847 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

What the heck is taking so dang long?

Perhaps this proposal is always printed on the backside of the Northern Junk revisions for the city to review.

[Kach]

I think this looks really good actually, and totally fits the area, however I only base that on a limited knowledge of what is possible. What do others think?

[aastra]

You have an unlimited knowledge of what is possible. Stop selling yourself short.

[todd]

You have an unlimited knowledge of what is possible. Stop selling yourself short.

Is it possible for the universe to end at a certain distance from the earth?

[aastra]

 

Is it possible for the universe to end...

 

Try to build a skyscraper in Victoria and I could see it possibly happening.

[todd]

Try to build a skyscraper in Victoria and I could see it possibly happening.

I think a lot of councilors have been thinking pretty high lately.

Edited by todd, 08 March 2018 - 03:54 PM.

[DavidSchell]

I like it for this area ... let's do it Ben & Pam!

[aastra]

I'm still wondering about the nature of the cladding on the corner portion. Is the material appropriate for the location and does it have any "wow" factor at all? It would be nice to get some pics of the same material in action elsewhere.

 

I'm also worried that the Government Street side will be uniformly grey (or whatever) across both the old and new sections. I preferred the previous versions where the new section stood apart with more of a yellow tone. There just needs to be some pizzazz somewhere.

[G-Man]

I think yellow would be a mistake with the MEC building across the street. 

[G-Man]

Also I am biased, but what is the point of the square on the corner? Could we not have more useless space? What about a food kiosk like this?

 

 

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[VicHockeyFan]

Ya there is no good reason for it. Hoodlums have already taken over Centennisl s Square.

[Jackerbie]

Also I am biased, but what is the point of the square on the corner? Could we not have more useless space? What about a food kiosk like this?

 

Kiosk would be nice. The landscape plan notes that part of the plaza could be used for cafe seating, since there is a CRU at the corner

[Nparker]

Also I am biased, but what is the point of the square on the corner?..

Oh come on. Victoria is crying out for more plazas and public spaces no one ever uses. My contemporary favourite is that vast concrete wasteland in front of Astoria and Belvedere on Humboldt.

[magmazing]

Replacing the human urinal with a dog urinal huh? haha

 

I'm just glad it looks like the renderings show a curb that accounts for the three parking spots that otherwise would be lost. 

[amor de cosmos]

Also I am biased, but what is the point of the square on the corner? Could we not have more useless space? What about a food kiosk like this?

i definitely like that idea. the league design at least had stone blocks that could be climbed on and a fountain

Edited by amor de cosmos, 09 March 2018 - 08:41 AM.

[GaryOak]

i definitely like that idea. the league design at least had stone blocks that could be climbed on and a fountain

~But stone blocks introduce possible law suits if someone falls off them~

Edited by GaryOak, 09 March 2018 - 09:15 AM.

[Jackerbie]

~But stone blocks introduce possible law suits if someone falls off them~

 

How is it any different than any of the other parks or plazas owned by the City? The plaza portion is entirely in the road right of way, not on private property.

 

I don't like the League plaza. Something different like what G-Man suggested would be better since this is a relative high traffic area. There's already a large round feature to climb on in Centennial Square (even if they don't want you climbing on the fountain), and there's another circular feature and dead plaza at Government and Fisgard. All three spaces really need to be looked at in a more comprehensive way, I think.

 

Edited by Jackerbie, 09 March 2018 - 10:08 AM.

[Nparker]

...There's already a large round feature to climb on in Centennial Square...and there's another circular feature and dead plaza at Government and Fisgard. All three spaces really need to be looked at in a more comprehensive way...

This brings up the larger question of who really thinks more empty plazas and "gathering spaces" are a benefit to the city? Can you imagine how dead even more empty space is going to be on the western side of the JSB when all of the old bridge is removed? The current area (in particular, adjacent to the Ocean Pointe Resort) is hardly a hive of activity most of the year. Why do we need more of these sorts of spaces?

[VicHockeyFan]

I agree.  We need less plazas.

[aastra]

As with any urban planning discussion, it's always informative to consider the urban Finn's perspective:

 

 

Does anyone else pay attention to this: many times the renderings of new urban development projects include a plaza or similar open space, sitting somewhere in front or between the proposed new buildings...

 

 

...but the story has been quite the same for a long time: once materialized, our plazas typically end up being void of the public life they’re envisioned to support.

 

 

But hey, it looks nice from high above!

 

 

Another dimension to the dead plaza problem is that we may be building too many.

 

 

...by also adding another plaza, the plaza-to-people ratio will remain unfavorable. It’s difficult to see how the public life in the renderings will become a reality with all this plaza space and low density.

 

https://urbanfinland...-driven-future/

 

Anyway, we've talked about all of this stuff before. Somebody on this very board summed it up rather brilliantly one time: in Victoria people want all of the trappings of density, all of the perks and benefits of density, all of the rewards of density... but they just don't want the density. People places are good, but people are not good.