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Downtown Markham

I've seen a few people use the bike lanes, myself included. Obviously you're not going to get College Street levels of bike use, but that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile. They take up a very small amount of space and they will get more use as the density increases and the next couple phases are completed. A big street like Highway 7 is exactly where bike lanes are needed.

taal said:
I've said this multiple times; There is 0 chance of Hi-way 7 ever having an urban feel ... sure it'll get built up, but you'll never have many folks walking on it. Nothing will change that and that's fine ..
Honestly you can already see it on parts further west that are now more built up with condos / offices fronting the street, but no one ever walks (less folks getting of transit).
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I agree with this point but it doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of urban, pedestrian oriented streets that are as big as Highway 7 or bigger. Michigan Avenue, Champs Elysees, and Gran Via come to mind. Highway 7 was the perfect opportunity to build something similar. The problem is what's being built on the street. New condos have retail set back behind parking lots, or live/work units instead of real retail, or no active street level uses at all. And the hydro towers that they didn't bother to bury don't help matters.
 
taal said:
I was never comparing it to Downtown Toronto, or Y&E, or anywhere else in Markham for that matter; Unionville has a lot of pedestrian activity at all times of the day ! My point was hi-way 7 it self, I doubt will, ever ... hence redoing all the streatscapes is if anything something for car drives to look at as they drive by, it would have been better spent on downtown Markham it self, or main street / ... the other urban areas of York Region.
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That area of highway 7 right now looks like crap and seems old and run down. I think a redo is much needed and is a good investment. I also would like to think that if you build a beautiful pedestrian walkway and bike lane on a busy street then people will start to use them. Building on hwy 7, although not technically downturn Markham, still adds to the overall prestige of the area.
 
MisterF said:
I've seen a few people use the bike lanes, myself included. Obviously you're not going to get College Street levels of bike use, but that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile. They take up a very small amount of space and they will get more use as the density increases and the next couple phases are completed. A big street like Highway 7 is exactly where bike lanes are needed.



I agree with this point but it doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of urban, pedestrian oriented streets that are as big as Highway 7 or bigger. Michigan Avenue, Champs Elysees, and Gran Via come to mind. Highway 7 was the perfect opportunity to build something similar. The problem is what's being built on the street. New condos have retail set back behind parking lots, or live/work units instead of real retail, or no active street level uses at all. And the hydro towers that they didn't bother to bury don't help matters.
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Actually I have no issue at all with the bike lines, as you say they take up little space and cost next to nothing; My issue is with the huge amount of money that must have went into the streetscape improvements; I find the Viva stations themselves very elaborate (in a that's a waste of money point of view). I guarantee you, if this was built in Toronto, and the amount of money spent per station got into the public, it'd be all over the press.

The new developments I've seen on Hi-way 7 do NOTHING to HELP ... look at Uptown Markham ... it basically turns its back on Hi-way 7 ... and the same can be said to newer developments closer to Bayview ..
 
taal said:
I was never comparing it to Downtown Toronto, or Y&E, or anywhere else in Markham for that matter; Unionville has a lot of pedestrian activity at all times of the day ! My point was hi-way 7 it self, I doubt will, ever ... hence redoing all the streatscapes is if anything something for car drives to look at as they drive by, it would have been better spent on downtown Markham it self, or main street / ... the other urban areas of York Region.
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Maybe (a big maybe at that) when the York U campus is established will we see more usage of the alternate transportation available. Timing, cost (double fare), frequency is a concern. They're trying to shoehorn the idea into an area where it was, and somewhat still is, quite industrial in nature. (Think Warden and westward) Locations of interest are pretty spread out.

For the locals, I'd love to see the marketing campaign to get people out of the comfort of their BMW/MB/Audi/Lexus/Acura for their commute. :p

Unionville et al are very small pockets within the grand scheme - almost specialized. Speaking of which, I wonder how the Unionville residents are taking the Varley Residences project.

Me personally, I'm making very good use of the Birchmount extension to the LCBO...err... Uptown plaza
 
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I think YorkU will have a huge impact on Downtown Markham (as I suspect it'll be located here) in a very very positive way ! But not on Hi-way 7 it self, and that's OK ..
 
the current highway 7 is still the rural form of the road from my understanding, gravel shoulders, no sidewalks, ditches, etc.
 
This stretch of Highway 7 does serve Markham Centre, and yeah it still has ditches and gravel shoulders. Also note that even though the north side is technically outside of Markham Centre's boundaries, there are a number of midrise projects proposed for that side of the street as well. It's ridiculous to think no one will use the sidewalks here. Folks living in all those new condos will at the very least walk to retail in nearby buildings. Heck, even now I see folks walking on the sidewalk-less sections of Highway 7 fairly frequently on the weekends.

I mean look at the planned density! And this doesn't even show the massive Sheridan redevelopment to the east.

jm82gLS.jpg
 
Have you seen how uptown markham fronts Hi-way 7 though !
 
Yeah, the way that the Uptown development fronts Highway 7 is a huge wasted opportunity and exactly what I was talking about. The same mistakes are still being made along Hwy 7 in both Markham and Richmond Hill.
 
canarob said:
I have, and I think at least some of those towns are live/work units, although I could be wrong on that.
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Even if they are, they do a terrible jog meeting the street, you can see this repeated in other developments further west.


Anyway the whole downtwon Markham / not uptown ... has a lot more potential, and we all know the YorkU campus will likely be on the east end of that side (close to the go station) .. which will make things even better.
 
lol that's really funny : - ) i.e. they just reused the exact same renderings and replaced it with YorkU ... : -) ...


Anyway, that's great news for DT Markham, can only mean good things.
 
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