What brought you to this site?

[Just build it]

I'm curious how people came to to this site. Many of us are from SSP originally, but maybe some of the other newer members found this site some other way.

For me I was along time SSP member.

 

[Sky of Blue]

I believe I was googling information about recently built or soon to be built condos around the beltline. Debating about buying between several. The Royal, The Montana, Smith etc. I was very interested in The Royal, but there was little information out there as it was just being built. This site came up...and I was hooked. People interested in building/developing to create vibrant urban communities and a love of buildings in general. Being a woman, few in my circle have any interest at all or are staunchly NIMBY. Here I can discuss, debate, and most importantly- learn.

 

[JTron]

For me Twitter, but also Google. If you google any construction project in Calgary, this site always comes up in the search.

 

[Beltline_B]

I found this site via Google when looking for information on Park Point. I used to hang at SSP and tried to register an account there, 2 different times but was never able to, so I was a lurker. SSP was going downhill anyway so I stopped visiting the site after a while.

 

[adamyyc]

I was an avid follower of UrbanToronto before moving to Calgary 3 years ago.

 

[haltcatchfire]

Eventually my hourly SSP fix became no longer strong enough and I had to seek something better to relieve the chills and headaches.

 

[Cyric]

Found SSP about 6 years ago when I started looking at buying a place downtown, moved here once the updates dried up over there.

 

[CBBarnett]

Came here after The Decline and Fall of SSP. I appreciate this place for the constructive debates - it's really useful to have a sounding board for any dumb questions or theories that I might not be able to ask elsewhere. I can say this site helps my career and thought process to test out ideas/hear a bunch of different perspectives regarding design, planning and architecture in the city from a wide range of people in similar professions or not. Also great to see shiny new buildings and learn about esoteric construction material installation processes.

 

[Mountain Man]

SSP turned into crap, came here looking for informed people and less BS.

 

[Beazley66]

Was on SSP for quite some time. Met with Surreal a few times, and chatted about Skyrise Calgary being a more stable forum group, and I enjoy the discussions.

 

[Stephen Ave]

Originally from SSP. Like the others came here because SSP was turning to shit.

Truth be told, SSP was at one time the same as this site. Civilized discussion, informative and good contributions, but took a downward turn. Back in the day it was a good place to hang.

That said there are things I prefer with this site.
I like that you can post pics directly rather than having to use photo bucket and imgur. Makes it much easier to use from a phone.
I also like the way each project has its own thread. It took a while to get used to, but now I way prefer it. It’s much easier to find information on specific projects if you need to go back and find something. I suspect it’s also one of the reasons things stay on topic here.
I also love the like buttons, a dozen people don’t have to reply ‘thanks for the updates’ every time somebody post a picture.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I'm probably one of the first people here, other than the people who started the site. I was a long time loyal member of SSP, and enjoyed the site. I started posting here so it would be reasonably up to date, seeing as I was already posting pics at SSP anyhow. Things were kind of going downhill at SSP around that same time, and I started posting here more often. A couple of people at SSP complained that I posted too many pics, so I posted less, but continued to post here.

Also being transparent here, SRC later offered to pay me a monthly stipend to look after the threads and the Calgary projects in the database, something that was a few hours a month worth of work.... and a stipend amount that I would classify as extra beer money. I don't work or collect money in any capacity these days. I'm listed as a staff member, but I don't work for SRC. I do the moderating as a hobby, and still help keep the projects data base and threads up to date as a hobby as well.

Ultimately though, for SSP, there were a few members too many that caused me to leave.

 

[Alex_YYC]

Reddit.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Basically as soon as Surreal left SSP I was here. But I still contribute Calgary content to the Canada section on SSP regularly.

 

[October]

I also came from SSP right around the decline of the sight. I left right after people like BigTime and Surreal left. The only time I poke my head in now is to view either the Canada section of the YYC Airport thread. I used both sites for a while but found this one to be a lot more friendly and inviting but most importantly it was more informative. You can ask dumb questions here and not be ridiculed by half the members on the site for it. SSP has turned into a dump.