Future Canadian Skylines

[LeftCoaster]

Toronto has a few companies, that if they were in the US would make the fortune 500, not sure about 10 though... Atlanta is really an economic powerhouse, it even has 2 more fortune 500 companies in its suburbs.

Still wouldnt want to live there...

[WhipperSnapper]

I can't remember if it is Fortune 500 or 1000 however, Toronto would have more than Chicago if it was in the US (and yet keep its Canadian affiliates.)

[LeftCoaster]

Ya I just looked into the fortune 500, never had really before, and it doesnt take nearly as much to make it as i thought it did. revenues of 4.5 billion will land you near the bottom of the list.

If someone cares to im sure they could figure out roughly how many Toronto firms would make it, but after investigating its assuredly more than 10, I can probably name 10 off the top of my head.

Big 5 banks
Rogers
Manulife
Magna
Barrick
Sun Life

[The_Architect]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Big 5 banks
Rogers
Manulife
Magna
Barrick
Sun Life

Tim Hortons in Oakville (GTA)

[whiteford]

i am a huge Montreal loving fan. with that said. if you were to compare their skylines today, imo Calgary's has its number. it looks far denser as far as big skyscrapers are concerned. and it has bigger nicer and more modern skyscrapers as well. most likely the gap will only grow. that is saying lots considering Montreal is much bigger right now than Calgary will grow to be for decades to come. there is something about big oil that brings in the big skyscrapers. they seem to show off their companies more than most others. they are in fact, big showoffs. this is good for Calgary skyscraper fans and bad for Montreal skyscraper fans. also banks don't seem to start up anew very often and big oil companies and gas companies seem do drop strait out of know were from time to time. this always will be followed by a new big skyscraper. and like i said they are showoffs, so this new skyscraper needs to be bigger and better than any that have been built near and before it. yay for Calgary. its skyline is almost guaranteed to grow up and out. is will be improved upon for decades to come. when oil goes up so will the shinny new towers that house the newly acquired employes. i just loved watching the Calgary skyline grow from the time i was a boy. they say that Calgary was a boom bust town but that is very untrue. Calgary has always done much better than most cities. in fact the proof is in the city itself. you cant pick a year in Calgary that the photo wont have a new tower under development in the skyline. i dare you to try and find one. up and down maybe. bust? never happened. i would know i was there working and the work i do depended on the city's economy doing well. and it did do well. that city grew and grew and grew for 30 yrs without taking a breath. it only got better. never worst.

[logan5]

there is something about big oil that brings in the big skyscrapers.

Nothing against Calgary, but it's skyline future might not be all that bright when you consider the emerging presence of electric vehicles. It's not a question of if the demand for oil will take a nose dive, but when. Battery and super capacitor performance is advancing rapidly, so the shift to electric vehicles might happen sooner than people think.

My prediction for Calgary is that some of the office space will be converted to residential due to the expected extreme decline in the oil industry.

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by logan5

Nothing against Calgary, but it's skyline future might not be all that bright when you consider the emerging presence of electric vehicles. It's not a question of if the demand for oil will take a nose dive, but when. Battery and super capacitor performance is advancing rapidly, so the shift to electric vehicles might happen sooner than people think.

My prediction for Calgary is that some of the office space will be converted to residential due to the expected extreme decline in the oil industry.

Exactly. The oil boom has come and eventually it will pass. Cities such as Calgary and countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia will most likeley collapse after the oil boom passes and more sustainable technologies replace it. Perhaps not as dramatically as Detroit, but a collapse of some sort is inevitable.

[sl64]

The Fortune 500 are indeed the 500 largest US corporations. Luckily, there are also the Fortune Global 500, which, as you might imagine, are the 500 largest corporations in the world.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_Global_500

[whiteford]

Originally Posted by logan5

Nothing against Calgary, but it's skyline future might not be all that bright when you consider the emerging presence of electric vehicles. It's not a question of if the demand for oil will take a nose dive, but when. Battery and super capacitor performance is advancing rapidly, so the shift to electric vehicles might happen sooner than people think.

My prediction for Calgary is that some of the office space will be converted to residential due to the expected extreme decline in the oil industry.

they will always need lots of oil. as much as can be produced.

[caltrane74]

Omg Toronto is number 8 in the world ahead of Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Wow!

Thanks for the link sl64 I'm gonna drool over it for a while.

[jigglysquishy]

I find it interesting that the list of countries with most fortune 500 companies pretty much matches up exactly to the list of country's GDP.

Also, a lot of Calgary oil companies are trying to switch from being Oil & Gas companies to Energy companies. If enough companies can successfully make the switch then not only will Calgary be saved, but will flourish. In fact, I'm studying chemical engineering right now with the intent of being a part of the transition.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by jigglysquishy

Also, a lot of Calgary oil companies are trying to switch from being Oil & Gas companies to Energy companies. If enough companies can successfully make the switch then not only will Calgary be saved, but will flourish.

But when oil and gas dries up Calgary won't have many lasting advantages over other cities. It has some disadvantages in terms of being remote, cold, etc. Companies doing energy research can locate anywhere, including more attractive places like the West Coast or cheaper cities with a roughly equivalent standard of living. Traditionally people have demanded a premium to live in Alberta and that money has come from oil and gas.

I don't necessarily think that Calgary will tank in the future but I won't be surprised if Alberta becomes more of a "new Midwest".

[Colin]

Originally Posted by someone123

But when oil and gas dries up Calgary won't have many lasting advantages over other cities. It has some disadvantages in terms of being remote, cold, etc. Companies doing energy research can locate anywhere, including more attractive places like the West Coast or cheaper cities with a roughly equivalent standard of living. Traditionally people have demanded a premium to live in Alberta and that money has come from oil and gas.

I don't necessarily think that Calgary will tank in the future but I won't be surprised if Alberta becomes more of a "new Midwest".

The advantage that Calgary holds is that it has almost 40 million sq ft of downtown office inventory, low corporate tax rates, and an extremely educated workforce. I currently work for an accounting firm in the city, and the biggest problem that our company is encountering is the inability to retain staff. Oil and gas companies continue to attract the strongest talent not only in our city but across the country.

The energy sector is constantly evolving and I highly doubt that companies like Suncor, Imperial Oil, EnCana, CNRL, and Cenovus will simply roll over and close down the shop when oil runs dry. Based on the knowledge of the oil and gas industry and the established energy sector already based in Calgary, the city will continue to be the energy centre of Canada, whatever that future form of energy will be.

The demand in oil may decrease with the transition to more renewable resources, but oil prices will continue to increase due to scarcity, which will make it viable to continue oil extraction and production in the future. In addition, oil makes up only one half of the biggest industry in Canada. If you can find a more efficient resource to heat Canadian homes in the winter, then I will gladly invest in your energy source. However, I will be using natural gas until that substitute is found.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Colin

The energy sector is constantly evolving and I highly doubt that companies like Suncor, Imperial Oil, EnCana, CNRL, and Cenovus will simply roll over and close down the shop when oil runs dry.

Sure. This is roughly the situation a city like Winnipeg is in. It still has people who like to live there, local companies, a supply of local office space, etc. It's not a boom town though, and in retrospect many predictions made during its golden age were overly optimistic.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by Colin

The energy sector is constantly evolving and I highly doubt that companies like Suncor, Imperial Oil, EnCana, CNRL, and Cenovus will simply roll over and close down the shop when oil runs dry. Based on the knowledge of the oil and gas industry and the established energy sector already based in Calgary, the city will continue to be the energy centre of Canada, whatever that future form of energy will be.
.

those companies may not close their doors but many will downsize and most will relocate to wherever the next energy source is coming from....all the advantages that calgary has today is because oil revenues can be translated into lower taxes....it will be a few decades yet, but oil dominance will not last forever and when it is no longer the global currency, calgary will lose its advantage to somewhere else....

if hydrogen fuel cells become the next global energy source do you really think the dominant players in that industry will be based in calgary?....its more likely that they will move to somewhere with water because those locations will be able to offer the same revenue based incentives that calgary does today....the educated workforce will move right along with it and the glass towers will spring up behind them.

the building blocks are in place for calgary to make the transition to a more diverse economy but it isnt reasonable to believe that it will be the powerhouse that it is today once the global economy is not petroleum based.

[sledhead35]

a rendering of the future winnipeg skyline would be cool with the half dozen or so proposed towers going up. cmhc, alt hotel, canadinns hotel, convention center addition, a couple new condos proposed

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by sledhead35

a rendering of the future winnipeg skyline would be cool with the half dozen or so proposed towers going up. cmhc, alt hotel, canadinns hotel, convention center addition, a couple new condos proposed

Crack open your MS Paint, you can probably do a pretty good job on your own if you get a really big picture and blow it up, and drop the renderings in it at scale.

I've never seen something like this before for Winnipeg.

[steveve]

HOLY GEEZUS!!!! the last 3 pages have been war!!!! i shouldn't have said the A- word (Atlanta, of course).. lets get back OT!

And yes, this comment is not helping...

[North of 49]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Crack open your MS Paint, you can probably do a pretty good job on your own if you get a really big picture and blow it up, and drop the renderings in it at scale.

I've never seen something like this before for Winnipeg.

I did a few pages ago, a weak attempt at best. hopefully with others trained in the field and with available soft wear, would they be able to create a rendering. maybe a 3D one at different perspectives...

[whiteford]

yes Calgary is a nice place to have a head office.