IanO
Senior Member
It is pretty 'chopped up' , there have been multiple floods and a fire (IIRC) over the years and so yes, it will require a lot of rework, but is the least of The Quarters worries.
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The Quarters
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
Barnaby
Active Member
Not sure what you consider insulting about building a brand new shelter in the same neighbourhood. Feel free to clarify if you'd like.
David A
Senior Member
Its not a bad idea, if more space or something more suitable is needed now or in the near future. Currently no shortage of empty lots in the area.
kcantor
Senior Member
a few images from this morning…
Barnaby
Active Member
I can't blame people for setting up camp where buildings used to/should be.
The streetscape is great though. I wish 104st was a woonerf.
The streetscape is great though. I wish 104st was a woonerf.
David A
Senior Member
Unfortunately, all the money and effort put into improving the streetscape here hasn't led to improvement in the area.
I wish governments would stop looking at it as a magic bullet. It has to be in the right area at the right time to actually work. Otherwise, it is just a waste of money.
I wish governments would stop looking at it as a magic bullet. It has to be in the right area at the right time to actually work. Otherwise, it is just a waste of money.
kcantor
Senior Member
a woonerf is supposed to be a shared space that is meant to be equally useful and used for all participants - pedestrian, bike and low speed vehicles.
imagine how well used a three or four block long woonerf would be for pedestrians and bicyclists if they could only go one way for one of those blocks, could only go the other way for one of those blocks, and could only be accessed from one end and which won't let you get to the other end...
IanO
Senior Member
dunno
Active Member
Kind of feel bad for the hotel. It looks so out of place. In other Canadian cities, a trailblazer like that would be rewarded by signalling further development, land value increases, etc. Instead, nothing panned out for the Quarters, and I suspect another rebrand in a decade where we do another urban renewal and see if the 4th time's the charm.
Barnaby
Active Member
The previous council shouldn't have turned their backs on the Chinese community imo. Now would be a great time to invite Chinese investment from Vancouver and abroad with cooperation from the CBAE.
Using China town as a dumping ground for homeless people and parking lots has been very unethical. I'm looking forward to the Harbin gate next year.
Using China town as a dumping ground for homeless people and parking lots has been very unethical. I'm looking forward to the Harbin gate next year.
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thommyjo
Senior Member
I feel like they made the Quarters bigger than it should have been. Renderings and the vision for it has always been a dense, high rise area. But a bunch of 4-8 story residential buildings is likely the only possibility for it to be built out in the next 2 decades.
Too much high density land still in downtown proper and Oliver.
10 buildings like Mercury Block around here would be better.
Too much high density land still in downtown proper and Oliver.
10 buildings like Mercury Block around here would be better.
dunno
Active Member
When did council turn their backs on the Chinese community? Do we really need to turn our economy into a money laundering ponzi scheme like Vancouver?
For what it's worth, the Chinese community by and large "turned their backs" on the original Chinatown starting in the 1950s, as integration and wealth increased and the population suburbanized. Then, with an influx of Vietnamese Chinese starting in the '70s, a new Chinatown was born, but not in the same spot, directly north in McCauley. This one is still fairly intact from a commercial standpoint, and frequented for its amenities even as the population has continued to suburbanize. Boyle Street, by comparison, hollowed out, with only the fledgling remnants of an earlier urban renewal plan from the '80s keeping much of a Chinese presence in what has now been rebranded as the Quarters.
This part of Edmonton has basically always been home to the city's most marginalized. It was where the earliest waves of Chinese, German, and Ukrainian immigrants landed, when they were excluded from WASP society on the other side of 97th. It has long had a seedy reputation, going back multiple generations. The difference was back then, it was still lived-in, rather than bombed out, and so there was a much stronger community. That, and homelessness wasn't quite the thing it is now.
TAS
Senior Member
Virtually every window in the hotel CRUs has been vandalized.
A friend and I rode our bikes around the area today. We both thought the back alley area pictured below would be amazing if it could ever be activated. You've got all these brick buildings, at a great scale with some good access points to 97 Street and Jasper Ave with open view. To river valley. It feels really cozy back there.
My picture does not at all capture what I am trying to describe but I'm including just to show the area I'm talking about.
It still amazes me that this east Jasper location with its proximity to the river valley, some of Edmonton's coolest historical buildings and other facilities like our convention centre, the Citadel, Winspear and more hasn't been able to gain more traction. So much potential. I am definitely on board with mostly 6ish storey residential as my preferred option for this district or even some narrow (14ft) townhomes like Blatchord is looking at moving towards sprinkled in there, too.
dunno
Active Member
_urbanite
Senior Member
I suspect that hotel will eventually become an apartment building, or reconfigured to something else entirely. I just don't see it surviving in the long run, especially with The Quarters still at least a decade away (being a little generous here) from seeing any real improvments to it's attractability and liveability.