Downtown

[buildings]

I walk the river valley almost everyday and yes...it is quite dry and full of dead fall.. Now I know that dead trees provide protection and homes to many species and yes, I'm all for natural areas but think what would happen if a major fire developed in the downtown areas. decades of bare areas and fireweed, not to mention damage to infrastructure, homes and parks. It's worth a major discussion here, but the game's starting.

 

[Glenco]

^As a gardener, designer and someone who helps maintain an 80 acre old-growth forested wood lot, I disagree. The river valley is unique and a gem for a city our size, but much of it is 'unmanaged greenspace'. A lot of it is weed species, filled with garbage and there's at ton of dead trees that are just waiting to become an out of control fire.

The city can and should maintain our greenspaces, and prioritize where they can do extra planting, or perhaps ask for help from the communities that surround it. I was in Calgary yesterday and the level of maintenance, detail in their planting scheme Downtown and in the core was far beyond anything we do here.

Some of what is shown in the photos from Van aren't possible here, but what is shows is a level of care and detail for the public realm that often doesn't happen here. We're getting better, urban areas absolutely need more care and attention to detail than the middle of the river valley for instance.

Comparing the river valley to downtown is hardly objective. So what do we want for our river valley? A natural habitat or a manicured environment? Or how about a bit of both Which we have. There are areas around the city where they are doing extra plantings in my neighbourhood central MacDougal they planted trees in the school yard last summer. There are specimen trees all over the city with tamarack planted in the 110 street park downtown with new plantings this year of Norway maple one being the red variety. There are two different oak varieties planted in the same park. The city is constantly replacing dead trees which is a never ending challenge.
I do agree that a lot of private properties do not not share the same level of care for their landscaping or pride in their environment as other cities. You only have to compare the Tim’s on 104 avenue to Tim’s in other cities they are really disgraceful.

 

[kcantor]

^
having driven to the coast once and back from the coast twice in the last 7 months, rest assured there are plenty of tim’s that make the one on 104th look good in comparison, noting that looking good in comparison doesn’t really equate to looking good.

 

[CplKlinger]

there's at ton of dead trees that are just waiting to become an out of control fire.

Dead trees are a really important part of the ecosystem! In natural areas like the river valley (even in the urban core), it's good for us to leave them. We should mitigate the fire risk in other ways, like cracking down on fires that homeless people make in the winter (they should be given alternatives, like shelter, obviously).

"Decomposing wood returns nutrients to the system while providing shelter and food for many plants and animals. Standing dead trees host a diversity of organisms that would not be present without them." ~ Parks Canada

National Wildlife Federation

 

[Greenspace]

^There are 'best practices' for management of the woods in the river valley that aren't being done. That's all I'm saying. Typically you leave about 10% of dead standing trees for wildlife habitat, especially if you see something living or using it. Take a quick ride over the valley in the LRT and you can see there's a whole lot more than that. Plus all the weed species that I guess at this point you really can't get rid of.

Not manicured, just doing some management like anyone who has a forest or woodlot would do. Because we suppress fire (for obvious reasons), you have to clean up the deadfall proactively and even burn it if necessary. The total accumulated biomass is much higher than if a wildifre went through the forest every 40-50 year, which was typical in the past. Fire is a very important part of forest regeneration and in its absence we need to proactively manage debris and dead trees.

 

[Airboy]

If you look at the restoration work along portions of the LRT and river crossing. you see the use of dead trees in habitat restoration. Also the section behind Old timers Cabin had similar restoration work done.

They have even installed some vertical dead trees so that birds of prey have a perch.

 

[CplKlinger]

^There are 'best practices' for management of the woods in the river valley that aren't being done. That's all I'm saying. Typically you leave about 10% of dead standing trees for wildlife habitat, especially if you see something living or using it. Take a quick ride over the valley in the LRT and you can see there's a whole lot more than that. Plus all the weed species that I guess at this point you really can't get rid of.

Not manicured, just doing some management like anyone who has a forest or woodlot would do. Because we suppress fire (for obvious reasons), you have to clean up the deadfall proactively and even burn it if necessary. The total accumulated biomass is much higher than if a wildifre went through the forest every 40-50 year, which was typical in the past. Fire is a very important part of forest regeneration and in its absence we need to proactively manage debris and dead trees.

Ok, I can definitely get behind what you're saying then. There's an excellent Ted Talk about the role of forest fires, and how we should stop suppressing them blindly, that I watched in a forestry class. I misunderstood your argument, and thought you were implying that we should be removing *all* the dead trees because they have no benefits at all.

 

[Avenuer]

There are specimen trees that could be used here that would put Edmonton in a class that would be on par with Vancouver from a plant palette perspective -- Tamarack is one good example, Mountain Ash is another. Due to climate change Edmonton has been up-zoned in terms of viable plant species. There is a whole cadre of evergreen trees that are underused in Edmonton -- Blue Spruce comes to mind as well as a number of non-native Japanese and Chinese domestics. @IanO is right about colorful Kale varieties and there is an entire template of low growing species that have unique form and color throughout the year. And when it comes to grasses we definitely have Vancouver beat. The CofE unfortunately chooses only natives for their Edmonton beds and so we have boring streets that could otherwise be magical.

They do not, they have been planting much more 'non-native' tree species such as Hybrid Maples, Dropmore Lindens, Brandon Elms, Bur Oaks, Ohio Buckeyes, etc. They aren't just planting Aspens, Spruces, Pines and Birches.

 

[archited]

Well, then, @Avenuer that is a more recent change that I am not aware of and a welcome one if true. There are beautiful specimen trees, dramatic grouping clusters, grasses and ground covers that would make Vancouver envious if applied en masse.

 

[Glenco]

They do not, they have been planting much more 'non-native' tree species such as Hybrid Maples, Dropmore Lindens, Brandon Elms, Bur Oaks, Ohio Buckeyes, etc. They aren't just planting Aspens, Spruces, Pines and Birches.

Red pin oak in several locations downtown and hackberries and ginkgo at Muttart. They also have a columnar hybrid white oak planted on the 110 street park downtown.

 

[IanO]

A new era of downtown opportunity

Despite the pandemic's devastating impact on the office market, downtowns and nearby walkable neighborhoods are looking forward to two decades of growth driven by demographic and economic change.

DAVID DIXON APR. 18, 2022

A new era of downtown opportunity

Despite the pandemic's devastating impact on the office market, downtowns and nearby walkable neighborhoods are looking forward to two decades of growth driven by demographic and economic change.

www.cnu.org

 

[Edmcowboy11]

Well if more mixed use gets built in the Quarters, Warehouse district around the park, and in the possible Ice District Village, that could potentially bring so many more living and working in the core. Right now I feel there is still a perceived barrier at 97st dividing the area in two and 105st and 106st are doing that same thing on the other side of downtown.

 

[CplKlinger]

I moved to a (rental) condo downtown last Sunday, coming from a house in McKernan. I gotta say, I'm loving it so far. It's amazing being so close to transit and bike lanes, especially since I can take my bike on the LRT at all times now. My area isn't sketchy, I've been able to bike or take the LRT for all my needs so far, and it's right by the linier park that runs from the High Level Bridge to just beyond Jasper Ave (the final stretch is called Railtown Park). I'm much happier here than I was in McKernan, and I just thought I'd share my initial thoughts as a bit of a change from the negativity we often see when people discuss DT living

 

[Gronk!]

Blenz is now open at Jasper/109

 

[IanO]

I moved to a (rental) condo downtown last Sunday, coming from a house in McKernan. I gotta say, I'm loving it so far. It's amazing being so close to transit and bike lanes, especially since I can take my bike on the LRT at all times now. My area isn't sketchy, I've been able to bike or take the LRT for all my needs so far, and it's right by the linier park that runs from the High Level Bridge to just beyond Jasper Ave (the final stretch is called Railtown Park). I'm much happier here than I was in McKernan, and I just thought I'd share my initial thoughts as a bit of a change from the negativity we often see when people discuss DT living

Awesome.

I'd love a recap in about a month or two about what you like, what you have discovered or were surprised by and what needs work.