West End Redevelopment

[polishavenger]

Just for rough Estimation

East Village Area bound by 3rd st East and 6th Street E, and 9th Ave S and 5th Ave S is about 202,500 square meters.

The approximate area of the west end we are discussing is 213,408 square meters. Take out space for park area, and the two areas are similar in size, so that gives you an approximate number of units, and general density needed to achieve them. We need similar density, maybe higher in parts to the East Village to make the west end really work in my opinion.

I suggest we get a charet together amongst those interested to fine tune the concept, get real numbers together with potential market value, and put a report together to present to some Alderman. Any takers? It would be great to have people with greater software skills than I to make it look all pretty.

[Wooster]

I really like the idea of a charrette. It is good to be proactive and get people thinking about an idea. I know as part of the centre city plan they are looking for these kinds of initiatives to happen out there. Although this area is outside the centre city boundaries, it does touch on it. Here was a concept they came up with. They really focus on the Park as the primary use though.

[Lee_Haber8]

Originally Posted by CorporateWhore

Ah, so we are going to go down the "let's force people into changing" route again? Yeah, that always creates happy citizens who love coming into the inner city.

Face it guys, you can't just completely create chaos for cars and think that it will magically turn Calgary into this walkable superland. There will always be a need for private transportation in the city (even in the most walkable cities, decent arterial routes are always needed to move goods and services around), so there has to be a wholistic approach to city planning that mixes both public and private transit. Shifting the majority of resources to transit is fine, but don't go out and blatantly try to make life worse for people.

Maintaining a road on 14th street that hundreds of thousands of people use is not the problem. Wasting money on roads way out in the fuck of Tuscany that about 50 people use, is. Sprawl is a much bigger detriment to pedestrian friendliness than making sure that there is decent flow in a medium sized arterial road in the inner city.

People will only change their behavior when the costs shift. Right now it is very convenient to drive in Calgary in this area and not very convenient to walk because of this interchange. I also don't see how making a simple intersection makes things more chaotic, if anything it makes things simpler albeit slower. The fact is you can't make a place ideal for driving and for walking - you have to choose one or the other

[Riise]

Originally Posted by tokama

^Wow. That is very nice. I like the use of lower towers to create an almost "european" type look and feel.

I totally know what you mean! When I looked at the image with the caption "Don River Park" I thought it looked like a redevelopment plan for Amsterdam.

[frinkprof]

A few questions/comments.

Where does the Greyhound Station move to? I think it is in the plans to become a part of the transit hub on 2nd St. downtown with some underground parking. If I am wrong, then I think it should go there or closeby. Also, trips inbound from the south currently stop at Anderson Station before going to the downtown. I think that they should improve the Greyhound "facilities" at Anderson (currently only a standard looking glass shelter) and also have trips from the north, east, and west stop at LRT stations before heading into downtown, again with some better facilities. Nothing too big but enough to make it a little more convenient to board/disembark there. Then there wouldn't be as much pressure on the downtown station, where ever it might end up.

Onto the development proposed by polishavenger and modified by others. I think there should be some sort of urban grocery store similar to the Safeway in Kensington. It should be within a minute's walking distance from the LRT. If you are going to build an urban community like this between the interchanges of Crowchild and 14th Street, then it needs to have some local services like this otherwise everyone will have to leave in their car in order to live day-to-day.

There should also be a couple pedestrian links over Bow Trail from the south to better link the development to surrounding communities since it is rather constrained pedestrian-wise by the 14th Street interchange and the Crowchild interchange. The thought of a pedestrian link over the river also crossed my mind, but I'm not sure if it should be included or where.

Also, aside from the parks, I think there needs to be some specialty shops to draw people into the area and be a destination, although many of you have accounted for this in your retail proposals.

The other thing that I wanted to mention is that there should be provision for some public art pieces, some of which should be visible from the LRT and Bow Trail, and others which are visible from the other side of the river and 14th Street.

Great ideas so far by everyone.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by frinkprof

There should also be a couple pedestrian links over Bow Trail from the south to better link the development to surrounding communities since it is rather constrained pedestrian-wise by the 14th Street interchange and the Crowchild interchange. The thought of a pedestrian link over the river also crossed my mind, but I'm not sure if it should be included or where.

This would be the natural location for one, connecting to the existing one over memorial Dr. Maybe one more further east?



Something like this?

[polishavenger]

In my more detailed plan (should be ready soon), I have put in a linear park heading north towards the river. At the north end, it has a large public plaza. The entire length of this park is bordered by high density development with a retail and office component on the first two floors. This would probably be the best spot for an urban grocery store. The c-train station would be on the south end of this linear park providing a pedestrian access to the south side of bow trail. On the south end of bow trail i have a linear park running west to east. Every third street has an underpass to link the north with the south, and along with that would be pedestrian links. A river crossing already exists under crowchild trail and along 14th street, so an additional one would be redundant.

I envision a promenade along the river with buildings ranging from 6 - 8 storeys (similar massing to princeton, which i believe has 4 - 6 floors) which have retail on the bottom, and some townhouses.

[polishavenger]

i was also thinking the greyhound station could be relocated into the Inglewood area (the idustrial end) where the future S.E lrt will go. There is some land out there that needs some help to get things developed, and the access is close to deerfoot, so it would be easy for the busses.

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by polishavenger

i was also thinking the greyhound station could be relocated into the Inglewood area (the idustrial end) where the future S.E lrt will go. There is some land out there that needs some help to get things developed, and the access is close to deerfoot, so it would be easy for the busses.

The Greyhound Station could be adjacent to the BarlowMaxBell LRT Station. Quick access to any LRT route from there and into downtown.

The old Science Centre would be a great location for a relocated Glenbow Museum and/or an art gallery.

And in my own little dream world, the Mewata Armouries building would make a great hotel and/or condo tower buildiing (London, ON has turned their Armouries building into a hotel...pretty neat!).

[Aralaus]

I am still championing the idea of an urban stadium... you could put parking levels directly under the stadium (you could even put the LRT directly under it or adjacent *thumbs up*)... you could even have outdoor concerts by getting out of the neighborhood of the sound nazi's...

BUT, that being said.. if no stadium is forthcoming, my only wish for the area is not to have the LRT adjacent to Bow Trail... most area's in the city are killed for T.O.D.s because the train runs along these major thoroughfares, and the sound and physical barrier of an active highway dissuade people from developing the T.O.D. idea... Instead i would like to see the LRT alignment further north in the heart of the development, with little/no park'n'ride facilities, because that close to the core we shouldn't need it (look at Bridgeland concept, no park'n'ride). Instead, put the LRT alignment between lots (like an alleyway) so that it minimizes interference with cars and pedestrians.. it could even give it a "tram" feel, definately in line with the euro-style we all seem to favor here...

just my two cents, now the rest of you can shred away at my idea...