General urbanism appreciation

[KevinL]

I couldn't find a thread that takes an all-around look at our urban form from multiple angles. I guess that's because many of us are too close to it to take a broader view.

I was inspired by this Reddit post by a Torontonian, who visited KW this past weekend and was generally impressed: https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/commen...m_toronto/

[Rainrider22]

WOW, very positive article. I particularly like how he painted the picture of the different places attended. When people look around our cities with a different lens, it is amazing what they observe. I have had the same experiences when I go exploring with my daughters DTK. We often discover neat places to eat or check out that we never knew existed. The street scape has a totally different view when you are walking it as apposed to driving through. Do we have room for improvement, yes, but we are still better than the GTA. I work every day in the GTA and routinely have negative experiences which allows me to look at our area more positively.

[plam]

WOW,  very positive article.  I particularly like how he painted the picture of the different places attended.    When people look around our cities with a different lens, it is amazing what they observe.  I have had the same experiences when I go exploring with my daughters DTK.  We often discover neat places to eat or check out that we never knew existed.  The street scape has a totally different view when you are walking it as apposed to driving through.  Do we have room for improvement, yes, but we are still better than the GTA. I work every day in the GTA and routinely have negative experiences which allows me to look at our area more positively.

I had a really dysphoric time driving around the GTA on a Friday night a few weeks ago. Part of it was my fault for navigating to the wrong address. But then having the 401 be not available meant that my drive was 1 hour instead of 20 minutes to get from near Don Valley to Scarborough. I wasn't a happy camper because that drive was happening around midnight.

[dscurtis]

On the few times a year I venture to suburban GTA, I can't help but notice how many more 6+ lane stroads they have. Hespeler Road is one of the few in Waterloo Region I can think of, and unsurprisingly, it's one of the ugliest roads in our Region. Those massive arterials feel dangerous to cross in a car and especially outside of one, so I'm thankful they are rare around here.

[tomh009]

On the few times a year I venture to suburban GTA, I can't help but notice how many more 6+ lane stroads they have. Hespeler Road is one of the few in Waterloo Region I can think of, and unsurprisingly, it's one of the ugliest roads in our Region. Those massive arterials feel dangerous to cross in a car and especially outside of one, so I'm thankful they are rare around here.

And King St in the Sportsworld area? Or is it only four lanes? It feels like six ...

[neonjoe]

^ Its only four, but the new massive median makes it feel super wide.

[dscurtis]

On the few times a year I venture to suburban GTA, I can't help but notice how many more 6+ lane stroads they have. Hespeler Road is one of the few in Waterloo Region I can think of, and unsurprisingly, it's one of the ugliest roads in our Region. Those massive arterials feel dangerous to cross in a car and especially outside of one, so I'm thankful they are rare around here.

And King St in the Sportsworld area? Or is it only four lanes? It feels like six ...

The only other one I can think of is Ottawa between Homer Watson and Alpine (the small stretch of road between the two 3-lane roundabouts, which are stupidly big).

EDIT: One more would be the Erb and Bridgeport one-ways, which together are similar to a six lane road.

[ijmorlan]

EDIT: One more would be the Erb and Bridgeport one-ways, which together are similar to a six lane road.

That one is weird. Westbound, it’s 3 lanes until Erb/Caroline, where it narrows to a single lane right at the intersection and then immediately back to 2 lanes. Eastbound, it’s 2 lanes until Peppler, then 3 lanes.