Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Bumface
Regarding Glenmore Landing, I'd way way rather have row houses all over the city and mid-rise in places like Glenmore landing adding up to the same number of units. The podium/tower form factor makes pretty crappy neighbourhoods compared to mid-rise/row housing IMO.
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Agreed. The older I get, the less enamoured I am by towers, and more convinced that the perfect character neighbourhood has buildings that top out at around 3-5 stories. Go around the world to any city (whether its NYC, London, Sydney...or Calgary), and chances are that the neighborhoods that are beloved by local and visitors are not the ones with the high gleaming towers, but the ones with smaller-scaled buildings that put more emphasis on character, nice pedestrian experiences, quality materials, lots of sunlight, layered variety, etc.
I look at a place like Mississauga, with its rows of 50 story towers, and to me it's just as cold and sterile as any cookie-cutter suburb. They make great skylines and I'm sure they hit whatever density metric is set out, but the "pack em and stack em" philosophy does not make for a great neighbourhood.