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It means mixed use high or medium density livability. Meaning buildings with offices, condos, hotels and/or shops.
I don't agree with what you said about the freeways through the core. Yes, I suppose it looks nicest, but we do need a freeway, they should build it under the core.
If you build an underground freeway, which parts of our small downtown are we going to rip up so that cars can exit and enter the freeway? You'd also have to widen existing roads to handle the larger influx of cars.
I can tell you it isn't going to happen.
All you ever read about is how successful Vancouver has been about getting people to live in dense condo towers, but apparently there is another side to that narrative:
All you ever read about is how successful Vancouver has been about getting people to live in dense condo towers, but apparently there is another side to that narrative:
That's just downtown though, not even including the West End. City wide it would be much lower, and there are condos all over the city. Hell, the condos in the suburban town centres probably almost outnumber Vancouver's by now.
Mixed use is not new, but it's how mixed use has been applied in a modern city.
What exactly does that mean? What do you mean a "modern city". Is Tokyo or Shanghai or Rio de Janeiro or Berlin not modern?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natnasci
In my condo building for example the ground floor has a coffee shop, a jewellery store, a corner store and a doctors office.
In my condo in Toronto (which is 16 years old), the ground floor has a barbar's shop, a convience store, a small Korean Bugogi restaurant and a flower shop. What' the big deal? This kind of development is nothing new to other North American cities, not to mention in East Asia, Europe and South America.
Miles of pure residential house with no retail whatsoever is an North American thing. Mixed use buildings existed since God knows when.
If I had to name the single worst decision made in our city it was to put a major interstate highway right through the heart of the city. They literally tore down a beautiful tree lined avenue lined with wonderful old buildings and bulldozed the buildings and the roadway to put up a divided (both elevated and sunk) freeway that completely cut off an entire segment of town from the center city.
Now, it's unthinkable to people to get rid of it, and we are forever condemned with this monstrosity. If I could turn back the clock and change one thing - this would be it.
Not that we haven't done 100 horrible things since then - we could learn a ton from the City of Vancouver - but if I had to single out just one - that would be it.
Building a highway through downtown is a bad choice, I mean look the hideous Gardiner in Toronto which destroys the entire waterfront neighbourhood not to mention separated downtown from the lake completely. but sometimes you have to make a decision. Toronto (and Seattle) just made a bad one.
Vancouver is barely handling the traffic without a major freeway in the core because it is a small city. With its 2M population (1/3 of Toronto, 1/6 of Los Angles) its traffic jam rivals many much larger cities already. If Vancouver stops growing, fine. But it grows, one day it will have to do something about it(maybe a tunnel?)
If Vancouver stops growing, fine. But it grows, one day it will have to do something about it(maybe a tunnel?)
Tunnel? Pffff. Just jack up gas prices, add new absurd taxes and bankrupt its residents so only rich will be able to afford driving real cars.
That's the solution for ya right here. Everybody who counts will be pleased-- i.e. rich corpo-eco-fascists. Everybody else don't matter.
Do you really think monkeys running that city and province will really start real upgrades in infrastructure? 60's-70's are over and will never return.
Tunnel? Pffff. Just jack up gas prices, add new absurd taxes and bankrupt its residents so only rich will be able to afford driving real cars.
That's the solution for ya right here. Everybody who counts will be pleased-- i.e. rich corpo-eco-fascists. Everybody else don't matter.
Do you really think monkeys running that city and province will really start real upgrades in infrastructure? 60's-70's are over and will never return.
to be fair, there is nothing wrong with poor people not being able to drive.
Driving should someday be a luxury, not a necesity.
to be fair, there is nothing wrong with poor people not being able to drive.
Driving should someday be a luxury, not a necesity.
There's nothing wrong with poor not being able to drive, yes, but there's a lot of wrong with the majority feeling at the bottom struggling like in a 3rd world country. That's what coming, I think. The purchasing power of middle class is decreasing and driving frequently is the next thing to go.
There's nothing wrong with poor not being able to drive, yes, but there's a lot of wrong with the majority feeling at the bottom struggling like in a 3rd world country. That's what coming, I think. The purchasing power of middle class is decreasing and driving frequently is the next thing to go.
Canadians often whine about "struggling like in a 3rd world country." as if they know what 3rd world country life is like.
Do you have any idea what life in a typical 3rd world country is like?? Honestly, visit some real third world countries, such as India, rural China, Vietnam or anywhere in Africa and I'm sure even minimum wage earners in Canada will stop whining about how horrible their life is and will feel blessed about the stuff they possess.
Imagine lack of clean drinking water in India, cooking next to a filthy toilet in Bengledash, or tranport coal on your back for $1 per day in west China. Not even to mention healthcare.
Here in Canada, people can't afford a 3 bedroom house with a nice backyard, and seeing premium cable TV cost rising to $80 a month, and instantly it is third world.
Struggling like in a Third world country. RIGHT.
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