Quote:
Originally Posted by MarchHare
Oh, no question. I wasn't posting my childhood neighbourhood as a paragon of sustainable development, but rather as an example of a community where people would actually like to live because the homes have yards large enough for their kids to play. This is what people envision when they say they want to move to a house with a yard, but neighbourhoods like that just don't exist in Calgary. Instead what we have is the worst of all worlds: all the drawbacks of low-density suburban development without any of the perks of having large yards with room to live and play.
I didn't purposely go fishing on Google Maps for a community with no nearby parks. I just chose that photo at random as being typical of a Calgary suburb. Suppose you lived in one of those homes from the second image. Would you let a six or seven year old go to the nearest park (not pictured off-screen) to play without adult supervision?
Also, high-density neighbourhoods have parks too. In fact, through economies of scale, inner city residents likely have more park space near their homes than most suburbanites have. My condo in the Beltline has two parks (one with a playground) and a large schoolyard within a three minute walk of my front door.
I'm not saying it was good. I'm just saying it was desirable and represents the idyllic image people have in their heads when they picture living in a home with a yard. Personally, I think both example communities represent unsustainable urban planning that leads to high municipal taxes and car dependency. But at least the first one also offers a decent quality-of-life for families with children.
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I read you post a bit wrong. I disagree that people want A bit get b. I think that B provides most of what A offers. A backyard that as a place for a playhouse and a trampoline until the kids are 10 and then safe streets, 30km speed limits, with parks that are walkable for the kids 10 and up. And a garage to store crap. I’m not sure making the backyards bigger gives more places to play.
My kids walked home from school at 7 and could go to parks on their own. But then I am a let kids roam type of parent. In my head I would have more apprehension doing that from a condo in the beltline but that risk is probably in my head rather than real.
I think that if you look at the density of the modern burb you see it is better than all of the mid city communities and equal to most of the inner city. It is not the cause of unsustainable sprawl and in general increases the average density in Calgary.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/da...ity/index.html
For example
Evergreen 4162 people per square km
Lake Bonnevista 2530
West Hilhurst 3346
Sunnyside - 6800
Rose dale - 1800
Ramsay - 3000
Not sure of the dates of that table but the modern burb is in the 3500-4000 range.