Vertikal (471-481 King St E) | 23 & 19 fl | U/C

[Acitta]

I have shopped in the Kerala shop a couple of times. It is the only Indian grocery downtown, but it is rather small. The Region has a lot of better Indian grocery stores.

It's a south Indian grocery, though, there are not many of those. I know there are (south Indian) people from Waterloo coming to DTK to shop at this one.

Yes, but they are small and don't have many products that interest me. I went there last to get some dosa batter as I have been into dosas for breakfast, lately.

[tomh009]

It's a south Indian grocery, though, there are not many of those. I know there are (south Indian) people from Waterloo coming to DTK to shop at this one.

Yes, but they are small and don't have many products that interest me. I went there last to get some dosa batter as I have been into dosas for breakfast, lately.

A fair point, but for some people it's still a go-to store. And we have people complaining that DTK doesn't have "destination stores", this one qualifies, even if it's a small one. Similarly the comic shop and the soccer shop on Ontario St, Black Arrow Cycles and (the former?) ABC Surplus on Queen St, Kinoko's Oven on King St, and Coven vegan grocery on Charles St: all are niche stores, but they are something (some) people will go to DTK for.

[Acitta]

Yes, but they are small and don't have many products that interest me. I went there last to get some dosa batter as I have been into dosas for breakfast, lately.

A fair point, but for some people it's still a go-to store. And we have people complaining that DTK doesn't have "destination stores", this one qualifies, even if it's a small one. Similarly the comic shop and the soccer shop on Ontario St, Black Arrow Cycles and (the former?) ABC Surplus on Queen St, Kinoko's Oven on King St, and Coven vegan grocery on Charles St: all are niche stores, but they are something (some) people will go to DTK for.

Not to mention the two Asian grocery stores that I have been to quite often.

[ac3r]

This thing continues to look like a turd and only increasingly so the more they complete it. I can't believe you guys let this crap be built here. It's time for some standards. Seriously...one day people are gonna look back on this trash and see it the same way they do the downtown malls. What a disaster of a project this has been. Over a decade in the making, still not done and looks like complete garbage.

[BormanConstruction]

This thing continues to look like a turd and only increasingly so the more they complete it. I can't believe you guys let this crap be built here. It's time for some standards. Seriously...one day people are gonna look back on this trash and see it the same way they do the downtown malls. What a disaster of a project this has been. Over a decade in the making, still not done and looks like complete garbage.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of this weird student rental style motif for the region.

[tomh009]

I can't believe you guys let this crap be built here. It's time for some standards.

Please tell me which North American cities have hard architectural standards controlling whether any given building is to be allowed to be built.

[westwardloo]

I can't believe you guys let this crap be built here. It's time for some standards.

Please tell me which North American cities have hard architectural standards controlling whether any given building is to be allowed to be built.

I believe both the City of Toronto and City of Vancouver have design standards boards that review every development application. They provide feedback to present to staff and council. Most of the time they do not stop developments, but recommend changes to applications to make them more coherent. 

I think the point of have an design standards board in the City would be to help staff and council understand the basic elements that make up a well designed building, but would also let developers know they can't just constantly propose these garbage development and expect the city to approve them.  Developers would start paying a little more up front for the design prior to going to council to avoid having to revise the proposal or go to the OLT.

[ZEBuilder]

Please tell me which North American cities have hard architectural standards controlling whether any given building is to be allowed to be built.

I believe both the City of Toronto and City of Vancouver have design standards boards that review every development application. They provide feedback to present to staff and council. Most of the time they do not stop developments, but recommend changes to applications to make them more coherent. 

I think the point of have an design standards board in the City would be to help staff and council understand the basic elements that make up a well designed building, but would also let developers know they can't just constantly propose these garbage development and expect the city to approve them.  Developers would start paying a little more up front for the design prior to going to council to avoid having to revise the proposal or go to the OLT.

Design review boards are not legally binding as per the planning act, as such a developer can submit something to the review board have it reviewed and then they can still turn it into a value engineered dumpster fire at a later time. There is nothing legally stopping them from doing such provided the general building still conforms to the SPA that was submitted.

[ac3r]

I can't believe you guys let this crap be built here. It's time for some standards.

Please tell me which North American cities have hard architectural standards controlling whether any given building is to be allowed to be built.

There are voluntary committees in some of the major Canadian cities, which do a good job at permitting the sort of absolute slop you see in this region being built, unless it's considered low value land. It's not like Toronto or Vancouver don't have really ugly developments, they're just far less noticeable for many reasons.

But it's not even about committees, design and review boards or only allowing good architects/designers/planners to work. You just need your local society to have common sense and a desire to utilize good placemaking choices for the evolution of the built environment they and their descendants want to live in. The problem is, almost nobody in Waterloo Region really gives a shit. Thus, you end up with stuff like this and all the other issues that exist.

[Andy Mc]

Looking north towards King St W 😉

   

[BormanConstruction]

I think the more I look at this project, the more perplexed I get.

[tomh009]

Looking north towards King St W 😉

Apropos, that low-rise apartment (stacked townhouse?) complex seems to finally be on the way toward fixing their porches, which were basically falling apart. You can still see the supports for the new concrete pours, and the new stairs are there already. I'm sure this was not a cheap repair for the building owner (or condo corporation), it feels like a poor design choice resulted in a very limited lifespan for those porches.