Travel observations and new developments of other cities and countries

Bos2Nash · August 22, 2022

Here is an article regarding the demolition. Talks about China's aggressive urban expansion and how developers are taking on higher debt with higher risk.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/epn3bp/china-demolition-building-kunming

smeagolsfree · August 22, 2022

They are having a lot of difficulty over there right now. Still having cities in lockdown due to Covid, shutting factories down due to power supply issues due to drought because of lack of hydro electrical production, food supply issues due to drought. Chinese elites are leaving the country not quite as fast as they are in Russia, but they are having a brain drain, not to mention folks have stopped paying their mortgages and there have been runs on some banks.

There is "Big Trouble in Little China" and the communist paradise. Folks are trying to get out of Hong Kong as fast as their feet can take them. GDP growth is down by like half think.

donNdonelson2 · August 22, 2022

Houston has many prominently placed murals throughout downtown and spread out into many neighborhoods. Today while visiting Houston Ballet I noticed a new one in progress in a somewhat unusual and less prominent location. The Lyric Garage serves the offices, businesses, and venues in the area surrounding the Wortham Theatre Center. The garage has first floor retail space, attractive screening that includes dramatic and variable LED lighting, and is now going to feature a mural on the exterior of an upper floor, enclosed in a glass showcase! I’m anxious to see the finished product, especially after nightfall.

markhollin · August 23, 2022

While I was in the Canadian Rockies last week w/ my buddy, Woz, we were walking down the main drag in the tourist town of Canmore looking for a place to have lunch. He sarcastically said, "I sure hope we can find some Nashville Hot Chicken here." Literally 10 seconds later we rounded a corner and saw this....

smeagolsfree · August 23, 2022

Well...... How was it?

markhollin · August 23, 2022

10 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Well...... How was it?

We both hate that stuff---so we had Vietnamese further down the street instead.

nashville born · August 23, 2022

Some of you might like this project. I think it's cool.

https://newyorkyimby.com/2022/08/construction-rises-on-domino-sugar-refinery-redevelopment-at-292-kent-avenue-in-williamsburg-brooklyn.html

markhollin · August 25, 2022

I returned from my trip to the Canadian Rockies last week, and loved spending my final day in Calgary. Over the next week or so, I'll share a bunch (and I mean a LOT) of photos of this amazing city. First a bit of background...

Calgary, Alberta was founded in 1884 (23 years after Denver) and currently has a population of 1.3 million, with metro being 1.5 million (about the same as Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, or Memphis). It was half of that in 1990. 4th largest city in Canada. It has two 800’+ towers, four 700’+ towers, four 600’+ towers, 17 500’+ towers, 28 400’+ towers, and 48 300’+ towers. Total of 103 towers of over 300’. And just for the heck of it, another 26 that are 200’+. 95% of them are downtown. Unbelievable. Have never seen anything like it for a city of this relatively demure size in all my travels around the globe.

In 2022 Calgary was ranked alongside Zurich as the third most livable city in the world, ranking first in Canada and in North America.

Calgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors. The Calgary Metropolitan Region is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations.

There is a 4 prong street commuter rail system running in every direction that culminates downtown. A 10 block stretch of it in the central core is free. Along that portion, those streets are closed to vehicle traffic (photos of this coming later). There are two primary freeways. Running through the metro, and an outer belt around the city.

https://www.emporis.com/city/100992/calgary-canada/type/Skyscraper/1

Initially, I will focus on the skyline and office towers downtown, concentrating on 300+ footers (unless something shorter was of fascinating design). There are so many within a 10 x 8 block grid that makes up the Central Business District that it makes the head swim. It is truly a downtown that rivals cities that are 6 times its size.

Tomorrow I'll share dozens of residential towers in the downtown area.

BnaBreaker · August 26, 2022

Thanks for the photos! Calgary really is a stunning city, like you said, particularly for it's size. It's skyline punches WAY above it's weight, and I also marveled at how confined the urban growth is to the freeway loop, for the most part. Generally speaking, Canadian cities, although typically more compact than their American counterparts, still have their fair share of suburban sprawl. But Calgary, for whatever reason, really didn't seem to that I could tell. I drove to Calgary from the east and I was just dumbstruck with how within about fifteen minutes drive or so you go from the flattest, emptiest plain I've literally ever seen in my life, to being right smack in the middle of what feels like an absolutely massive urban metropolis. And it's proximity to trio of Banff/Glacier/Jasper National Parks certainly doesn't hurt either! Looking forward to the rest of your photos!

markhollin · August 26, 2022

Calgary's downtown also features dozens of residential towers. Have never seen so many for a metropolis of just 1.5 million people. It all contributes to the truly stout massing in a relatively small downtown footprint:

bnacincy · August 26, 2022

Lotta oil money in that city.......!

Bark At The Sun · August 26, 2022

27 minutes ago, bnacincy said:

Lotta oil money in that city.......!

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-the-void-in-calgary-how-office-towers-emptied-in-a-once-bustling/

A lot of those buildings are empty or half empty. They were having vacancy issues before Covid, but seem to be on track with converting some office space/buildings into residential. Ive always liked the skyline there.

markhollin · August 27, 2022

Despite the massive amount of newer structures in downtown Calgary, there is still some terrific older architecture dating back to the late 1800s/early 1900s. But I would say it is less than 5% of the central business district.

There is also a large Chinatown section in the central core featuring many retailers, restaurants, temples, and a cultural center:

The new Downtown Calgary Library is spectacular. Wish I could've gone inside, but there was some sort of medical emergency and it was closed for several hours while I was in the neighborhood:

colemangaines · August 27, 2022

@markhollin Thanks for sharing all these pics. From the photos of the office and residential towers it looks like streetfront activation is kind of meh. What was your experience walking around? Did it seem pretty pedestrian-friendly?

markhollin · August 27, 2022

1 hour ago, colemangaines said:

@markhollin Thanks for sharing all these pics. From the photos of the office and residential towers it looks like streetfront activation is kind of meh. What was your experience walking around? Did it seem pretty pedestrian-friendly?

Generally good. The blocks are relatively small, so if there wasn't much activation on a particular block, you normally only had to walk a few hundred feet to find more choices.

markhollin · August 28, 2022

Calgary has a well-mapped and used Light Rail system that spokes onward in 4 directions from downtown. Some portions are elevated, and others are tunnel beneath the surface. The primary 10 block stretch within the Central Business District is free, and travels east/west along 7th Ave., which is closed off to vehicular traffic.

Calgary can get bitter cold and windy in the winter, so a concerted effort was made between city government and businesses downtown to connect many of the buildings with 2nd story, heated enclosed walkways the connect over 40 blocks. Here are just some examples:

markhollin · August 29, 2022

Calgary has a large sports park just to the SE of the downtown area that is home to the Saddledome (19,000 seat arena home to the Calgary Flames of the NHL) and the grounds for the annual Calgary Stampede Rodeo (one of the largest events of its type in the world). The new construction is for a 565,000 sq. ft., $500 million expansion to the BMO Convention Centre (rendering included):

Calgary has many interesting pieces of public art. I wish I could've gotten pics of more, but as I was driving around, there were just too many buildings to capture at every turn:

Canada's National Music Center, Studio Bell, is also in downtown Calgary:

donNdonelson2 · August 29, 2022

I was in Calgary in 2006 (or it might have been 2007) with The Phantom of the Opera tour and had the opportunity to attend the Calgary Stampede. What a blockbuster! The day culminated with the huge grandstands event of Chuckwagon Races and an enormous musical stage show spotlighting the history of Canada’s First Nations. There must have been a cast of over five hundred. Certainly one of my favorite memories of my years on the road!

(attached is a photo from vacay.ca of the grandstands show at the 2014 stampede, just to give you an idea of the grand scale of the production)

donNdonelson2 · August 30, 2022

Sunday 8/29/2022 San Antonio Riverwalk. Chose to walk late night Sunday to avoid the big crowds. The Riverwalk is such a cool and unique feature, and is copied by other cities, but with results that lack the charm of this Texas Original.

markhollin · August 30, 2022

The Calgary Tower is an observation deck built in 1968, when it was the tallest structure in the city. It is now dwarfed by numerous others. Was a fun and educational trip to the top.

You can see the Canadian Rockies about 80 miles to the west:

This large wading pool in the summer months transforms into a skating rink in the colder months.

Old City Hall on left, new City Hall to the right:

The see-through floor portion of the observation area was fun:

nashville born · August 30, 2022

Great pics, Mark. And this one stood out. The Saddle Dome!!!

On another topic, how in the world did they get 476 feet out of 38 floors for a hotel?

https://newyorkyimby.com/2022/08/finishing-touches-underway-on-virgin-hotel-at-1225-broadway-in-nomad-manhattan.html

Edited August 30, 2022 by nashville born

MontanaGuy · August 30, 2022

5 hours ago, markhollin said:

The Calgary Tower is an observation deck built in 1968, when it was the tallest structure in the city. It is now dwarfed by numerous others. Was a fun and educational trip to the top.

Great photos! I'm glad that they didn't set height restrictions for new buildings in that immediate area. That's what they did in Seattle around the Space Needle! They've sure added a lot in Calgary since I was there and it's very impressive!

nashville born · August 30, 2022

24 minutes ago, MontanaGuy said:

Great photos! I'm glad that they didn't set height restrictions for new buildings in that immediate area. That's what they did in Seattle around the Space Needle! They've sure added a lot in Calgary since I was there and it's very impressive!

And thankfully the Space Needle sits off to the side from the core of downtown. From the north, it gives an appearance of being more in the mix than it really is. Here's a view from the west courtesy of Google images.

MontanaGuy · August 30, 2022

1 minute ago, nashville born said:

And thankfully the Space Needle sits off to the side from the core of downtown. From the north, it gives an appearance of being more in the mix than it really is. Here's a view from the west courtesy of Google images.

That's true although that's an older photo and I worked in one of those buildings on the left side of the downtown area and today it's surrounded by much taller buildings and you can't see it anymore from this vantage point and downtown has grown towards the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is located in a very big way. So now there's a height restriction between the Space Needle and the core downtown area but it's packed full of new buildings that are all about the same height.

markhollin · August 31, 2022

A couple hours west of Calgary, in the heart of the spectacular (and I mean SPEC-TAC-U-LAR!) Canadian Rockies, sits the tourist town of Banff. Its most famous resort is the Banff Springs Hotel, built in phases between 1911 and 1928 (with some additional structures built on the campus in recent decades). 'Tis magnificent.