Planning Calgary's Future / Jim Brown / Radiant City - Page 3 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

MelBridgeman · 12-21-2007, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

Of course he is, but he is correct, we live in hideous depresssing city's as much as you want to deny it.

Its just personal opinion...i don't find it depressing..i got more important things to worry about...besides you could prob say that about just about every city in the world...

llama64 · 12-21-2007, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I suppose, you get used to it, just like everything..its all perception..all i heard in Vancouver was how great it is that the streets for the most part are named and not numbered...Yet try finding anything off the main streets without a map...

Calgary quadrant system is great, for the most part you dont need a map...most streets are tributaries of either Drive or BLVD...so it shouldnt be that hard to find.

It's not easy to compare the naming of streets in Vancouver to the way Calgary has implemented it. The difference is, I know where Robson and Thurlow street are in relation to everything else. I have no clue where Evergreen Blvd and Evergreen Crescent are, since they are separated by eight other streets all named Evergreen Something.

That said, Vancouver does have it's share of stupidly designed suburbs.

I have friends who live in the suburbs. If they arn't paying attention, even they get lost in their own neighbourhood. The Calgary suburbs are convoluted and designed to garner the most money for the developers, lifestyle be damned.

The quadrant system is awesome in Calgary. Just wish we still followed it still. Seems developers/city planners lost their direction in the late 70's.

4X4 · 12-21-2007, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muta

LOL, regarding the subarban street names... I went for lunch today with my team and one of them is a Calgarian who moved to Berlin for 15 years and then came back... he pretty much shared the same sentiments that Ozy said.

He said that when he came back, he couldn't believe the cheesy, confusing names and street patterns that are used for suburban roads in Calgary... and he lived in Berlin for frik's sake.

I think that if you take the time to notice patterns, navigating through our streets is relatively easy.
As someone already mentioned, inside of communities, there are tributaries for the drives and blvds. A cresent will always end up on the same road it started, a grove or a place will always be a culdesac, there are plenty of patterns. I find it pretty easy, and I appreciate that our city doesn't look like friggin detroit which is grid from corner to corner. Talk about ugly.

MelBridgeman · 12-21-2007, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llama64

It's not easy to compare the naming of streets in Vancouver to the way Calgary has implemented it. The difference is, I know where Robson and Thurlow street are in relation to everything else. I have no clue where Evergreen Blvd and Evergreen Crescent are, since they are separated by eight other streets all named Evergreen Something.

That said, Vancouver does have it's share of stupidly designed suburbs.

I have friends who live in the suburbs. If they arn't paying attention, even they get lost in their own neighbourhood. The Calgary suburbs are convoluted and designed to garner the most money for the developers, lifestyle be damned.

The quadrant system is awesome in Calgary. Just wish we still followed it still. Seems developers/city planners lost their direction in the late 70's.

Ya Robson street...good example...Could you till me where Mason Street in Vancouver is? In fact can you tell me what part of the city that is in without looking at the map?

Quote:

That said, Vancouver does have it's share of stupidly designed suburbs.

How this any better? This is a vancouver suburb..At least Calgary burbs make some sense...Or is it cool not to make sense..

Edit: sorry i thought you said it doesnt..i guess we agree!...

Muta · 12-21-2007, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4X4

I think that if you take the time to notice patterns, navigating through our streets is relatively easy.
As someone already mentioned, inside of communities, there are tributaries for the drives and blvds. A cresent will always end up on the same road it started, a grove or a place will always be a culdesac, there are plenty of patterns. I find it pretty easy, and I appreciate that our city doesn't look like friggin detroit which is grid from corner to corner. Talk about ugly.

Well that's the problem, isn't it? To someone who doesn't have the time to learn Calgary's intricate street patterns, where's the ease in navigating around?

To be fair though, he was more relating to the street names than the patterns themselves.

You're right... complete grids are unattractive, no matter how practical. But the city doesn't need to look like a Jackson Pollock painting, either.

Ozy_Flame · 12-21-2007, 02:36 PM

If I'm not mistaken, Vancouver suburbs are bound by physical limitations. I'm sure they could be easier, but that thought is always there. Calgary has no excuse, it's generally flat land for miles around.

Muta · 12-21-2007, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

How this any better? This is a vancouver suburb..At least Calgary burbs make some sense...Or is it cool not to make sense..

Ok, even I LOL'ed at this map...

Atleast almost everything is Drive and Road... not Park / Circle / Manor / Place / Mars / etc.

MarchHare · 12-21-2007, 02:38 PM

I guess if you're used to it, having streets in the suburbs all having very similar names isn't much of an issue, but I certainly find it to be problematic (before the advent of Google maps, anyway).

My wife and I have friends who live in Evergreen. We went to visit them once and couldn't find our way around that community at all (we didn't have google maps then). All the streets are named exactly the same: everything is "Evergreen X". Evergreen Road, Evergreen Drive, Evergreen Way, Evergreen Crescent, Evergreen Heights, Evergreen Close, etc. Did nobody anticipate how that might be confusing and make trying to navigate a nightmare?

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en...9956&z=16&om=1

And I see from that map that the next neighbourhood over is no better. Millview Road, Millview Drive, Millview Park, Millview Way, etc., etc. Sweet Jebus!

MelBridgeman · 12-21-2007, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

If I'm not mistaken, Vancouver suburbs are bound by physical limitations. I'm sure they could be easier, but that thought is always there. Calgary has no excuse, it's generally flat land for miles around.

Someone can correct me...but isnt calgary's street layout in burb communities better use of the land than grids?

MelBridgeman · 12-21-2007, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muta

Ok, even I LOL'ed at this map...

Atleast almost everything is Drive and Road... not Park / Circle / Manor / Place / Mars / etc.

There is Crescent, Place, Row....but usually those streets are named that for a reason....Place is usually a dead end (culdesac) in fact it always is...crescent should be self explanatory...

So now you justify that by saying at least the streets are drive and road..? Grasping at straws here...

Muta · 12-21-2007, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

There is Crescent, Place, Row....but usually those streets are named that for a reason....Place is usually a dead end (culdesac) in fact it always is...crescent should be self explanatory...

So now you justify that by saying at least the streets are drive and road..? Grasping at straws here...

Grasping for straws? Dude, I was just poking fun... didn't you see the Mars reference in there?

How tight is that knot in your panties, Mel? Yikes.

MelBridgeman · 12-21-2007, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Muta

Grasping for straws? Dude, I was just poking fun... didn't you see the Mars reference in there?

How tight is that knot in your panties, Mel? Yikes.

lol..sorry...sitting at the office waiting for my holidays....pretty tight bro!

MelBridgeman · 12-21-2007, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fotze

Don't tase me bro.

Shawnski · 12-21-2007, 08:14 PM

On the topic of community, I lived in Bankview for about four years... in an apartment... and NEVER befriended anyone in either the building nor the area. 200+ people in that complex and nothing... Oh, and it ended in a fiasco which doubly tainted my view of that lifestyle. This wasn't my first experience with inner city living either. I spent another few years prior to that in another apartment complex north of downtown. Met no one from the building and developed no relationships.

Now? Living in a house in North Glenmore Park. Have met many neighbours, spend lots of time with them, have tons of BBQ's, and joined them in many special events like Thanksgiving and other holiday dinners. And I am the newbie on the block.

I like my elbow room. Back yard for bocee. Fire pits. Raspberry bushes, apple trees.... Wouldn't go back to an apartment complex/condo if you paid me to.

V · 12-21-2007, 11:36 PM

I used to live just off of Whyte Ave in Edmonton, and I loved it. There was always something going on, and a ton of stuff within walking distance. I really miss that part of my life sometimes. But the simple truth is that I wouldn't be able to do it with the two kids I have now.

As for neighbours, I never knew anyone but the manager at the apartment I lived in in Edmonton, nor did I know anyone at the two other apartments I lived in here in Calgary. And now I live in the burbs, and I know the one neighbour on one side, I despise the other neighbour so I never talk to him, and that's it for my interaction with neighbours. I don't care about them, and am more than happy to keep to myself. I don't get what the big deal is. I have enough friends, I don't see why I have to get along with people with whom the only thing we have in common is where we live.

Ah, one day I'll win the lottery and I'll be able to afford a nice little house on a 5 acre parcel of land. Then I won't have to deal with stupid neighbours.