Saskatoon Core Living vs the Suburbs

[Roquentin]

Originally Posted by roryn1

More city centre / downtown school discussion, not actually happening downtown where the majority of tenants live lol. Our building at 25th and 5th actually has a lot of kids in it. I love it when the school bus comes here to a big building it’s quite nice to see all demographics in our large building. It would be even nicer to be able to see them walk to the new library that could have been conjoined into this newly planned school.

Are you really suggesting that the location of the new library would also be suitable for a large elementary school (i.e. more suitable than the Optimist Park or Princess Alex sites)?

[Ricopedra]

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[roryn1]

Originally Posted by Roquentin

Are you really suggesting that the location of the new library would also be suitable for a large elementary school (i.e. more suitable than the Optimist Park or Princess Alex sites)?

Why not? 25th and 5th is the most population dense area of Saskatoon so it’s time we got a more urban school - school bus picks up quite a few kids in my building, but would definitely be more if the school was located more in the downtown
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/cros...town-vancouver

I think an elementary school is necessary in both locations.



The new library is supposed to have a lot of green space / could have been / still could be very collaborative.

[Roquentin]

Originally Posted by roryn1

Why not? 25th and 5th is the most population dense area of Saskatoon so it’s time we got a more urban school - school bus picks up quite a few kids in my building, but would definitely be more if the school was located more in the downtown

I think an elementary school is necessary in both locations.

The new library is supposed to have a lot of green space / could have been / still could be very collaborative.

Why not? I think the better question is why. Why try to force a collaboration between the SPL and SPS? Why try to get them to agree on a shared building that would meet all of their (rigorous, diverse) needs? Why close three Westside elementary schools (community schools!) and force their students to commute downtown? Why build an elementary school in a spot that doesn't have nearby parks? Why build an elementary school at one of downtown's busiest, least pedestrian-friendly intersections? Etc. etc. etc. And you think a new elementary school is needed in the Westside AND downtown? Respectfully, how would you know --- because you saw a school bus in front of your building? Vancouver has a new elementary school downtown so we should too --- is that it? The placeholder name they're using is "City Centre School" --- would calling it "Westside School" have nipped all of this in the bud? Downtown was never in consideration for this new school, nor should it have been for these and a hundred other reasons. I don't know if you've been following the controversy around the school closures at all, but just imagine the anger that completely chopping schools out of the Westside would cause.

If an elementary school were needed downtown, it would already exist or be in the pipeline. Not enough people live downtown yet to justify a school. But who knows, maybe downtown's industrial area will suddenly become a place people want to live and raise children. In all seriousness, making downtown attractive for families will matter more and more as Saskatoon continues to grow in the coming decades. Floating optimistic, pie-in-the-sky proposals isn't a bad thing, but it's important to be realistic too, especially here. Saskatoon is small, so things happen slowly. There might eventually be an elementary school in downtown Saskatoon, but there are a thousand steps between there and where we are now. For starters, I'm sure the new library will offer lots of programming for children, and that's great --- it will help address the larger issue you're raising, which is the accessibility of educational services for children who live downtown. Don't hold your breath on a new school anytime soon, though.

[roryn1]

- I’d never have kids downtown because there’s no school downtown.
- your point: downtown won’t have a school if there aren’t kids downtown.

Talk about a vicious cycle lol

[Roquentin]

Originally Posted by roryn1

- I’d never have kids downtown because there’s no school downtown.
- your point: downtown won’t have a school if there aren’t kids downtown.

Talk about a vicious cycle lol

Framed like that, it seems a little chicken-and-egg-ish, just like the old downtown grocery store debate. There are steps the city could take to make downtown more attractive to families, like requiring new developments to have a minimum number of 3-bedroom suites, but for that to happen in a sustained way the city and developers would need to take a greater interest in the core rather than places like Brighton, say. In the short term, things like the new library will help, and new developments like the Baydo Towers are a step in the right direction too (you know, in a general sense). The health of central neighborhoods like Caswell Hill, City Park, Riversdale, and Nutana is also really important.

Anyway, I've been thinking about a point that you raised a couple of weeks ago, when you mentioned the prospect of commercial buildings being converted to residences. That got me thinking about which buildings might be good candidates for conversion. For example, the old post office across from City Hall would be a neat one, especially sitting alongside Cambridge Court and the beautiful block just beside it. However, significant renovations have been going on there for months, so it seems destined to remain an office block. I wonder, are there other buildings that people would like to see converted from commercial to residential uses?

[roryn1]

Other than Tourism Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and SREDA, that Post Office Block is actually mostly city of saskatoon employees that can’t fit in city hall anymore. Lots of city employees in the dilapidated John Deere building with windows boarded up near the police station. A new city hall might be imminent which would make up space in both those buildings.. they’d both be cool condos.

[Ricopedra]

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[asdfgh]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

That's a nice school in Vancouver.

But sorry I'm confused here, Princess Alexandra is at Avenue H and 22nd and isn't it a school already? And isn't there King George? And there's City Park school, right? Nutana Elementary seems to be a college now. Anyway, I thought we were talking about a downtown elementary school...I think the situation is worse than I thought. I don't have young kids so I'm out of that loop.

If I wanted to live downtown and had 3 kids, say 6, 8 and 14, where would they go to school? Seriously. Where would you 'send' them?

Optimist Park is a great location for a new school. Really? Why is an established park even a consideration? Leave our parks alone. No sidewalks there? That's ridiculous, but true. There are even dirt roads. The place looks like a shithole because that's how the city treats it, and the burb dad's like cruising for the.... It's pathetic and abusive. But the park itself is nice. It just needs some respect.

Taxes are paid in Riversdale, just like everywhere else in the city. The landowners should stop paying taxes near Optimist Park and protest. Sidewalks and paved roads are the first things the city builds for everyone in the burbs. The neighbours have to work together in the core area hoods or they'll be treated like dirt. They've got to be coordinated, and I'm sure they'll get their sidewalks and simple infrastructure, regardless of any school.

Anyway, that area of the city is naturally beautiful, just not city beautiful. And of course a little gritty, because of its continuous beatdown. Cheers.

Have you been to the area around Optimist Park recently? I know that for decades the roads weren't paved, but they all did get paved about 10 years ago. Some still don't have sidewalks because they are in the industrial area (which is on par with other industrial areas), but the residential portions all do have sidewalks I believe. And I'd imagine if a school was built, more parts of that area would become residential and more sidewalks would be built.

Also, sidewalks are built in suburbs with money from development levys and/or by the developers, which is the same as is happening around Optimist Park. The new residential development across the street resulted in a sidewalk being built, the same as what happened when Wolf Willow got built on 17th. Also, it looks like the city has a plan to fill in throughout the entire city any missing sidewalks over the next decade or so. It, alongside decreasing the average frequency at which roads get resurfaced from 80+ years between resurfacing to something like 18 years, has been one of Charlie Clarks major initiatives, but he doesn't seem to get any credit for it. People don't seem to be aware of how much he's improved road and sidewalk maintenance/replacement since he became mayor. As much he could be criticized for not listening to the publics loud voices on some files, on roads and sidewalks he appears to be the only Mayor in my lifetime that's actually done something to improve maintenance of them.

As for where to send kids for school if you live downtown, Victoria School is a short walk/bike/bus/drive away. I have friends in Riversdale who send their kids there as it's french immersion. Lots of parts of downtown would be even closer than Riversdale.

[Ricopedra]

^^Thanks for the info, asdfgh!

[Ricopedra]

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[tenraptors]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

Survey Says!

Dear Skyscraperpage Members in Saskatoon specifically:

Would you be kind enough to state your regular/average daily work commute time and your method of travel so that a base could be established? It would also be interesting to state your start and end points, but not necessary. Does anyone use public transit? Does anyone ride-share? Make note of anything you feel is atypical about your daily commute. Cheers, and thanks to those of you who take the time to respond.

Before the pandemic, I had a 15-20 minute commute (door to door) using transit beginning at broadway/8th and ending at the university. Now my commute is about 30 seconds from bed to desk

[Sask.ks]

Originally Posted by tenraptors

Before the pandemic, I had a 15-20 minute commute (door to door) using transit beginning at broadway/8th and ending at the university. Now my commute is about 30 seconds from bed to desk

Seconded (for the bed to desk part)! My pre-pandemic commute was around 5 minutes (Nutana to Downtown). When the weather’s nice it’s about 20 minutes - I park in Buena Vista by the Idylwyld bridge then walk to my office.

I’ve tried taking the bus to work downtown to save on parking costs, but it added about 10-15 minutes to my commute time and wasn’t worth the hassle of buying and renewing transit passes in my opinion.

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Ricopedra

Survey Says!

Dear Skyscraperpage Members in Saskatoon specifically:

Would you be kind enough to state your regular/average daily work commute time and your method of travel so that a base could be established? It would also be interesting to state your start and end points, but not necessary. Does anyone use public transit? Does anyone ride-share? Make note of anything you feel is atypical about your daily commute. Cheers, and thanks to those of you who take the time to respond.

Still drive a car to work by myself every day from Warman to north end of Saskatoon. Commute time unchanged due to Covid, that being 12 - 20 minutes, dependent on traffic.

[scotty c]

12-15 minutes of commute from far west side to downtown. No major changes due to pandemic in the timing.

One day I hope to be able to use BRT for my commute. As it stands now with small kids the timing of daycare pickup and drop off don’t work well for public transit. I’m hoping the launch of BRT will coincide with the kids being old enough to get to/from school on their own.