The Great Canadian Skyline thread for CMAs 1 million and under

[isaidso]

TOP 5
1. Halifax
2. London
3. Regina
4. Niagara Falls
5. Victoria

[Lenin]

My father was called to be an expert witness in some sort of land use dispute, and as such "had" to do an aerial tour of the area surrounding Lethbridge, Alberta for surveying purposes.

I used to live in Lethbridge - including four questionable years of university studies - and though I have mixed / negative feelings towards the place, I think the quasi "skyline" is actually pretty good for a city of 80,000 (area around 110,000). Downtown is fairly sparse, and quite lifeless, but there are continued attempts at a sloooow paced renewal. There's a smattering of bars and restaurants, but several of these go under and simply change names or ownership every couple of years, simply to be recycled into other bland clones of the previous establishment. You know the drill.

This concludes my rant. Move over Chicago! I present the real Windy City in three shots:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3182966101_91aeb581f7_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3183797114_839377f934_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/3182963919_55e950063d_b.jpg

[Dylan Leblanc]

Hey nice! I spent some time in the Lethbridge area a few years back. It was neat to see some buildings after seeing so much flat prairie. I even picked up a few postcards of the city for my collection.

[ZeDgE]

My father was called to be an expert witness in some sort of land use dispute, and as such "had" to do an aerial tour of the area surrounding Lethbridge, Alberta for surveying purposes.

I used to live in Lethbridge - including four questionable years of university studies - and though I have mixed / negative feelings towards the place, I think the quasi "skyline" is actually pretty good for a city of 80,000 (area around 110,000). Downtown is fairly sparse, and quite lifeless, but there are continued attempts at a sloooow paced renewal. There's a smattering of bars and restaurants, but several of these go under and simply change names or ownership every couple of years, simply to be recycled into other bland clones of the previous establishment. You know the drill.

This concludes my rant. Move over Chicago! I present the real Windy City in three shots:

IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3182966101_91aeb581f7_z.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3183797114_839377f934_z.jpg[/IMG]

IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/3182963919_55e950063d_b.jpg[/IMG]

Been in Alberta for 30 years, only been to Lethbridge once (2 years ago), was quite surprised at the size. Seemed pretty lively too. Love your avatar! :notacrook:

[MolsonExport]

That first shot (rr bridge) of Leth(bridge) is really cool.

[MolsonExport]

TOP 5
1. Halifax
2. London
3. Regina
4. Niagara Falls
5. Victoria



Switch Victoria and NF, and I would agree. Although DT Victoria kicks the shit outta DT London, in terms of density/vibrancy.

Bottom 5?

The worst of the >200K and <500K has to be st. Cath

[PoscStudent]

Switch Victoria and NF, and I would agree. Although DT Victoria kicks the shit outta DT London, in terms of density/vibrancy.

Bottom 5?

The worst of the >200K and <500K has to be st. Cath

I don't find I always like Halifax's skyline, it looks good sometimes and crappy other times.

[someone123]

A view of the Halifax (South End) skyline:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/4413/southend.png
Source (http://www.flickr.com/photos/abettera-photos/5074632283/sizes/m/)

[Wishblade]

A view of the Halifax (South End) skyline:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/4413/southend.png
Source (http://www.flickr.com/photos/abettera-photos/5074632283/sizes/m/)

Abandon Ship!

lol, seriously, what are they doing? :P

Great shot btw. You get most of the major south end structures in that shot.

[Distill3d]

My father was called to be an expert witness in some sort of land use dispute, and as such "had" to do an aerial tour of the area surrounding Lethbridge, Alberta for surveying purposes.

I used to live in Lethbridge - including four questionable years of university studies - and though I have mixed / negative feelings towards the place, I think the quasi "skyline" is actually pretty good for a city of 80,000 (area around 110,000). Downtown is fairly sparse, and quite lifeless, but there are continued attempts at a sloooow paced renewal. There's a smattering of bars and restaurants, but several of these go under and simply change names or ownership every couple of years, simply to be recycled into other bland clones of the previous establishment. You know the drill.

This concludes my rant. Move over Chicago! I present the real Windy City in three shots:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3182966101_91aeb581f7_z.jpg


Love that first pic! That bridge amazes me every time I see it.

I grew up just north of Lethbridge and have some amazing memories of the place. I haven't been back in about 7 years now, but its good to see that time stands still. That downtown "renewal" has been going on since at least 1993. Even snails move faster than that.

[Lenin]

Thanks, Folks. I spent a large chunk of my life in Lethbridge, including a few years of university. I would like to get a shot of U of L for y'all; the main building, University Hall, is an immense pre cast concrete structure. It is seven stories tall, I believe, but much of it is actually built into the coulees (hills) across the Oldman River from downtown. The local joke is that University Hall is "the box that the train bridge came in."

RANT BECAUSE I'M FLAWLESS:

The older U of L buildings were designed by horrid architect Arthur Erickson. The structures look generally great from the outside, but upon viewing the interior, you'd think the 70s threw up all over some monolithic Star Wars bunker. This same cat also designed the thoroughly depressing Simon Fraser University on a drizzly hillside in Burnaby. Crazy side note: for several years the U of L held the national title for most campus suicides, attempted suicides, and sexual assaults per student capita. The silver medal winner in all three events? SFU.

[Cambridgite]

Bottom 5?

The worst of the >200K and <500K has to be st. Cath

The St. Catharines CMA population of ~400,000 is a bit deceptive. Not knowing any better, you'd think it was the centre of some larger metropolitan area, and according to Statscan, it is.

But it's actually physically separated from Niagara Falls and definitely separate from Welland. Even far-flung places like Fort Erie, Port Colborne, and Niagara-on-the-Lake are included into the CMA.

My understanding of the rules for inclusion in a CMA is that you have to be physically continuous with the urban core (in this case, St. Catharines + Thorold = ~150,000) or have at least 50% of your labour force commuting to it. So I fail to see how Statscan creates a CMA out of all this.

[vid]

horrid architect Arthur Erickson

YOU TAKE THAT BACK. :stunned:

I'll admit that in the early days modernism and brutalism weren't very good environments but he was a very good architect in his later years.

[Distill3d]

RANT BECAUSE I'M FLAWLESS:

The older U of L buildings were designed by horrid architect the legendary Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. The structures look generally great from the outside, but upon viewing the interior, you'd think the 70s threw up all over some monolithic Star Wars bunker. This same cat also designed the thoroughly depressing Simon Fraser University on a drizzly hillside in Burnaby.

I corrected that bit for you, hope you don't mind.

Whats even more coincidental, is that the summer before I moved away from Coalhurst/Lethbridge, I lived in the Columbia Towers apartments, right by the U of L. Now, I live right down the hill from SFU in Burnaby...

[dleung]

The older U of L buildings were designed by horrid architect Arthur Erickson. The structures look generally great from the outside, but upon viewing the interior, you'd think the 70s threw up all over some monolithic Star Wars bunker. This same cat also designed the thoroughly depressing Simon Fraser University on a drizzly hillside in Burnaby. Crazy side note: for several years the U of L held the national title for most campus suicides, attempted suicides, and sexual assaults per student capita. The silver medal winner in all three events? SFU.

That's cuz SFU is full of asian kids who failed their parents and didn't get into UBC. And UofL is... in Lethbridge. It wasn't Arthur Erickson's brutalist architecture that killed the students =)

[flar]

The St. Catharines CMA population of ~400,000 is a bit deceptive. Not knowing any better, you'd think it was the centre of some larger metropolitan area, and according to Statscan, it is.

But it's actually physically separated from Niagara Falls and definitely separate from Welland. Even far-flung places like Fort Erie, Port Colborne, and Niagara-on-the-Lake are included into the CMA.

My understanding of the rules for inclusion in a CMA is that you have to be physically continuous with the urban core (in this case, St. Catharines + Thorold = ~150,000) or have at least 50% of your labour force commuting to it. So I fail to see how Statscan creates a CMA out of all this.

The Niagara Region is very integrated, and the spaces between those cities are probably the most densely populated non urban areas in Canada.

[Cambridgite]

The Niagara Region is very integrated, and the spaces between those cities are probably the most densely populated non urban areas in Canada.

Sure, in the same way that Guelph is integrated with Waterloo Region, but still has its own separate CMA.

Niagara Falls is a 10 minute drive from St. Catharines. Welland is closer to 20 minutes, and Fort Erie is a good half hour away.

Point is that Niagara Region is made up of several distinct urban areas that aren't even close to sprawling into each other yet.

[flar]

Welland, Thorold, NF and St. Catharines are very much tied together and have been for a long time. It's more of an American style agglomeration, where things are really spread out, the country roads are paved and have many houses along them, there are little villages everywhere and the cities are connected by short highways. Fort Erie and Port Colborne start to stretch things for that CMA, but I suspect the CMA was created before the current rules. I think Guelph really is its own place. It totally feels different than K-W, but I always feel like I'm in Niagara when I go to Welland.

[Cambridgite]

Welland, Thorold, NF and St. Catharines are very much tied together and have been for a long time. It's more of an American style agglomeration, where things are really spread out, the country roads are paved and have many houses along them, there are little villages everywhere and the cities are connected by short highways. Fort Erie and Port Colborne start to stretch things for that CMA, but I suspect the CMA was created before the current rules. I think Guelph really is its own place. It totally feels different than K-W, but I always feel like I'm in Niagara when I go to Welland.

Well, I can see what you're getting at. I never said that these places had nothing at all to do with each other. But the muncipalities are more far-flung from each other than, say, Burlington-Hamilton-Grimsby. It's harder to even discern what the dominant city is, because, in some ways, Niagara Falls is a more prominent city than St. Catharines (at least internationally).

[Cambridgite]

Probably one of the most flattering skyline pictures I've ever seen of downtown Kitchener. No surprise it was taken at night.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb210/Cambridgite/skylines/DowntownKitchener1.jpg

Source: Adrian at 'Wonderful Waterloo'

[MolsonExport]

^Indeed. what is the boobs tower on the left?

[Cambridgite]

^Indeed. what is the boobs tower on the left?

That would be the TD Canada Trust centre. Although I've also heard it referred to before as the Dolly Parton building. :P

[David1gray]

halifax in july.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/5078972615_2f30c570b8_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4068/5078970113_e10de07e0e_b.jpg


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4819322015_9510f81e60_b.jpg

by me

[Distill3d]

^I've never seen one of our naval vessels painted in that blue and white color scheme. Usually they're a drab light grayish color. Do you know what ship that was?

[someone123]

It's the HMCS Sackville, a WWII-era corvette no longer in service.

The painting scheme is "dazzle camouflage" of the type they tried out during WWI (maybe still used during WWII? was this the original painting style?). The idea behind it, I believe, was that it would make it difficult to see the different parts of the ship to target vulnerable areas.

[David1gray]

taken today by me:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5088098448_ae1459b98b_b.jpg

original size here:
http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/42311818.jpg

[Lenin]

That last pano of Halifax is, in the words of Pope John Paul II, bitchin'.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Halifax is getting a table top skyline. :(

[Dmajackson]

Halifax is getting a table top skyline. :(

Looks like it but thats what a steep hill does for tall buildings near the waterfront. The tallest building downtown barely even pokes above the Citadel.

If any of the proposals go ahead it shouldn't be as flat in a few years. There's four 15-30 storeys for the centre part of the photo (above the Canada flag roughly), a 17 storey for the background, a 12 storey starting soon for far left waterfront, and a 22 storey for just left of Purdy's Wharf.

A quick count in my head puts about 10 different projects that would change the look of this photo if they're built.

[David1gray]

two other Halifax panos from 2 weeks ago....

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5088096494_d467020553_b.jpg
original size (http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/42311806.jpg)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5087493799_9a939a21bf_b.jpg
original size (http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/42311764.jpg)

both are my own

[Dwils01]

Halifax Domination :)

The only place that I would like to go in the maritimes. Has a nice skyline and very nice scenery along the coast.

[Dylan Leblanc]

If any of the proposals go ahead it shouldn't be as flat in a few years. There's four 15-30 storeys for the centre part of the photo (above the Canada flag roughly), a 17 storey for the background, a 12 storey starting soon for far left waterfront, and a 22 storey for just left of Purdy's Wharf.


What I mean by a table-top skyline is that all of the towers max out at about the same height, and there are quite a few of them. Therefore the high points of the skyline are all in line with each other. This is the same thing Vancouver suffers from (other than the one tallest building). What Halifax needs to do is break above the 30 storey limit with some new buildings.

[someone123]

There are a few of reasons for this. The first are the very lame viewplanes and "ramparts" bylaws. These are taken from the top of Citadel Hill so they require that either building heights be roughly equal (in terms of elevation) as they go up the hill or that the buildings get taller closer to the water and farther away from the Citadel.

A much more attractive and efficient setup, in my opinion, would be to have building heights roughly similar or slightly taller as they went up the hill. This would allow more people to have views and would be more attractive. Unfortunately, for some reason, the abstract idea of being able to stand in an old fort without seeing modern buildings is more important than the functioning city around it.

Another issue is that buildings seem to be most economical in Halifax in the 12-19 storey range. About a dozen of these have been built over the past few years. The only new 30 storey building is being built in Dartmouth, which has only a few 20 storey buildings and no "tabletop" effect.

[Dylan Leblanc]

for some reason, the abstract idea of being able to stand in an old fort without seeing modern buildings is more important than the functioning city around it

that's a good way to put it

[MolsonExport]

Halifax Domination :)

The only place that I would like to go in the maritimes. Has a nice skyline and very nice scenery along the coast.

The maritimes are chock full of nice scenery along the coast. Fr'instance: Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, Kouchibouguac and Fundy Parks (New Brunswick).

And there is Newfoundland (which I have yet to visit).

[flar]

I'm told St. John's is a great little city, a real urban fabric with lots of history and uniqueness. Saint John is a fine city too.

[PoscStudent]

^ St. John's is the best out of the bunch.

The Avalon Peninsula was just named the World's Best Coastal Destination (http://www.canada.com/travel/Avalon+Peninsula+tops+list+world+best+coastal+destinations/3712631/story.html)

[someone123]

The maritimes are chock full of nice scenery along the coast. Fr'instance: Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, Kouchibouguac and Fundy Parks (New Brunswick).

Even on a relatively short trip you can visit many parts of the Maritimes because they are so small. For example, PEI is 3 hours from Halifax. The South Shore and Annapolis Valley are an hour away. Bay of Fundy scenery is 2-4 hours. Cape Breton and Saint John are 4-5 hours.

If you want a really fun day of driving you can try to make it to Quebec City or Montreal. :)

[MTLskyline]

Even on a relatively short trip you can visit many parts of the Maritimes because they are so small. For example, PEI is 3 hours from Halifax. The South Shore and Annapolis Valley are an hour away. Bay of Fundy scenery is 2-4 hours. Cape Breton and Saint John are 4-5 hours.

If you want a really fun day of driving you can try to make it to Quebec City or Montreal. :)

I drive from Montreal to PEI and back at least once a year. The total driving time is approximately 11 hours. Trying to drive to PEI in one day can be really tough (lose an hour, more packing, etc.), but coming back in one day is a lot easier (gain an hour, not quite as much packing to do, etc). I imagine that Halifax must be in the 12 or 13 hour range.

[someone123]

I drive from Montreal to PEI and back at least once a year. The total driving time is approximately 11 hours. Trying to drive to PEI in one day can be really tough (lose an hour, more packing, etc.), but coming back in one day is a lot easier (gain an hour, not quite as much packing to do, etc). I imagine that Halifax must be in the 12 or 13 hour range.

Yep.

One sad thing is that the highway and railway system in the Maritimes is pretty inefficient in that neither follows the shortest paths. PEI or Halifax to Montreal is approximately 800 km as the crow flies, but the standard highway route is nearly 1250 km because it takes a detour through Northern NB.

[MonctonRad]

One sad thing is that the highway and railway system in the Maritimes is pretty inefficient in that neither follows the shortest paths. PEI or Halifax to Montreal is approximately 800 km as the crow flies, but the standard highway route is nearly 1250 km because it takes a detour through Northern NB.

Blame it all on the Yanks, they're the ones who insisted on keeping northern Maine in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty that ended the Aroostook War; hence the massive detour necessary to reach the Canadas (Upper and Lower) from God's Country :yes:

Of course, if you lived in Moncton rather than Halifax, you would be only nine hours from Montreal, not twelve.....:haha:

And on that note, here is a photo from Moncton showing a quintissential Canadian scene. Taken last winter, it shows pond hockey being played on the Petitcodiac River marsh, with the Moncton skyline (such as it is) in the background. :tup:

http://harvest.canadaeast.com/image.php?id=614817&size=800x0

[David1gray]

ive made the drive from NS to kitchener many times. usually we make it cornwall the first day. and on the way back edmunston is the usual stopping place. ive only ever been through miramichi and bathurst once and that was on the train. the train takes you along the northumberland shore, and i find is much better than driving because you can get up and walk around and do what you want.

[ssiguy]

Remember guys..................St.John's in MOT in the Maritimes. The Maritimes are NS, NB, and PEI but does NOT include NFLD. In order to include all 4 provinces it is known as Atlantic Canada.
Halifax is a nice and interesting city but St.John's is magical. I was there for 7 days last year but loved it so much I ended up staying for 18 days.

[Cambridgite]

...............

[kool maudit]

moncton is like our little johannesburg...

https://www.travel247.ie/images/cities/johannesburg-big.jpg

photo: travel24.com

[PoscStudent]

^ Except Moncton is ugly.

[MonctonRad]

:previous:

I take some umbrage to that. Jo'burg has Soweto. We have Dieppe, which I think is a little more fetching. :haha:

Here's a few pics of our "ugly" downtown, courtesy of mmmatt

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/stu_pendousmat/New%20Cam%20Downtown%20Phototour/DSCF0166.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/stu_pendousmat/New%20Cam%20Downtown%20Phototour/DSCF0207.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/stu_pendousmat/New%20Cam%20Downtown%20Phototour/DSCF0281.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/stu_pendousmat/New%20Cam%20Downtown%20Phototour/DSCF0220.jpg

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f232/stu_pendousmat/New%20Cam%20Downtown%20Phototour/DSCF0223.jpg

[sparky212]

I rather like moncton ive got family there its not as ugly as alot of cities its size in ontario.

[David1gray]

thats actually a good comparison haha and im pretty sure there are uglier cities than moncton....i dont even classify moncton as ugly ive been to the city many times, for sure nicer then many other cities ive visited.

[PoscStudent]

I find it's the pictures of the skyline and such is what I don't like, from the streets it's not bad. Sorry to offend anybody from there but I'm just not fussy on the city, I only spent a few days there but I found it to be a boring city.

[vid]

The nice parts of Thunder Bay are probably uglier than the ugly parts of Moncton.

[SpongeG]

What I meant was, it's just a political subdivision within a city of 2.2 million people, so it shouldn't count.

its a city not a subdivision - GVRD is made up of 23 cities/towns that grew together

[SpongeG]

anyway i got tired after 15 pages so lets see some red deer

i found one - any others?

http://crossroads49.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/3355414-red_deer_view_from_lookout_in_rotary_park-red_deer.jpg
crossroads49.files.wordpress.com

[SpongeG]

Prince Rupert BC

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5007054319_dd58c2cfd1_z.jpg
flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/acoustic-company/)

[Metro-One]

:previous: Any idea what they are building in the foreground?

[Distill3d]

The nice parts of Thunder Bay are probably uglier than the ugly parts of Moncton.

Yeah, from the pictures I've seen (of Moncton), the nice parts of Chilliwack and Kamloops are uglier than the ugly parts of Moncton.

[vid]

:previous: Any idea what they are building in the foreground?

A college (http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=54.311216,-130.326047&spn=0.002954,0.025449&z=16&layer=c&cbll=54.311212,-130.326047&panoid=aSGYSeAa-eyw1XpYv1KICg&cbp=11,118.93,,0,-6.76). That photo is flipped.

[Metro-One]

Yeah, from the pictures I've seen (of Moncton), the nice parts of Chilliwack and Kamloops are uglier than the ugly parts of Moncton.

This I have to disagree with, the downtown portion of Kamloops is actually quite nice, as are many areas along the riverfront.

Chilliwack is pretty boring.

[SpongeG]

chilliwack is full of white people - its weird to see

[Metro-One]

chilliwack is full of white people - its weird to see

:previous: And Senegal was full of Black people when I was there, is either a problem?

(I should also mention that Busan is full of Korean people!)

[vid]

It is kind of noticeable when there are just white people around, but I guess I am just so used to at least 30% of the people around me being not white. When you're used to seeing other ethnicities besides white people, their absence is noticeable.

[Distill3d]

chilliwack is full of white people - its weird to see

Are we talking about the same Chilliwack?

I would say that its fairly average for a city of its size in that Caucasians were the majority, but for the most part its a pretty good mix of mainly Caucasian and Aboriginal Canadians.

[Metro-One]

It is kind of noticeable when there are just white people around, but I guess I am just so used to at least 30% of the people around me being not white. When you're used to seeing other ethnicities besides white people, their absence is noticeable.

Trust me, I lived in Kobe, Japan for a decent stretch, and there 99.9% of the population is Japanese. I think the largest minority group is Korean, and that is not exactly the stark contrast you see here between many groups :haha:

Its a strange e funny when it gets kind of exciting (in a novelty sense) to see another white person (that must be how black people feel in Vancouver, hehe) I lived in the burbs of kobe, where you see very few non Japanese. (it is different in Tokyo and downtown Osaka, where you will see white people and the odd black or brown person).

[vid]

Well they're used to living very plain and unexciting (ethnic diversity wise) lives. I, for one, enjoy the occasional trip on the bus where everyone is talking and none of it is Local Language.

[Metro-One]

:previous: And it sure makes the food good in Vancouver :tup:

I just find it funny sometimes reading many comments and threads on this forum over the last couple years (especially when involving Americans) where if a community in NA is predominantly white that is seen as "bad" or a "negative attribute."

This has always annoyed me because having travelled to Africa and Asia, it seems most places in the world are predominately one race. I did not see many white, Asian or brown faces in Senegal!

Is a northern native town in Canada bad because it is mostly (if not all) native? No

Same with a Japanese city being nearly all Japanese, a Chinese city being nearly all Chinese, and Indian city being nearly all Indian. etc...

Just because a community is all white doesn't mean it is any less in cultural value, and if you don't think so, you will have to think the same to all other places in the world that are predominately one race.

[someone123]

Yeah, from the pictures I've seen (of Moncton), the nice parts of Chilliwack and Kamloops are uglier than the ugly parts of Moncton.

Moncton is somewhat larger than those two towns. Size-wise it feels pretty similar to Nanaimo and maybe a bit smaller than Kelowna.

Moncton is a bit of a weird case since it is a relatively new town in an old region. For a long time it was a small town and then it became more prominent with the railroad and modern highways. This is "new" for the Maritimes but old for Western Canada. The heritage buildings in Moncton are much better than you'd expect to see in a town in BC and the street layout is a bit older and more compact. In general towns in the Maritimes are much more attractive and feel a bit more urbane for these reasons.

[Metro-One]

:previous: Many seem to find Victoria pretty nice when it comes to architecture and the downtown layout, same with Gastown and New Westminster (I have always had a soft spot for New Westminster). I guess it all depends what style you like. I actually like some of the small towns in BC, especially ones such as those in the Thompson Valley, because they have the classic midwest, desert frontier town layout. Kamloops also has this feel, it matches the dry hills, sagebrush surrounding. Also, in the Kootneys, towns such as Nelson have beautiful town cores, the historic courthouses are often very nice. I am happy that the historic architecture in BC is different than the Maritimes, I would have for everything here to be carbon copy of everything there.

[Distill3d]

Moncton is somewhat larger than those two towns. Size-wise it feels pretty similar to Nanaimo and maybe a bit smaller than Kelowna.

Moncton and Chilliwack are roughly about the same. I think Chilliwack may edge Moncton out on both area and population. Its not until you factor in the urban and metropolitan areas that Moncton becomes bigger than Chilliwack. Kamloops of course is bigger in population and size than both, but Moncton's metro is larger than Kamloops.

Chilliwack:

pop (2006): 69,217 (city)/80,892 (metro)
area: 260.19 km2 (city)

Moncton:

pop (2006): 64,128 (city)/126,424 (metro)
area: 141.17 km2 (city)/2,406 km2 (metro)

Kamloops:

pop (2006): 86,376 (city)/92,882 (metro)
area: 297.3 km2(city)/5,686.19 km2 (metro)

[someone123]

Do you also consider Kamloops a larger city than Victoria, given the fact that the municipality happens to have more population?

[Distill3d]

Do you also consider Kamloops a larger city than Victoria, given the fact that the municipality happens to have more population?

I get the point you're trying to make. Moncton is more defined as the center of a larger metro area, and you would identify say Dieppe as Moncton. Just the same as I would refer to Burnaby more as being part of Vancouver to someone from outside the region. Ignorance is bliss in that regard. We all do it.

That being said, as far as Kamloops and Victoria, without the knowledge that Victoria wasn't just all one city, no, I wouldn't call Kamloops a larger city than Victoria. However, I'm still rather ignorant on the boundaries of the other cities that make up Victoria. I couldn't tell you where Saanich began and Victoria ended. Its somewhat seamless like that.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton is a bit of a weird case since it is a relatively new town in an old region. For a long time it was a small town and then it became more prominent with the railroad and modern highways. This is "new" for the Maritimes but old for Western Canada. The heritage buildings in Moncton are much better than you'd expect to see in a town in BC and the street layout is a bit older and more compact. In general towns in the Maritimes are much more attractive and feel a bit more urbane for these reasons.

Indeed, the history of European settlement in the Moncton area is as old (or older) as many other places in the Maritimes, with the first Acadian settlers arriving in 1733. They were deported in 1755 but the settlement was re-established by Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants in 1766.

Moncton stayed a rural community however until about 1850 and then mushroomed due to the shipbuilding industry and then the railway. The majority of the early growth was from 1880-1920 therefore Moncton "feels" to be about the same age as many central and western Canadian cities. It is therefore a little atypical compared to other cities in the Maritimes which feel comparatively older.

There is one house in Moncton however which does date from the 1760's.

http://harvest.canadaeast.com/image.php?id=617274&size=900x0

[MolsonExport]

Are we talking about the same Chilliwack?



Maybe he is talking about this one, which is all white.
http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/8/5/6/8/ar124685027886587.jpg
activerain.com

[Cambridgite]

It is kind of noticeable when there are just white people around, but I guess I am just so used to at least 30% of the people around me being not white. When you're used to seeing other ethnicities besides white people, their absence is noticeable.

In Thunder Bay? Really?

[vid]

To be fair, 90% of that 30% is native. :P But I see non-native non-white people on the bus all the time, and I shop at Superstore which is very popular with the Asian community. Our East Indian and African populations are getting quite big. Some days I see as many as 20 black people now!

In suburban areas it is more white but where I live, at least 30% of the people are not white. Possibly more.

We are one of the most diverse metros with less than 200,000 people in the country. KW is 85% white. We're 89% white. But we probably have higher concentrations of non-whites (typically natives) than KW.

[Distill3d]

Maybe he is talking about this one, which is all white.
http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/8/5/6/8/ar124685027886587.jpg
activerain.com

That's the only GOOD Chilliwack. :tup:

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

I'm currently in North Bay for school and there's a decent amount of Chinese and Mexicans up here. Granted, they're temporary and students but they're always here along with the local natives the odd black person or South Asian.

[Biff]

Maybe he is talking about this one, which is all white.
http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/8/5/6/8/ar124685027886587.jpg
activerain.com


yeah, but they have "Gone gone gone, she been gone so long
She been gone gone gone so long", for some time now so i hardly think he is talking about that Chilliwack.




.......bam! I have been waiting to use that line for about 20 years now. Fffeeewww....that feels good. :)

[SpongeG]

skimming through - i didn't mean it in a racist way - just that Vancouver is extremely multi-cultural - i see 90% of the time non-whites - i live in an area full of asians - mostly koreans, i see arab or iranian students at the ESL school up the street when they let out, when I hang out with my pakistani friend in surrey we go to the all the indian shops or bollywood movies, even superstore in surrey is 75% or so non-white, just hanging out in downtown you are surrounded by all kinds of people there doesn't feel like a "majority" the way you feel it in a place like Chilliwack or Parksville which seem predominately white compared to my day to day life

so when I say Chilliwack is "full of white people" it's a different thing to what I am used to and I remember what a diverse city I live in

anway living here you don't really think of it until you go somewhere and feel surrounded by white people - not being white you don't feel out of place in vancouver metro as you might in chilliwack or the island etc.

[Cambridgite]

To be fair, 90% of that 30% is native. :P But I see non-native non-white people on the bus all the time, and I shop at Superstore which is very popular with the Asian community. Our East Indian and African populations are getting quite big. Some days I see as many as 20 black people now!

In suburban areas it is more white but where I live, at least 30% of the people are not white. Possibly more.

We are one of the most diverse metros with less than 200,000 people in the country. KW is 85% white. We're 89% white. But we probably have higher concentrations of non-whites (typically natives) than KW.

According to Statistics Canada 2006 community profiles, Thunder Bay's CMA is 2.7% visible minority, which is around what I would've guessed. So it must be natives that make the difference. Thunder Bay is 8.3% native.

By contrast, the Kitchener CMA was 13.8% visible minorities in 2006, but was only 1% native. That doesn't even take into account all the Serbian and Romanian immigrants that KW took in in the 90s, or the large Portuguese population in Cambridge. Our foreign-born population is nearing 25%, one of the highest in the country. And given the regions growth, all of these numbers are surely a little out-of-date. I know the South Asian population has exploded in Cambridge since 2006 and the city now has 3 mosques for a population of 130,000.

So Thunder Bay is still whiter. But as Metro-One said earlier, it shouldn't be a competition. ;)

[isaidso]

Halifax is only 7.5% visible minority. The largest visible minority population was black (13,265), followed by Arab (3,840) and Chinese (3,105). I would have thought the black population was much higher, but it's quite possible that there was an under count. That happens on a regular basis.

[someone123]

Halifax is only 7.5% visible minority. The largest visible minority population was black (13,265), followed by Arab (3,840) and Chinese (3,105). I would have thought the black population was much higher, but it's quite possible that there was an under count. That happens on a regular basis.

This seems about right to me.

The visible minority count is a bit smaller than what you see in practice because there are also foreign students and tourists in the city. The percentage of visible minorities in the core is also much higher than in suburban areas, so the 7.5% does not reflect what you see downtown. Another factor is that many of the immigrants who move to Halifax are not "visible minority" - for a long time the top countries were the US, UK, and Germany.

The black population has been shrinking as a percentage of the whole for decades (at times in the 1800s it was 20-30% black). It is an old local population that is only growing due to natural increase and is experiencing some outmigration. The rest of the population, meanwhile, is increasing mostly due to migration.

[PoscStudent]

^ Only 7.5%, St. John's was less then 2% in 2006.

[isaidso]

http://dir.rbcinvestments.com/pictures/account-douglas.oxner/halifax-skyline-harbour.jpg
Courtesy of RBC Investments

[isaidso]

This seems about right to me.


It's seem right to me too, but it's not that high by Canadian standards. My only question is to whether the Black population has been under counted. Historically, they have been.

^ Only 7.5%, St. John's was less then 2% in 2006.

St. John's and Newfoundland are one of the most homogenous populations in America. Geneticists even travel there to do gene studies because it's so homogenous.

[MTLskyline]

http://dir.rbcinvestments.com/pictures/account-douglas.oxner/halifax-skyline-harbour.jpg
Courtesy of RBC Investments

That is a very good shot!

[someone123]

This is very similar to that panorama but I just finished editing one from a visit in August:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/5147000304_58fd627876_o.png

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4042/5146404677_f869f5f14c_o.png

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/5147011550_770da75bba_b.jpg

(Too bad that crane-like thing was in the way...)

[David1gray]

taken friday night in the rain and wind!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1124.snc4/148687_454333148651_518443651_5570200_3827458_n.jpg

[PoscStudent]

St. John's
http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af58/Poscstudent/stjohns.jpg
Source (http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/28689420.jpg)

[swilley]

An older (2003) Saskatoon air photo I came across today... U of S in foreground, Downtown in background (credit on watermark)
http://swilley.sasktelwebsite.net/2003.jpg
Night time from 2006 (credit: me)
http://swilley.sasktelwebsite.net/1.jpg

[Cambridgite]

^ That's actually not too shabby at all.

But I vastly prefer the aerial view over the view from the river.

[Dylan Leblanc]

lol, notice how the BMO logo is shopped out of the Halifax skyline shot by RBC!


and here's Victoria, by LoverFighter - http://vibrantvictoria.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=149297#post149297

Moss Rocks skyline

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f361/infromthenoise/IMG_1619.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f361/infromthenoise/IMG_1620.jpg

[Architype]

lol, notice how the BMO logo is shopped out of the Halifax skyline shot by RBC!


All of the logos seem to be missing !



^ Only 7.5%, St. John's was less then 2% in 2006.


Proof of black people in St. John's; there's a bit of skyline in the picture too:

http://www.pbase.com/joecanada/image/126987391/original.jpg
source - my photo

[vid]

Black newfies! I smell a new CBC sitcom! :D

[Distill3d]

An older (2003) Saskatoon air photo I came across today... U of S in foreground, Downtown in background (credit on watermark)
http://swilley.sasktelwebsite.net/2003.jpg

Wow..Toon-town looks like a big city.

[PoscStudent]

Winter is expected to star in the next couple of days so these pictures are fitting.

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af58/Poscstudent/StJohnswinter.jpg
Source: http://www.randydawe.com/photos/St%20Johns%20Winter%20Aerial.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/af58/Poscstudent/WinterinStJohns.jpg
Source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/11087319

[Dmajackson]

Tested out my new camera today. These are all from the same area. The first three are of the western shore (Halifax) and the very slanted fourth photo is of the eastern shore (Dartmouth);

http://oi53.tinypic.com/13z4fmt.jpg

http://oi51.tinypic.com/65swu8.jpg

http://oi56.tinypic.com/1pxbwx.jpg

http://oi55.tinypic.com/v4a1r5.jpg

[Northern Heights]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/4154008381_d05c9df1df.jpg
Source: Flikr

Never forget boys...as far as bang for the buck, no one beats Da 'Knife! ;)

[Dylan Leblanc]

super cool!

[1ajs]

stupid bateries died on me while out trying to get a decent shot of the moosejaw skyline blah

[-Harlington-]

like that shot of dartmouth, its gonna look sick once kings wharf is done