Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport
We are all entitled to our opinions of course. But...is Hamilton really your favorite skyline on that metric?
Hamilton's skyline is far from being the worst. That said, I really dislike the overwhelming dominance of generic 60s residential towers.
in my opinion:
Overall Canadian skyline: Toronto, followed by Montreal
Natural setting Canadian skyline: Vancouver, followed by Quebec City
Building variety and eclectic styles Canadian skyline: Montreal, followed by Winnipeg
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60s and 70s apartment buildings are great. They're residential (which is always a plus) and they lack the excessive glass of 90s to modern residential buildings. Instead they look solid and permanent. They give a sense of urban stability unlikely the weak glass towers so popular today. Luckily actual walls seem to be regaining popularity.
As for setbacks, it's a quite residential street. They were replacing houses that had just as much of a setback. Why is a front lawn suddenly evil if it belongs to a highrise? Are 30s lowrises and midrises with a setback towers in the park and evil? How about stone rowhouses with a front yard?
Look at this street. The rowhouses, 30s lowrise, and more modern highrise are all about the same distance from the street, yet the highest density one is the "blight upon downtown"?
Also any buildings actually built on the main commercial arteries of King or Main have full retail podiums with acceptable street interaction. (Whether or not those podiums are successful is more a measure of the retail health of the city than architectural faults.)
I'm happy to admit Hamilton has faults, but a lot of these complaints seem to not realise these buildings were in quite residential neighbourhoods were everything else was setback. Building to the lot line would be out of character with the neighbourhood. Also all those lovely historical commercial buildings are an important reason as to why most of these apartment buildings lack ground level retail, the city has massive amounts of unused retail. Adding more is just bad planning. Also most people seem to complain Hamilton doesn't have enough greenery, yet you folks are complaining about it having the slightest amount. I understand some people don't like residential buildings, but a lot of these complaints make little sense.
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