Quote:
Originally Posted by Muta
I'm surprised we don't have a district like the Gaslamp District in San Diego.
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Oh man, that place is just awesome. And it's not just there... a lot of cities have those kinds of awesome districts (Denver, Nashville, New Orleans (special case), even Ottawa). But is this one of those things like our transit where we're comparing Calgary's to cities of much larger magnitude? If you go to Edmonton, it's essentially the same thing, one interesting strip (Whyte) and not much else. Or how about age of the city? Calgary is still a very young city and there hasn't been a lot of time for these things to organically grow. Especially considering the cultural change this city is experiencing... with that, I mean, from the 80's attitude of a friendly small-town-big-city to the more cosmopolitan, internationally-recognized place that it is becoming. We're even talking about it here... the transition from the ridiculousness of Electric in the 80's, early 90's, to a more varied and interesting experience found on 17th today.
And to further that, once the Stampede Trail developments start coming along and Vic Park and the East Village become more of destinations and the Riverwalk is a full reality, you'll have almost a continuous entertainment district running from Inglewood through the Stampede district to Mission and the Beltline, out west along 17th and NW towards Kensington. This is decades away, but I think as the city grows and matures, that should be the vision.
I see lots of potential for this city, and that's part of why I get worried when council feels like they need to step in. I hope they share my vision... I admit I know almost nothing about how cities grow and develop and how policies shape that, so I don't know if this latest discussion is the city stepping in to foster that development or if they're killing it. As I said in my other post, I'm disappointed in the way Electric was basically extinguished within a couple years. It might actually have been for the better, I'm too self-centred to know for sure.
Anyway... there's a bunch of thinking-out-loud for you.