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Originally Posted by urbanroo
I'm not necessarily sure about "unique in Canada" but that is my general impression. Downtown's urban fabric is badly scarred mostly by surface parking lots--and incredibly ugly gravel ones at that. I wonder about the history of some of this and would love to know more. I mean, what's the deal with 106 street, especially between Jasper Ave and 102? It is so central and yet there's barely a single building on it. And who is impark and how are they able to get away with not beautifying their lots? If there's going to be a bunch of surface parking lots in the middle of Canada's 5th largest city, couldn't there at least be nice wrought iron fences around them, some planters and flowers etc. and couldn't they at least be properly paved and maintained? Sorry for the newbie questions!
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The story I'd been told is that back in the '70s, there were ambitious plans for the vast swaths of parking lots that now occupy the Warehouse District and Boyle Street. But then the economy went bust in the '80s and while the buildings had already been torn down, nothing had taken its place and there was no longer demand for the new "community revitalizations". So parking lots!
I'm not sure why Calgary's downtown, which was subject to the same boom-and-bust cycle as us, has a more intact pre-war fabric downtown. Winnipeg I get... they tore down a lot and have a lot of parking lots, but had a lot more to begin with, so they still have arguably the best pre-war fabric in Western Canada.