10-13-2018, 01:40 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-13-2018, 01:43 PM by danbrotherston.)
(10-13-2018, 12:22 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(10-13-2018, 10:46 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: Some of those are not really what I mean by mid density, I would consider RED and Cortez to still be pretty big. Certainly they'd garner opposition if built in an existing neighbourhood.
A few examples of the size of project I meant are here: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.4462876,-...bfov%3D100
They're not particularly nice buildings, but they are completely within the size and scope of the neighbourhood they're within. Driving by you'd barely even notice they aren't houses.
I see what you are thinking of. I used six stories as my cutoff (that's not yet a "tower" really) but you're thinking much smaller. The form you're thinking is not very popular any more, but maybe townhouse complexes like this one (on Courtland) are in the same vein:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.443437,-8...312!8i6656
The Cedar Hill neighbourhood is actually a good example of a mix of many different types of housing. While we have large protected heritage areas near the core, hopefully this kind of thing can happen more frequently in residential neighbourhoods.
Yeah, that is the scale of thing I'd like to see more of. And I do think there are some being built. My fear is that they're not being permitted in the density or design needed to really develop new neighbourhoods into walkable areas, nor are they being permitted as widely as would be ideal, specifically, not really in the existing walkable neighbourhoods (for example, I don't think any of the core neighbourhoods near downtown, uptown, or even Belmont village could have something like this built right now).
Where I see them being built, and I see this with towers too mind you, is often in areas that are totally car dependent. Which I think limits both the benefits of denser developments, and the desirability. The "Urban Towns" at Highland and Ira Needles come to mind.
Cedar Hill is a great counter example though. I did look at a condo near there when I was looking.