Quote:
Originally Posted by RyeJay
Spring Garden Road is quite the hot spot.
Once the library is completed it will give this street a big jolt of walking traffic.
I love making the downtown busier!
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What I like is how some long-standing issues are finally being fixed. The empty Queen Street corner and Clyde Street dead zone have been around for decades, holding the street back. They were a major problem and the fact that they're finally being dealt with gives me a lot of hope for further improvements.
There's a very important relationship between density and amenities when it comes to determining the "critical mass" of a neighbourhood. When you hit the point where you can have stuff like Pete's, which requires a certain level of residential market, the neighbourhood becomes way more appealing. Government-owned empty lots stack the deck against urban neighbourhoods because they cut down on density without adding anything beyond what would be available in an actual development.
I think similar residential infill would do wonders for the downtown area and Barrington, and would even increase demand for residential. Right now the old downtown is on the wrong side of the feedback loop, where it just doesn't have enough stuff to make it a good place to locate, so nobody moves in. It does seem to be improving a bit but if a dozen or so condo towers moved in the difference would be like night and day.