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The Quarters

IanO said:
Bingo.

That COE lot north of the hotel should have a simple but tasteful market/non-market building with room 2-300 new residents. Imagine how that would change the area.
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Yes, I think if the city wants this area to start to develop into what the envision, they need to take the initiative here.
 
We don't need them being developers per se, but something arms length or in partnership with would be beneficial.
 
I still wonder what the ultimate goal of the Quarters is supposed to be? Are we hoping to have a bunch of mid and low rises and see what the place becomes organically? Do we want it to be a combination of living space + entertainment spaces? Should the city gobble up as much land as possible and envision something unique here?

Until there is some kind of vision for the area, I'm afraid the Quarters will continue to look and feel the way it has been 25 years from now.
 
I feel there have been visions over the years, the issues are have they been realistic? and implementation.

At this point more of a strategy is needed - simply put, build something and fewer empty lots. Probably something affordable but decent housing to jump start activity in the area.
 
Munanyo said:
I still wonder what the ultimate goal of the Quarters is supposed to be? Are we hoping to have a bunch of mid and low rises and see what the place becomes organically? Do we want it to be a combination of living space + entertainment spaces? Should the city gobble up as much land as possible and envision something unique here?

Until there is some kind of vision for the area, I'm afraid the Quarters will continue to look and feel the way it has been 25 years from now.
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At this point, I'm conflicted on whether the City should even be slinging more public dollars into the Quarters for any sort of vision unless it's part of a broader goal of getting a handle on the social disorder there--which would likely require high level cooperation between the City, Province and Feds to be successful without a natural miracle.

What has all the efforts and public dollars the City has spent on the Quarters over the past decade gotten us so far? A singular hotel that is the precedent equivalent of private development bug spray? The paving stones are nice I suppose but not sure I'd visit Kinistinâw Park without a kevlar vest.
 
northlands said:
At this point, I'm conflicted on whether the City should even be slinging more public dollars into the Quarters for any sort of vision unless it's part of a broader goal of getting a handle on the social disorder there--which would likely require high level cooperation between the City, Province and Feds to be successful without a natural miracle.

What has all the efforts and public dollars the City has spent on the Quarters over the past decade gotten us so far? A singular hotel that is the precedent equivalent of private development bug spray? The paving stones are nice I suppose but not sure I'd visit Kinistinâw Park without a kevlar vest.
Click to expand...
I honestly agree with that assessment. Part of me says that the city has enough issues to worry about right now with the rest of the core and beyond, there just is not enough money nor will power (and competence) to finally turn the Quarters around. I dream of the area getting an East Village type rejuvenation, but in some ways it's like comparing apples to oranges.

Not to say the Quarters doesn't deserve attention and dollars. It's arguably the single biggest eyesore in the city right now and it's downright embarrassing how it's gotten to this state. But the lack of willpower and anyone taking the lead here makes me think that we won't see any reasonable directive or change for another long while, especially with downtown in general floundering.
 
Munanyo said:
I honestly agree with that assessment. Part of me says that the city has enough issues to worry about right now with the rest of the core and beyond, there just is not enough money nor will power (and competence) to finally turn the Quarters around. I dream of the area getting an East Village type rejuvenation, but in some ways it's like comparing apples to oranges.

Not to say the Quarters doesn't deserve attention and dollars. It's arguably the single biggest eyesore in the city right now and it's downright embarrassing how it's gotten to this state. But the lack of willpower and anyone taking the lead here makes me think that we won't see any reasonable directive or change for another long while, especially with downtown in general floundering.
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The most impactful change for the Quarters would be to rezone everything to a standard zone, removing all DC1 zoning, and repeal the Quarters ARP. Let the market take over, as the over-prescriptive nature of the planning regulations in the area have made it impossible for developers to even consider developing in the area.
 
Munanyo said:
I honestly agree with that assessment. Part of me says that the city has enough issues to worry about right now with the rest of the core and beyond, there just is not enough money nor will power (and competence) to finally turn the Quarters around. I dream of the area getting an East Village type rejuvenation, but in some ways it's like comparing apples to oranges.

Not to say the Quarters doesn't deserve attention and dollars. It's arguably the single biggest eyesore in the city right now and it's downright embarrassing how it's gotten to this state. But the lack of willpower and anyone taking the lead here makes me think that we won't see any reasonable directive or change for another long while, especially with downtown in general floundering.
Click to expand...
People tend to over estimate money as being the problem. I would not underestimate competence as being the problem here. When visions are not grounded in reality or practical actions, they can just be ephemeral.
 
northlands said:
At this point, I'm conflicted on whether the City should even be slinging more public dollars into the Quarters for any sort of vision unless it's part of a broader goal of getting a handle on the social disorder there--which would likely require high level cooperation between the City, Province and Feds to be successful without a natural miracle.

What has all the efforts and public dollars the City has spent on the Quarters over the past decade gotten us so far? A singular hotel that is the precedent equivalent of private development bug spray? The paving stones are nice I suppose but not sure I'd visit Kinistinâw Park without a kevlar vest.
Click to expand...

Best $100mil+ investment to date...

I worry that this area's nice infrastructure (that has been left to waste away in some areas) will need replacement/renewal before anything ever gets going.
 
It has an abundance of empty and underutilized lots. What it needs is buildings built with people living in them. It does not need more expensive infrastructure at this point.

There is a great deal of talk about affordable housing these days. This is a central location, close to transit and downtown. Someone connect the dots and build something here.
 
Fill the quarters and Oliver with these sorts of buildings. Lots of 2&3bdrms, simple, but nice.

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I'd kind of like to see some of this Bonnie Doon treatment for the Quarters, too.

Screenshot_20231216-172915_Drive.jpg
 
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