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+--- Thread: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours (/showthread.php?tid=6)
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - Momo26 - 11-10-2018
Rofl lmao. Good catch man.
I find myself spending more time in Galt kicking around on lazy weekends. There are a couple spots we like but to be completely honest, as it stands, outside of those it feels extremely boring. Very few pedestrians from my experience also, mind you it's getting cold.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - Lens - 04-05-2019
Has anyone else been downtown Galt lately? I was there earlier this evening and it was a ghost town. I know it wasn't exactly nice weather but we probably only saw 5 or 6 others out walking around 6-7PM. I also noticed what seems to be a significant increase in vacant space, especially on the Main St block between Ainslie and Water where it's at least 50% vacant. Overall the number of vacant units seems like it's at least 30% in the whole core right now. It seemed like Galt was on a good kick for the last year or so but it looked BLEEK today. The northwest corner building of Ainslie and Main is finally almost done and looks great but next to it is a new? sketchy looking liquidation store. Perhaps the development and influx of new residents across the river will help?
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - MacBerry - 04-07-2019
(04-05-2019, 11:33 PM)Lens Wrote: Has anyone else been downtown Galt lately? I was there earlier this evening and it was a ghost town. I know it wasn't exactly nice weather but we probably only saw 5 or 6 others out walking around 6-7PM. I also noticed what seems to be a significant increase in vacant space, especially on the Main St block between Ainslie and Water where it's at least 50% vacant. Overall the number of vacant units seems like it's at least 30% in the whole core right now. It seemed like Galt was on a good kick for the last year or so but it looked BLEEK today. The northwest corner building of Ainslie and Main is finally almost done and looks great but next to it is a new? sketchy looking liquidation store. Perhaps the development and influx of new residents across the river will help?
The City of Cambridge has to deal with it's social issues of homeless and drug use in all three of it's 'downtown" districts: Galt, Preston and Hespeler.
It will be a challenge to get the residents buy into the idea that it is 2019 and not 1999. The LRT issue is just a symptom related to allowing the city/districts to move ahead.
Lastly, the terrible three kilometer long, world's longest and ugliest shopping mall called Hespeler Road/Region Road 24 needs ... something ... something that I am not sure that the Phase 2 LRT will resolve or re-envision.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - jeffster - 04-26-2019
(04-07-2019, 03:41 PM)MacBerry Wrote: Lastly, the terrible three kilometer long, world's longest and ugliest shopping mall called Hespeler Road/Region Road 24 needs ... something ... something that I am not sure that the Phase 2 LRT will resolve or re-envision.
So true! Unsure how Cambridge should fix that hot mess. A car along that stretch is an absolute must.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - mgregorasz - 04-28-2019
(04-26-2019, 03:46 PM)jeffster Wrote:(04-07-2019, 03:41 PM)MacBerry Wrote: Lastly, the terrible three kilometer long, world's longest and ugliest shopping mall called Hespeler Road/Region Road 24 needs ... something ... something that I am not sure that the Phase 2 LRT will resolve or re-envision.
So true! Unsure how Cambridge should fix that hot mess. A car along that stretch is an absolute must.
Cambridge is developing a secondary plan for this area, but it is going to be up to developers to show any interest in building something.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - danbrotherston - 04-28-2019
(04-28-2019, 03:12 PM)mgregorasz Wrote:(04-26-2019, 03:46 PM)jeffster Wrote: So true! Unsure how Cambridge should fix that hot mess. A car along that stretch is an absolute must.
Cambridge is developing a secondary plan for this area, but it is going to be up to developers to show any interest in building something.
I wouldn't worry about developers, if the right environment is there, it'll get built, I'd worry about the right regulations, right built form...I.e., what we have now, is a result of regulations and planning.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 04-29-2019
They're going to have to start with zoning the areas around transit stations for growth and hope it takes off the way dtk did
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - danbrotherston - 04-29-2019
(04-29-2019, 07:51 AM)Spokes Wrote: They're going to have to start with zoning the areas around transit stations for growth and hope it takes off the way dtk did
Yeah, that won't work...or at least not well.
It lacks the walkability.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - MacBerry - 04-29-2019
(04-29-2019, 09:15 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:(04-29-2019, 07:51 AM)Spokes Wrote: They're going to have to start with zoning the areas around transit stations for growth and hope it takes off the way dtk did
Yeah, that won't work...or at least not well.
It lacks the walkability.
Unfortunately, it also lacks diversified employment or key node employment centres. It's user base is currently made up of drive in shoppers/diners who spend as little time as possible there and get out of dodge.
The Hespeler Road employment user base, other than drive in visitors, is made up of strip mall employees and suburban industrial employment areas nearby.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 04-30-2019
Agreed. No employment base. No resident base. Just dozens of strip malls with surface parking lots.
Urbanizing and intensifying this area will be a very long-term project, even with the LRT.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 04-30-2019
There needs to be one major draw to start and hopefully the rest will follow.
Think pharmacy school and communitech
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 05-02-2019
(04-30-2019, 11:47 PM)Spokes Wrote: There needs to be one major draw to start and hopefully the rest will follow.
Think pharmacy school and communitech
I think the gap is bigger than it was for DTK. Kitchener still had employment downtown (city hall, Manulife, 55 King, old city hall, Galleria etc) and significant resident population nearby (some apartment buildings plus large urban residential areas). Hespeler Rd has neither. The advantage it will have (over DTK 20 years ago) will be the LRT, and that will help. But it will still be a hard slog.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - Spokes - 05-03-2019
Ya that's a good point. There was at least a bit of a starting point. I don't even know where you'd start here
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - jgsz - 08-27-2019
An interesting piece in The Record about a new development in East Galt. One tower is to be 30 stories tall and the other tower 24 stories.
RE: General Urban Cambridge Updates and Rumours - tomh009 - 08-27-2019
Where is that? The render makes it look like it's in the middle of the countryside.