Charles St GRT terminal redevelopment

[panamaniac]

Well, that is an easy answer. There is nothing else, but the arena near the Aud with little to no transit and very little density so not many people are walking. DTK has restaurants, shops, Rapid transit and high density around it. 

I am not saying an Arena is the only answer, but i truly believe that it is part of the answer, it guarantees 8-10k people entering the DTK core at a minimum 34 nights a year. That doesn't include the titans,  all of the concerts or other events it could host (Brier, World Juniors, Figure skating worlds).  The thing is, at the end of the day the Aud is 75 years old and will need to be replaced in the next 2 decades, why not think of it now while we still have available land DTK to incorporate a DT Arena.

Your last point is the one that I've been harping on, too. I still think that we shouldn't view downtown in a vacuum, and that moving the Aud downtown could open up the existing Aud-lands to become a massive housing development that could add thousands of homes.

Obviously an arena isn't a panacea for all of downtown's issues, and it won't magically turn downtown into a world-class place on its own. But I firmly believe that downtowns should act as the cultural hub for their cities, and in Canada, hockey is viewed as a major part of our culture. That's not to mention all of the other cultural amenities that you've listed.

Compared to the JLC Bud Gardens Canada Life Place in London, DTK has significantly more parking spaces available in closer-proximity. DTK also has rapid transit running through its core which London does not (not yet, anyway). For all the arguments that you could ever make against building a new arena downtown, the transportation-aspect is clearly not one that holds any water.

Lastly, if we're not going to build the arena downtown, where else would you rather see it built? There will be a new arena in the next 50 years regardless. Do we want to build it in the suburbs and rely on cars for getting to it, or do we want to put it somewhere that it can offer ancillary economic benefits while also being near rapid transit?

If it were me, it would be in the area bounded by Charles/Ottawa, Schneider Creek, and Borden.  Central enough with good transit, walking/biking, and bus links, along with good highwary access.

And the existing Aud site would become a major urban park, perhaps incorporating additional sports facilities.