Blatchford Development | ?m | ?s | City of Edmonton

It's not perfect but 90 units should basically double the unit count in Blatchford. I don't love the interior driveways but it looks nice enough from the outside. It's good to get some cheaper options in the neighborhood.
 
No thanks.

This was meant to be more, do more and achieve something unique for the area, city and its peoples.
 
I like this form of row-housing, but just wish it had rooftop patios for private amenity.

So yes Ken, I do.
 
I like this form of row-housing, but just wish it had rooftop patios for private amenity.

So yes Ken, I do.
well then i don't know what else to say...

other than to ask you exactly what it is here that you see that i don't that is more of or does more than what is being done elsewhere (which is why you said you liked it)?

and to ask what it is here that you see that i don't that actually achieves something unique for the area, city and its peoples (which is also why you said you liked it)?
 
I'm all for row-housing, density and street-scape in Blatchford and see all of that here.
 
This type of strata townhouse development is very common in Surrey. They're very good for allowing density while providing ground oriented units, but that's about all they're good at in my opinion. I have to say that they absolutely kill any vibrancy and walkability in my opinion. 2 blocks of identical townhouses really makes the blocks feel a lot longer, and it removes any visual interest from the street. From an urban design perspective the only positive this has over SFH subdivisions with identical homes is that it's a bit denser. At least there's plans for mixed use development on the block over, otherwise there would be very little chance of people walking anywhere. They really do kill the desire to walk that much, 200-400m suddenly feels too far away when what you're walking past looks exactly the same.
 
This type of strata townhouse development is very common in Surrey. They're very good for allowing density while providing ground oriented units, but that's about all they're good at in my opinion. I have to say that they absolutely kill any vibrancy and walkability in my opinion. 2 blocks of identical townhouses really makes the blocks feel a lot longer, and it removes any visual interest from the street. From an urban design perspective the only positive this has over SFH subdivisions with identical homes is that it's a bit denser. At least there's plans for mixed use development on the block over, otherwise there would be very little chance of people walking anywhere. They really do kill the desire to walk that much, 200-400m suddenly feels too far away when what you're walking past looks exactly the same.

This site was explicitly zoned for housing only, not mixed use - zoned BRH "The purpose of this Zone is to provide for medium density street oriented Multi-unit Housing".

While I would always prefer interesting architecture I'm not sure how this development harms the walkability/vibrancy of the neighbourhood - it's long side is 120m and it is the closest Blatchford project so far to the future commercial mixed use area. If anything having another 90 households in the area will do wonders for the vibrancy and potential to develop one of the currently empty mixed use plots.
 
I know that this site is zoned for housing only, but visual interest can have a huge impact on the perception of walkabililty. I've read a few studies that show that peoples perception of how long they thought they were walking for can change greatly depending on where they are walking, including the scale of development they're walking by and its level of repetition and visual interest. If the walk is only 5 minutes, but it feels like 10 minutes, that can have huge impacts on how many people walk.

I don't think it will necessarily be an issue for this particular parcel given it's proximity to future mixed-use sites, but I also don't think its a form that should be encouraged.
 
Some more rooftop stuff would be nice. Agreed. I liked a lot of the stacked towns in Toronto, but I'm sure their budgets were higher. Helps if people landscape uniquely and do some stuff out front to break up the common facades.

keewatin.jpeg
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^ agreed…

and not only rooftop balconies but some articulation, setbacks, balconies, colour, sight lines other than directly into your neighbours’ units or bare pavement, side entries into end units…

not none of the above.
 

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