Great Canadian Skywalks!

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by Trans Canada

Which do you think would suck life out more? if Calgary had built underground would it be better or worse for street life?

I don't know. I have not enough experience with skywalks to be able to compare. I know that in Montreal, sometimes, it feels like there are more people underground than above and I can't help to think that if all those people would all be walking outside, downtown would feel much more vibrant. I just find it a little sad that you have to go check downstairs to see that there are some action downtown. Not always, but often. How does that compare to Calgary's situation with walkways ? I don't know. Do you ?

[taal]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Why is ug better? Previously I have used both RESO and PATH extensively and I prefer the +15 WAY MORE. Seeing daylight and the sun is critical. Well at least it much be since both RESO and PATH have built some pretty impressive skylights to bring the sun into the ug realm!

BTW, since both PATH and RESO are bigger than the +15 network, the real issue with Calgary is that we still don't have the critical mass DT like those two cities. Which makes sense since we are much smaller than either.

Personally I'm ok with the +15 network. Serious users know it's crowded in the winter and dead in the summer. No surprise. Interesting in that I find the +15 less used in the summer than either PATH/RESO. Humidity/heat like in Houston?

I don't think this is really accurate ... I'm willing to bet downtown Calgary is more dense then downtown Montreal from a office per square foot point of view ... Montreal's core is much more spread ...

[Chadillaccc]

I'll go around and take some pics of the plus 15s tomorrow. It's the largest skywalk network in the world in a municipality of 1.2 million people, it's obviously not just a series of hallways It will of course be integrated into the two planned subway lines as well.

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

New York doesn't have anything like it, but it's very crowded and no one get run over. A city needs to have people walking on its streets. Calgary has pretty much no snow compared to Montréal or even Toronto.

Calgary and Toronto actually have similar amounts of snowfall on an annual basis. If we actually break it down, Calgary receives more snow per year than Toronto. It's not a huge amount, but to say Calgary has "pretty much no snow" compared to Toronto is simply not true.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...hys08a-eng.htm

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

It's because RÉSO is an interconnected underground complex. shopping malls, apartment buildings, hotels, banks, condos, offices, museums, universities, 7 Metro stations, 2 commuter train station, regional bus terminal, Bell Center. You can't do that with an outdoor network. Many tunnels are large enough to have shops on both sides of the passage.

but most importantly, the design ++

The Future by The Irish Samurai, on Flickr

Lieu de passage I by David Ouellette, on Flickr

Montreal Underground: Victoria Square by UncaMikey, on Flickr

station de métro Jarry by leuntje, on Flickr

Beaudry | 1 by Simon Laroche_8, on Flickr

etc.

I walked through all of these this summer while in Montreal. They certainly are futuristic and very cool looking I remember commenting to myself how awesome the designs were.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

I don't know. I have not enough experience with skywalks to be able to compare. I know that in Montreal, sometimes, it feels like there are more people underground than above and I can't help to think that if all those people would all be walking outside, downtown would feel much more vibrant. I just find it a little sad that you have to go check downstairs to see that there are some action downtown. Not always, but often. How does that compare to Calgary's situation with walkways ? I don't know. Do you ?

I've been in Montreal's underground, in Edmonton's mix of underground and above ground and in Calgary's above ground and of the three systems, I found that the most pedestrian life/traffic outside was in Calgary - my feeling is if you're walking about in Calgary's system and you can see that it's bright and sunny outside, then there is a good chance that some of those people inside will venture outside. Being underground pretty much takes away any sense of the outside world and what it might be like out there - I know there were times when I was in the +15 system in Calgary during the lunch hour and deliberately went outside on a winter day because one could see it just wasn't that bad outside, a little bit of fresh air can do wonders for one's psyche even it's a bit chilly.\
Another interesting thing about Calgary's +15 system is there are some wonderful little outdoor parks hidden on the +15 level plus there's some very nice indoor park spaces as well - Devonian Gardens would be the largest although it's new sterile dentist office feel doesn't quite work for me.

[travis3000]

Originally Posted by speedog

I've been in Montreal's underground, in Edmonton's mix of underground and above ground and in Calgary's above ground and of the three systems, I found that the most pedestrian life/traffic outside was in Calgary - my feeling is if you're walking about in Calgary's system and you can see that it's bright and sunny outside, then there is a good chance that some of those people inside will venture outside. Being underground pretty much takes away any sense of the outside world and what it might be like out there - I know there were times when I was in the +15 system in Calgary during the lunch hour and deliberately went outside on a winter day because one could see it just wasn't that bad outside, a little bit of fresh air even it's a bit chilly can do wonders for one's psyche.

I don't think you can really compare Montreal's system to anywhere else in Canada (outside of Toronto). The city has dozens of kilometres of underground pathways, one of the largest on the entire planet. To even try and compare that to something in Calgary or Edmonton.... well let's just say it's apples and oranges.

Also, I used Montreal's underground network this summer while it was raining and it came in so handy. Took the hotel elevator down to the underground network, took a few hallways which led into the subway. Got off a few stops over, walked into a mall, did some shopping, ate lunch, saw a movie, and went back to my hotel all without going outside. Now that is an awesome system. I know TO is similar of course, I've used it many times. But these two cities are on total different levels with their parallel pedestrian networks.

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by travis3000

I don't think you can really compare Montreal's system to anywhere else in Canada (outside of Toronto). The city has dozens of kilometres of underground pathways, one of the largest on the entire planet. To even try and compare that to something in Calgary or Edmonton.... well let's just say it's apples and oranges.

32km of tunnels spread over more than 12 km2. There are more than 120 exterior access points to the underground city.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by travis3000

I don't think you can really compare Montreal's system to anywhere else in Canada (outside of Toronto). The city has dozens of kilometres of underground pathways, one of the largest on the entire planet. To even try and compare that to something in Calgary or Edmonton.... well let's just say it's apples and oranges.

Of note, Martin Mtl is the one that posed the comparison question - I only responded in kind to it and I think a comparison can be made.

[Chadillaccc]

Being over 18 kilometers long and growing very quickly, I'd say the Plus 15 system is very comparable. Might be much smaller, but it's still very large in its own right. The system types in and of themselves are apples to oranges, but not their extents or the affect on the cores of their respective cities. With BP, Manulife, City Centre, Place 10, Eau Claire, Eau Claire Tower, and the many other buildings going up on the network, I wouldn't be surprised to see at 20 kilometers by 2017, and well into the 20s by the 2020s.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by speedog

Of note, Martin Mtl is the one that posed the comparison question - I only responded in kind to it and I think a comparison can be made.

No, Trans-Canada suggested the comparison. Like I said, I can't compare, since I've never been to Calgary.

[caltrane74]

The newest skywalk in Toronto



Southcore connection to Toronto Harbourfront.

It goes under the Gardiner and over the Lakeshore.

[caltrane74]

A tour through the Brand New Skywalks in Southcore

Enjoy!

[caltrane74]

More

[CanadianCentaur]

With the new arena and some towers u/c, this was bound to happen sooner or later.

As Edmonton's pedway system currently totals about 13 km, a 40% increase would put it up to over 18 km.

Lamphier: It’s Pedwaytropolis! City’s pedway network to undergo big expansion

By Gary Lamphier, Edmonton Journal April 25, 2015

EDMONTON - Downtown Edmonton’s sprawling indoor pedway system is about to undergo a major expansion, extending its reach throughout the city core.

The new Edmonton Arena District is driving much of the anticipated growth as city planners, working closely with developers, seek to integrate several new trophy buildings into the current tri-level indoor pathway network, which includes underground, ground-level and second-storey pedways.

“We’re going to have 40 per cent more pedways by the time the buildings under construction right now are built, never mind what else might be constructed,” says Jim Taylor, president of the Downtown Business Association, and a big fan of pedways.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...435/story.html

As this map is from the EAD website (http://www.ead.ca/), this map does not show planned/proposed pedway extensions to places such as the Kelly-Ramsey Building (u/c - across 101 St from Manulife Place - right where it says "FINANCIAL DISTRICT" in the map)

For an even bigger version of the map below:

[GlassCity]

What does a ground level pedway look like? Are there just tunnels running along the surface between buildings?

[Beedok]

I would guess just a podium mall thing.

[J.OT13]

Rideau Centre Skywalks have been posted here before; opened in 83' there big, outdated, in rough shape and all around eyesores. One of them even punches a hole in Hudson Bay's façade.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdhc/4391837410/


http://centretown.blogspot.ca/2014/0...lic-realm.html


http://www.tripadvisor.ca/LocationPh...a_Ontario.html

The east skywalk, the widest one connecting the Hudson Bay's 83' expansion (the Freiman Mall) and used as retail space for HBC, is currently closed for renovations while the west skywalk, punching a hole in the older part of the HBC building is rumored to be demolished once the east bridge re-opens, although the renderings of the renovated/expanded Rideau show both.

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Apr 14, 2015
Photo by me

Rendering with east skywalk on the right:


http://www.entuitive.com/project/rid...and-expansion/

Rendering with west skywalk on the left, which might actually be removed:


http://www.bharchitects.com/en/projects/397

[BretttheRiderFan]

Edmonton's Pedway could really use better signage within the actual pathways. Especially in the Westin/Churchill Square/Winspear/AGA area.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

Edmonton's Pedway could really use better signage within the actual pathways. Especially in the Westin/Churchill Square/Winspear/AGA area.

Wouldn't be too tough to accomplish, Calgary did it fairly quickly a couple years before I moved here, to my understanding. Signage and interactive map pedestals really do wonders for the cohesion of the network.