Lees Av TOD

[toaster]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

When I first read your comment, I felt bad. After thinking about it, not so much. It's a shot at the building owner, not the people who live there. Also, the price difference between the north and south sides aren't that much. My buddy who lived in the one bedroom apartment on the south side paid $900 a month. He since moved to a semi detached in Orleans (3 bed, 2 bath), where the rent is only slightly higher.

What I'm saying is, that place is overpriced. If you live in one of those buildings, it's a choice based on geographic location, not lack of financial resources. You can get a much better place in Gatineau or a lot of places outside the core for the same price.

I shouldn't have been so harsh. I guess for people who don't/can't afford to drive, and/or pay for bus passes, this is an ideal spot.

[gjhall]

Originally Posted by defishel

I went to take this picture today, but it didn't turn out like I had hoped. This is from the bridge beside Union Station of the highrises at Lees Station. With the taller buildings going in there, we could have a really interesting skyline to look at from downtown.


Lees Station Skyline by Shel DeF on Flickr

I thought of that the other day as well! It will be very interesting.

[umbria27]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I like the idea and do believe in intensification where transit already exists (Let's bring people where transit already exists if we can't bring transit to where people are going, like the suburbs).

I do see it as a great opportunity but it will have some challenges. First of all, as mentioned, there is no grocery store in the immediate area. Also, there is a lot of criss-crossing roads and overpasses making it a bit of a mess. Also, if you look at the google satellite view you can see that there isn't TOO much space available around the transit station... There's a bit of space directly on both sides of the station (but they are small and on a cliff/angle so don't know how good that would be to build there) and some space just above the "lees" campus, where they could add a couple of towers. Other then that, if you start expanding in that so-called "Robertson village" it becomes a bit far and a bit of a walk to get to the station, especially on trying to access it using the overpass.

But, I am hopefull and can't wait to see an actual plan for the area.

I had similar thoughts when I looked at the satellite. The highway engineers had fun with that one, all those swooping overpasses. Areas like this, which don't function very well as urban neighbourhoods provide more opportunity for experimentation. Since they are already broken, we could try a few more radical (for Ottawa) things.
It might be difficult, for example to design any sort or true main street as the centre of neighbourhood activity. Where would it go? From where to where?
Instead it would be interesting to base the street level life on public squares (or trapezoids or triangles, whatever form of open public piazza can be accommodated). Give these squares some light by keeping one end open and zone for retail and restaurants all around them, and maybe you could make this a place where people actually live, rather than just sleep. Well... I dream.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

I found this on the Urban Stratagies website. It shows how Lees, Nicholas-Mann Precinct and the main uOttawa campus could be integrated, This would cost a fortune tyo build, but maybe over a few decades it could be achieved.

[Harley613]

I don't see why this would take a few decades to build..most of it is already on the drawing board. The University is about to launch some major builds and the developers are keen to snap up the lots at Lees in advance of the light rail.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

I found this on the Urban Stratagies website. It shows how Lees, Nicholas-Mann Precinct and the main uOttawa campus could be integrated, This would cost a fortune tyo build, but maybe over a few decades it could be achieved.

Who are usually responsible for thinking up what to do with this available land?

It's an interesting rendering, but there's still much to be desired for me with what they could do. It doesn't look like a pleasant neighbourhood to live or walk around in; it's just taking a bunch of people and plopping them someplace. It would be better if they built more of it on some of the land Northwest of it on the green and white land, to better integrate it with the other neighbourhoods (make an easy passage from Sandy Hill to Lees to OOE), and figure out how to deal with the interchanges (either find a simpler solution or bury them here so we can build on top of it).

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by defishel

Who are usually responsible for thinking up what to do with this available land?

It's an interesting rendering, but there's still much to be desired for me with what they could do. It doesn't look like a pleasant neighbourhood to live or walk around in; it's just taking a bunch of people and plopping them someplace. It would be better if they built more of it on some of the land Northwest of it on the green and white land, to better integrate it with the other neighbourhoods (make an easy passage from Sandy Hill to Lees to OOE), and figure out how to deal with the interchanges (either find a simpler solution or bury them here so we can build on top of it).

I think all the blue hued buildings are supposed to be new university buildings, Some could be student residences. The rendering shows university buildings at 1Robinson Ave (The Bowl) which the city is supposedly turning over to uOttawa eventually. It shows university buildings where the Sandy Hill Arena is. It shows the Iranian Cultural Center as being blank, as they probably did not/do not know about the court ordered sale and what it will bring about.
A very ambitious plan for the university. The Social Science Tower cost more than 100 million dollars. Think of what all those new towers, some which could be as high as 30 stories will cost.?It would take the uni a long time to assemble the finances needed for it all.
Who knows how much of this will actually come about?

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

I think all the blue hued buildings are supposed to be new university buildings, Some could be student residences. The rendering shows university buildings at 1Robinson Ave (The Bowl) which the city is supposedly turning over to uOttawa eventually. It shows university buildings where the Sandy Hill Arena is. It shows the Iranian Cultural Center as being blank, as they probably did not/do not know about the court ordered sale and what it will bring about.
A very ambitious plan for the university. The Social Science Tower cost more than 100 million dollars. Think of what all those new towers, some which could be as high as 30 stories will cost.?It would take the uni a long time to assemble the finances needed for it all.
Who knows how much of this will actually come about?

If this is just the university then this is really ambitious. But that doesn't mean other developers can't come in with residential or office towers for people other than the university for the rest of the area. Within the next several decades I'd like to see the white and some of the superfluous green from the interchange be developed and connected. I don't see why that can't be part of a wider vision for the future of the area, especially considering we're creating CDPs for areas that probably won't see the sort of development they're predicting.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by defishel

If this is just the university then this is really ambitious. But that doesn't mean other developers can't come in with residential or office towers for people other than the university for the rest of the area. Within the next several decades I'd like to see the white and some of the superfluous green from the interchange be developed and connected. I don't see why that can't be part of a wider vision for the future of the area, especially considering we're creating CDPs for areas that probably won't see the sort of development they're predicting.

One of the things that this idea seem to ignore is that the the long awaited Alta Vista Corridor is supposed to go through the green space to the west of the current apartment buildings on Lees. Perhaps Urban Strategies does not think that the AV corridor will ever be built?

Two of the green patches are the Gee-Gees Field and Matt Anthony, both all-weather sports field.

The plan shows a big green space stretching from the buildngs in The Bowl to the river. Much of that space is currently a natural grass playing field owned by the City(Robinson Field) , It is lined for football , has goal posts and nets , but I do not known who uses it. Never seen it used.
It would be good to replace the grass it with all-weather turf so it could get used a lot more. A joint project of then university and city, used half the time by each.
Before you say that the university already has two such fields , I would point out that most unis the size of uOttawa have three to five playing fields, and the downtown community would benefit from having more quality recreational space of all kinds, indoor and outdoor.

[Urbanarchit]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

One of the things that this idea seem to ignore is that the the long awaited Alta Vista Corridor is supposed to go through the green space to the west of the current apartment buildings on Lees. Perhaps Urban Strategies does not think that the AV corridor will ever be built?

Two of the green patches are the Gee-Gees Field and Matt Anthony, both all-weather sports field.

The plan shows a big green space stretching from the buildngs in The Bowl to the river. Much of that space is currently a natural grass playing field owned by the City(Robinson Field) , It is lined for football , has goal posts and nets , but I do not known who uses it. Never seen it used.
It would be good to replace the grass it with all-weather turf so it could get used a lot more. A joint project of then university and city, used half the time by each.
Before you say that the university already has two such fields , I would point out that most unis the size of uOttawa have three to five playing fields, and the downtown community would benefit from having more quality recreational space of all kinds, indoor and outdoor.

I'm not looking at Robinson Field or the field west of those towers already built by the water. I mean specifically the area in the cropping below. That's a lot of wasted space that should be used for something better than awkward fields for motorists to enjoy driving by.

[CongoJack]

I'm all for intensification along Lees, but I am concerned about road safety in the area. First, you have a lot of people carelessly jay-walking to and from the transitway station. Second, Lees is a bit too narrow for the volume and type of traffic it experiences. In the summer, many cyclists use that route; I'm personally not comfortable passing a cyclist on Lees while cars are parked on both sides and there is oncoming traffic. In the winter, snowbanks make even just passing by oncoming traffic can be hazardous. More buildings, people and cars will only make things worse.

I would remove parking on the south side of Lees and replace it with a bike path. I would also realign the off-ramp from the 417 so that it aligns with Chestnut to create a four-way intersection, if only to make cyclists think twice of blowing the stop sign while heading eastbound.

[Aylmer]

Ugh. Please tell me they're not going with that Alta Vista "Transportation corridor"...
All of its justification was done 1) before any plans for LRT 2) before they knew about the widening of the Queensway 3) with ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION OF INDUCED DEMAND.

I mean really. Do we really have $150M for a new expressway which will only serve to worsen our traffic problems?

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

Ugh. Please tell me they're not going with that Alta Vista "Transportation corridor"...
All of its justification was done 1) before any plans for LRT 2) before they knew about the widening of the Queensway 3) with ABSOLUTELY NO MENTION OF INDUCED DEMAND.

I mean really. Do we really have $150M for a new expressway which will only serve to worsen our traffic problems?

The induced demand potential for the Alta Vista corridor is fairly low. The city doesn't really have any room to build to the southeast. The only induced demand would be from existing development which would keep a lid on it. For the exact same reason I think the parkway is a stupid idea--it's not serving anything new, so what's the point? A new freeway is really only justifiable if there's a massive population growth in an area away from existing highways--like the 407 east extension in Toronto for example. (The area it runs through is projected to go from nothing now to 600,000 people in the next few decades).

I personally think the corridor between Riverside and Nicholas should be permanently removed from the plans and released to development. The rest of the route should be kept reserved if we ever come up with a use for it. (Even if its just as simple as another hydro corridor or something).

[Buggys]

There will be population growth if those flat industrial areas and low rise homes (apartment buildings, single family homes, etc) are redeveloped into high rises in 50-100 years. Selling it to developers now is a easy short term gain, while getting it back would be virtually impossible if the need arises in the future.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by defishel

I'm not looking at Robinson Field or the field west of those towers already built by the water. I mean specifically the area in the cropping below. That's a lot of wasted space that should be used for something better than awkward fields for motorists to enjoy driving by.

This is Ottawa; you need to have lots of grass and shrubs or else the city will stop vibrating, your property values will plunge, and children will die.