828 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

I am just curious as to which other proposals [...] there have been several for this site over the years) were ever given the same consideration of the longhouse. If not, why?

 

There never seemed to be any enthusiasm or consensus over past proposals. None seemed even serious. Even the pie-in-the-sky proposals were criticized by Unions or the "Friends" etc.

 

Bringing checkers back seemed to come up from time to time but it was Chris Coleman who mentioned last year that there is probably no call in today's world for a checker pavilion. 

 

Some sort of nature interpretive centre is another concept that came up frequently but no group wanted to step up and offer to run it. 

[Rob Randall]

This has little to do with the park but I thought it was funny. 1949-08-24.

 

 

 

 

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[Nparker]

Urchins. LOL!  Please sir, can I have some more soup?

[aastra]

I had no idea Archie comics were set in Victoria.

 

*Edit a full year later to illustrate my point:

 

 

Finally the head of the household emerged from the kitchen and commented: "Do you know it is past midnight? Do you think you can stay here all night?"

 

 

This reminds me of the "Where's the bridge?" thing and the "You let blind people drive?" thing. Maybe Victoria's local culture is nothing but the same standard-issue jokes that are used all over the world?

Edited by aastra, 12 September 2017 - 08:34 AM.

[Rob Randall]

Yep, Betty was definitely a Fairfield girl.

[johnk]

"Commenced to buffet his head...."
Sounds like it was written by Mark Twain.

[Mike K.]

Check this out. Cascadia architects has released visuals from a James Bay planning exercise called Live on Douglas.

 

More: http://cascadiaarchi...ts-victoria-bc/

 

 

[Nparker]

I really like the first design. It'll never happen, but I really like it.

[VicHockeyFan]

That O think is the best hing ever.

[aastra]

Bit confused about the rusty gate thing. Wouldn't that involve cutting down trees and blasting rock? (and no, I'm not talking about playing Tinto Rocks' latest album at a high volume)

[Nparker]

Bit confused about the rusty gate thing. Wouldn't that involve cutting down trees and blasting rock?

And worse - removing flowers!

On the plus side, it would give Chrissy some foul-weather shelter.

Was part of the visioning exercise to see what the Douglas/Southgate/Superior intersection would be like if pedestrians and cyclists crossed against the light?

[aastra]

If they try to blast any of that rock then I'll probably be down there in my own tent.

[Nparker]

If they try to blast any of that rock then I'll probably be down there in my own tent.

Not that it will ever happen, but creating a more welcoming entrance to BHP is less important than preserving some rock?

[aastra]

But it's not just some rock, it's the natural landscape. Uniquely Victorian. And it makes that corner of the park very interesting.

 

Seriously, somebody wake me the day Victorians start appreciating what the city actually is. Just some oak trees, just some old buildings...

 

 

It occurred to me that the natural areas of the park were dry and out of character compared to other parts of the northwest coast of America, a place I associate more with rainforests. And there were oak trees, something I've never associated with western Canada. I thought that the northwest was all about conifers. It turned out that we had stumbled on one of the rarest biologic entities in Canada, the Garry Oak Ecosystem. Yes, it's really called that. The Garry Oak (Quercus garryana) is the only native oak species found in Washington and British Columbia.

 

 

from http://geotripper.bl...ia-finding.html

[aastra]

I have to assume those stairs would lead to some sort of landing area/viewing platform that skirts around the rocks rather than cutting right into them. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem with something like that depending on the particulars, but crikey, cutting down still more mature trees? It's a fetish in Victoria for some reason.

Edited by aastra, 12 September 2017 - 10:55 AM.

[Nparker]

But it's not just some rock, it's the natural landscape. Uniquely Victorian. And it makes that corner of the park very interesting.

 

Interesting perhaps, but little used or explored by most BHP visitors. 

 

But it's a moot point, because this, or any other welcoming entrance, will NEVER be built. Other than the "delightful" traffic barriers (sarcasm font), what enhancements ever happen in BHP? As I recall, even getting the "large watering can" in the children's play area was controversial.

Edited by Nparker, 12 September 2017 - 11:08 AM.

[aastra]

 

...but little used or explored by most BHP visitors.

 

So what?

 

Seriously, are you yanking my chain again? Sometimes you seem to be pushing for uber-generic stuff and I can't figure out if you're joking or not. Ongoing development of the urban realm should be all about enhancing (rather than diminishing) the city's uniqueness.

Edited by aastra, 12 September 2017 - 11:08 AM.

[Nparker]

It's rock. It's exists in many places all over the region. I'd hardly call this particular outcropping unique.

[aastra]

 

But it's a moot point, because this, or any other welcoming entrance, will NEVER be built.

 

I would never put it past the folks in charge to embark on still more clumsy and misguided (and expensive) undertakings. I was thinking about this re: the waterfront parking lots. The beauty of doing something lame and small-scale re: lawns and pathways and minimal structures (with no significant residential or commercial elements) is that you can rip it all out again in a few decades. The flaws are built in, so that it can be worked over repeatedly for many years and then ultimately ripped out. Never-ending public projects. Put Centennial Square and probably the new JSB in this same category.

[aastra]

 

It's rock. It's exists in many places all over the region. I'd hardly call this particular outcropping unique.

 

That reminds me, when are we going to remove the duck ponds from Beacon Hill Park? There's already a duck pond at the back of Cedar Hill Golf course.