HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada > Ontario


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2013, 10:55 PM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
KINGSTON Development Thread

Post any development/construction news related to Kingston, as well as the surrounding areas of Frontenac County and Lennox & Addington.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #2  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2013, 11:01 PM
Beedok Beedok is offline
Exiled Hamiltonian Gal
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,801
It looked like there was something under construction when I took the VIA through.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #3  
Old Posted Mar 8, 2013, 11:49 PM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beedok View Post
It looked like there was something under construction when I took the VIA through.
What end of the city? There has been lots of construction in the east end of the city, which you should be able to see from the VIA train east of the station.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Mar 9, 2013, 1:16 AM
Beedok Beedok is offline
Exiled Hamiltonian Gal
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,801
Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos View Post
What end of the city? There has been lots of construction in the east end of the city, which you should be able to see from the VIA train east of the station.
I'm not sure, I don't really know the city. It looked like a highrise, probaby east end?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #5  
Old Posted Mar 10, 2013, 10:54 PM
waterloowarrior's Avatar
waterloowarrior waterloowarrior is offline
National Capital Region
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 9,243
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2013, 2:33 AM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
Ahhh, that building. It's on Queen Street downtown, I can see the crane on my daily walk to work downtown.

I'm surprised at how tall this is going to be, I had thought there were severe height restrictions on new buildings in the downtown area.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Mar 12, 2013, 10:56 PM
waterloowarrior's Avatar
waterloowarrior waterloowarrior is offline
National Capital Region
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 9,243
a pic from the Mayor's twitter account
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #8  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2013, 1:26 AM
waterloowarrior's Avatar
waterloowarrior waterloowarrior is offline
National Capital Region
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 9,243
Isabel Bader Centre - U/C
Archiect - SNØHETTA
http://www.queensu.ca/badercentre





Family and Children's Services of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington - New builidng


http://brickbybrickcampaign.ca/Photos.aspx
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #9  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2013, 1:33 AM
vid's Avatar
vid vid is offline
I am a typical
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Thunder Bay
Posts: 41,172
Interesting!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Mar 13, 2013, 4:05 AM
waterloowarrior's Avatar
waterloowarrior waterloowarrior is offline
National Capital Region
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 9,243
Queen's is working on a new Master Plan
http://www.queensu.ca/cmp/home

36 turbine windfarm proposed for Amherst Island

http://www.thewhig.com/2013/03/06/is...rbine-blockade
http://www.amherstislandwindproject.com/

The Third Crossing across the Catraqui is a major upcoming project. Environmental studies are still in the review process
http://www.cityofkingston.ca/city-ha...third-crossing


Quote:
Based on the Environmental Assessment (EA) Stage 1 Summary Report, a bridge crossing location at John Counter Boulevard and Gore Road is the preferred option as it would provide better opportunities to:

Relieve existing and future traffic congestion on the LaSalle Causeway through improved road connections and traffic flows;
Enhance the Rideau Canal through the use of state-of-the-art and sustainable design practices;
Accommodate long-term planned urban growth and development through improved east-west road connections;
Enhance public transit services by creating new east-west routes;
Enhance emergency and municipal services to the eastern portion of the City; and
Promote alternate modes of transportation by creating new pedestrian and cycling routes.
Williamsville is an area targeted by the city for regeneration - Princess between Concession/Bath and Division
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/city-h.../williamsville



The tender is out for Highway 401 widening between West of Montreal Road, easterly towards Hwy 15.. should take a few years. It's already been widened to 6 lanes from west of 38 to west of Montreal
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #11  
Old Posted Mar 16, 2013, 3:31 AM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by waterloowarrior View Post
The Third Crossing across the Catraqui is a major upcoming project. Environmental studies are still in the review process
From what I've been hearing, this third crossing has been on the books for decades and keeps getting put off. Personally, I think it should receive a certain amount of provincial funding, because it would divert traffic off of the 401.

Quote:
Originally Posted by waterloowarrior View Post
Williamsville is an area targeted by the city for regeneration - Princess between Concession/Bath and Division
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/city-h.../williamsville
That's my neighbourhood, and the regeneration is sorely needed. While it is generally a pedestrian-friendly area with high Walkability scores, there's a lot of ugly vacant properties and abandoned buildings. I live right by one of these lots, where a 7-Eleven stood prior to about 2010. Within a block of that there's an abandoned Pizza Hut and an abandoned CIBC.

There's an empty lot further west on Princess Street which was a Toyota dealership prior to maybe 2009, and there are development plans which have been getting some local opposition from the NIMBY crowd, but I think will go ahead anyways starting next year. The building proposed is a mixed-use commercial/residential development that is meant to affordable, and will probably attract a lot of students. And yet, the same people opposing these new developments complain about the number of single family homes in the older parts of Kingston that get converted to student housing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by waterloowarrior View Post
The tender is out for Highway 401 widening between West of Montreal Road, easterly towards Hwy 15.. should take a few years. It's already been widened to 6 lanes from west of 38 to west of Montreal
I'm hoping the 401 gets widened from Cobourg to Kingston soon. With the exception of the section east of Highway 38, it's only two lanes each way and especially between Cobourg and Belleville, it's getting pretty congested.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #12  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2013, 9:32 PM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
A few Kingston updates:

- Construction has started on the mixed-use development on the former Toyota dealership site on Princess Street in Williamsville district. So far it has just been a lot of digging.

- Princess Street remains closed between Bagot and King Streets for reconstruction. Work on adding new sidewalks and curbs got underway this week between Wellington and King, so hopefully that section won't be closed much longer.

- There has been controversy over a proposed residential high-rise on the east side of the Cataraqui River, just east of downtown. Although a great intensification project that will undoubtedly increase property values in the Barriefield area tremendously, long-time residents are opposed to losing their "quiet" way of life.

- Haven't seen much progress on that new high-rise on Queen Street.

- Four months from now, Kingston's first express bus service will be implemented, with bi-directional 15-minute service from downtown to the Cataraqui Centre via Princess Street, and via Bayridge Drive, Henderson Blvd, Days Road, Front Road, and King Street. This will cut down bus travel times from the Bayridge area to downtown by over half. Two additional routes are planned for implementation in winter 2015.

- Chapters Indigo announced this week that their large Indigo store downtown, which opened in 1997, will close in June. Ten Thousand Villages and a local Telus dealer both suddenly closed this week, and the former Capitol Theatre remains vacant, and some locals are starting to panick about the downtown's future. Fortunately, the commercial vacancy rate downtown is only 4%, a fraction of that of other cities such as Brockville.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2013, 9:45 PM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
Rant

Something that really bothers me in Kingston is how much people complain about the downtown and how it's "dying". Maybe I have different perspective because of where I lived before Kingston, but despite closures of some businesses, I see a vibrant downtown with amenities like a daily outdoor farmer's market, lots of sidewalk patios, not one but two grocery stores, and a place with low crime (though the area immediately north of downtown is a whole other story). I also can't get over the perception locals have about how "little" parking there is, and how "expensive" it is.

I invite anyone who thinks Kingston has a horrible downtown to go spend a month in downtown London, Ontario. If you can even find a place to park, you'll be paying Toronto rates in some areas. You won't find two seven-storey parking garages. You'll find an outdoor farmer's market, but it's much smaller and only on Thursdays. You won't see any sidewalk patios, except one owned by a DUI convict. You won't find any grocery stores, but you'll find payday loan sharks and lots of places to get a tattoo. And if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you'll get shot or stabbed. You might also see a fight break out at D&R. (And London doesn't have the worst downtown in North America, either.)

I just do not get the amount of complaining I hear within Kingston about its downtown. These people should be thankful to have a downtown like theirs. Just because a few stores have closed doesn't mean the whole downtown is dying. A store also recently closed at the RioCan Centre, but nobody's saying that the RioCan is dying. It's the cyclical reality of business.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 2:34 PM
vid's Avatar
vid vid is offline
I am a typical
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Thunder Bay
Posts: 41,172
The people that say that, in my experiences in Thunder Bay, are people that skip downtown and just go straight to the big box stores.

My grandpa is a regular "downtown is dead" whiner but every time we do downtown he says it looks better than he remembers.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 4:06 PM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by vid View Post
The people that say that, in my experiences in Thunder Bay, are people that skip downtown and just go straight to the big box stores.

My grandpa is a regular "downtown is dead" whiner but every time we do downtown he says it looks better than he remembers.
The bizarre thing in Kingston is that there was heavy opposition to the building of the K-Rock Centre (where the Frontenacs play)—and from the flogging a dead horse file, the opponents still actively maintain their website, over five years after it opened. I wonder how dead downtown would be without it.

I sometimes wonder if the longtime Kingston residents that constantly complain about downtown parking have ever traveled anywhere else other than Belleville.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #16  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 4:56 PM
kwoldtimer kwoldtimer is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: La vraie capitale
Posts: 23,490
Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos View Post
The bizarre thing in Kingston is that there was heavy opposition to the building of the K-Rock Centre (where the Frontenacs play)—and from the flogging a dead horse file, the opponents still actively maintain their website, over five years after it opened. I wonder how dead downtown would be without it.

[[B]B]I sometimes wonder if the longtime Kingston residents that constantly complain about downtown [/B]parking[/B] have ever traveled anywhere else other than Belleville.
Are they like folks elsewhere, who really mean "free parking" when they make that complaint? Peasants.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 7:20 PM
vid's Avatar
vid vid is offline
I am a typical
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Thunder Bay
Posts: 41,172
Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos View Post
The bizarre thing in Kingston is that there was heavy opposition to the building of the K-Rock Centre (where the Frontenacs play)—and from the flogging a dead horse file, the opponents still actively maintain their website, over five years after it opened. I wonder how dead downtown would be without it.

I sometimes wonder if the longtime Kingston residents that constantly complain about downtown parking have ever traveled anywhere else other than Belleville.
We're dealing with a very similar thing here in Thunder Bay as we attempt to build a downtown multiplex (with a city bus terminal attached to it, no less! And a skywalk to connect it to a very controversial waterfront hotel/condo development we've just about completed) and there are letters from the same 5 or 6 people, on a regular basis, saying "Well I was going to go to Business X but there was no parking so I went to Walmart instead! Maybe we should build the multiplex on the edge of town????"

Someone literally complained to the city that "downtown is too steep, and people in wheelchairs will roll into the lake, therefore the multiplex should be build on the edge of town".

They say it will be "another waterfront disaster", because the current one was just terrible what with all the luxury condo developments and short supply of commercial space all of a sudden.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 8:42 PM
manny_santos's Avatar
manny_santos manny_santos is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New Westminster
Posts: 5,002
Quote:
Originally Posted by vid View Post
Someone literally complained to the city that "downtown is too steep, and people in wheelchairs will roll into the lake, therefore the multiplex should be build on the edge of town".

They say it will be "another waterfront disaster", because the current one was just terrible what with all the luxury condo developments and short supply of commercial space all of a sudden.
I can't speak for Thunder Bay's demographics, but these controversies seem to be more commonplace in cities like Kingston and London that have generally older populations than the Canadian average. And in those cities it's always the 60+ crowd that go to the media and complain about new development. I'll never forget the 80-year-old who got escorted out of a meeting in London after he made a scene in front of TV cameras over his fierce opposition to a fire station locating in the west end of the city.

Kingston, fortunately, seems to take a much less consultative discussion with local residents when approving zoning changes and new developments - more of a "here's our plan and you will like it". It took only 4-5 months for the proposed mixed-use development on Princess Street to go from initial proposal to shovels in the ground, and I'm sure it would've been faster had they not had to wait for winter to pass. Those kinds of proposals can take years to get approved in London, because their city council tries to please everyone - it took over three years and an OMB hearing just to get a friggin' Tim Hortons built in one instance.

Last edited by manny_santos; Apr 28, 2013 at 8:52 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2013, 10:44 PM
vid's Avatar
vid vid is offline
I am a typical
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Thunder Bay
Posts: 41,172
Thunder Bay (with an average age of 43 or so) was like London, but after we replaced a few members on city council in 2006, everything started being "full steam ahead". We still do a lot of public consultation but for the most part, they've already decided on what they're doing and the consultations are just for show (which pisses off a lot of old people, as they're usually the only ones who attend.) The downside is when they do the occasional project that will turn our really bad, like placing our new bus terminal in the middle of a residential neighbourhood that is kind of near things, but not really.

Every time I attend a planning meeting here, reporters from CBC come up to me and as for my perspective "as the only young person here".
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #20  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2013, 1:50 AM
waterloowarrior's Avatar
waterloowarrior waterloowarrior is offline
National Capital Region
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 9,243
Within 500 feet of the Kingston Indigo, there's two municipal surface lots and a garage, plus lots of cheap pay street parking ($1/hour, free after 5:30)...on-street parking is free 1-2 blocks away.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Regional Sections > Canada > Ontario
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 8:22 PM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.