MF YYC Politics - there, I mega did it

[Wormius]

Has anybody on council accomplished much? Just happy Sean Chu has made himself invisible.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

What would I say who has accomplished so far? My councillor has accomplished nothing except this stupid bird thing, which only backs up my initial suspicions of her that she would be yet another pet project councillor who prioritizes things that are visible without actually being impactful. In essence, your attributing that to Jyoti makes Penner seem better than she is. It was not a defense of Gondek -- I mean technically I guess it ends up that way, but not my intention. If pressed, I can't really think what Gondek has accomplished (positive) off the top of my head. She tried to prevent the CPS funding boost which would have been a plus in my books, but failed to rally council on that point and the budget increase passed anyway.

Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s going to champion the extremely important leaf blower issue that some people want to pursue.

[TorqueDog]

Don't remind me, that's another Penner initiative.

[Mazrim]

Dan McLean working hard on using all the conservative buzz words in his various social media posts:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1523686120235569152

So glad to have him as my councillor!

[timun]

Pff, he didn't even use "woke".

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Dan McLean working hard on using all the conservative buzz words in his various social media posts:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1523686120235569152

So glad to have him as my councillor!

Putting in turnstiles for people to jump over is going to help a lot. Great idea guys.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by GGG

Putting in turnstiles for people to jump over is going to help a lot. Great idea guys.

Yeah. I am trying to imagine how turnstiles are going to achieve anything.

Maybe if we built the LRT elevated or below ground it would be easier to gate keep.

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Dan McLean working hard on using all the conservative buzz words in his various social media posts:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1523686120235569152

So glad to have him as my councillor!

Can’t confirm they're related, but i found it hilarious that the community liaison for his ward has the last name ‘Poilievre’..

[Bunk]

Pierre's brother.

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Pierre's brother.

Haha of course 😂

[Fuzz]

CBC radio yesterday said the last time they looked at closing the system it would cost $450 million. To me that money would be far better spent on enforcement and social services in general. Improve these people's lives and they won't be a problem. I'd be kinda pissed if they spent that much money just to push the problems elsewhere.

[The Fisher Account]

For $450M you could probably build an entirely new station or extend the freakin' red line to Silverton already

[para transit fellow]

Just back from a regional conference on transit. Transit security was one of many topics discussed at length.

Edmonton transit is doing some interesting stuff, partnering outreach teams with local agencies - unfortunately it seldom makes the news. Most significant fact was the comment that some addicts now go to LRT stations to inject because they know the area is under video surveillance. It is a strange attempt to be safer given the state of street substances.

Unfortunately addicts are counting on ETS noticing live events in a station while watching hundreds of cameras, but it does frame how the drug consumption situation has changed.

[Northendzone]

anyone have any thoughts, comments, insights on this new development planned for stephen ave?

stuns me that there are folks somewhere that are ready to roll the dice that this will pay off, but maybe i am just afraid to be rich.

https://calgarysun.com/business/mass...8-41e773b7902b

[J pold]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

anyone have any thoughts, comments, insights on this new development planned for stephen ave?

stuns me that there are folks somewhere that are ready to roll the dice that this will pay off, but maybe i am just afraid to be rich.

https://calgarysun.com/business/mass...8-41e773b7902b

I'm in the commercial real estate industry. There is strong speculation that the development would be Suncor's new HQ location. Their lease in Suncor Energy Centre is up in 2028 (pretty sure) and they've been out in the market teasing a new development for the last couple of years. At first, most thought it was just a negotiation tactic to get their Landlord to renegotiate their lease early, but with this news, they may actually be doing it.

The other rumor was they want a development that would be run off 100% renewable energy, LEED & WELL certified. Basically using the office space to drive their ESG rating.

[The Fisher Account]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

anyone have any thoughts, comments, insights on this new development planned for stephen ave?

stuns me that there are folks somewhere that are ready to roll the dice that this will pay off, but maybe i am just afraid to be rich.

https://calgarysun.com/business/mass...8-41e773b7902b

It's not the best plan, but it keeps most of Stephen Ave intact, gets rid of the crap on 7th ave and could potentially bring thousands of people downtown. Checks most of the boxes I guess. Not thrilled this may block a lot of Telus Sky, but such is life.

[Johnny Makarov]

I saw video of that 7th Ave stretch on the news last night and it looked like it was the set of The Last of Us.

Man do I miss that arcade that used to be there.

[timun]

Hmmm, I'm very torn on this...

While I get that the 100 block of 7th Ave SW has been so sketchy for so long and the buildings along that stretch are so far beyond 'saving' that something like this plan was inevitable, but looking at the DP drawings the proposed façade along that block is a monolithic glass curtain wall that screams "#### off and go away!" as much as the derelict buildings still standing there. That's no bueno. Reminds me a lot of Penny Lane and the current Eighth Avenue Place. Crappy as those old warehouse buildings were at least they had character and that block was a busy, happenin' place. Now it's superficially "nice" but it's completely devoid of life.

I'm not a fan of the idea of ####ing around with any of the buildings on Stephen Avenue. I appreciate that they're trying to mostly save the façades at least, but these are some of the oldest buildings in the city. For example the Hudson's Block building at Centre St, the one with an ATB branch in it now, was the location of the HBC store before the current one was built in the early 1910s. I did some work in the Ashdown Hardware building next to it 10+ years ago; it's built like the proverbial brick ####house and has some lovely details inside. Both these buildings are 130+ years old, and there are so few of that age left that it's a crying shame to gut 'em and slap the sandstone back on the outside of a new build and pretend like we're really retaining the history of those spaces.

A few of these buildings to be demo'ed are Municipal Historic Resources, but I suspect council won't oppose blowing them away.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

anyone have any thoughts, comments, insights on this new development planned for stephen ave?

stuns me that there are folks somewhere that are ready to roll the dice that this will pay off, but maybe i am just afraid to be rich.

https://calgarysun.com/business/mass...8-41e773b7902b

Originally Posted by J pold

I'm in the commercial real estate industry. There is strong speculation that the development would be Suncor's new HQ location. Their lease in Suncor Energy Centre is up in 2028 (pretty sure) and they've been out in the market teasing a new development for the last couple of years. At first, most thought it was just a negotiation tactic to get their Landlord to renegotiate their lease early, but with this news, they may actually be doing it.

The other rumor was they want a development that would be run off 100% renewable energy, LEED & WELL certified. Basically using the office space to drive their ESG rating.

I mentioned this on Skyrise, but if any development was to come into fruition here, I think it would be ideal to move Centre Street station to this block, so 1 Street SW Station goes in both directions, and is closer to the 1 Street transit corridor where lots of buses go down.

With the BMO Centre expansion, not sure if Telus Convention will be needed anymore, and could be reimagined.

Either way, be nice to finally have something done with that block. Hopefully they can incorporate the current buildings into the design to maintain character on the street. Could turn it into a pretty could block if done right.

[tvp2003]

Obligatory Mayor bet:

https://twitter.com/user/status/1526310885269987329