In a pinch, if you are in the central or eastern core, you can take the C-Train over to the last stop in downtown and then walk two blocks south to the Co-op for soup/salad bar. That's not bad.
The Following User Says Thank You to Hack&Lube For This Useful Post:
Not really. A Tesco Express or Sainsbury Local is essentially a slimmed down grocery store. They have almost all of the same sections as a full-sized store but are located in stores the size of a London Drugs or McDonalds. Consequently, they'll have a Meats section but there won't be a butcher and they'll have Mexican products but probably not chipolte peppers in adobo sauce.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Handsome B. Wonderful
Smart growth is moving economic development OUT of the downtown core. Imperial is doing it right.
No, smart growth would only be moving this development out of the core if the developments were also on transit lines that connect to all areas of the city. Further, true smart growth would be building a city that is oriented toward multiple modes of transport from the beginning.
__________________
“Such suburban models are being rationalized as ‘what people want,’ when in fact they are simply what is most expedient to produce. The truth is that what people want is a decent place to live, not just a suburban version of a decent place to live.”
- Roberta Brandes Gratz
The Following User Says Thank You to Addick For This Useful Post:
Just to chime in on this downtown vs. suburb office debate.
Last year I made the move from my downtown office job to one in the foothills industrial area. It was probably one of the worst decisions I have ever made. My commute has improved, but that's about it. It feels like a prison here. I wish there was something the city could do to outlaw all suburban office developments, because they are absolute hell.
So I truly feel for the IOL and CP employees. I would go back to working downtown in a hearbeat even if I was offered less money than I am currently making.
Never worked downtown, so I wouldn't know. But I don't mind my suburbban office. Is there really that much of a difference? Really, I come here to work in front of a computer, not look aimlessly out my window enjoying the city view.
And this is just a personal choice, but I like driving to work. I really don't like being dependent on Calgary public transit. No offense Calgary, but your public transit sucks ballsack.
So no, contrary to popular belief around here, not everyone prefers working downtown.
If you work for Imperial, you have to be the type to blindly guzzle the company goo, no matter how nasty and bitter it may taste. The location of the work will have a minimal effect on that workforce.
I think IOL may be in for a surprise with the amount of attrition they get. There are quite a few younger employees I've talked to that live downtown and are going to be looking for jobs downtown closer to the move date. Then there are the employees that are already eligible for retirement, which actually make up a large percentage of the IOL workforce, who might elect to retire before having to move into cubicles/communal workspaces. Not sure if they realize Houston and Calgary are not the same city.
Btw, I work for IOL and only take moderate offense to that comment.
Never worked downtown, so I wouldn't know. But I don't mind my suburbban office. Is there really that much of a difference? Really, I come here to work in front of a computer, not look aimlessly out my window enjoying the city view.
And this is just a personal choice, but I like driving to work. I really don't like being dependent on Calgary public transit. No offense Calgary, but your public transit sucks ballsack.
So no, contrary to popular belief around here, not everyone prefers working downtown.
That's essentially it right there. In the burbs you go to work to just stare at your computer for 8 or 9 hours a day. Your coffee break consists of getting up, grabbing a Van Houte coffee from the kitchen and then reading the Calgary Herald website for 15 minutes. Your lunch break means going with a couple of co-workers to some dive restaurant or Tim Horton's. Your commute means sitting in traffic for what seems like eternity.
In downtown, your coffee break means checking out a cool coffee shop a couple of blocks away or going for a walk to a park somewhere near by. Your lunch break means going out to almost any restaurant you can imagine or finding a food truck in the area. You have the option of either going with your co-workers, or meeting up with some friends that work somewhere else in the area. In the burbs, generally offices are farther apart, so it's not as likely that you know anyone close to your office. In downtown, you can go shopping at The Core during your breaks, or run some errands like getting your dry cleaning done. Maybe you enjoy driving to work, but taking the train is actually not that bad.
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to _Q_ For This Useful Post:
Maybe you enjoy driving to work, but taking the train is actually not that bad.
I don't mind driving to work, (though I haven't done nasty commutes in a while) but getting to downtown, and specifically to the new Telus Sky, there simply is no better option to get to work than on the train. Quick walk to the train station, train downtown, and walk off the platfrom directly into the building. LRT would be simply the fastest, cheapest, and easiest way to get to work.
Any word about the old Telus building? Is Telus keeping both?
Telus just has the naming rights to the old building and are leasing space. It's owned by HR properties. I think they will probably cancel once the agreement expires.
I do find it odd that Telus is only going to occupy 20% of the commercial space (in the new tower). Usually when a non-real-estate company does something like this, it's to consolidate their workforce in a large space (and typically they also don't account for their growth, and find themselves in multiple buildings anyways after a few years).
Really, I come here to work in front of a computer, not look aimlessly out my window enjoying the city view.
If there is something interesting to look at, chances are people will look at it. What gives the core an advantage over even suburban office parks that come with a view is that people are attracted do what others are doing. With their being more people downtown and an environment more conducive to public life, there is simply more people will end up wanting to take in.
__________________
“Such suburban models are being rationalized as ‘what people want,’ when in fact they are simply what is most expedient to produce. The truth is that what people want is a decent place to live, not just a suburban version of a decent place to live.”
I do find it odd that Telus is only going to occupy 20% of the commercial space (in the new tower). Usually when a non-real-estate company does something like this, it's to consolidate their workforce in a large space (and typically they also don't account for their growth, and find themselves in multiple buildings anyways after a few years).
TELUS also owns the Len Werry next door so they'll be consolidating their downtown workforce on a single block.
__________________
“Such suburban models are being rationalized as ‘what people want,’ when in fact they are simply what is most expedient to produce. The truth is that what people want is a decent place to live, not just a suburban version of a decent place to live.”
That's essentially it right there. In the burbs you go to work to just stare at your computer for 8 or 9 hours a day. Your coffee break consists of getting up, grabbing a Van Houte coffee from the kitchen and then reading the Calgary Herald website for 15 minutes. Your lunch break means going with a couple of co-workers to some dive restaurant or Tim Horton's. Your commute means sitting in traffic for what seems like eternity.
In downtown, your coffee break means checking out a cool coffee shop a couple of blocks away or going for a walk to a park somewhere near by. Your lunch break means going out to almost any restaurant you can imagine or finding a food truck in the area. You have the option of either going with your co-workers, or meeting up with some friends that work somewhere else in the area. In the burbs, generally offices are farther apart, so it's not as likely that you know anyone close to your office. In downtown, you can go shopping at The Core during your breaks, or run some errands like getting your dry cleaning done. Maybe you enjoy driving to work, but taking the train is actually not that bad.
I would like to experience this. I've only ever worked in foothills industrial. The few times i've been downtown during a weekday actually seems pretty cool.
Actually not even close. As Addick says above, Tesco Expresses are a mini grocery store stocked with the just the basics - dry goods, soups, etc across 3 or 4 aisles and an 8 foot case each for meat and veg respectively. Lots of premade sandwiches like the Brits love but the prepared foods are only 5% of the store - the reverse of most Sunterras (excluding the Vic Park one). Sizes vary depending on the retail space available which can be anything including normal sized retail space, a Tube station, or in this case: under a bridge:
They are also better priced than Sunterra, and more towards the normal end of pricing.
Finally, anyone who has relied on a Sunterra for lunch/catering exclusively quickly learns.....the food looks good but isn't.... Big Pan is completely deceptive. I laugh - CP is also promoting that their building will have a Sunterra. It'll be good for 2 weeks tops before people seek out the closest source of real food and coffee somehwhere in Hobosville Ogden. (CP never provided free coffee when they were at GCS)
Now give me a Pret-a-Manger here and we'll be set...
Last edited by I-Hate-Hulse; 07-04-2013 at 05:46 PM.
Actually not even close. As Addick says above, Tesco Expresses are a mini grocery store stocked with the just the basics - dry goods, soups, etc across 3 or 4 aisles and an 8 foot case each for meat and veg respectively. Lots of premade sandwiches like the Brits love but the prepared foods are only 5% of the store - the reverse of most Sunterras (excluding the Vic Park one). Sizes vary depending on the retail space available which can be anything including normal sized retail space, a Tube station, or in this case: under a bridge:
They are also better priced than Sunterra, and more towards the normal end of pricing.
Finally, anyone who has relied on a Sunterra for lunch/catering exclusively quickly learns.....the food looks good but isn't.... Big Pan is completely deceptive. I laugh - CP is also promoting that their building will have a Sunterra. It'll be good for 2 weeks tops before people seek out the closest source of real food and coffee somehwhere in Hobosville Ogden. (CP never provided free coffee when they were at GCS)
Now give me a Pret-a-Manger here and we'll be set...
The shoppers in the core has some household basics.
The shoppers in the core has some household basics.
Shoppers is similar but you could probably fit a Sainsbury's Local or Tesco Express into the pharmacy section of a Shoppers. A Shoppers has some household basics but an SL or TE has all the basics you'd really need. To give you an idea, Sainsbury's Local stores are between 2,000 sq ft (190 m2) and 6,000 sq ft (560 m2)*.
* Taken from Wikipedia.
__________________
“Such suburban models are being rationalized as ‘what people want,’ when in fact they are simply what is most expedient to produce. The truth is that what people want is a decent place to live, not just a suburban version of a decent place to live.”
Big Pan is completely deceptive. I laugh - CP is also promoting that their building will have a Sunterra. It'll be good for 2 weeks tops before people seek out the closest source of real food and coffee somehwhere in Hobosville Ogden. (CP never provided free coffee when they were at GCS)
