Parking in Waterloo Region

[Spokes]

The distance from Bramm St to King St (along Victoria St) is less than 500m. If the yards were developed, one would hope for a similar-length trail along the railway tracks to avoid having to walk to Victoria St.

And, yes, I agree that low density for the yards doesn't make sense for the long term. But given that it's next to the 1 Victoria/Garment St/Glove Box complex, it should be able to support higher density even now.

The problem I see isn't about density, it's that it's very difficult to bootstrap a vibrant pedestrian mixed use space. It shouldn't be, but that's a whole other issue about how our society builds cities. It's very difficult to convince people to walk somewhere unless there's a critical mass of destinations, and it's on the way to somewhere. Right now Garment St/Bramm St even when fully developed just aren't connected to the vibrant parts of King St. Even King/Victoria is really cutoff from the parts of King St where people walk, and the amount of pedestrian traffic there is a lot lower than just a couple blocks down King St.

Distance for something like this isn't about meters, it's about the pedestrian feel. 500m from Water St to Queen St on King St feels like nothing, because it's vibrant and pedestrian friendly. The same 500m on Victoria St from King to Bramm feels a LOT longer. I worry that anything built right now at the Bramm St yards, no matter how dense, would end up feeling like the Barrel Yards development. Despite how dense it is, it just feels dead to pedestrians, and has a pretty suburban form.

I think you nailed it.  The positive is that there is a lot of potential to connect Garment to King and Vic, but the negative is there is a LONG way to go to make that happen

It seems to me to make much more sense to focus on building up in the central core, where areas are already walkable, than to try and develop the Bramm St yards right now. Over the next 5-10 years we'll hopefully see the transit hub get built, the U-haul property get redeveloped, one (or even both) of the two parking lots at Joseph/Victoria get developed. Then, in 10 years the Bramm St yards can be developed, and they'll actually be connected to a vibrant pedestrian area as Victoria St won't feel so arterial.

I totally agree, but unfortunately I'm guessing developers see it otherwise because the cost of land on Victoria is likely much, much cheaper than that on King