[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[SignalHillHiker]

It's a bit too important for that, I think. Not grand - it's quite modest. But I don't think we should convert a former Parliament into a farmers market. It's a pity we don't have an old market building, though.

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It's a bit too important for that, I think. Not grand - it's quite modest. But I don't think we should convert a former Parliament into a farmers market. It's a pity we don't have an old market building, though.

The market would only be on Saturdays, and only in a portion of the building. Maybe if there was an open space in the basement and you could also use outside. People would be free then to take in some of the other places in the building. Too bad there wasn't an old building downtown they could use.

Anyways, I know it won't happen and I am happy with the new location for the farmers market. It's somewhat central and I can walk there from home.

[Waterlooson]

Not bad at all.

[SignalHillHiker]

Yeah it's not too bad. I can walk there too but I hate walking away from downtown. We're only a couple of blocks away from where it starts feeling like Mount Pearl on the other side of Empire. You'll see me standing in the Rabbittown side of the Empire/Freshwater intersection, afraid to cross lol

[MrChills]

Wow.. Talk about a total different feel coming around this corner.. I haven't been home in two years what a change

[SignalHillHiker]

Yeah. It almost feels part of downtown again lol

[Horsell]

Skyscraper envy! It seems like opposition to tall buildings isn’t just a St. John’s thing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...s-skyline.html

If only we could look forward to seeing two or three get underway in our city this year, I think most of us here would be happy. The Hilton might be our only chance this year.

[SignalHillHiker]

London's certainly not afraid to experiment and fail with modern towers. Looks great, though.

I'd love to see something start and finish. I'm most looking forward to Star of the Sea, Lighthouse, Marriot extension, etc. And MIX, of course, but that one seems to be dead.

[displacednewfie]

Originally Posted by Horsell

Skyscraper envy! It seems like opposition to tall buildings isn’t just a St. John’s thing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...s-skyline.html

If only we could look forward to seeing two or three get underway in our city this year, I think most of us here would be happy. The Hilton might be our only chance this year.

I honestly think if one of those developments were even mentioned in public here in St. John's, there would be holy war.

[PoscStudent]

What are people's thoughts on the convention centre now that there's a nice bit done?

[SignalHillHiker]

I still think it looks like a Danier Leather outlet.

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

What are people's thoughts on the convention centre now that there's a nice bit done?

I think it will look nice. It's not stunning but not hideous either. I'm glad it has colour. Will be hard to say for certain until it is complete. Looks like the interior will be beautiful from the video that was shared last year sometime.

I will take it over this:

[Horsell]

Looks like it was built with giant LEGO blocks !

[Arrakis]

It's nothing too extraordinary in regards to architecture but it is different at least. Anything is better than those horrible old boarding houses that were there.

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

What are people's thoughts on the convention centre now that there's a nice bit done?

[SignalHillHiker]

Great call on Open Line from Dave Lane. He advises against making Water Street one way. It increases speeds, discourages pedestrian street life, etc. he wants to see a pedestrian mall. Paddy agreed. Another called phoned in to agree. Said imagine 8th in Calgary or Sparkes in Ottawa in our downtown. It'd be great.

Exciting times. And good to see the conversation starting early. Whatever we decide to do, all of it will be done in three years.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by PoscStudent

What are people's thoughts on the convention centre now that there's a nice bit done?

I'm not 100% sold on the design, however I think it's a welcome addition to the city. And it's way better than the slum housing that was there before.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Great call on Open Line from Dave Lane. He advises against making Water Street one way. It increases speeds, discourages pedestrian street life, etc. he wants to see a pedestrian mall. Paddy agreed. Another called phoned in to agree. Said imagine 8th in Calgary or Sparkes in Ottawa in our downtown. It'd be great.

Exciting times. And good to see the conversation starting early. Whatever we decide to do, all of it will be done in three years.

That's something I hadn't considered. If that's the case, I too will probably be against one way traffic; will it actually help downtown traffic that much? Probably not.

Taking a block to be a pedestrian mall would be awesome; maybe over on the east side of Water Street? Say from Prescott west to the next intersection, which I believe is by the court house?

[PoscStudent]

I like Convention Centre more now that it's partly built then I did on paper. I like the windows they are using, it's too bad there's not more of them.

[Horsell]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Great call on Open Line from Dave Lane. He advises against making Water Street one way. It increases speeds, discourages pedestrian street life, etc. he wants to see a pedestrian mall. Paddy agreed. Another called phoned in to agree. Said imagine 8th in Calgary or Sparkes in Ottawa in our downtown. It'd be great.

Exciting times. And good to see the conversation starting early. Whatever we decide to do, all of it will be done in three years.

I have to admit that this whole Water St. tear up thing really scares me. Think back on how all the other “major projects” undertaken by the City in recent years have gone. Portugal Cove Rd.? Bonaventure Ave.? Harbour Drive? The Riverhead Wastewater plant itself? Road improvements in Kilbride? Have they been on time and on budget without any undue disruption?

Perhaps the best thing for the City to do with regards to Water St. is to stay out of it as much as possible. Hire the consultant, let them handle it 100% and give them the cheque at the end of the day.

The first thing I would question is the timeframe. Does it have to be three years or can it be done in two? I can appreciate that the flow of funding is a factor but for something this big all consideration should be given to shortening the timeframe if at all possible.

I’ve been to other major cities where massive roadwork projects have been underway yet as a pedestrian it was hardly noticeable other than barricades and of course the noise.

The City only gets one chance to get this right, let’s hope they pull it off.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

That's something I hadn't considered. If that's the case, I too will probably be against one way traffic; will it actually help downtown traffic that much? Probably not.

Taking a block to be a pedestrian mall would be awesome; maybe over on the east side of Water Street? Say from Prescott west to the next intersection, which I believe is by the court house?

Here's a good article about it:

Why one-way streets are bad for everyone but speeding cars

In John Gilderbloom's experience, the notorious streets are invariably the one-way streets. These are the streets lined with foreclosed homes and empty storefronts, the streets that look neglected and feel unsafe, the streets where you might find drug dealers at night.

"Sociologically, the way one-way streets work," he says, "[is that] if there are two or more lanes, a person can just pull over and make a deal, while other traffic can easily pass them by."

It's also easier on a high-speed one-way road to keep an eye out for police or flee from the scene of a crime. At least, this is the pattern Gilderbloom, director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods at the University of Louisville, has observed in San Francisco, in Los Angeles, in Houston and Washington where streets that once flowed both directions were converted in the 1950s and '60s into fast-moving one-way thoroughfares to help cars speed through town. The places where this happened, Gilderbloom noticed, deteriorated.

"I thought about that for a long time," he says. "But we didn’t have much empirical data on it."

Where he lives now in Louisville, he and fellow researchers have begun to prove the curious link between how we engineer roads and what becomes of the neighborhoods around them. Their research offers a lot more fodder for anyone who doesn't like one-way streets simply because they're baffling to navigate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...are-the-worst/

[MalcolmTucker]

At night Calgary's Stephen Ave is a one way street with a parking lane. It is sure notorious!

You can design good one ways and bad two ways.