The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by megadude

Yeah, Almonte is one or two pages back. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. I stopped on the river to cast a few times and talked to two anglers practicing fly flshing. They came up from Ottawa for the day.

Virtually all the towns I stopped in that had a main street was at the very least pretty decent. Pretty low vacancy. Good to see. You can tell there's a great deal of pride to keep things looking pretty or at least maintained. Those smaller "settlements" that had a handful of businesses at most, that were spread out, those were the ones that had abandoned places. Actually, some were probably still operational but kind of looked abandoned. It makes for an interesting aesthetic when observing, but you'd rather they be fixed up and functioning if you lived there. I always wonder about the back story. And who owns it at the moment, paying property tax on it to sit empty. Are there any plans at all?

Property taxes in a lot of those sparsely populated areas are very low as municipal governments barely exist. They're often skeleton operations with a handful of staff and very limited services offered. I went to a seminar on local planning issues once and it was casually mentioned that Frontenac County believes that in its northern areas, less than half of built structures have proper permits due to a lack of planning staff and enforcement resources. Bylaws exist but are almost never enforced. Most of the municipal electorate in these areas are non resident cottage owners (who don't really care about anything other than their tax bill as they don't have to live there), or are right wing "back off government" types, so as far as voters are concerned, everything is fine.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

reminds me of the Screaming Tunnel (featured in "The Dead Zone" movie), in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

That's actually the one I was trying to reference, and I couldn't remember the "name" of it. Thanks!

[ScreamingViking]

I wonder about the histories behind these buildings. What is their story? I imagine they were busy places at one time long ago.

Originally Posted by megadude

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by megadude

And the multiple diagonal streets made it interesting. And confusing at the lights.

That reminds me of a few places in southwestern Ontario where the provincial highways meet the streets at odd angles. Tavistock came to mind because I drove through there a couple of times in the spring, though I recall its centre being less impressive than Stirling's.

It's also interesting to me the way many of these towns were bisected by railways that have been long since ripped-up. Many still have an original train station preserved or being used for a different purpose, with rail bridges converted for pedestrian use.

My ex mother-in-law moved to Stirling more than 20 years ago. She originally had a nice old house in Brighton on a quiet street. But the one she moved to was very nice as well, large and old but had been renovated with additions at various points in its history... it fit the "business" she was trying to run, her property taxes were much lower (to 1overcosc's point) and at the time she was able to own the Stirling house outright without a mortgage. It was a nice drive there. Anyway, the photo of the Gay Lea plant brought back those memories.

Thank you for sharing all these!

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

I wonder about the histories behind these buildings. What is their story? I imagine they were busy places at one time long ago.

This region of Ontario once had a lot more tourist traffic. Back in the day, airfare was very expensive so working class people would have their vacations in Muskoka, Haliburton, Frontenac County, etc. People who couldn't afford cottages would take trips to fishing lodges, motels, etc in these areas.

Airfare has become cheaper, activities like hunting & fishing have become culturally less popular, back country camping has fallen out of style in favor of car camping, and the GTA has a lot more immigrant families who prioritize trips back home for summer vacations over domestic tourism. All of these things means the tourist economy of the Ontario wilderness is a hallow remnant of what it once was, leaving behind many abandoned buildings.

Another factor is that regulations have gotten a lot stricter in these areas which has made a lot of these wilderness hobbies less accessible. Until the 1970s families could rent an acre of crown land to build a hunt camp; this is now illegal and only those grandfathered in have those hunt camps. The old, rustic lakefront cottages that people would build in a weekend with their buddies are now illegal as such structures now require the same permits as houses in the city do. These changes have made it a lot harder for newer demographics (like the millions of New Canadians in the GTA) to get involved in this sort of tourism even if they're interested.

COVID and the rise of hybrid working has led to a slight revival of this region. Much of it is close enough to Ottawa, Kingston, Peterborough, etc. for hybrid commuting to be possible and some younger folks have moved in. Some of the townships out there showed population growth in the 2021 census after a half century or more of nonstop decline. But I don't think it's much than a blip.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

This region of Ontario once had a lot more tourist traffic. Back in the day, airfare was very expensive so working class people would have their vacations in Muskoka, Haliburton, Frontenac County, etc. People who couldn't afford cottages would take trips to fishing lodges, motels, etc in these areas.

Airfare has become cheaper, activities like hunting & fishing have become culturally less popular, back country camping has fallen out of style in favor of car camping, and the GTA has a lot more immigrant families who prioritize trips back home for summer vacations over domestic tourism. All of these things means the tourist economy of the Ontario wilderness is a hallow remnant of what it once was, leaving behind many abandoned buildings.

Another factor is that regulations have gotten a lot stricter in these areas which has made a lot of these wilderness hobbies less accessible. Until the 1970s families could rent an acre of crown land to build a hunt camp; this is now illegal and only those grandfathered in have those hunt camps. The old, rustic lakefront cottages that people would build in a weekend with their buddies are now illegal as such structures now require the same permits as houses in the city do. These changes have made it a lot harder for newer demographics (like the millions of New Canadians in the GTA) to get involved in this sort of tourism even if they're interested.

COVID and the rise of hybrid working has led to a slight revival of this region. Much of it is close enough to Ottawa, Kingston, Peterborough, etc. for hybrid commuting to be possible and some younger folks have moved in. Some of the townships out there showed population growth in the 2021 census after a half century or more of nonstop decline. But I don't think it's much than a blip.

Our highway network and vehicle technologies must have played a role too, at least in terms of trips through many of those towns. So those buildings that look like they were at one time automobile repair/service/fuel stops had no more reason to exist.

If only their walls could talk though.

[megadude]

Lots of good points being made.

I must say, there's something romantic about driving the regional roads where you pass through from town to town as opposed to the highway. When I drive back from cottage country, and I'm getting tired because the 400 is so monotonous, I have to take the next exit and start taking 27 down. That will keep me awake even though I've seen all those little towns and same scenery dozens of times. But the droning on of the highway is almost like a white noise.

Even when I briefly drove the 401 to go from Cornwall to Chesterville, I started to feel sleepy. But when I exited onto some boring country road, it actually invigorated me. Got to see lots of unique houses and those dilapidated businesses and barns that while ugly, actually give off a rustic charm.

[megadude]

Campbellford:

For the last pic, imagine if karate, Video 99 and a gas station all existed in the same place at the same time. You have a karate lesson, then go rent Karate Kid on the way out, but buy a pack of smokes from behind the counter and put $30 of gas on pump number 2.

Gotta say though, in these towns, the signage is so beautiful, charming or nostalgic. A coworker of mine said his after his parents split up, his mom moved from Oakville to Port Dover. She opened up a sign shop. Those small town and country folk really take their signs seriously. They want beautifual storefront signs and they want family name sign on their door or porch or mailbox. And they're willing to pay good money for quality custom work.