Raise the Hammer
By: Jason Leach
Published: 2006/12/06 (Category: Revitalization)
Check out the newest Safeway grocery store being built in the heart of downtown Portland.
The Lovejoy: "a mixed-use, two-block project in the Pearl District with space to work, dwell and shop"
We need to see this sort of mixed-use, streetfront development in Hamilton in the upcoming years. We have far too many stand-alone buildings with huge streetfront parking lots in our urban neighbourhoods.
I've always wondered why we don't add residential and office space above our grocery stores - instant customers.
Can anyone say "Lister"?
Great observations Dundas1....Yonge and Sheppard - out in 'no-man's land' to some people, but guess why that was built there - the transit lines.
Hamilton really needs to see Transit Oriented Development take hold, but of course, that can't happen until we have a transit system worth developing around.
Watch for more on this important topic in the next issue of Raise the Hammer.
Transit is the most cost-effective way of spurring economic development, not more roads.
Toronto has these buildings all over my new neighbourhood (St Lawrence Market) as well as other spots downtown.
My kids go to school on the first 2 floors of a co-op condo. Their playground is the community park on the Esplande. Our cinema is part of a shopping/condo complex, as is the community center.
It's a great use of space.
It took some getting used to at first.
"Why isn't my kids school a separate building..." I wondered. It felt strange. But it makes sense, and it builds community. I love the fact that my neighbours all live, play, work and go to school right next to each other. It's healthy as well as practical.
Cheers
Ben
not to mention safer....you don't have your kids trying to walk along streets full of drive-thrus and huge parking lots with people idling.
I know exactly the school you're talking about in your neighbourhood...it's a fabulous neighbourhood with many mixed-use buildings...nice ones that have been restored or built new with an eye to heritage.
I'm sure Hamilton's builders would figure out a way to make an 8 storey mixed-use building like this look like an 8-storey walmart.
NewsfeedsISSN: 1715-1554
Aerotropolis: Will It Fly? - Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at Mount Hope Community Hall, 3027 Homestead Dr., Mount Hope.
City Backs Down on Airport Development Size (Dec. 1, 2008) - Citizens at City Hall (CATCH) reports that the city has backed down on at least one aspect of its dispute with the province on the size of the Airport Economic Growth District (AEGD), a planned in
Same Old 'Traffic Trumps Everything' Thinking (Dec. 1, 2008) -
Apparently, the City Traffic department still doesn't get it.
After turning James and John into two-way streets that slowed traffic down, the city is now looking for ways to speed thing
Toronto Council to Vote on Corporate, Union Donations (Dec. 1, 2008) -
Toronto City Council has another opportunity today to decide whether to allow corporate and union donations to be proffered during municipal campaigns.
City Council has voted against such don
Poor and Dirty (Dec. 1, 2008) -
Your humble editor presents a modest tribute to the Hamilton Spectator report, "Poor and dirty", published November 27, 2008.
Poor and Dirty
They see us rollin'
On the highway
The
Double Downtown Density? We Should be Aiming to Quadruple It (Nov. 28, 2008) - Today's Spectator carries a head-scratching article on a proposal by Councillor Brian McHattie to double the downtown's urban density of 200 people and jobs per hectare to 400 people and j
Councillors Propose Salary Freeze (Nov. 28, 2008) - Councillors Chad Collins, Scott Duvall, Sam Merulla, Bernie Morelli and Terry Whitehead just issued a press release proposing a salary freeze for Councillors and non-union employees across the mun
By Dundas1
Posted 12/6/2006 8:39:30 PM
They have one of these mixed use buildings in North York, near Yonge and Sheppard. It's amazing. The supermarket is on the basement floor, there are shops on the 1st and second floor, a movie theatre on the 3rd, offices on the 4-6th floor and condos above that. The centre of the first 6 floors is open to the air and you can see people shopping on the bottom floor. If it was in Hamilton on Main and John, I would be first in line.
(Permalink)