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+--- Thread: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=7)
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - megabytephreak - 12-20-2017
New units on George St. moving along nicely. Obviously racing to get them weathered in. Was very confused by the truss structure initially. According to a notice posted at the site back in the summer, the property will be split in 3 to support a duplex + SFH.
Technically it is being merged with the lot the left first to take part of it's lot as well.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - Pheidippides - 12-21-2017
I'm pretty sure 48 William St W has been demolished as the Alexandra Park expansion continues. I'll try to grab a photo tomorrow.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - timio - 12-21-2017
It was gone when I drove by the other day in daylight.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - dubya - 12-22-2017
(12-20-2017, 08:12 PM)megabytephreak Wrote: New units on George St. moving along nicely. Obviously racing to get them weathered in. Was very confused by the truss structure initially. According to a notice posted at the site back in the summer, the property will be split in 3 to support a duplex + SFH.
Technically it is being merged with the lot the left first to take part of it's lot as well.
The City of Waterloo needs to get a move on its Urban Design Manual! There is no place for homes dominated by big white garage frontage in old historic neighborhood like this. The character of a part of Esson has already been ruined (there is another suburban looking home to the right of these already).
I'm of the feeling that if we allow homes of this era to be demolished they should at least provide architectural value to the neighbourhoods.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 12-22-2017
At least they are not two-car garages!
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - MidTowner - 12-22-2017
It's true. 162 Esson (the real estate listing*) looks a lot worse to me than the ones in the street view. At least, in those, the garages are smaller, and are not forward from the house and front doors.
I actually think the red one looks okay. They could be a lot better, certainly, but they could be a lot worse, too. I guess there's a limit to how much garage you can fit on a 40 foot lot.
*That listing made me laugh a bit. "...within walking distance to all that uptown offers!! Parking for 5 cars with double garage."
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - mpd618 - 12-22-2017
(12-22-2017, 12:04 PM)dubya Wrote: The City of Waterloo needs to get a move on its Urban Design Manual! There is no place for homes dominated by big white garage frontage in old historic neighborhood like this. The character of a part of Esson has already been ruined (there is another suburban looking home to the right of these already).
On the flip side - if these are apparently OK, then why can't good apartment buildings be built here?
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - ijmorlan - 12-22-2017
(12-22-2017, 01:51 PM)mpd618 Wrote:(12-22-2017, 12:04 PM)dubya Wrote: The City of Waterloo needs to get a move on its Urban Design Manual! There is no place for homes dominated by big white garage frontage in old historic neighborhood like this. The character of a part of Esson has already been ruined (there is another suburban looking home to the right of these already).
On the flip side - if these are apparently OK, then why can't good apartment buildings be built here?
Exactly. A lot of zoning is supposedly intended to avoid bad outcomes, but misses the mark by a mile, forbidding stuff that is either clearly good (including just about everything built before zoning) or nobody’s business, while allowing all sorts of junk to be built.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - Pheidippides - 12-22-2017
48 William St W looking north through the park to Alexandra St.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - kitborn - 12-23-2017
(12-22-2017, 12:04 PM)dubya Wrote:(12-20-2017, 08:12 PM)megabytephreak Wrote: New units on George St. moving along nicely. Obviously racing to get them weathered in. Was very confused by the truss structure initially. According to a notice posted at the site back in the summer, the property will be split in 3 to support a duplex + SFH.
Technically it is being merged with the lot the left first to take part of it's lot as well.
The City of Waterloo needs to get a move on its Urban Design Manual! There is no place for homes dominated by big white garage frontage in old historic neighborhood like this. The character of a part of Esson has already been ruined (there is another suburban looking home to the right of these already).
I'm of the feeling that if we allow homes of this era to be demolished they should at least provide architectural value to the neighbourhoods.
An area of Waterloo (Eastbridge) has homes that are suited to curb appeal without the garage. They have a lane and garages at the back of the property. Here.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 12-23-2017
(12-23-2017, 08:23 AM)kitborn Wrote: An area of Waterloo (Eastbridge) has homes that are suited to curb appeal without the garage. They have a lane and garages at the back of the property. Here.
But they only did this for part of the neighbourhood. I suspect this was a developer initiative rather than a city one, though admittedly I have no evidence to back that up.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - jamincan - 12-23-2017
You can see where a developer abandoned the concept in the Clair Hills part of Waterloo. https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Waterloo,+ON/@43.458164,-80.579468,399m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x882bf1565ffe672b:0x5037b28c7231d90!8m2!3d43.4642578!4d-80.5204096
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 12-23-2017
Indeed -- thanks for the link. Some houses built with the garages at the back, others now. I have to assume that the concept was not popular with the buyers.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - Markster - 12-24-2017
Yeah, weird to see a rear laneway where none of the properties backing it have a rear garage, and every house has parking in the front.
RE: General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours - nms - 01-05-2018
I seem to recall that those projects fell under the "New Urbanism" idea but missed some of the key ingredients like walkable destinations (eg larger/useable greenspaces/playgrounds; retail and community space) and good (non-car) transportation links.