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Urban Development and Proposals Discussion

CPAWS was the main opponent:

I went to the public info sessions in Canmore back in the day and it seemed like only opponents showed up. The public mood has likely shifted more towards support simply because existing resorts are becoming overcrowded and it better appreciates the need for economic diversification. I agree thst the Province has been disorganized and inconsistent on mountain develop mental since the 70s. Hopefully that has changed.

Spray Lakes can be accessed from highway 40 through Kananaskis Lakes.Upgrading Smirh-Dorrien would improve access from Canmore and Banff. At some point, the Province will likely need to do that, including a tunnel on the climb our of Canmore.

Besides Tent Ridge, I'm unsure what other greenfield sites would be suitable. Sparrowhawk is too steep, exposed and has unreliable snow cover. Maybe somewhere in the Highwood Pass area?
 
Does Spray Lakes get enough snow to warrant a ski resort? I think we should get Fortress going again, allow Sunshine and Louise to keep expanding and maybe accommodate another resort in the Crowsnest, but we do also need to accommodate nature since that is kind of the point of protecting these areas.
 
I still think this would be really cool.
1770065380300.png
 
Mt Shark /Tent Ridge gets similar snowfall to Sunshine. Most other mountaineous regions in AB get substantially less snow.

I agree that Sunshine and Louise and even Norquay should expand, but that would be unlikely.

Louise has the most potential :
-Hidden Bowl beyond the new Richardson's Ridge expansion
-Wolverine Ridge, Wolverine Bowl and Purple Bowl to the skier's right of Larch. This area was removed from leasehold in exchange for West Bowl
-backside of West Bowl

Sunshine:
-lift service lower part of Delirium Dive
-open up all of Wawa Ridge, including its backside
-backside of Standish down to Rock Isle Lake
-Twin Cairns above Standish

Norquay:
-terrain beyond Mystic Ridge looksike it would have more sustained vertical, higher elevation and more favorable snow retention

Banff also needs more hotel rooms a d housing, again unlikely
 
DougB said:
Norquay:
-terrain beyond Mystic Ridge looksike it would have more sustained vertical, higher elevation and more favorable snow retention
Click to expand...
Like this maybe:
1770071188286.png

I doubt the ground leases would ever happen. Alas.

I think the main focus should be on a gondola from the townsite. that is a realistic goal.
 
I think any new resort is very unlikely - aside from Fortress, which is 50/50 (it will either happen or it won't!).

But if Fortress does proceed and shows that it is truly a new era of relaxed regulations, I could see a cat-skiing operation in the Engadine/Mt Shark area. Perhaps Engadine Lodge is sufficient for the luxury experience and they could build a more accessible lodge/visitor hub at Mt Shark parking lot. There's a ton of different activities happening nearby including dog-sled tours and heli into Assiniboine and potential for more XC skiing/MTB

And maybe Alberta Parks try to replicate a version of Lake O'Hara - first thought was Marvel Lake (AB side of Assiniboine), but converting the trail to a schoolbus worthy road would be a big endeavour. Elk Lakes would have been ideal if they weren't in BC - they're accessible by vehicle from Sparwood, but there is a 8.5km utility ROW from Kananaskis Lakes that looks to have a fairly substantial road cut.
 
I think Fortress will happen, it's just in what form and how long the buildout will take. The demand is there for another resort, and if they can change some of the rules to allow for condos to help pay for this, then it should become like Kicking Horse or Revy eventually.
 
DougB said:
Mt Shark /Tent Ridge gets similar snowfall to Sunshine. Most other mountaineous regions in AB get substantially less snow.

I agree that Sunshine and Louise and even Norquay should expand, but that would be unlikely.

Louise has the most potential :
-Hidden Bowl beyond the new Richardson's Ridge expansion
-Wolverine Ridge, Wolverine Bowl and Purple Bowl to the skier's right of Larch. This area was removed from leasehold in exchange for West Bowl
-backside of West Bowl

Sunshine:
-lift service lower part of Delirium Dive
-open up all of Wawa Ridge, including its backside
-backside of Standish down to Rock Isle Lake
-Twin Cairns above Standish

Norquay:
-terrain beyond Mystic Ridge looksike it would have more sustained vertical, higher elevation and more favorable snow retention

Banff also needs more hotel rooms a d housing, again unlikely
Click to expand...
As an avid skier, I want to see the national park ski areas expand and offer new terrain if it can be done in a sustainable way. However, allowing skiing to Rock Isle Lake and Hidden Bowl would be a mistake in my opinion. Even if there were no cut runs and just glades, having a lift and egress runs in those areas would tarnish the beautiful hiking and backcountry experience there that so many enjoy.
 
Chowda7 said:

Build Canada Homes Launches Request for Information on Modern Methods of Construction - Canada.ca

Canada’s housing sector is under unprecedented pressure, with demand for affordable homes far exceeding current supply. Build Canada Homes is responding by championing Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)—innovative approaches such as modular, factory-built, and prefabricated systems that can...
www.canada.ca www.canada.ca
Click to expand...
ATCO is falling over themselves to get the feds to pay for half of their new community proposal as a Proof of Concept.
 
Chowda7 said:

Build Canada Homes Launches Request for Information on Modern Methods of Construction - Canada.ca

Canada’s housing sector is under unprecedented pressure, with demand for affordable homes far exceeding current supply. Build Canada Homes is responding by championing Modern Methods of Construction (MMC)—innovative approaches such as modular, factory-built, and prefabricated systems that can...
www.canada.ca www.canada.ca
Click to expand...
Fine program but I don't know why we need to spend so much money reinventing the wheel. Calgary and Edmonton saw an unprecedented amount of new residents, and we built such that housing costs stayed one of the most affordable in the country, and now we're in a bit of a supply glut because we've built too fast. It's not homebuilding methods holding back Vancouver and Toronto.
 
trtcttc said:
now we're in a bit of a supply glut because we've built too fast
Click to expand...
The supply gut is an illusion. There is an over supply of really expensive per square foot units. Plenty of units above $2000 a square foot that were bought by assignment speculators, rolling in their profit from their previous assignment sales blew up in their faces in spectacular fashion.

Sustainably increasing production back to levels achieved in the 70s at the very least needs to be the goal.

The municipalities throw up every barrier imaginable. A project like the triangle site modular homes would take 5 years to get ready to build in Toronto or Vancouver if they ever even would entertain such an idea.

The federal government is eliminating excuses for municipalities that say they're doing everything they can while they are obviously not doing everything they can.
 
darwink said:
The supply gut is an illusion. There is an over supply of really expensive per square foot units. Plenty of units above $2000 a square foot that were bought by assignment speculators, rolling in their profit from their previous assignment sales blew up in their faces in spectacular fashion.

Sustainably increasing production back to levels achieved in the 70s at the very least needs to be the goal.

The municipalities throw up every barrier imaginable. A project like the triangle site modular homes would take 5 years to get ready to build in Toronto or Vancouver if they ever even would entertain such an idea.

The federal government is eliminating excuses for municipalities that say they're doing everything they can while they are obviously not doing everything they can.
Click to expand...
I meant a supply glut in Calgary, not Toronto shoebox condos, which is also over supplied, but agreed those aren't really family homes by Canadian standards. I don't think we have anything at $2000 or even close to that in Calgary.

My argument is that we literally have a playbook of how to increase home production, it's right here in Calgary and Edmonton. We build more homes per capita than almost any other areas of the country. We scaled our production from population decline locally to one of the fastest growing city in the country and our housing production kept pace! This is like a government looking at hyperloop or hydrogen trains, when there's perfectly good HSR technology. We don't need to reinvent homebuilding, cities just need to adopt policies and staff their departments sufficiently.
 
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