Anyone with a camera could walk around Amalie Arena in Tampa and make the case for successful city building: long vistas, lush landscaping, waterfront restaurants, bike trail access — catch a game, look at some fish, go for a cruise or stroll back to Hotel High and Monumental. Classic planner porn. Shown below are pic from the main arena plaza with the Ford garage on the right. Beyond its nice foreground facade, it became a much plainer parking deck. And what’s that beside it, on the left? An entire city block sized surface parking lot.  I hope it is temporary, … Continue reading Amalie Arena, part ii, building a better city

Amalie Arena is located in the Chanelside district of downtown Tampa. It is home to the Tampa Bay Lightening NHL team. Built in 1996, is one of a long row of civic-urban-image buildings — the Aquarium, the cruise ship port, the history museum, the arena, the convention centre, two large hotels. The landscaping along the waterfront consists of broad walkways and cycling paths. The scale of everything is HUGE. The approach to the main entrance plaza is shown above. There were a number of statuary tributes to players and events. The plaza is elevated above a sunken street that runs … Continue reading Amalie Arena, part i, an attractive downtown arena

above: people wishing to walk to the Amway Center from the downtown must use several widely-spaced apart streets that go under the elevator i4 freeway, its access ramps, and interchange with another freeway. The space is humanized in a select high traffic areas, such as where South Street goes under the freeways, with fountains, planters, and lighting. Other areas were parking spaces and much less open as there were not available “skylighting” gaps. above: There are approx 18 traffic lanes between the downtown (to the right) and the Center (shown to the left) which had to be crossed at grade or … Continue reading Amway Center (part ii) adjacent streets and parking

We have seen photoshops of what the Senator’s old arena, Canadian Tire Place, could look like if moved to LeBreton Flats. But what would a new arena actually look like? How could it be integrated into a new urban community? On your behalf, your faithful correspondent did some field research.  For the next week or more, lets look closely at Amway Arena (the Magics and Solar Bears, Orlando) and Amelie Arena (Tampa Bay Lighting).  Let’s look at the architecture of an urban arena, the surrounding neighbourhoods, and of course, the parking. First up:  Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida Exterior views:   … Continue reading What a New Senator’s Arena could look like on LeBreton Flats

  I have come across several fix-it-yourself bike stations. The gesture and tools is really nice. And it probably saves the bike rental company from a lot of nuisance beggars at the door expecting free minor repairs.   I’ve come across similar tool sets in Cambridge, MA;   on Cape Cod    and Salzburg:. But not yet in Ottawa, although there is a non-public one behind St Andrew tower. This is at a time when gas stations increasingly charge cyclists for air, although the most egregious insult came when I found an air pump at a local gas station fill-er-up island that … Continue reading Fix it yourself nice-ness

  As seen at the Rideau Centre, near the Confederation Line transit station entrance under construction. Continue reading And just where else would I stand?

There is still infill going on in Hintonburg. Lots of it. Silver corrugated cladding, sometimes accented with black siding, is lowly giving way to new expressions.   Here, for example, some infills have bright coloured panels: I’m a sucker for colour, so I love these. And a bit further down the block, there are some bent metal claddings with some red corrugated sections. And on The Eddy, a six storey apartment building on Wellington at Spadina,  the exterior is covered in bright flat metal planks, with some accents of red. These look OK, but they are not what I remember … Continue reading Observing exteriors in Hintonburg

The photo shows a streetcar on Preston, running northwards towards to Albert Street (then called Wellington). The photograph is taken from the corner of Elm at Preston, looking south.  The store in the background is still there, now it houses Pubwells, at the corner of Spruce. The thinner pole holding a guywire on the left seems to be a streetcar rail uprighted and embedded into the pavement. Some cobblestones peek through the asphalt at the crosswalk. After tearing them all out, in favour of smooth road surfaces of asphalt,  the City reinstalled paver stone crosswalks in 2011. Beyond the buildings … Continue reading Preston, streetcar, rezoning

With all the fuss about the extreme dangers of LRT service in a shallow tunnel along the western parkway, it is sometimes useful to remember what was there in the recent past. This photo shows the last freight train (1967) going along the tracks between Rochester Field and the River.  The photograph is taken from near Richmond Road, looking north. Here’s another shot, from further west,  taken from Carling Avenue, looking down Maplehurst towards the Parkway. Notice the small cottages on the right. The For Sale sign notes “no more trains”, presumably raising the property value. Continue reading Rochester Fields Forever

On the last day of streetcar service in Ottawa in May 1959, a farewell parade was held of equipment and personalities. This picture is taken from the crest of the Somerset Viaduct, right at what is now the OTrain Trillium Line overpass. Slightly downhill to the right the white building is now a Buddhist Temple; St Jean Baptiste priory can be see silhouetted on the left horizon; Preston Street runs across Somerset at the bottom of the hill. Double click the picture to enlarge it. Notice the very decorative  railing on the left, just visible between the parked cars. And … Continue reading Somerset Viaduct in history

The NCC chose for the Flats a model of lowish podiums (7 stories) with mid rise towers above (another 7 stories, 14 floors in total). Portland’s South Waterfront is decidedly much more highrise. It is, no doubt, what Ottawa planners have wet dreams about when they imagine the Preston-Carling area in 30 years time with its snowstorm of highrises. I very much doubt we will achieve that. I gather the NCC and Claridge are negotiating to abandon the rest of the existing low and mid rise LeBreton Flats plan (east of Booth Street) to build much taller towers on the remaining … Continue reading Building LeBetter Flats, part 8, Portland South Waterfront residential buildings

Last night in Red Square:   The number of smart phones and pad devices is interesting. Continue reading New Year’s Eve, EastSide Edition