#saddledome

This is good: The area around the United Center is getting a multi-year upzone to create a high-density hub of mixed-use residential, retail and offices!

Here’s the current view and a rendering of the project by master planning firm RIOS. It’s replacing a bunch of surface parking lots, and it’ll be served by new stations on the Pink and Green lines. With luck, this will serve to spur further densification between this area and the Loop.

Calgary should do something exactly like this around the Saddledome (or whatever replaces it), because it’s a similar urban stadium surrounded by parking lots and the Stampede grounds which sit vacant most of the year - not the best use of productive urban land - cutting off access to the riverfront too. Ideally this would be combined with burying or traffic-calming MacLeod Trail which is a barrier to pedestrian access.