588 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

Whatever happened to that guy? And whatever happened to keyplan?

People don't just "disappear" like that.

maybe they were rude to hannibal lecter?

[Mike K.]

I believe Ox left after a disagreement with one of our ex-mods.

Ox was the one-man Victoria Grid Project before the present-day VGP was even a concept

[gumgum]

If everyone disappeared after a dispute here, this forum would be a very empty place.

[aastra]

You just crossed the line, gumgum. I'm outta here.

[arfenarf]

General query: What is the status of the land along Cedar Hill X, east of the campus, where people run their dogs? Is that University property? Is it set aside for some purpose? It seems to be much too valuable to be laying fallow..
--
arfenarf the newbie

[Galvanized]

I'm pretty sure it's owned by UVic. Originally they had plans for high rise apartments along Cedar Hill X Rd and Henderson but I don't think they went that far down towards Cadboro Bay Rd. There is also a un-used road allowance that goes to the parkling lot just north of that spot.

[aastra]

Sorry, but I have to dredge up Caramia's post from months ago about Michael Williams:

There was another story of when he told City Council they had no concept of what art was, and stormed out after being told that his buildings could only be painted in colours off the official "heritage" pallette?

That settles it. This man is my hero.

So is that why almost everything built in the seventies and early eighties is dreary brown brick? Did somebody decide that was Victoria's "official" colour?

Makes me sick.

[G-Man]

On a different note the Uni has kicked Peter ( those who went to UVic know who this is ) out. I was wondering because I had seen him in my hood a couple of times in the last week.

[Galvanized]

^Is he one of the regulars who picks bottles out the garbage?

[Holden West]

Uvic's resident 'philosopher' banned from campus

He's been there for decades. I take it he's not content to just hang out there--he feels he needs to push peoples' buttons, especially when it comes to challenging authority. I think there are a lot of people like this who think they're advancing civilization but in fact are just being annoying (cf. Vancouver's 2010 protesters).

According to people who know him, Verin, with his shopping cart and bundles of scrap paper, has been a UVic fixture for decades. He is willing to discuss issues of the day with anybody, and some years ago he even hosted a campus radio show on public affairs.

"He's like our own little Socrates on campus," said Chris Hamel, a fourth-year sociology student in court in support of Verin yesterday.

But according to UVic spokesman Bruce Kilpatrick in an interview from campus, complaints about Verin have increased steadily in recent years: 66 in 2005, 88 in 2006 and so far, 35 in 2007.

Kilpatrick said students and instructors have arrived in classrooms in the morning to find Verin has camped out overnight. Class can't get underway until cleanup and airing is completed.

Verin has jimmied locks on campus buildings so he can gain access after hours, endangering the safety of students, faculty and researchers working late, Kilpatrick said.

And some people have just grown fed up with the sight of Verin, urinating in public or asleep in public view with his pants undone.

He has been banned from all university buildings save campus security and the Student Union Building.

[gumgum]

...he feels he needs to push peoples' buttons, especially when it comes to challenging authority. I think there are a lot of people like this who think they're advancing civilization but in fact are just being annoying (cf. Vancouver's 2010 protesters)...

...And some people have just grown fed up with the sight of Verin, urinating in public or asleep in public view with his pants undone...

Sounds like half of the population of university students.

[arfenarf]

I'm pretty sure it's owned by UVic. Originally they had plans for high rise apartments along Cedar Hill X Rd and Henderson but I don't think they went that far down towards Cadboro Bay Rd. There is also a un-used road allowance that goes to the parkling lot just north of that spot.

Thanks. I was looking at some shocking listing prices for houses that backed up to that area and wondered whether they were going to get a nasty surprise someday when ground was broken for, oh, 20-story undergraduate housing unit or something.

[amor de cosmos]

General query: What is the status of the land along Cedar Hill X, east of the campus, where people run their dogs? Is that University property? Is it set aside for some purpose? It seems to be much too valuable to be laying fallow..
--
arfenarf the newbie

uvic bought that land & mystic vale in 1993. apparently it's called the cjvi land & keeping it as it is wasn't part of the deal, as it was when uvic bought part of the haro woods from saanich (ie only if uvic didn't clear it & build anything on it).
this is from p.37 of uvic's 2003 campus plan:

3.3.6 The CJVI Property
The primary area reserved for future development is the CJVI site. This 12.4 ha (30.7 acre)
property of open-space land adjoins Cedar Hill Cross Road at the southeast corner of the
campus. The property is surrounded by residential neighborhoods on one side and by South
Woods on the other side. In view of the moratorium on natural areas, the timing of permanent
development of this property may be advanced.
The following policy directions provide guidance on the urban design and landscaping
matters. Wherever the ‘A’ symbol appears, this denotes that there is a corresponding action
item in Section 5.
POLICY DIRECTIONS – CJVI PROPERTY
LB#26 Potential Uses
The CJVI Property has potential for temporary uses and permanent
development, including academic expansion, faculty and student housing,
sports and recreational facilities, parking, and any special opportunity uses
that may arise.
LB#27 Master Planning Study – ‘A’
Prior to any permanent development taking place, a master plan for the
CJVI Property will be prepared with these caveats:
• The plan will be guided by the vision and principles of this
plan, as it may be amended from time to time.
• Permanent development will provide landscaping and visual
buffering to minimize its impact on nearby neighbours and on
the adjoining forested areas of the University.
• Creative thought must be given to the best way to provide links
and connections from these lands to other areas of the campus.

http://web.uvic.ca/v... ... an2003.pdf

I also found something about a farm on that land that would supply the university, modelled after one at ubc. :shock: But it wasn't in UVic's master plan so I doubt that it would actually happen.

[arfenarf]

Thanks so very much.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Big article in today's T-C about UVic's "building boom": see [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=cd84f9b5-37b7-4736-845d-8f8665deb59b&k=74584:d83be]Building boom at University of Victoria[/url:d83be] by Carla Wilson. The article includes interesting historical comparisons (then & now stuff), and charts UVic's growth, both in terms of budgets and student population.

I notice that no one has yet posted the huge news about Microsoft expanding its facilities to Vancouver (see the discussion on Skyscraperpage, [url=http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=134244:d83be]Microsoft Expanding to Vancouver[/url:d83be], which AP reports as being driven by US immigration laws: "Microsoft Corp. plans to open a software development center in Canada this fall to attract talent and avoid U.S. immigration issues." - AP, also reported in Wall Street Journal).

Campus was the word that came to my mind when I heard this, which is why I thought of the Microsoft news when I read about UVic's expansions. What those companies want is the synergy of being in a place that has 3 things: great environment (i.e., that it's a great place to be & live); A-1 research institutions; and investment/ money floating around, ready to fund new ventures. We've got #1, we're working on #2. Number 3 is trickier, if everyone (from private capital to government) is focused on Vancouver...

Speculation has it that Google and Yahoo might also look for locations in Canada, and one wonders whether anyone in Victoria is doing anything to sound out companies looking for expansion possibilities...? Just a thought... :-)

Anyway, here're exerpts from Carla Wilson's article from today's paper:

Building boom at University of Victoria
Carla Wilson, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, July 07, 2007

More than 40 years ago, the first four academic buildings for what is now the University of Victoria were built on the Gordon Head military camp, joining a cluster of training-camp huts put up in the Second World War.

[...]

See [url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=cd84f9b5-37b7-4736-845d-8f8665deb59b&k=74584:d83be]the full article[/url:d83be] for more.

[amor de cosmos]

i see the new science building & math/soc-sci buildings when i go to the library there but i didn't know about the rest. it sounds cool. too bad i don't go to school there anymore.

[zoomer]

I notice that no one has yet posted the huge news about Microsoft expanding its facilities to Vancouver (see the discussion on Skyscraperpage, [url=http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=134244:252f9]Microsoft Expanding to Vancouver[/url:252f9], which AP reports as being driven by US immigration laws: "Microsoft Corp. plans to open a software development center in Canada this fall to attract talent and avoid U.S. immigration issues." - AP, also reported in Wall Street Journal).

I just saw this story on Lou Dobbs (Captain Amerika), with the bold and alarming news text of "War on the Middle Class" (his ongoing rant). The promo before the commercial break was, "Stunning new evidence that Microsoft is putting it's interests before the interests of middle class America"

[amor de cosmos]

They need to do something about the cafeteria now besides renovate/update it like they did recently. IIRC the existing caf was created to support a university of 10000 students.

[G-Man]

Some photos of UVic from today

The New Library







The Fountain



The library



New Science Building





Some of the newer residences though already a few years old now I think...

[Caramia]

No bunnies?