What's one unexpected thing your city offers/does well?

[SignalHillHiker]

Over the course of my life, I've had the opportunity to bring many friends to St. John's for the first time.

All of them knew me, of course - so they knew St. John's was a colourful, vibrant city. But there was one thing they've all commented on that I didn't think to mention to them ahead of time.

The fashion.

We have lots of people wearing the normal, everyday cotton things you'd expect in a provincial city - but we do have something more as well.

St. John's has a very pronounced style. It's colourful, eclectic, friendly, and layered... like the city and it's architecture.

I don't know what people expect to see us wearing when they get here... but everyone I've ever brought has said, in some form, "Holy ****, I did not know Newfoundlanders looked like this."

Here a bunch of street scenes from Scope Magazine, which stops random people on the street to photograph their outfits:

http://thescope.ca/style/stitchup-for-friday-august-31-2012

http://i.imgur.com/IY6TQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/i9CtO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9nA5T.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/NuYTU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/doEo1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yPXKG.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RiWpy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/UXjGz.jpg

[SignalHillHiker]

(Fewer pictures)

[dennis]

Over the course of my life, I've had the opportunity to bring many friends to St. John's for the first time.

All of them knew me, of course - so they knew St. John's was a colourful, vibrant city. But there was one thing they've all commented on that I didn't think to mention to them ahead of time.

The fashion.

We have lots of people wearing the normal, everyday cotton things you'd expect in a provincial city - but we do have something more as well.

St. John's has a very pronounced style. It's colourful, eclectic, friendly, and layered... like the city and it's architecture.

I don't know what people expect to see us wearing when they get here... but everyone I've ever brought has said, in some form, "Holy ****, I did not know Newfoundlanders looked like this."

Here a bunch of street scenes from Scope Magazine, which stops random people on the street to photograph their outfits:


http://i.imgur.com/RiWpy.jpg



Almost all of those are wonderful imo, except for that one. It just doesn't do it for me...

[SHOFEAR]

it must be rather funny watching all those hipsters struggle up all the hills in st johns with their one speeds.

[Metro-One]

Almost all of those are wonderful imo, except for that one. It just doesn't do it for me...

Haha! I agree 100%

Good fashion in St John's, makes me look like a bum, hehe. :tup:

[SignalHillHiker]

Hahaha. Better is watching drunk downtown girls walk downhill.

"B'ys, I'm right wrecked!"
Click
Clack
Click
Clack
Clickclack
Clickclackclickclackclickclack
Scuff
Clickityclackclack

[Ayreonaut]

On the other hand, I think St. John's is also the flannel shirt and lululemon hoodie capital of Canada.

[SignalHillHiker]

Hahaha. Don't judge us by the skeets. And get out of Rabbitown. Both are cool in moderation. My favourie questionable trend in St. John's is neck tattoos. Look for them next you're out. Every guy and his grandmother has one.

[Boris2k7]

Calgary: Theatre, apparently. I wouldn't know for sure though, I've never attended any performances.

[roccerfeller]

Hahaha. Better is watching drunk downtown girls walk downhill.

"B'ys, I'm right wrecked!"
Click
Clack
Click
Clack
Clickclack
Clickclackclickclackclickclack
Scuff
Clickityclackclack

Haha...reminds me of a few streets in Montréal too lol

Calgary: Theatre, apparently. I wouldn't know for sure though, I've never attended any performances.

Theatre and Calgary doesn't exactly go together in my mind, but one thing I've learned here is the arts scene is well hidden. It's not as good as some other prairie cities impo, but it also doesn't get the credit it deserves. I was led to believe it was much, much worse than it actually is.

The arts scene in general was pretty unexpecting for me in Calgary (in a good way), so I should probably check out some theatre. My place in cowtown is close to Sait so I should check it out. And Although most people don't equate Calgary as an artsy city, it's there beneath the towers.


For Winnipeg, for western Canadians specifically (and perhaps others) I think dont realize how French Winnipeg can be, because most western Canadians equate it as just another prairie city (which it is) where all the other prairie cities are generally unequivocally english; but when I'm in Winnipeg, and I have friends coming in from other cities in western Canada (including from bc), and i take em to hang out with certain groups of friends who are French, they're always surprised with that aspect. French isn't spoken unless you're in a French area and attempt a conversation with a French speaker, and that's why they're usually surprised, but it's known by a fair chunk of people. On the western and northern sides of the city it might be spoken by 1 in 20 people, but in the southern and eastern portions it's more like 2 or 3 out of 4 or 5 people. It's like a completely different Winnipeg

[vid]

Well I certainly think you've more than proven your point with all those photos. I think less than 80 would have been fine. :P

For Thunder Bay I would guess public transit. With the exception of bad frequency on some routes, and over-crowded buses during rush hour, most buses have air conditioning, all buses have bike racks, and bus passes are pretty inexpensive. The GPS arrival system is pretty handy. It's easily the best system in Northern Ontario and outshines any of our American peers (the cities with about 110,000 people in the service area). Duluth's transit system is just horrid.

The only benefit I found in Winnipeg's system compared to Thunder Bay's was frequency and how often you could actually get a seat on the bus. In all other areas, Thunder Bay's transit system is better.

[Razor]

Why do I feel like I'm looking at a Sears catalogue fall edition?

[giallo]

Great pictures. I, for one, had no idea St. John's residents looked so well put together. Nice!

[SignalHillHiker]

Vid: Hahaha. I looked through two years of photos and had trouble narrowing it down.
Showed two of my friends here. One said: Good, they're representing. The other rolled his eyes and said: Seems a little staged. No bag or scarf? You are out!

[osmo]

This thread is borderline trolling.

I get your point OP but I did not appreciate the 100 pictures.

[haligonia]

This thread is borderline trolling.

I get your point OP but I did not appreciate the 100 pictures.

^^^ This. I appreciate fashion and I actually really like street style blogs, but that many pictures is a bit overboard. This is a forum to discuss issues relevant to urbanism in Canada. As far as I'm concerned, fashion isn't one of those issues.

SignalHillHiker, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but lately I've found that you're starting to clutter up the Canada section with a lot of, well, irrelevant threads. :shrug:

[bulliver]

^ I agree, the point could have been made using much less photos, but he should feel free to create as many threads as he likes, they will sink or swim on their own merits, no need for censorship.

[SignalHillHiker]

:previous:

Point taken about the number of photos. Edited. I just got a little excited. ;-) Sorry lol.

But I disagree about "cluttering up" the Canada section. Most of the threads I made are about relevant subjects. And the couple of fun ones I made are pretty standard forum fare. Also, there are lots of other fun ones I didn't start.

[SignalHillHiker]

(BTW, here's a laugh for you all: I failed to link to the magazine, and I got a PM asking me to add one. The PM quoted my post. I had to scroll to the bottom to read it and as I was doing it I thought: OMG enough with the pictures, buddy, I get the point. You could have not quoted them all lol).

[Acajack]

:previous:

Point taken about the number of photos. Edited. I just got a little excited. ;-) Sorry lol.

But I disagree about "cluttering up" the Canada section. Most of the threads I made are about relevant subjects. And the couple of fun ones I made are pretty standard forum fare. Also, there are lots of other fun ones I didn't start.

Keep those threads coming I say.

You are the best new forumer we have seen on here in a long while! :tup:

[niwell]

I concur as well - I enjoy reading all the new threads.

As for Toronto, I'd say the biggest misconception is that this is a huge independent arts scene going on here. Visual, music, theatre what have you. It's not all corporate Bay St. The old blue-collar neighbourhoods may be unexpected for some too possibly.

[eemy]

I agree with the new threads. The fact that a lot of them brought out some interesting discussion is testament to the fact that you should keep it up (and others too).

[Marty_Mcfly]

On the other hand, I think St. John's is also the flannel shirt and lululemon hoodie capital of Canada.

I wear flannel shirts :(

Also: I actually know one of the girls in your original post, Signal. She's quite fashionable, as well as super nice. Plus one on her.

As for other things this city does well? Coffee shops. There's a billion of them downtown, and most of them are great. I'm especially fond of Fixed, which is relatively new but is giving most of the other shops a run for their money with quality. Post-Espresso is one shop that I've heard great things about that I haven't tried yet, while Coffee & Co. is a great standard with friendly staff. Don't be intimidated by the fact that bikers hang out there 24/7, it's just added security :tup:

[SignalHillHiker]

:previous:

I love the Jumping Bean's building on Henry Street. It's adorable (it's the yellow one on the left):

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/7922287630_c3ef65211c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/signalhillhiker/7922287630/)
Harvey Road (http://www.flickr.com/photos/signalhillhiker/7922287630/) by SignalHillHiker (http://www.flickr.com/people/signalhillhiker/), on Flickr

Also, RE: Flannel.

I was driving down Freshwater Road (toward downtown) and saw a beautiful, blond girl in knee-high brown leather boots, dark jeans, white tank top, and a purple scarf. I thought, damn, if I had my camera I could catch a street scene of my own...

Then the very next pedestrian was a guy about 300 lbs with his shirt off and walking with an exaggerated limp.

Then AFTER him was a funky looking girl with a flannel, lumberjack, pyjama-type shirt TUCKED IN a black skirt with army boots.

And I thought... yeah, no, nobody needs to see that... we'll just pretend that doesn't exist here...

All I could think was, "Honey, who told you that was OK? Go home and change before Ayreonaut sees you!"

[Wharn]

Toronto seems to have an uncanny ability to turn otherwise courteous motorists and cyclists into complete assholes.

London seems to be very good at talking about doing things, and then never doing them. Anyone who's seen the City's 1966 Master Plan knows what I'm talking about.

[kw5150]

Hahaha. Better is watching drunk downtown girls walk downhill.

"B'ys, I'm right wrecked!"
Click
Clack
Click
Clack
Clickclack
Clickclackclickclackclickclack
Scuff
Clickityclackclack

Ba ha ha HA. I can hear her staggering and tripping in the way you typed....

[kw5150]

1. Bike Paths in Calgary.

No one seems to expect the quality and sheer magnitude of the Calgary bike pathway system is and how busy it is.

2. I dont think people expect the downtown to be bustling in the evenings.....which it is. I Cant count how many times Ive heard: Calgary? It's so dead and boring at night.......

3. Proximity to the mountains and how quickly you can go from Urban to the middle of nature......

[vid]

Downtown Port Arthur on virtually any night is quite busy. I would expect no less of Calgary. :shrug:

Downtown Fort William on the other hand is an abandoned hellscape. On the maps, they leave a void with a warning: "Here be Dragons".