Although I agree Brentwood's redevelopment could be _better_, I still think it's an improvement overall. How is it "disconnected" from the surrounding community?
It basically turns its back to the neighbourhood. Just like Brentwood Mall does. What would i do differently? If i had any good ideas i’d be working for a developer, not criticizing their work, lol.
I didn't follow the application etc, but I suspect placement of the retail was more to do with vague "opposition" to putting the towers closer to the neighbourhood (and of course, the "retail" goes under the towers). At least the park got better .... and maybe if the original Co-op thing could have been built it would also have been a bit nicer too?
(Literally everything facing the neighbourhood is original, so....put that on Brentwood Mall?)
Retail doesn’t necessarily have to be topped by a tower. They could have done more gentle density with shops at the bottom. So if you live nearby and are walking to it, it doesn’t feel like you’re going in through the back door.
As it’s currently laid out, the site is more welcoming of whoever is arriving by car/transit via Crowchild.
But again, if any of my ideas were good, i wouldn’t be in the writing biz.
Wait, I misremembered the 4 row-houses that front the neighbourhood beside the park. This could be slightly more inviting I suppose ... but the whole flow reeks of last-minute objections to parking / driving (and shoving in a one-way loop there instead).
It's interesting to me that there was a lot of initial opposition to Glenmore Landing when it was first built! In particular, people were upset that it was going to be blue. My dad and his colleagues (the architects for the project) drove around the neighbouring communities taking photographs of residential elements that were blue, in order to prove that a blue shopping mall would not be totally inconsistent with the community standards. But now, the same development that was met with so much resistance in the early 80s, has become a familiar landmark that people want to keep the way it is. Thanks for writing about this, it has been fun to learn about the continuing story of this part of Calgary!
Although I agree Brentwood's redevelopment could be _better_, I still think it's an improvement overall. How is it "disconnected" from the surrounding community?
Or, what would you do differently to connect it?
It basically turns its back to the neighbourhood. Just like Brentwood Mall does. What would i do differently? If i had any good ideas i’d be working for a developer, not criticizing their work, lol.
I didn't follow the application etc, but I suspect placement of the retail was more to do with vague "opposition" to putting the towers closer to the neighbourhood (and of course, the "retail" goes under the towers). At least the park got better .... and maybe if the original Co-op thing could have been built it would also have been a bit nicer too?
(Literally everything facing the neighbourhood is original, so....put that on Brentwood Mall?)
Retail doesn’t necessarily have to be topped by a tower. They could have done more gentle density with shops at the bottom. So if you live nearby and are walking to it, it doesn’t feel like you’re going in through the back door.
As it’s currently laid out, the site is more welcoming of whoever is arriving by car/transit via Crowchild.
But again, if any of my ideas were good, i wouldn’t be in the writing biz.
Wait, I misremembered the 4 row-houses that front the neighbourhood beside the park. This could be slightly more inviting I suppose ... but the whole flow reeks of last-minute objections to parking / driving (and shoving in a one-way loop there instead).
It's interesting to me that there was a lot of initial opposition to Glenmore Landing when it was first built! In particular, people were upset that it was going to be blue. My dad and his colleagues (the architects for the project) drove around the neighbouring communities taking photographs of residential elements that were blue, in order to prove that a blue shopping mall would not be totally inconsistent with the community standards. But now, the same development that was met with so much resistance in the early 80s, has become a familiar landmark that people want to keep the way it is. Thanks for writing about this, it has been fun to learn about the continuing story of this part of Calgary!
Seriously? I wonder if it’s some of the same people opposing now!
Also, the buildings aren’t blue anymore—they’re… taupe, haha.
Maybe the current opposers would like the new development better if it was blue?? :)