Your city's nadir

[MolsonExport]

When did your city experience its nadir? For many Canadian cities, that would probably be sometime in the 1980s, with some exceptions (Montreal arguably hit bottom in the mid nineties; maybe Toronto did not have a real nadir period). Montreal had a long period of relative decline (late 70s-late 90s), with a few periods when things were somewhat on the upswing (e.g., a bevy of new buildings in the early 90s). Even old Montreal was quite shabby during these times. Here is the nadir of Montreal, the 1990s. Some of my old stompin' grounds.







3 above photos c/o https://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/3272784644/











On the "bright side" (not), there was never a shortage of parking.




"Now for a Dow"






The Bronx (err, the Main) is burning.




good Ol' Concordia ghetto






Taxi Driver




Fuck the ecology


Eat the rich.


I'd rather eat at a cassecroute. Even one that is egregiously breaking language laws (quick, Acajack, call the tongue troopers!)


Above photos c/o ed hawco (flikr)

very ugly church


When Montreal vied with Houston for downtown parking lots (all of this area has since been redeveloped).


Source: https://archivesdemontreal.ica-atom....septembre-1991

[Wigs]

It's hard for me ,as a Millennial, to picture Montreal looking that bad!

[SignalHillHiker]

April 1, 1949 (joining Canada) - November 17, 1997 (oil starts flowing). Particular emphasis on 1992. We were nearing 600K. We're now in danger of dropping below 500K. That's war-level depopulation from the cod moratorium. Mainlanders just don't know.





That's an exaggeration, of course, there was a post-Confederation boom in St. John's as the rowhouse outskirts of the city saw adjacent farmland replaced by car-dependent suburbia, such as Little Canada, meant to show us the superior way to live in bungalows and cul-de-sacs.





But none of that shit means anything to me. For my type of urbanism, this is still a city of 50K and anything worth looking at in it is pre-Confederation. Everything outside Empire Avenue (our "ring road" in 1949) is just... gross. I couldn't care less if it was there or wilderness. I appreciate downtown St. John's has things it couldn't have if the 150,000 suburbanites weren't there with their Visa cards, but even then it's still objectively comparable to what it sustained with 50K in the 1940s.

Some caveats - I love the new Fortis Building. I genuinely like that. A fitting tribute to the former hardwood vendor on the site. I love the old core of Memorial University, which I believe is post-1949? The rest, no thank you. The nearest street that looks like the above pic should be in New Brunswick. There is absolutely no reason for that to have even been brought here. And no benefit for having done so.

I'd give anything to go back to when this was the edge of the city, and have a do-over (note first pic is driving on the right, so already Canadian, there's no reason we couldn't have just kept going as we'd been doing.):

[WhipperSnapper]

1990s for sure.

1970s were pretty bad too.

lot of people hurting in the 2020s

[thurmas]

Winnipeg 1990s lost the Jets, anemic population growth massive flood, downtown deterioration was not a good time.

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by thurmas

Winnipeg 1990s lost the Jets, anemic population growth massive flood, downtown deterioration was not a good time.

Record high homicides, dilapidated inner city, and very pervasive social issues has made me come to the quite unfortunate realization that Winnipeg's nadir has been from March of 2020 - Present day.

Behold the surface parking lots of Downtown Winnipeg


Y'all wouldn't know true fear until you go to this area at night. The infamous North End is in worse shape then ever with no revitalization in sight.





Can you believe this is only 2km away from the Exchange District?





Let's not forget about the fires occurring in the West End these days





It's a dark time for the city right now, but its usually darkest before dawn.

[thurmas]

Winnipeg is in rough shape these days in the downtown core and north end but its population growth is much stronger the business community is much stronger far more of the population has higher education and the most of the donut of the city as a whole functions pretty well its the core that is a mess moreso these days but its not that the whole city is in shape that rough.

[EpicPonyTime]

Saskatoon's was definitely the 90s. The entire province just ground to a complete halt in terms of economic and population growth. The city's skyscraper boom was over, and the entire decade (and then some) passed without any major developments in the downtown core).

[MTLskyline]

Montreal was a completely different place back in the 1990s. The city was more run down and there were parking lots or empty lots of various kinds everywhere.. A lot of areas that have since gentrified were definitely much poorer (Verdun, Point St Charles, St Henri are some examples). Griffintown was filled with run down buildings, scrap metal yards, small warehouses and garages. Almost everywhere in the city had strip clubs, which now are almost like an endangered species. It also seemed like there were more pawn shops. More dive bars and diners and there weren't as many "nice restaurants" like there are now. Lots more smokers too. Also, I remember traffic was a lot less bad, and I think the roads were actually in better shape. I think there was also less graffiti and tagging. There were also a few classic Montreal family run institutions that were still around like Ben's Deli.

In all, I feel Montreal was more "no-frills" or "real" and less pretentious in those days (as were most places), but also a bit more of a depressed or even bleak vibe sometimes. But the summers were always amazing regardless. Also, there seemed to be more unique characters around like the spoon man.

[Nouvellecosse]

^ I'd like to experience it for a few days even though I don't wish for its return.

[Harrison]

Edmonton's was also the 1990s (see a pattern with Canadian cities here?). The population of the city proper actually decreased between the 1991 and 1996 Federal censuses and I'd say the early 1990s were worse than the late 1990s for the City. Ralph Klein's massive cuts to Provincial staffing when he came into power in late 1992 and the departure of head offices (i.e. Telus, Shaw, etc.) were big reasons why this was the nadir period for the city.

[Rollerstud98]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Eat the rich.

Must have been an Aerosmith fan.

https://youtu.be/o-0lAhnoDlU

[Loco101]

For Timmins the 1990s would have been the nadir economically for sure. Our unemployment rate was 12-18% during that decade and our mines were either producing the bare minimum or closed as the value of precious metals and all other minerals were very low. It was an era where many people would say "you should consider your self fortunate that you have a job."

But the nadir may also be right now when it comes to the overall well-being of Timmins. We have been losing people for the last 25 years and homelessness and drug issues are much worse than ever. Infrastructure is also a disgrace. And our crime is among the highest of Ontario cities. So socially I'd say it's definitely the worst it has ever been.

[Loco101]

I have to respond to Molson Ex's first post.

Montreal didn't look so great during the 1990s and early 2000s but it was an amazing place to visit. I remember having so many wonderful meals at restaurants that cost 25-30% less than what you would pay for something equivalent in Ontario. So many types of entertainment were very affordable. I really miss the Expos and how little it cost to go to games. And friends I knew who lived there had such low living expenses.

[theman23]

Probably right now for a lot of the country.

[Acajack]

Funny how the period around the 90s comes up a lot as shitty for cities with almost peak suburbia and auto-centrism, government disinvestment and an urban renaissance still a few years away.

Was still a great time to grow up!

[lio45]

Cities in the 1970s-1990s were a lot more affordable, therefore a lot more "interesting" in a sense.

A lot less homeless, too, since everyone who preferred to live indoors basically could back then.

[lio45]

Wow, sucks when you have to answer "right now"

It's like if a bunch of random people start to discuss "when is the time you have been the closest to death" and most bring up crazy accidents 20-30 years ago in which they escaped death by a hair, then one person says "actually, it would be right now; I have terminal cancer and only a very short time to live".

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Funny how the period around the 90s comes up a lot as shitty for cities with almost peak suburbia and auto-centrism, government disinvestment and an urban renaissance still a few years away.

Was still a great time to grow up!

I loved the 1980s and 1990s and have fond memories of growing up in that period. Not sure I'm able to be objective though. I did not have "adult problems" back then; I'm pretty sure my parents did not have fond memories of stuff like their 1981 mortgage renewal at 15%+, etc.

Generally speaking, I'd guess that most people who grew up in happy families likely have good memories of the "happy era" in which they grew up, when in reality it might or might not have been a happy era objectively speaking, for society in general.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Funny how the period around the 90s comes up a lot as shitty for cities with almost peak suburbia and auto-centrism, government disinvestment and an urban renaissance still a few years away.

Was still a great time to grow up!

It's not surprising that our cities were following the America's development pattern at the time; the US was the only real game in town post-Cold War era and low inflation/cheap energy (Remember 40 cent/litre gasoline? Pepperidge Farm remembers) made the living easy. Europe was working through its own things and was no longer the centre of geopolitics.

There was a weird Canadiana bit going on during the era. When I think of iconic Canadian TV shows/music/successes, the 1990s do hit a mark. The energy hung on into the 2000s and if I had to bookend an era, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics seem to be it.

Canada 2010s-2020s seems to be a different animal. Not a bad one per se (and indeed misses a lot of the unpleasantness of the 1990s as this thread shows), but different. Cleaner, more urbane, more diverse, but somehow more generic. The Home Depot modern kitchen renovation of a 1970s-era one, if a crude analogy is to be made. The worn vinyl floor, tacky distinctive countertop, and green appliances given way to a hodgepodge of gray and silver anonymity. Maybe I'm getting old, too.