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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

Sidewalk Citizen going in the former Boxwood in Central Memorial and building a pavilion over the patio. Designed by Studio North.

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Does anyone know how to filter on the Calgary Development Map to see all active ("i.e. not approved or refused") permits? I think it used to be like this but when they updated the site, it defaults to all histroical permits, or, you can select only one option from the filter list. i.e. right now it appears to be showing 1 or all
 
It's not an obstacle, it just takes away from the potential of the street in my opinion. Any improvement they are going to do will be minor unless there can be permanent changes in the street area (art installations, a fountain for summertime, things like that...). The downside to banning cars is for people trying to find parking, the one ways and traffic ban on 7th mean large circles to get back to where you were.
I agree. As long as vehicular traffic/parking is allowed, there is limited potential. The core of 8th Ave is from Macleod Trail to 3 St SW. I would like to see that section be pedestrian only. It is now during the day, Mon-Fri, and sometimes on weekends. Why not make it permanent? That would free up considerable space to really be imaginative.
 
I agree. As long as vehicular traffic/parking is allowed, there is limited potential. The core of 8th Ave is from Macleod Trail to 3 St SW. I would like to see that section be pedestrian only. It is now during the day, Mon-Fri, and sometimes on weekends. Why not make it permanent? That would free up considerable space to really be imaginative.
I am worried that would kill it retail wise - the illusion of parking being available is a powerful thing. Don't want to turn it into a fancy Sparks Street.
 
As one of the people here old enough to remember the days when there were no cars, I prefer the way it is now. The problem in the past was after hours, Stephen Ave was a dead zone. The cars after hours keep the restaurants and thus the mall, active.
 
There is all kinds of indoor parking 360 degrees around that section of 8th Ave. If it is to become an even more popular destination than it is, people will find parking if they need to. It is not necessary to park on the street right in front of bars and stores to bring people into the core.
I would also argue that over the years, the foot traffic on 8th Ave has increased significantly because of more people living in the core, particularly the Beltline and East Village. This will only increase as more condos and apartment buildings go up in the vicinity. It is the foot traffic that you want to attract with frequency not the couple who drives from their home in ie. Brentwood to downtown, once or twice a year. You are not going to discourage them just because you can't park on 8th Ave any longer.
 
An easy way to trial the situation would be to put up the vehicle gates barring access and leave it for a period of time. Maybe three months? I would like to see it more catered to pedestrians, but I also remember the old Stephen Ave before cars were allowed. The cars were needed to give Stephen Ave a jump start after hours. Is it still needed? Close access to cars for awhile and see the results I guess.
 
I'm fine with the way it is now. There's just not enough pedestrian volume outside the 9-5 to justify closing down the entire street to vehicles.

We usually treat pedestrianization as a strategy for attracting pedestrians which almost always fails. If pedestrians have no reason to walk down a street, they're not going to start walking down it if cars are removed.

The alternative approach is to respond to existing pedestrian volume, reducing vehicular traffic as necessary. For example, I'd be way more in favor of removing vehicle lanes along 17th ave or 8th street because the sidewalks are too small to accommodate the existing foot traffic.
 
They need those bollards that rise out of the ground like they have at the White House vehicle gates that would be able to be opened remotely by emergency vehicles.

Was amazing to see how fast those came up after police went through. If you were following behind your vehicle would be destroyed.

https://goo.gl/maps/R4VTYGyEnEQxuqie8
 
Not sure if mentioned - there's a sign up on a lot in West Eau Claire for another Graywood development.

edit: nevermind, I see it mentioned a few pages back.
 
So the recent updates on Hub at Banff Trail got me looking more closely at that area. I see that there is an approved DP (from 2017) for an office building further north in the TOD area, at 2020 Crowchild Trail NW:

I noticed the other week that the site had been cleared, it was just a surface lot and I am not sure how far north the clearing went. Here it is in Streetview, prior to clearing:

When you check the City's "My Property" map, you can see a building permit has been applied for back in April, BP2019-04408, so that would seem to indicate (along with the cleared site) that they intend to move forward.

The applicant for the DP is Farmor Architecture. While I couldn't find a write-up to go with this rendering, I am pretty sure this is what is proposed/approved for the site:
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Image from the architect's website:
 

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