Which might not be good for a mayor...

But we'll see how the campaign goes! It's going to be an exciting one, for sure.

[Townie709]

Today is the day Chris said he would share all the info on "Proposal 23". I'm going to say what we're all thinking. I'm pretty sure this was just a big attention grab by Chris and no project of the sort/magnitude actually exists. That's just my opinion and I'll happily be proven wrong.

If it exists than I apologize to chris, but if it doesn't than shame on you.. haha

[rwspencer38]

I had my doubts for many reasons. I won't get into some of them here but lets just say I know a little more than most of the people on this forum. I hope I'm wrong as mega developments are generally a good thing.

[SignalHillHiker]

Then you are hereby ordered to attend our next forum meet and share a little more.

[jeddy1989]

yeah no word from anyone *cough cough* in quite a few weeks, so I hearby declare Proposal 23 as non existent (at least in any form that we were lead to believe) Maybe on the 11th something will come out but I guess we will just have to wait and see

[Townie709]

I declare it non-existent as well. If he lied to us about "23", no doubt Fortis reviving the 15 story proposal is bull as well. That sucks.

The only thing I don't get is how does someone get enjoyment out of describing and discussing a mega-project that doesn't even exist. Like when I joked around with that fake article, It lasted all of 15 minutes. I don't understand why someone would want to describe a project in great detail on multiple occasions AND defend your lies whenever they were questioned. Why put so much time and efforts into deceiving strangers and trying to disappoint them?? Luckily I am not disappointed because I never truely believed it. HA. Strange too how chris has disappeared lately...

Either Chris is telling the truth and we're all (or just me!) going to seem like asses, (I give that a 4% likelyhood..) or he has serious social issues

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by Townie709

I declare it non-existent as well. If he lied to us about "23", no doubt Fortis reviving the 15 story proposal is bull as well. That sucks.

The only thing I don't get is how does someone get enjoyment out of describing and discussing a mega-project that doesn't even exist. Like when I joked around with that fake article, It lasted all of 15 minutes. I don't understand why someone would want to describe a project in great detail on multiple occasions AND defend your lies whenever they were questioned. Why put so much time and efforts into deceiving strangers and trying to disappoint them?? Luckily I am not disappointed because I never truely believed it. HA. Strange too how chris has disappeared lately...

Either Chris is telling the truth and we're all (or just me!) going to seem like asses, (I give that a 4% likelyhood..) or he has serious social issues

if it was just to get us going, then it is a case of extreme trolling

[rwspencer38]

trolling... and it doesn't surprise me

[jeddy1989]

Just so I make it clear to everyone in the St. John's Sub forum

Trolling can get you suspended or even banned from SSP. So don't do it. (little jokes are different but making out that you have insight on a major project just to get people going and defending it/continuing to play along is not OK)

[Copes]

While I'm leaning towards the trolling option as well, I've also thought about the possibility that it was discovered he was leaking this information (considering he used his real name, if someone stumbled upon this forum it wouldn't be hard to trace a leak) and was told to steer clear of SSP and post no more. Or was cut out of the loop. Likely we won't know.

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by Copes

While I'm leaning towards the trolling option as well, I've also thought about the possibility that it was discovered he was leaking this information (considering he used his real name, if someone stumbled upon this forum it wouldn't be hard to trace a leak) and was told to steer clear of SSP and post no more. Or was cut out of the loop. Likely we won't know.

Let's hope the NSS didn't find out about this and get to him!!!

Haha, but seriously, when are we going to hear about this "major development involving the garage" O'keefe said was coming in "early 2013"... It's now match. give us news!

[Copes]

Originally Posted by Townie709

Let's hope the NSS didn't find out about this and get to him!!!

Haha, but seriously, when are we going to hear about this "major development involving the garage" O'keefe said was coming in "early 2013"... It's now match. give us news!

I'm just thinking, if I were to leak information that I know, I would very quickly be cut out of the loop. Could be why no pictures have emerged and he has bailed on the forums. He was told to stay away or lose a job, and he hasn't been shown the pictures because he's proven untrustworthy?

Just a theory, in case anything does come to light regarding this site in the future.

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by Copes

I'm just thinking, if I were to leak information that I know, I would very quickly be cut out of the loop. Could be why no pictures have emerged and he has bailed on the forums. He was told to stay away or lose a job, and he hasn't been shown the pictures because he's proven untrustworthy?

Just a theory, in case anything does come to light regarding this site in the future.

You have too much faith

[Robg]

Knew it was unrealistic but still was hopefull something of that magnitude would turn out to be true. As far as the Fortis redesign, I heard rumblings they would come public with a new proposal. But just rumours so I am safe putting it on this thread haha.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Trolling is ban-able? Uh oh

[jeddy1989]

ok I know that the garage one is a serious one .. just sayin