Quote:
Originally Posted by SebC
You can't evaluate a downtown based the magnitude of its skyline. In the context of this discussion, anyways, what matters is at street level.
Most of the building you see in Calgary are commercial office towers that are empty by six every night. Vancouver's downtown is a nicer place to live than Calgary's in a lot of ways because many of their buildings, although they are shorter, are residential. Population density supports restaurants, parks, shopping, bars and clubs, entertainment etc. World class cities, world class destinations all have great downtowns. To achieve that, Calgary needs population density and beautification downtown.
Calgary will never be a huge tourist destination in itself by virtue of geography and (lack of) history, but it can become a nicer city for the people living here. The condo boom downtown is increasing the inner city population, and this bridge and the new music centre are the sort of things that make a difference at street level. To me at least, that's something to celebrate.
|
Yeah, my discussion of the skyline was in regards to the discussion of buildings "going as high as the eye can see", or something like that.
You do have a point, one that I agree with completely, about dead after 6pm. What I have noticed, tho, is that many other cities out there are also dead after 6pm. Tampa is a perfect example of that - it's deader than dead, it's a ghost town. After the second game in the finals, I went to a bar near the arena downtown for some drinks, stayed a few hours, then walked across the downtown to the hotel. I saw 2 people in that 15 min walk - it was dead. I guarantee I would have seen more livliness in Calgary than I would have there. Tampa is the perfect example of a suburb-based city. It's a horrible place to visit, unless you stay at the beach.
I agree what you are saying about Vancouver's downtown in some ways being a nicer place to be (depending on the neighbourhood), but at the same time, our downtown during office hours is one of the most vibrant, pedestrian, nicest downtowns I've been to. My issue isn't that it couldn't be better - my issue is that this city is one without a "big city" feel. It does have it, more than many cities I've been to.