Quote:
Originally Posted by bizaro86
In my experience (and it's as a foreigner in most places not a resident) neighbourhoods with buildings mostly around 4-6 stories seem to be the most walkable and livable. Examples of the top of my head from my travels include the most livable parts of London, Barcelona, Istanbul and Buenos Aires. Skyscraper neighbourhoods tend to have a more sterile feel to them, as the streetscape becomes a less significant part of life.
Neighbourhoods of single family homes have an opposite problem, as the density is not high enough to support a core of services.
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Generally that's true - the densest community in Calgary (Lower Mount Royal) doesn't have a building higher than 5 storeys - also a really liveable community.
But, that's not to say communities with high-rises can't be also extremely liveable, it just requires extremely good planning and design - which most cities generally haven't been very good at. On the other hand, take a look at Yaletown in Vancouver - very thoughtfully designed, great public spaces, extremely dense and tall but the buildings also relate to the street very well. I think Calgary has learned well from this example in recent years - our newest highrise residential buildings (Stella/Nova/Luna, Waterfront, Arriva, Union Square, - the new proposed towers in East Village etc) are all very engaging buildings from a pedestrian's standpoint.