Quote:
Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse
Much more so obviously in a North American-style city that's laid out surrounding a highrise central district than in a European style city that has a broad sweeping low/mid rise central area.
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I think those standards are changing fast. London, Paris, Moscow, Frankfurt, even Vienna are all going "high rises" in pockets, like little (or not that little in some cases - like the London's City) high-rise central district, the N. American way.
I would like the reverse to also happened; to see north american cities embrace the mid-rise standard more. St.Lawrence in Toronto is a great exemple. In fact, it's my favorite neighbourhood in Toronto and I wish we had something like that here in Montreal.
We have so much surface parking lots in Montreal and Toronto as well... plus all those shabby one or two storey buildings that we could replace with 8-10 storeys buildings, making great street walls, just like they do in Europe. There is no reason for not trying, at this point in history, to mix things up. It's that reasoning that makes wish we would not obsess so much, all the time, about super height or supertalls.
Honestly, I love a big, giant tower as much as you. But I feel we are limiting ourself if we start thinking that not being very tall means being a looser.
Of course, being a Montrealer makes me sensitive about those things, because here we have strict height's limits. We will never have supertalls in Montreal.
We can't even break the 200 meters. But if we can get rid of those ugly surface parking lots only with 10-20 storeys buildings, so be it. It's more important than having a big one.
But we'd also like a big one.