Jump to content

      



























Photo

Rock Bay - the next master-planned development


  • Please log in to reply
157 replies to this topic

#21 Conciliation

Conciliation
  • Member
  • 1 posts

Posted 31 October 2006 - 03:12 PM

I don't think the Industrial properties have to go. What about signature office buildings to buffer the residential uses downtown from the Heavy industry?

#22 Caramia

Caramia
  • Member
  • 3,835 posts

Posted 31 October 2006 - 07:40 PM

I think at least some of those industrial properties need to stay... specifically the ones that receive material by barge and depend on the deep harbour.

Last time I looked into it, which was over 5 years ago, they were bringing in 60 tonnes on those barges, and that material was being used in the core. Imagine 60 tonnes comming into the core from Langford by truck every day, and then multiply that traffic by all the half ton and one ton smaller loads tradespeople use. We'd need to upgrade the highways to handle that load. For the smaller construction and landscaping companies working around the core you'd also be adding the cost of the fuel and time to bring the materials in. I know from my MA research a lot of the smaller ones would not be able to absorb the cost, and would fold. The effect would be to alter the economic geography of Victoria in such a way that building costs would rise, while the building and landscaping sector shifted away from small companies and towards larger companies with the resources to handle the change.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

#23 VicHockeyFan

VicHockeyFan
  • Suspended User
  • 52,121 posts

Posted 31 October 2006 - 08:05 PM

I think at least some of those industrial properties need to stay... specifically the ones that receive material by barge and depend on the deep harbour.

Last time I looked into it, which was over 5 years ago, they were bringing in 60 tonnes on those barges, and that material was being used in the core. Imagine 60 tonnes comming into the core from Langford by truck every day, and then multiply that traffic by all the half ton and one ton smaller loads tradespeople use. We'd need to upgrade the highways to handle that load. For the smaller construction and landscaping companies working around the core you'd also be adding the cost of the fuel and time to bring the materials in. I know from my MA research a lot of the smaller ones would not be able to absorb the cost, and would fold. The effect would be to alter the economic geography of Victoria in such a way that building costs would rise, while the building and landscaping sector shifted away from small companies and towards larger companies with the resources to handle the change.


That seems exreme if all little and big companies lived under the same rules/resource suppliers. Name a LARGE landscaping company that does lots SFD is this town. Landscaping will allways be a small-company business, just like homebuilding or renovating companies are here.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#24 Scaper

Scaper
  • Member
  • 1,262 posts

Posted 31 October 2006 - 11:36 PM

Conciliation Welcome!!!

I have such high hopes for Rock Bay.

#25 Caramia

Caramia
  • Member
  • 3,835 posts

Posted 01 November 2006 - 12:11 AM

Sorry - to clarify, when I said the economic geography of Victoria, I should have said Victoria municipality. Of course, the economic geography of the Victoria region would have less impact. For small companies folding if they had to truck in materials themselves, that came from interviews done in preparation for my MA thesis which had a chapter on Rock Bay.

I will try to dig up the actual employment numbers for that pocket of industry, I never did a full analysis which would have taken the number of primary, secondary and tertiary jobs that Rock Bay represents into account, but I did get at least the primary and the beginings of an impact analysis on some of the secondary.. which included 2-5 men companies who use Rock Bay as their main source of material. What I was hearing when I was doing the fieldwork was that yes, Victoria's landscaping, homebuilding and renovating companies are primarily small scale, but that this would shift towards favoring a larger scale if we did not have a source for materials in the core.

I'd be interested to hear from people in small companies in those fields if any read these boards to either back up or refute.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

#26 G-Man

G-Man

    Senior Case Officer

  • Moderator
  • 13,800 posts

Posted 01 November 2006 - 10:37 AM

I don't think that there is any need to have the current industrial occupants move to ensure the vibrancy of that area. What is needed is an economically sustainable plan that ensures a good mix of residential, commercial and office space that is done at a density that the neighbourhood on its own will be able to function. Despite all of the positive attributes of Selkirk it was not done at a desity that could truly create a vibrant area. During the day it works well but after 5 o'clock its deadsville. To be fair there is still four lots to be developed still I think we need more than we saw there.

Buildings in the 6 to 8 storey range with large floorplates, so in the 6-7:1 FSR.

Also I don't think that this area needs to have a huge amount of public space perhaps a waterfront walk way and a small area by the water but not any more than 10% of the open space maybe less.

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#27 rayne_k

rayne_k
  • Member
  • 170 posts

Posted 18 November 2006 - 12:26 PM

Methinks the key is, it has to feel like downtown. It can't feel like a resort.

I think something akin to a higher density version of the Selkirk would be good. If the buildings were twice as tall with a fair bit more commercial space and the odd highrise here and there, I think you'd have a winner.


Agreed. I really like the look of Selkirk.. but it needs more diversity in terms use. Hopefully a new Rock Bay would have that.

#28 G-Man

G-Man

    Senior Case Officer

  • Moderator
  • 13,800 posts

Posted 13 December 2006 - 03:53 PM

Hey this is a great tidbit, though only for people not putoff by bureaucratic reading:

http://www.victoria.ca/common/pdfs/departments_plnblw_rckbyd2.pdf

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#29 Ms. B. Havin

Ms. B. Havin
  • Member
  • 5,052 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 12:03 PM

File this one in the "...Dream on!" category, but ...

I want to see a building like this in Rock Bay: [url=http://www.archiseek.com/onsite/2006/11/new_green_building_for_miamis_design_district.html:b99dd]COR, a revolutionary Green building in Miami's Design District[/url:b99dd]. If anyone has PhotoBucket and can pull a picture of this thing onto this page, please do. Can you imagine a structure like this here in Victoria? Wind turbines and solar panels built into the exoskeleton? Gives "windmill" a whole new (stylish) meaning...
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#30 G-Man

G-Man

    Senior Case Officer

  • Moderator
  • 13,800 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 12:06 PM

That is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! :smt103

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#31 Galvanized

Galvanized
  • Member
  • 1,196 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 06:53 PM

What a cool building!






Past President of Victoria's Flâneur Union Local 1862

#32 Holden West

Holden West

    Va va voom!

  • Member
  • 9,058 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 07:06 PM

With all those rotating blades, it looks like it would solve Rock Bay's excess seagull population.
"Beaver, ahoy!""The bridge is like a magnet, attracting both pedestrians and over 30,000 vehicles daily who enjoy the views of Victoria's harbour. The skyline may change, but "Big Blue" as some call it, will always be there."
-City of Victoria website, 2009

#33 Ms. B. Havin

Ms. B. Havin
  • Member
  • 5,052 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 07:43 PM

Aww, Holden... always so concerned about the wildlife, he is...

Thanks for putting the photos up, Galvanized! There's something about this one, style-wise, that I really like. Maybe because it marries the form-and-function thing with an eye-catching bit of flash?
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#34 gumgum

gumgum
  • Member
  • 7,069 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 08:04 PM

Looks like a giant block of swiss cheese to me.

#35 Ms. B. Havin

Ms. B. Havin
  • Member
  • 5,052 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 08:11 PM

Looks like a giant block of swiss cheese to me.

Well, if that's just plain old Swiss cheese, I'm a Salvador Dali wristwatch! :-D
When you buy a game, you buy the rules. Play happens in the space between the rules.

#36 Caramia

Caramia
  • Member
  • 3,835 posts

Posted 14 December 2006 - 09:19 PM

That would go well on Dallas Road, maybe near Ogden Point where it is really windy.
Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one's mistakes.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900), The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1891

#37 zoomer

zoomer
  • Member
  • 2,144 posts
  • LocationVictoria - Downtown

Posted 14 December 2006 - 10:44 PM

Wow, that is mind blowing!! I LOVE it!! Heck yah, let's turn Rock Bay
into a district where originality in architecture is a requirement.

#38 G-Man

G-Man

    Senior Case Officer

  • Moderator
  • 13,800 posts

Posted 15 December 2006 - 07:09 AM

I totally agree. We have to stop doing "pretty good" and "alright" and go for spectacular.

I mean Rock Bay and the surrounding area could easily become a very cool area with just a little help at the beginning. We need to give up something to get things like this though like density...

Visit my blog at: https://www.sidewalkingvictoria.com 

 

It has a whole new look!

 


#39 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 15 December 2006 - 09:13 AM

I don't hold out much hope after reading that document. Too many references to a casino district in there. And too much pooh-poohing of the potential for residential. They don't even mention residential development in the list of principles on page seven.

It's all about residential, folks. If Victorians don't live in the area in question then the area in question will never change for the better.

The reference to motels on page six makes me cringe.

And what's with the "views" arrows on the Summary Map? Nonsense.

#40 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 15 December 2006 - 09:40 AM

Page ten:

The Douglas Street frontage serves as a gateway to downtown. It is important that careful attention be paid to the architectural image.


Does that mean we're going to continue with the heartbreaking-dreary-burg motif?

Heading into the city along Douglas Street from the north is nothing less than a horror show.

It should read, "It is important that careful attention be paid to improving the architectural image."

You're not quite at the end of this discussion topic!

Use the page links at the lower-left to go to the next page to read additional posts.
 



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users