One thing I'd love to see, especially with the lack of parking included in the plan, is some sort of secure bike lockers/storage. I emailed council about this some time ago but didn't get much of a response.
It's quite bizarre that a civil engineer would be touting that sort of solution. Urban light rail requires 3-4,000...maybe more trips per HOUR to be feasible.
Public infrastructure investment really is one the best examples of opportunity cost. A government spends 8B on some sort of light rail system that is not needed, and has no business case even decades into the future...that's 8B that is not used for more pressing matters.
Option 2 is my choice for civic core concept, and I hope if it goes through the mixed use residential is at least 5 storeys to maximize the amount of people living down there. Throw in a bakery, bodega of sorts and some shopping, would make for a great new area!
Like Meg, I'm also concerned about the lack of parking in either plan. The parking lot by the conference centre can be quite full if there are events going on downtown, particularly when stuff is happening at the plaza. The parking under the library can also fill up - when a friend and I went down for the recent book sale, we couldn't find a spot down there! - and is intended for library users. If we want folks to come downtown and utilize these spaces, we unfortunately need parking that can handle the anticipated traffic. I like plan #2, and I've no idea where we could fit more public parking (under the performing arts centre?) but the small proposed lot by city hall will not be adequate.
Also v disappointed by Tidewater's potential scale-back - I really hope policy changes and ensures it remains viable!
Edit to add: to clarify, I'm not a fan of having giant, underused parking lots, but we need to acknowledge that PG is fairly car-reliant, and folks from out of town will be too, and I can't see us having a park'n'ride site elsewhere so ppl can park outside the core and use transit to pop into this area.
One thing I'd love to see, especially with the lack of parking included in the plan, is some sort of secure bike lockers/storage. I emailed council about this some time ago but didn't get much of a response.
Mayor Yu's concept is...umm...ambitious.
Skytrain line all the way north, baby!!! 😂
It's quite bizarre that a civil engineer would be touting that sort of solution. Urban light rail requires 3-4,000...maybe more trips per HOUR to be feasible.
Public infrastructure investment really is one the best examples of opportunity cost. A government spends 8B on some sort of light rail system that is not needed, and has no business case even decades into the future...that's 8B that is not used for more pressing matters.
So, like a mule with a spinning wheel!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDOI0cq6GZM
Option 2 is my choice for civic core concept, and I hope if it goes through the mixed use residential is at least 5 storeys to maximize the amount of people living down there. Throw in a bakery, bodega of sorts and some shopping, would make for a great new area!
Like Meg, I'm also concerned about the lack of parking in either plan. The parking lot by the conference centre can be quite full if there are events going on downtown, particularly when stuff is happening at the plaza. The parking under the library can also fill up - when a friend and I went down for the recent book sale, we couldn't find a spot down there! - and is intended for library users. If we want folks to come downtown and utilize these spaces, we unfortunately need parking that can handle the anticipated traffic. I like plan #2, and I've no idea where we could fit more public parking (under the performing arts centre?) but the small proposed lot by city hall will not be adequate.
Also v disappointed by Tidewater's potential scale-back - I really hope policy changes and ensures it remains viable!
Edit to add: to clarify, I'm not a fan of having giant, underused parking lots, but we need to acknowledge that PG is fairly car-reliant, and folks from out of town will be too, and I can't see us having a park'n'ride site elsewhere so ppl can park outside the core and use transit to pop into this area.