03-02-2023, 07:49 PM
(03-01-2023, 02:38 PM)ac3r Wrote: It just looks terrible. I know the bar is real, real low in Waterloo Region but I can't look at this and see anything of value apart from a few extra housing units that will exist, which is fine.
But you have to look at the bigger picture here. You ran for council, right? So you should understand that there are different complexities involved when it comes to creating a good, livable community. You have to have some degree of standards to follow. A good looking building/city is just as important as the concept of a building. More midrise is necessary, absolutely, but it should be good looking midrise. It doesn't have to win an award, but it should at least have some effort put into it. I don't want us to just green stamp projects under the pretext of "good enough" because then that just sets the standard for what developers are going to sink money into if they know the city is going to approve it. They'll sit in their meeting and say "well, we obviously don't need to put too much thought into the design, just hire the cheapest guy we can get and go crazy with the discount bin preclad".
You've got to remember, developers are in this business to make money. But us citizens should be in this "business" to make a city and region we can be proud of, from the way our homes look to the park spaces we can enjoy and the ways we get around. Mediocrity is what resulted in this place turning into a wasteland of cookie cutter subdivisions, roads and parking lots. And mediocrity is what turned Northdale into what it is now: high density, but with terribly ugly buildings that are suffering from problems and an environment that isn't exactly pleasing to pedestrians.
I can't really imagine what adding very specific aesthetic guidelines would even look like process-wise. There is some real diversity in thought on what constitutes a good looking building (even within this forum). I mean, even in the handful of midrise examples you provided, I think the Fergus Ave building looks at least as good, if not better, than this one: https://divisare.com/projects/474228-dea...jerez-onyx I wouldn't be sad if that got built here, it just likely wouldn't be a favourite building of mine. I think we need to ensure we are investing in quality and sustainable materials, adding greenspace and the like, but I simply don't see how 'aesthetics' fits into all of this.