07-13-2015, 01:40 PM
(07-13-2015, 12:10 PM)ac3r Wrote: For the longest time (and I'm thinking back at least...10 or 12 years) we had a by-law that wouldn't let anything really go above 12 floors in the core although I think there were one or two exceptions at the time, namely apartments built in the 1980s or so. Even just a decade or so ago, we were a fairly small city in Canadian terms. There was really no demand for anything so big. It was a mix of zoning laws and NIMBY's who just didn't want height; think of those mammoth, horribly dated pair of white apartment blocks just near the central library. When those went up, a lot of people in the surrounding areas were not pleased because it is a heritage area and when you own a 100+ year old home next to one of those things, it's not a nice sight to look out at. I also believe a lot of the council members weren't big on large projects either, but a lot of them have gone.
This complex seems like a planning failure in general - slapping that kind of density in a neighborhood of much less - no wonder people already living in the neighborhood were upset! That said, I live in that complex. For me, the location at that price can't be beat . . . so I am rather grateful for that odd choice.