2186 replies to this topic

[Jarrod]

Well I believe those two. But c'mon, this is getting really ridiculous. A lot of these won't get built.

[Holden West]

It's for that new TV show "Pimp My Vacant Lot". Nothing gets built of course, but that vacant lot ends up being worth a lot of bling by the time the rezoning application passes Council.

[Scaper]

why not? The falls just openned up there sales office...in the first two days of opening they sold out 50 percent. The Falls is all high end units. No other new downtown building is going to public hearing right now. Some in the process but looking at the falls they may also get a two year process.

These units in Langford (Bear Mountain) are also all high end units. The sales are going well. 5,500 people moved into the CRD last year. at least that same amount will move into the CRD this next year possibly even more.

That's the city of Duncan moving into the CRD. So why won't these get built. On top of this, people from Alberta are buying up lots of bear mountain for rentals, retirement, and secondary homes.

BearMountain earlier in the year also had the largest one day condo sale in Victoria's history.

Yes in one day Bear Mountain had 66 million dollars in condo sales in one day. Yes in ONE DAY!!! 66 million dollars in guaranteed sales.

So yes these will get built.

BearMountain is in phases right now there is over 20 phases. It's the largest development in Victoria's History. It dwarfs Dockside, it Dwarfs Broadmead...it's massive. And these condo's are selling.

[Jarrod]

Oh it's so nice to have Fridays off of school. That means I can stay up late and be on a forum!!! HA.

Perhaps these towers will end up being like Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang North Korea which is just a vacant shell. There's nothing in it. Maybe these towers are going to be the same way?


Now, isn't that a sexy beast? I know they wouldn't look like that, but just as an example.

[Jarrod]

What I hate about this city is basing everything on retirement. What happens when all the baby boomers are gone? Vacent houses, towers, and other things. They should also focus on other stuff like young families which most of the time get shoved to the back burner. But whatever.

[Scaper]

It's for that new TV show "Pimp My Vacant Lot". Nothing gets built of course, but that vacant lot ends up being worth a lot of bling by the time the rezoning application passes Council.

I missed this while typing my post....

that's funny...hahahhaah!!!

that should be a new catch phrase for some of these proposals in Colwood.

[Holden West]

The modernist [url=http://unknownvictoria.blogspot.com/2006/05/little-modernist-boxes.html:6bfd4]retirement homes for veterans[/url:6bfd4] near Mayfair become entry-level homes for new families. Life goes on.

[Scaper]

it's because the baby boomers have the money want to move here. This development is driving our economy right now. Victoria sports the lowest unemployment rate in Canada. I welcome these baby boomers. These people will provide endless jobs for decades for Victorians. They are at the age that they won't want to cut their own lawn, etc hiring service based business like mine. When they come here they buy cars shop, eat and stimulate the economy via spending dollars. This is a good thing. I just wish Downtown would open the door to these buyers and let WestBank build more highend units rather than trapping them one project at a time for two years at a time....it's frustrating.

I have a couple of close friends on the real estate board and they are fed up with the city. Many many buyers come here looking to buy downtown and have nothing to buy and have bought out in Langford. This is a big problem for people wanting to build downtown.

The falls success demonstrates this.

anyways Im off for now...CYA

[Jarrod]

I guess I'm just too young for this place. It's a shame though. Me and my young thinking. Oh well.

Young people don't have a voice because we're all to dumb... Baby boomers know everything...yup.

[G-Man]

I don'; think someone comes to Victoria and says "Oh Dang no high end condos available downtown I guess I'll buy on a golf course. Those two completely different sets of buyers.

I thought Bear Mountain could not build anything else until they built the overpass?

Also is it just me but are they removing that traffic light that is there right now and planning an overpass but right afterwards they are going to be putting in a new traffic light?

[gumgum]

I don'; think someone comes to Victoria and says "Oh Dang no high end condos available downtown I guess I'll buy on a golf course. Those two completely different sets of buyers.

Exactly.
Take me for example...I moved here three and a half years ago. I considered moving to Langford for about three seconds because properties were cheaper, but then I thought to myself "Wait a minute I'm moving to Victoria to live in Victoria."
Langford can build as many towers as they want - it's penis envy, man. They'll never be Victoria. Towers are only a small piece of a puzzle that makes a city great.
If people wanna live in Langoford, fine. Have a good life, just don't boast about how much better the amenities, the shopping, the this, the that, because it will not matter to people who live in and love Victoria.

[Mike K.]

A big piece of the housing equation is indeed affordability. People are moving to condos in the west because they can't afford condos in the core. It's as simple as that. If those people are choosing to live in lowrise condos they'll also make the switch to highrise condos if the product is within their price range.

The same thing is happening in Surrey where buyers are choosing Whalley over downtown Van or east false creek.


What I'm also seeing in this discussion is the typical Victoria attitude towards development. "It's not right for Langwood!" "They're too tall!" "They make me uncomfortable!" "They'll destroy the world!" "It's not right to build there!" "They'll never be better than downtown towers!"

[G-Man]

"They'll never be better than downtown towers!"

I agree with this one! They won't be better than downtown towers becuase it is not the building by itself that I endorse it is the lifestyle and community surrounding the building. A suburban condo building is just that because these people are still going to commute to their jobs in Victoria and/or drive to the store to buy milk.

I could have saved some money buying in the Westshore but as many studies have pointed out in the long term a downtown lifestyle is more affordable, healthier and better for the environment as well.

Yes it may be cheaper to buy 2 bedroom condo in Langford than Downtown but you have to either fork out 65 dollars a month plus 10 hours a week to take the bus to work or 250 a month and 5 hours a week to drive your car not counting fuel. It costs me zero dollars a month and 2.5 hours a week to walk to work. Multiply that by however long you want and monetarily I win, the person in the condo in Langford loses.

[Mike K.]

Can't say I agree with that. People who live in the suburbs aren't all SUV-driving, downtown-working lazy-asses. They're the same people like you or I, but they chose to live away from the downtown core. They walk just like we do, hop on buses like we do and enjoy their public spaces just like we do. Saying that suburban condo dwellers are somehow less inclined to live a healthy lifestyle is a generalization.

If I had $300,000 to invest in a condo and I had the option of buying a 700 sq ft condo downtown or an 1000 sq ft condo in Langford centre, with cheaper strata, lower taxation and amenities definitely within walking distance, I'd seriously consider it. Even if I did have to commute into downtown there's a bus leaving Langford centre every few minutes during rush hours. Besides, living in Langford is like living in an uptown district of a larger city. Instead of treating it like just a distant urban hood, we treat Langford like an entity that is somehow disjointed from the rest of the urban area of Victoria.

When I moved to Vancouver I lived near the beach in White Rock. Some consider that about as suburban as one can get in Vancouver, although I actually walked more often to the beach and to local grocery stores than I do here. That community was very pedestrian friendly but you wouldn't even think it belonged to a large metropolitan area. I have great faith in Langford and its drive to become a vibrant urban centre. It's certainly a good thing and I support their densification in the hopes that it can emulate, at least in some sense, the successes of our downtown core. Besides, like I mentioned above, it's only a few kilometers away from downtown so even folks living out there are never far from downtown Victoria or a bus that will get them there. Remember, we need density to sustain an LRT or high-frequency transit. We won't get density unless we, well, build it.

[G-Man]

While I too think it would be great to see a small urban centre in Langford I think the scale they are currently building at will be just fine. Also unless there is a large amount of new office construction so that the majority of people in Langford are working in Langford than they are going to continue to drive into the centre.

The Westshore in general has some of the lowest transit use in the city so I don't think that building LRT to Langford helps most Victorians in anyway. I don't want LRT for LRT's sake I want good transit that serves the greatest good. That would be better transit along already well used routes not out to the Westshore. LRT can be sustainable along already dense routes but no one wants to discuss it for some reason.

[Mike K.]

I'm with you on the LRT thing, but Transit is pushing for LRT to the west so we better get some density before we start sending empty trains westward.

I too wish it could have been built in the core serving downtown through to the UVic area (our busiest bus routes) but for some reason it's not on the boards. It could have something to do with the drive out west to welcome that sort of transportation as opposed to Victorian's bickering that trains are running down Johnson Street and then Shelbourne. The RAV line situation in Vancouver proved that established, wealthier hoods aren't keen on making way for mass transportation of any kind. It's sad, but unfortunately a reality.

[aastra]

I think Victoria will ultimately densify in two separate hemispheres. People who live on each side will regard their side as the nice side, the interesting side, the better side. Anybody from one side who doesn't regard his native side as the good side will tend to move to the other side.

LRT and effective transit systems in general will eventually be needed to connect the two hemispheres.

[HOMBRE]

GumGum

i'm curious as to why you see langfords vision as penis envy against victoria??

I wouldn't say they have penis envy towards victoria, or else wouldn't they be having to go soo big??

I'm starting to think of it as a different city into its own right. I understand this might feel wierd but people will get use to it. perhaps they are trying to create something unique that will stand out on the south island, for this i cannot blame them.

for example you have san francisco and oakland which are in the same metro however they feel totally different and are in their approach to these matters.

[Scaper]

This attitude by Victorian's towards the West Shores is the reason this is all happening. In the end Langford / Colwood will have the large stadium, the large arena, they are also I found out a couple of days ago looking at a performing arts center. If Victoria sits on it's ass and does nothing it's better that someone does it. The arena downtown is a complete disappointment and at best a second rate facility. So as Victorian's say Langford can do anything it wants it will never be better than downtown. Well Downtown wasn't built in ten years. The way it's going in 50 years Downtown will have nothing to offer exept some old buildings which use to be downtown Victoria and the the uptown and lifestyle will be out in the west. coms. with the arena, stadium, dense towers, new highrise hotels, all the retail etc.

I wish Victorians really opened their eyes to see reality instead of ....Bahh let them it doesn't matter we will always be better......Complacency kills.

[aastra]

for example you have san francisco and oakland which are in the same metro however they feel totally different and are in their approach to these matters.

This is what I was getting at. Victoria just may end up being a twin city. The smallest twin city on the continent (by population and also by square kms).