Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Old Neighbourhood

.. dismantling the crane that has hung overhead ..

There are two new changes in our environment. The first is that the Kaleidoscope Project is well under way at the corner of 25th Avenue and 24th Street.

 I once came out of the alley and could see the church.

Now that mountain view is blocked by a building with one and two bedroom apartments, four stories high in all.
Looking north on 24th avenue

I have been watching the construction with interest.

Since there used to be a gas station on that corner, the first set of equipment took out the dirt that was tainted with oil – that was a long project.

I would stand at the fence on the way to work, and Derek Hasegawa, who was the project manager would give me a lesson on how he has made a business out of cleaning up damaged soil. Then the economy turned down and that triangular lot grew over with weeks.
.. looking east from the church lawn..

But building began again in the fall.

Yesterday morning the alley was blocked off and the crane that has been lifting up setting big chunks of the building on its foundation, just as though someone is playing lego – that crane was on its way down, so there will be no more stories going up – just windows going in now, the electrical to finish and when I get back from London, people will be moving in with the promise of floor to ceiling windows, stainless steel appliances and a place to store their bikes.
"That's no road.  That is my alley."

Quite a deal, starting at $850 a month for a one bedroom place.

You can still find us at the same address – though other parts of our environment are changing as well.

Just about every year we see a couple of houses come down and two go up on the lots that used to hold one.
The early morning sky looking back to the new building

“Getting quite gentrified, aren’t you,” said my friend, Ann Cowie, the last time she picked me up.

Yes, the look of the neighborhood is changing, but we are still the same.

Arta

4 comments:

  1. the sky is amazing on that last photo.... so strange to see that building on a space where there was once just space!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are there apartments for sale in that building?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello,

    I was checking on apartments for sale yesterday. No -- nothing for sale. Apartments start at $850 a month, if you are looking to rent. I forgot one funny detail -- the sign says they all have contemporary layouts. Wow! New ... and contemporary at the same time. Innovative!

    And there is a ground floor cafe, with people pictured sitting outside on the patio. I wonder what ambiance a person is looking for who will sit there and smell the exhaust from the cars that go by at 70 miles per hour day and night.

    One saving grace about the vehicles passing by -- the coffee-drinkers will get to feel the Chinook wind at its best, at least when it blows. So? Now the choices are
    1. cars going by at 70 miles per hour
    2. the Chinook wind at 60 mph blowing the pages of the newspaper out of your hands when you turn to the next article.

    I know you don't drink coffee, so I can't turn you off with that description of the ground floor cafe, Wyona. Interested in renting?

    ReplyDelete
  4. The price seems low. I think my tent in Kansas city in 1994 was $550 for a studio. In Gainesville Florida in 2001 think it was $850 for a one bedroom. I wonder if grad students will be able to afford it.

    ReplyDelete

If you are using a Mac, you cannot comment using Safari. Google Chrome, Explorer or Foxfire seem to work.