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  #81  
Old Posted Jan 23, 2018, 5:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick? Maybe someone can post pics.
Yes, but it seems almost too touristy.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.07349...7i13312!8i6656

Digby NS has another good one that's a bit more rugged.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.62568...7i13312!8i6656
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  #82  
Old Posted Jan 23, 2018, 5:27 PM
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Originally Posted by megadude View Post
Rousseau's post on another thread reminded me of this gateway sign, in Hess Village area of Hamilton.

Why can't more neighbourhoods and downtowns have these?


https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/1859846...61564/?lp=true


Klaus Lang / Getty Images
I really like them when they’re done well. They’re putting one of those up here in Windsor at the entrance to Old Sandwich Town, our oldest neighbourhood that dates back to the mid 1700s. It will be located right after the new roundabout that was recently put in, which will have a pair of new bronze statues of Chief Tecumseh and Brock in its centre!

Ottawa Street has them on both ends of the main shopping area, been there for many years!

There’s also been a lot of talk lately about finally designating Wyandotte St.W as an official “Asian village”, and erecting some sort of stylized entrance gates at each entrance.
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Last edited by north 42; Jan 24, 2018 at 1:26 PM.
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  #83  
Old Posted Jan 23, 2018, 5:29 PM
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Nova Scotia has a number of them: Mahone Bay and Lunenburg are quite small but very touristy.

Some of the towns in the Annapolis Valley would qualify too. Although the town with the most substantial downtown, Wolfville, has about 4,000 people.
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  #84  
Old Posted Jan 23, 2018, 6:21 PM
megadude megadude is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kirjtc2 View Post
Yes, but it seems almost too touristy.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.07349...7i13312!8i6656

Digby NS has another good one that's a bit more rugged.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.62568...7i13312!8i6656

I know what you mean by almost too touristy. Seems "fabricated" like when I went to Vail, Colorado. But still looks nice regardless. I like seeing entire villages or streets with the siding painted different colours as is so prevalent out east, but must be a b*tch to have to re-paint every so many years.
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  #85  
Old Posted Jan 23, 2018, 6:59 PM
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Originally Posted by Acajack View Post
Nova Scotia has a number of them: Mahone Bay and Lunenburg are quite small but very touristy.

Some of the towns in the Annapolis Valley would qualify too. Although the town with the most substantial downtown, Wolfville, has about 4,000 people.
I think Lunenburg would be the definition of charming. It's touristy, but not too cartoony. It's a real living town, with a significant population and year-round activity, rather than a living postcard. Part of the reason is that the majority of the town's residents live centrally, within walking distance, which supports a number of shops that aren't specifically tourist-centric.

It's also substantial--not just one main strip, but a real, albeit small, mixed-use urban grid. I think that sense of explorability, that it pays off to spend a few hours with it, adds to the "charm" factor. The geographic location, steeply descending into a picturesque harbour, certainly helps.
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  #86  
Old Posted Jan 24, 2018, 4:42 AM
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  #87  
Old Posted Jan 24, 2018, 5:59 PM
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What makes a small downtown "charming"?

It's all very abstract and subjective. Personal preferences dictate the perception, really. What it comes down to, in most cases, is having a right balance of history, culture, nature, architecture and lighting. It varies depending on personal background. No one wants to live in an exceedingly bleak town, but equally no one wants to live in a theme park either. It's not like designing a movie set with a shopping list of "Charming" things to put in. Personal connection to the place is paramount.
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  #88  
Old Posted Dec 17, 2018, 1:00 AM
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Going to revive this old thread here since there's a couple of more thoughts I had pop up in my mind after recent observations.

These two can be grouped into heritage preservation I suppose. These being old or vintage signs and "ghost signs", which is the term I had to look up.

Quote:
WHAT’S A GHOST SIGN?

An old hand-painted advertising sign found on the sides of buildings.
Why preserve them?

1. Every one of these signs was hand-painted. When you see how sharp and neat some of them are, it’s amazing what they did by hand and not by stencil.

2. They identify who the building was, who used it, and who was there.

3. It shows you the age of some of these buildings.

London historian Joe O’Neil

I've seen a couple of ghost signs in the past couple of months in some towns I passed through but can't for the life of me remember which towns. So I'll post some examples from the net, along with vintage signs.

Hamilton:

https://sooniagara.wordpress.com/201.../sign%C2%A012/


Rick Cordeiro

Oakville:
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4448...7i16384!8i8192


https://www.travelocity.ca/Oakville-...l-Guide-Hotels

Toronto:

Photo by Donna Leitch.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/metrix...-31337460@N00/

Pembroke:

http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/im...ed644459&gid=3
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  #89  
Old Posted Dec 21, 2018, 1:01 PM
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  #90  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2019, 1:17 AM
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Just did a day trip in Muskoka. Stopped in Bala, Gravenhurst, Bracebridge, Huntsville and Port Carling.

Gravenhurst was very mediocre but I heard that's the best spot for outdoorsy stuff. Bala is kind of a cute downtown you might say. Bracebridge and Huntsville are nice. I was particularly impressed by Bracebridge. It was packed with people and cars for some reason. Port Carling is quite new it seemed so doesn't have that charm yet.

Huntsville is the biggest of the towns but well north of Gravenhurst and Bracebridge. I was surprised by that.

I was also surprised by how many towns start with "Port". When I hear Port I think of the Great Lakes like Port Hope, Port Credit, Port Dover, Port Stanley or BC like Port Alberini or Port Coquitlam. A bunch of Port names in ON and BC. Places that are or were important commercial shipping hubs on massive waterways and bodies of water. I don't picture tiny villages on Muskoka lakes being "ports" even if there were on a very micro scale over a hundred years ago for native and perhaps some colonial trade.

Last edited by megadude; Sep 16, 2019 at 1:28 AM.
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  #91  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2019, 2:53 AM
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Originally Posted by megadude View Post
....

I was also surprised by how many towns start with "Port". When I hear Port I think of the Great Lakes like Port Hope, Port Credit, Port Dover, Port Stanley or BC like Port Alberini or Port Coquitlam. A bunch of Port names in ON and BC. Places that are or were important commercial shipping hubs on massive waterways and bodies of water. I don't picture tiny villages on Muskoka lakes being "ports" even if there were on a very micro scale over a hundred years ago for native and perhaps some colonial trade.
Port Perry (Trent-Severn) and Westport (Rideau) come to mind.
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  #92  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2019, 3:23 AM
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Port Perry (Trent-Severn) and Westport (Rideau) come to mind.
True. The few times I've been in or passed through Port Perry I hadn't thought of why it's called Port. It's on Scugog but connected to other rivers and lakes. Some of it artificial of course.
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  #93  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2019, 5:27 AM
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There's a Port Loring on a lake in Parry Sound district on a not so huge lake. And Port Sydney in Muskoka comes to mind.

I don't know of any in Northern Ontario.
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  #94  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2022, 3:37 PM
megadude megadude is offline
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When I started this thread I was new. I wasn't aware of the Great Canadian Towns and Villages thread. I suppose this can be merged into there if it makes sense.

Anyway, back to gateway signs. I just saw that there is one in the new community of Grimbsy on the Lake. Like was discussed on the Niagara sub forum, there's a surprising lack of points of interest along the lake between Hamilton and St. Catharines. This new community was brought up. It doesn't have old school charm and never will. But it's something. And at least they have the gateway sign. That one little arch improves this view so much. It doesn't transform this little strip but without it, it would be more sterile. It encloses the space just enough to be noticeable. I would love to see some string lights across, at least for the winter. They should put in some trees soon.

Downtown Grimsby already has a gateway sign so makes sense this place does too.










Last edited by megadude; Aug 26, 2022 at 4:39 PM.
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  #95  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2022, 4:29 PM
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A shitload of bricks?
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