University District | ?m | ?s | University of Calgary Properties Group

[haltcatchfire]

I assume the roads through these are essential for emergency access and accessibility, and perhaps for non essentials like delivery.

 

[Silence&Motion]

Obviously there are business and regulatory reasons for ensuring oversized asphalt driveways reach every last corner of this development. But mark my word: one day some creative and ambitious developer will manage to convince some North American city government to allow them to be a car free neighbourhood and it will be extremely successful and we'll wonder why it was ever illegal to build them in the first place.

 

[Calgcouver]

Calgary is a car oriented city. As much as I hate to say it these developers have to make sure that they don't remove this type of buyer demographic.
Also these developers want to make it welcoming for people to visit by having visible available parking - mehh.

I still think that University district has made the best effort for reducing the amount of surface parking by having plenty of underground parking with retail on the first floor and residences on the upper floors (on the main strip)

Problem is parking minimums and that’s why you get this. Parking minimum is 1.25 stalls per unit plus 0.15 visitor stalls per unit (generally without relaxation). When you’re trying to plan sites in Calgary you are forced to over park then because of this. If they did away with parking minimums like Edmonton, boom better outcomes. Also in a place like university district on for sale units, you can’t tell me a unit would sell without a single titled parking stall unfortunately.
It’s the LUB we have and how disconnected communities are because they all abut freeways that all play into this outcome. The other thing that drives me nuts here is that strata roads are 7.2m wide when fire standard asks for 6m. In Vancouver you do 6m but here you’re forced to add the extra 1.2m for strata roads (lanes) which leads to excessive hardscaping. All lane and road sizes are supersized here, well above typical engineering design standards.
When you actually try to build to the LUB and the EDCG you realize good urbanism doesn’t work without relaxations that reduce the reassurances necessary to move a project forward

 

[Surrealplaces]

Took a bike ride through University District this morning, it was nice to see University Avenue bustling with people. Most of The traffic was for OEB, or Savon foods but still who is nice to see the place bustling and I can only imagine it’s gonna be bustling even more when ALT, the Forge, and Argyle are finished.

This place isn’t even halfway done yet and it already feels like a success.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Another development looks ready to kick off.

 

[UrbanRED]

Rohit is a suburban developer legendary for cutting corners in Edmonton, but their new condo developments in Edmonton have turned out alright (looks wise):

Stadium Yards | ?m | 6s | Rohit Communities

Branching off from the Muttart Lands Development thread. Rohit bought the land off Brookfield Land is divided into four parcels This will be the first to be developed, "Area 2", closest to Jasper Ave and Edgewater Southern tip of area will be public park EDC presentation is a DP application...

edmonton.skyrisecities.com

 

[JustDandy]

Another development looks ready to kick off.

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Someone kill the faux mansard roofs . Metal mansard roofs are reserved for 90's mcd's

 

[whatchyyc]

If they did away with parking minimums like Edmonton

Didn't they remove parking minimums last year?

 

[MichaelS]

They removed them for commercial uses, but have kept them in place for residential uses.

 

[Surrealplaces]

It’s official, Block 23 has come of age.

 

[haltcatchfire]

If you scoop it, they will come.

 

[MichaelS]

I went and saw Top Gun there a couple of weeks ago (I know, way late on seeing that movie) and was amazed at how vibrant and active the place was when we left at 10:00 on a Wednesday night. Really cool vibe. A great addition to the neighbourhood and city.

 

[Surrealplaces]

That one block stretch of University Ave that is already developed is surprisingly vibrant, considering it's basically one block. Once Forge and Argyle are finished, it'll be two full block on both sides, and will even be busier.

 

[Joborule]

I mentioned it in the Capela thread already, but my post may be more applicable here.

Because this is out of the core, this is arguably the most urban type of area you’ll find in the city that’s free from some of the issues that plague downtown neighbourhoods, crime, homeless people, etc.

NGL, I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city with a couple years. It has all the benefits of inner city living without a lot of the cons (as previously mentioned), not to mention it's arguably better planned than Calgary's inner city neighborhoods. Once this becomes established and the trees start to mature this will be once of the nicest places in the city.

If this area is the most urban outside of the downtown core, I feel that it gives even more merit to have a gondola/people mover system go through the NW-Hub, rather than settle with just MAX routes as the main rapid movement within the area.

Initially I thought that a gondola from Westbrook to University Station, going through Foothills Hospital and UCalgary's main entrance would be suffice in connecting the Red Line to the Blue Line, which would give NW & West Calgary commuters a proper rail connection to the hospital. But passing up on University District, and still not having some type of link to Market Mall (which itself could get significant density increase on it's lands) seems like a big miss. So if I was to call the shots, I would also include another gondola line that goes from Banff Trail, and it would stop at Foothills, Children's Hospital/University District, and Market Mall. From there, it could either continue up to to the future Northland Station (stopping at Varsity Plaza on Shaganappi), or head east towards University Station, with a few stops along the way. I think that would be a line that would get good ridership all day long as long as that part of town continues to intensify in population.

 

[Calgcouver]

I mentioned it in the Capela thread already, but my post may be more applicable here.




If this area is the most urban outside of the downtown core, I feel that it gives even more merit to have a gondola/people mover system go through the NW-Hub, rather than settle with just MAX routes as the main rapid movement within the area.

Initially I thought that a gondola from Westbrook to University Station, going through Foothills Hospital and UCalgary's main entrance would be suffice in connecting the Red Line to the Blue Line, which would give NW & West Calgary commuters a proper rail connection to the hospital. But passing up on University District, and still not having some type of link to Market Mall (which itself could get significant density increase on it's lands) seems like a big miss. So if I was to call the shots, I would also include another gondola line that goes from Banff Trail, and it would stop at Foothills, Children's Hospital/University District, and Market Mall. From there, it could either continue up to to the future Northland Station (stopping at Varsity Plaza on Shaganappi), or head east towards University Station, with a few stops along the way. I think that would be a line that would get good ridership all day long as long as that part of town continues to intensify in population.

Could work for sure when the area has a critical mass. Maybe after market mall it could loop back through the innovation district to Brentwood and complete a loop