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- Thread starter Surrealplaces
- Start date
Oddball
Senior Member
Innnnnnnteresting. 'Bout dang time someone took a crack at Motel Village.
Lame Fact: My family used to go to that Red Lobster all the time. True story. I can tell you're all impressed.
Lame Fact: My family used to go to that Red Lobster all the time. True story. I can tell you're all impressed.
Zoom
Active Member
I would be impressed Oddball, except we used to go there too lol
Glad to see something in the works for that location.
Glad to see something in the works for that location.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
Site is within 2km of a student enrolment population of 50,000+ (U of C + Sait). As these institutions aren't going away , the only remarkable fact is that it has taken this long for the land use development to catch up to the existing demand. Great idea and perfect location for development of this sort well into the future.
With that said, I think the NW hub area (i.e. SAIT, Northhill, U of C, Foothills Medical, Foothills Athletic, Banff Trail etc.) is the worst urban planning disaster that Calgary has and is generally ignored. So many jobs, students and activities all within walking distance of each other that are completely wasted through insular institution planning, ignoring pedestrians as much as possible, and promoting car usage in what is essentially a city centre location. This area could be a huge node of urbanity and sustainable planning but it is actually one of the most egregious examples of the opposite.
For this development - and any others like it - to be successful, Calgary needs a serious rebuild of all pedestrian connectivity throughout Banff Trail - and all surrounding areas between SAIT, Foothills & U of C, the likes of which we have never done before. This isn't just a matter of adding sidewalks (although remarkably that is required given the lack of sidewalks in the area), the urban realm needs a far more aggressive treatment if it is to transition to something more attractive.
With that said, I think the NW hub area (i.e. SAIT, Northhill, U of C, Foothills Medical, Foothills Athletic, Banff Trail etc.) is the worst urban planning disaster that Calgary has and is generally ignored. So many jobs, students and activities all within walking distance of each other that are completely wasted through insular institution planning, ignoring pedestrians as much as possible, and promoting car usage in what is essentially a city centre location. This area could be a huge node of urbanity and sustainable planning but it is actually one of the most egregious examples of the opposite.
For this development - and any others like it - to be successful, Calgary needs a serious rebuild of all pedestrian connectivity throughout Banff Trail - and all surrounding areas between SAIT, Foothills & U of C, the likes of which we have never done before. This isn't just a matter of adding sidewalks (although remarkably that is required given the lack of sidewalks in the area), the urban realm needs a far more aggressive treatment if it is to transition to something more attractive.
@CBBarnett You took the words right out of my mouth. It's a shame that such a busy and important area is so dis-jointed. Motel village with its LRT station is a great place for development, but is completely cut off from everything around it. Same goes for the University, and same for the Hospital complex. I wish there was a good direct pedestrian path from Motel village to the University and Hospital. I'm hoping that more development around the Motel village area spurs on plans for better connectivity.
Alex_YYC
Senior Member
Any renderings or drawings?
Sounds promising, nice to see something getting developed in that area.
Sounds promising, nice to see something getting developed in that area.
Oddball
Senior Member
While I agree with the planning bashing, I think you should also take into account it's god awful to drive in that area too. If cars are supposed to be the focus, that's been bungled horribly too. Typically, nobody wins when it comes to 16th Ave.
Col du Edworthy
Active Member
Interesting to see the proposed interchange for that area, would essentially have this tower fronting directly onto 16th (no more service road). If you haven't gone through all the Crowchild pdfs, they're quite interesting.
http://www.calgary.ca/Transportatio...crowchild-study-phase4-16-24-interchanges.pdf
http://www.calgary.ca/Transportatio...crowchild-study-phase4-16-24-interchanges.pdf
Patrick.1980
Active Member
I would be totally happy if they get rid of that service road, it's always been confusing to drive on.
Always_Biking
Senior Member
Thanks for posting that CdE! I'm really happy to see they are getting rid of the service road and proposing a sidewalk along 16th. This will make such a better pedestrian experience for developments in that area. Well, a start at least. 16th are and University Drive is a clusterF. I'm not sure if it can ever be fixed.
Hey by the way, what does your username mean? I've been meaning to ask you.
Hey by the way, what does your username mean? I've been meaning to ask you.
CBBarnett
Senior Member
It's a common problem in auto-oriented designs: they tend to fail for everyone eventually, including drivers.
Always_Biking
Senior Member
Indeed they do, whereas good pedestrian realms are timeless. Once you get it right you can leave it that way for a 1000 years.
Col du Edworthy
Active Member
The name is just my play on the French cycling term for mountain passes, ie Col du Tourmalet but for the Edworthy hill climb
Always_Biking
Senior Member
Well done!
BKha
Active Member
It's good that they will be changing the layout, but it still looks like a jungle even after the fact. The section around this new development will be better with the changes, I'm glad they are doing away with that weird side road.
