272 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

Planning is really starting to chaff my hide with Crystal Court, Pyramid crap. Perhaps they should be renamed the Restricting Department because it is a better example of what they do. You could offer to build a 16 storey pile of gold to be picked at by the homeless and it would be rejected.

If something is an amazing building that is outside the planning regulations it should be considered and not dismissed arbitrarily based on numbers.

[jklymak]

I thought the new city plan called for up to 20 storeys through HG?

unlimited density with a height restriction is pretty brain dead.

[Rob Randall]

I thought the new city plan called for up to 20 storeys through HG?

unlimited density with a height restriction is pretty brain dead.

It actually calls for up to 24.

City Hall sent a pretty strong signal last year that increased height would be tolerated in Harris Green. This came after months of public consultation. I'm puzzled as to why they would fall back on the old HG guidelines. There is no heritage nearby like St. Andrews. There are no view corridors blocked like Mt St. Angela. There are no view blockages like Regents Towers/View-Vancouver proposal.

BTW, Friday morning (today) at 6:50 am I'll be on A News morning show for a few minutes talking about the DRA.

[aastra]

So in the latest image the porthole windows have been removed from the lowrise building.

What do y'all think of that?

[Baro]

Give me back my retro-60's-future charm!! Also the round windows tie into the round hole at the top.

Interesting thing I learned at the open house. You know that building in vancouver just by the beach with the big tree on top? Apparently the top of that tree on the roof is how high the trees in the area where before the city came and that's the significance of the tree there! Very interesting!

[Rob Randall]

I think everyone prefers the round windows but they are very expensive.

Here is an updated image of the View St. ground floor. Note the changes to the retail including the folding windows that would suit an "al fresco" restaurant.

[jklymak]

^ A north-facing al-fresco restaurant in Victoria (on View St (next to View Towers!))? I don't know about that, or were you referring to something on the Fort side? I think that any retail, let alone a restaurant, on the View side is kind of a lost cause.

[G-Man]

It depends on what goes to the east. And I always am holding out hope for View Towers to convert some of the ground level parking to commercial space like Chelsea did.

[Ms. B. Havin]

It kind of bothers me when View Towers is referred to as some kind of leper that's going to infect everything around it.

I'm old enough to remember when View Towers was a perfectly respectable address. One of my best friends from high school lived there with her parents, for pete's sake. Her family was one of many who were "normal" residents.

I've heard adults - ok, scratch that, not adults, but old people who freaking well should know better - talk about View Towers as though it had the ability to exert magic powers. As far as I can tell, they're making a fetish of the thing. They are thinking like idiot children.

It's not the case that a building makes people "bad" - at least not this building. Come on, this isn't exactly Cabrini Green.

So, whatever happened in View Towers, happened over time, and it can reverse, too: you have "good" people living in a place - and please, can we just wrap our heads around the idea that View Towers represents a community, too? - and you have "bad" people living in a place, but here's the thing: The place can be a block of SFHs spread over two acres or it can be a concrete tower.

There's nothing inherently "evil" about View Towers, regardless of how many hand-wringing world-changers bemoan that sad little "commie block."

If I were Chief Wizard of Victoria, I would engage a community-building process within View Towers, get some pride around that place, get the people who live there to grow it up and out from the inside out.

So there.

And everyone who sits pretty in some other "tower" (say, Regent Place) or in some "nice" neighborhood (say, Fairfield), just remember: you could be next - if you don't take care of your community, contribute, and get involved.

Nothing's magic or rocket science. Everything can be traced, it's all pattern recognition. The decline of View Towers had not nearly as much to do with the building as the more simplistically-minded like to think.

/end of rant.

PS: I support View-Fort (or whatever it calls itself) and think it would be a great addition to the neighborhood and the street.

[aastra]

I think the View/Vancouver intersection has a tremendous amount of potential. Even View Street itself could be quite a bit different depending on what happens over the years on the various properties between Cook and Blanshard.

It'd be nice if the podium of View Towers were to get a makeover at some point.

[jklymak]

^^ I agree Ms B. But right now it is not the most desirable address, and sticking sliding doors on the side isn't going to help sell it as retail or a restaurant. I think it would be more likely to succeed as townhouses like 860 View has.

[Holden West]

But you must plan for the future, not the present--otherwise we'd still be living in wooden shacks on Victoria's muddy streets. And the View/Vancouver area is on the way up with a strong urban presence. It will take a few years but it will happen.

[jklymak]

There is almost no retail on View E of Government. I don't think that there is anything wrong with focusing retail on Fort and Yates and letting View be primarily residential. Wanting every podium to be retail, no matter where the podium is seems a little silly to me. Look at the podium on Shoal Point. Anyway, the idea of an open-air restaurant facing North in this location doesn't seem very likely to me.

Of course if the developers wants to do this, fine - I'm not suggesting we stop them. I just hope they aren't being pressured into this.

[Mike K.]

There is almost no retail on View E of Government.

I take it you meant east of Blanshard?

[jklymak]

Well, I meant E of Government, but I'll accept E of Broad. Off the top of my head I can think of only 12 or so storefronts, depending on how you count the pit on Douglas and View. Its a side street, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

[Rob Randall]

^Things are changing for the better on View Street. The boulevard enhancements, revamping of the View St. Capitol 6 corner, the 860 View art gallery, the Chelsea drug store and the neighbouring unit now being used by St. VdP. There is still a long way to go and View St. is still often used as a back door to Yates and Fort but it is on the way up.

Then look at the potential major residential/commercial development sites: Emaar's 819 site, View/Vancouver, Bottle Depot, potentially the View Towers podium.

[trueviking]

I think everyone prefers the round windows but they are very expensive.

it wasnt cost that killed the round windows...it was an aesthetic choice by the owner...hopefully he can be convinced otherwise in the long run....i was hoping some of you would tell him that the round windows are better.

these have been posted on skyscraperpage for a while, but it seems like there is some kind of force field that keeps you guys from looking there.

this project is now going for re-zoning.

[Kapten Kapsell]

this project is now going for re-zoning.

When is the re-zoning hearing going to take place?

[VicDuck]

Any news on this one?

[vicbc250]

I love this idea, but sales are gunna be a ***** to make because i mean who would want to live beside view towers?