Canadian Skyline Thread III

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Do Canadians realize how dense inner city KW or London are? Aside from the photos I see on here, I know nothing about them lol.

Before SSP, most of us from the East didn't know anything about Calgary besides being the Petro capital, and Cowtown/Stampede reputation, and the rise of political right wingers like Preston Manning and then PM Stephen Harper, Pierre Poilievre coming from there. It was honestly seen by Eastern Canada as a backwards place for decades.. And not the rapidly transforming and multicultural city of today lol

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Canadians don't realize how much more dense inner city Hamilton is compared to say Kitchener-Waterloo or London, Ontario

Still so many parking lots and empty spaces, especially to the east and north of the core... at the base of that photo of Landmark Place is a lot that used to be a gas station, and has had a few proposals over the years (it belonged to Harry Stinson for a while though, so go figure lol... there is currently a new proposal for it, as well as one for the plaza separating it from Landmark) and across the street to the left is a lot that was planned to have several new towers as part of the Royal Connaught hotel redevelopment but nothing has happened in a long time. Still, we're now seeing some things proposed and even built in that part of town. The downturn in the building industry hit the city just as things seemed to be ramping up, but the amount of change in the last decade or so has been much greater than everything that happened between the mid-1970s and early-2000s.

The photo referenced above:

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Landmark Place by Neal Jennings, on Flickr

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Still so many parking lots and empty spaces, especially to the east and north of the core...

I'm not denying that. Tons of progress has been made and the city definitely has a long ways to go, constantly improve. The population is growing both downtown and Hamilton overall, things are improving bit by bit.

Forumer StEC that's lived downtown for years (and now in one of the newest highrises) can tell you that.

*Edit: Hamilton's LRT line still hasn't started construction. (This one's very frustrating to me)

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Before SSP, most of us from the East didn't know anything about Calgary besides being the Petro capital, and Cowtown/Stampede reputation, and the rise of political right wingers like Preston Manning and then PM Stephen Harper, Pierre Poilievre coming from there. It was honestly seen by Eastern Canada as a backwards place for decades.. And not the rapidly transforming and multicultural city of today lol

That wasn't a prompt to see how much people knew about other parts of this country before coming on SSP, though that would be an interesting thread.

What I meant is the way you said Hamilton relative to the other cities reads as if Canadians know more about the other cities than Hamilton. I would say that is the opposite, most of the country knows about Hamilton (at the very least through the CFL) far more than KW or London.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Wigs

I'm not denying that. Tons of progress has been made and the city definitely has a long ways to go, constantly improve. The population is growing both downtown and Hamilton overall, things are improving bit by bit.

Forumer StEC that's lived downtown for years (and now in one of the newest highrises) can tell you that.

*Edit: Hamilton's LRT line still hasn't started construction. (This one's very frustrating to me)

Yes, hence my including "Still, we're now seeing some things proposed and even built in that part of town. The downturn in the building industry hit the city just as things seemed to be ramping up, but the amount of change in the last decade or so has been much greater than everything that happened between the mid-1970s and early-2000s." (I may have added that in an edit... it seems to be a habit of mine to go back and edit posts, but I've been doing it more-so since this site has been kicking me off after a few mins on a regular basis, as just happened again)

The Ontario government's lack of progress procuring the LRT line frustrates many of us. Some "early works" are happening but it's so slow... as if the government is hoping a rug is pulled from beneath so they can cancel funding again (and the city isn't interested in covering any share of the costs, so if provincial or federal funding goes away so will the project). When King St. starts to get ripped up and traffic is impacted because of it, the howling from largely suburban residents who drive through the lower city will reverberate to Queen's Park.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

What I meant is the way you said Hamilton relative to the other cities reads as if Canadians know more about the other cities than Hamilton. I would say that is the opposite, most of the country knows about Hamilton (at the very least through the CFL) far more than KW or London.

CFL and steel (though the latter has been becoming less and less a part of the local economy since the 1980s)

[Ozy_Flame]

Being from and growing up in Western Canada, I can tell confidently tell folks here that Westerners have definitely heard of Hamilton, know it's somewhere close to Toronto, and has at least one major sports team. But with that said, most Western Canadians wouldn't know where to locate Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Kingston, Windsor, St. Catherines or Niagara on a map of Ontario. Even less for Sudbury, Barrie, Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay.

[koops65]

Funny you say that. All the maps I've seen show place names for the various cities on the map. They are relatively easy to locate.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by koops65

Funny you say that. All the maps I've seen show place names for the various cities on the map. They are relatively easy to locate.

One can find anything, should they choose to look. Not everyone is motivated to look though, think that's the point.

[cranes]

Kitchener

CTV News Kitchener at Six for Sept. 5, 2025

[Coldrsx]

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Being from and growing up in Western Canada, I can tell confidently tell folks here that Westerners have definitely heard of Hamilton, know it's somewhere close to Toronto, and has at least one major sports team. But with that said, most Western Canadians wouldn't know where to locate Hamilton, Kitchener, London, Kingston, Windsor, St. Catherines or Niagara on a map of Ontario. Even less for Sudbury, Barrie, Sault St. Marie and Thunder Bay.

That's very true. BCers are very insular and don't really relate to the other provinces. I have been here for 35 years and I can very honestly say that at least half the people who were born and raised here have never been east of Calgary. They have all been to Maui/California/Mexico etc but the thought of going east of Calgary for any reason than to perhaps visit some relatives, simply doesn't cross their minds.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

But with that said, most Western Canadians wouldn't know where to locate Hamilton

I’d be surprised if most Canadians couldn’t point out Hamilton on a map — it’s the 8th largest metro in the country and sits right on the tip of a Great Lake. I get that places like London, without a clear geographical marker, might be tougher to spot, but Hamilton shouldn’t be one of those.

[Rico Rommheim]

In my experience, the majority of people have a hard time finding anything on a map. I grew up looking at atlases and studying maps for fun lol. Most people I know couldn't be bothered spending more than a few seconds looking at a map. Not everyone thinks maps are fun. There's a real lack of curiosity when it comes to geography and Canadian geo in general.

[TorontoDrew]

Ward's Island Ferry Dock Views by kotsy, on Flickr

Toronto by Andrew Ratner, on Flickr

Vaughan's skyline
CP-140 Aurora by Jack Landau, on Flickr

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

Hamilton just needs a new tallest signature to really update it's look. Usaually I wouldn't say a city needs a new tallest, but when your current one has been this for the past 51 years.................


Landmark Place by Neal Jennings, on Flickr

Wow. Truly a hideous building. Jesus.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

In my experience, the majority of people have a hard time finding anything on a map. I grew up looking at atlases and studying maps for fun lol. Most people I know couldn't be bothered spending more than a few seconds looking at a map. Not everyone is a geo nerd.

True, I was the same. I remember taking the train from Toronto to Montreal with my friends when I was 18, and my friend sitting next to me didn't know what body of water we were passing along the way. It was Lake Ontario. I still bug her to this day about it. Her aunt also told her that Loch Ness was in the Welland Canal.

[SteelTown]

You can see in this skyline photo that Landmark Place is starting to blend in with the surrounding new high-rises. It'll be even more pronounced within the next 10 years, with even more high rises going up.

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Landmark Place (aka the giant cigarette) is finally being blocked/blended by new high-rises.




Source: IrishCanadian98 @ https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/to...mblem-developments-arcadis.32779/page-34

[Martin Mtl]

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/photobro2020


Photo: https://www.facebook.com/photobro2020

[cranes]

Kitchener-Waterloo

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