The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[whiteford]

that hardly makes calgarys skyline looks small. nice picture though.

[leftimage]

Looking good Calgary, well on it's way! Despite the relative flatness and smallness of the former, I find Calgary and Montreal look somewhat similar in distant aerial shots - with buildings getting taller and denser until you reach the chocolatey core.





With no geographic obstacle anywhere in sight, Calgary is going to have to get creative to ensure proper density. Though given the liking they've taken to the big city vibe, it looks like they'll manage and then some.

[TallBob]

Montreal doesn't have as many 500-600+ footers as Calgary, but it looks just as good if not more so. Calgary's buildings are so close together, that will change hopefully when some tall buildings are built in the Beltline, East Village and the West end.

[Rico Rommheim]

^I hope they take that same shot again in 2016....ought to be dope.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

^I hope they take that same shot again in 2016....ought to be dope.

With all the highrises U/C (or almost U/C) in downtown, the infills and all the development in Griffintown and Faubourg des Récollets, this same view will be amazing!! The section south of downtown will look way more urban and it will really look like as being part of downtown. The city will also build some new parks and public spaces in Griffintown, so that section of the city will look more green.

[Rico Rommheim]

^That's right, with the Griffintown construction bonanza will give the downtown more depth on the north-south axis. Peel street will no longer be a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sort of urban corridor.

And let's not forget the development that has already occurred since this picture was taken, which seems to be around 2007.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

^And let's not forget the development that has already occurred since this picture was taken, which seems to be around 2007.

The Crystal de la montagne was U/C but far from being finished, so I would say that this picture has been taken during Autumn 2006.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by G.S MTL

Calgary destroy Montreal ?? lol... because it has a few taller buildings? lol how does that "DESTROY" Montreal? ... that shot makes Calgary's downtown core look small. In the next 5 years Montreal will have a few towers over 160m tall. I guess Montreal will "DESTROY" Calgary then lol... It's funny how some members here say that Calgary will surpass Montreal in terms of population bla bla... LooK, I keep saying that for a city like Calgary, to have a skyline like that is pretty impressive!... but please do not dare to compare or say it " DESTROYS" Montreal in any kind of way... Montreal has wayyyy more buildings than Calgary lol...Calgary is a baby... its practically still being "breast fed" lol.. Montreal is Montreal and thats all I got say. LOL.

I mean come on..and its an old pic!!

LOL! It always makes me laugh when Montrealers (I have family there also) claim to still have the tallest building in Canada with Place Ville Marie. They also seem unaware that Calgary has surpassed Montreal in skyscrapers and has the tallest outside TO. Like Koops said Montreal has more overall highrises but Calgary has more 500-600 footers.

Why are Montrealers so indignant towards Calgary? We're not replacing you anytime soon as Canada's second largest city. Relax.

[Coldrsx]

(http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/ab/edmonton/2012/edh2012_0294.jpg)


(http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/ab/edmonton/2012/edh2012_0290.jpg)


(http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/ab/edmonton/2012/edh2012_0279.jpg)


(http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/ab/edmonton/2012/edh2012_0259.jpg)


(http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/ab/edmonton/2012/edh2012_0229.jpg)

[Surrealplaces]

Agreed. When talking about highrise buildings, there is no comparison, Montreal simply has way more. Where the skylines would be comparable is from a distance when you can see mainly just the tallest of the buildings.

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

What's especially impressive is how quickly Calgary shot up to the big leagues. All their 400 ft buildings were built after 1975. Half of Montreal's 400 footers were built before then.

That said, I'm not so sure that Calgary has more highrises than Montreal. Considering that a highrise is a minimum of 12 storeys, and that Montreal is a much larger and more densely populated city, I would be very surprised if Calgary had more overall. Emporis lists 506 high-rise buildings in its database for Montreal, compared to 252 for Calgary. Even if those numbers are a little inaccurate or out-of-date it gives an idea.

Where Calgary has Montreal beat is skyscrapers (such as 100m+ buildings). Calgary's core is much more impressive from a skyline perspective, no question.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Why are Montrealers so indignant towards Calgary?

Why making such conclusion from the comments of a single person?

Also, why normal montrealers with no interest in skyscrapers (most of them, like in possibly every city on earth) would be aware that Calgary has some skyscrapers that are the tallest outside Toronto? They don't care about this.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by vanatox

The Crystal de la montagne was U/C but far from being finished, so I would say that this picture has been taken during Autumn 2006.

It's possible, although I can see the crane for the 400 Sherbrooke O. Did it really take 3 years for that sucker to go up?

[Surrealplaces]

I wonder what the numbers are for buildings 12+ floors that are in the core of each city. Montreal would still have way more, but Calgary doesn't have many buildings over 12 floors in the suburbs....about a dozen... almost all of them are in the downtown core....

Originally Posted by koops65

When Looking at ALL highrises 12+ floors (built, U/C and proposed), Montral has 689, and Calgary has 354.

The short story... Calgary has more very tall towers, Montreal has more highrises.

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

LOL! It always makes me laugh when Montrealers (I have family there also) claim to still have the tallest building in Canada with Place Ville Marie. They also seem unaware that Calgary has surpassed Montreal in skyscrapers and has the tallest outside TO. Like Koops said Montreal has more overall highrises but Calgary has more 500-600 footers.

Why are Montrealers so indignant towards Calgary? We're not replacing you anytime soon as Canada's second largest city. Relax.

My guess: It was not long ago that Montreal was Canada's largest city, the financial centre, and even arguably the best skyline (in the early-to-mid 1960s). Toronto usurped those three things from Montreal starting in the late 1960s and accelerating in the decades that followed. It was a tough blow to Montreal's ego. Montrealers really view Toronto to be their city's only rival on the same level. A lot of Montrealers aren't even aware how much bigger Toronto is (everyone knows it is larger, but I wouldn't be surprised if many thought it was only a few hundred thousand larger).

It is unimaginable to many that Calgary is now surpassing Montreal as a business and skyscraper centre. Especially given that Montreal is over 3 times as large. Back in the 1970s, Calgary was not any bigger than Quebec City, and perhaps smaller. It is probably viewed by many as something of a frontier town and not a "real" big city. You would likely get similar reactions if you told Montrealers than Calgary was more ethnically diverse.

I would attribute it to a lack of awareness of how much Calgary has evolved and a lack of awareness of how much Montreal has stagnated. Montreal is only starting to pick up again after a 20 year drought (unimaginable in Calgary) of skyscraper construction. If Montreal had built up more during those twenty years, it might have maintained a bigger skyline.

I don't view Calgary this way of course, but I'm just trying to explain the dismissiveness of Montrealers.

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

I wonder what the numbers are for buildings 12+ floors that are in the core of each city. Montreal would still have way more, but Calgary doesn't have many buildings over 12 floors in the suburbs....about a dozen... almost all of them are in the downtown core....

Good question. Montreal is not Toronto or Vancouver as far as highrises outside the core but there is still a good number of highrises all over the city. However, there is not that much building over 12 floors in the suburbs (outside the Island). Maybe 20-25 including Longueuil, Brossard, Laval...?

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

My guess: It was not long ago that Montreal was Canada's largest city, the financial centre, and even arguably the best skyline (in the early-to-mid 1960s). Toronto usurped those three things from Montreal starting in the late 1960s and accelerating in the decades that followed. It was a tough blow to Montreal's ego. Montrealers really view Toronto to be their city's only rival on the same level. A lot of Montrealers aren't even aware how much bigger Toronto is (everyone knows it is larger, but I wouldn't be surprised if many thought it was only a few hundred thousand larger).

It is unimaginable to many that Calgary is now surpassing Montreal as a business and skyscraper centre. Especially given that Montreal is over 3 times as large. Back in the 1970s, Calgary was not any bigger than Quebec City, and perhaps smaller. It is probably viewed by many as something of a frontier town and not a "real" big city. You would likely get similar reactions if you told Montrealers than Calgary was more ethnically diverse.

I would attribute it to a lack of awareness of how much Calgary has evolved and a lack of awareness of how much Montreal has stagnated. Montreal is only starting to pick up again after a 20 year drought (unimaginable in Calgary) of skyscraper construction. If Montreal had built up more during those twenty years, it might have maintained a bigger skyline.

I don't view Calgary this way of course, but I'm just trying to explain the dismissiveness of Montrealers.

Good post. I would also note that, no natter how far or how fast Calgary has ascended over the last 25 years, it is a sobering experience for a(n) (ex) Calgarian like me to stroll up St. Denis or St. Laurent and realize just how far Calgary still has to go (indeed, that is an urban experience that Calgary will simply never be able to offer.)

[kora]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

It is unimaginable to many that Calgary is now surpassing Montreal as a business and skyscraper centre. Especially given that Montreal is over 3 times as large. Back in the 1970s, Calgary was not any bigger than Quebec City, and perhaps smaller. It is probably viewed by many as something of a frontier town and not a "real" big city. You would likely get similar reactions if you told Montrealers than Calgary was more ethnically diverse.

I would attribute it to a lack of awareness of how much Calgary has evolved and a lack of awareness of how much Montreal has stagnated. Montreal is only starting to pick up again after a 20 year drought (unimaginable in Calgary) of skyscraper construction. If Montreal had built up more during those twenty years, it might have maintained a bigger skyline.

In the last 5 years, Calgary really has started to become an international city, open to the world. Not only through migration, but you see it in the consultants who work here making our best buildings and urban designs. Lots of firms from Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal but also from Europe and US. It's common and almost expected that on a big, high profile project someone flies in for the day to make a presentation.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

My guess: It was not long ago that Montreal was Canada's largest city, the financial centre, and even arguably the best skyline (in the early-to-mid 1960s). Toronto usurped those three things from Montreal starting in the late 1960s and accelerating in the decades that followed. It was a tough blow to Montreal's ego. Montrealers really view Toronto to be their city's only rival on the same level. A lot of Montrealers aren't even aware how much bigger Toronto is (everyone knows it is larger, but I wouldn't be surprised if many thought it was only a few hundred thousand larger).

It is unimaginable to many that Calgary is now surpassing Montreal as a business and skyscraper centre. Especially given that Montreal is over 3 times as large. Back in the 1970s, Calgary was not any bigger than Quebec City, and perhaps smaller. It is probably viewed by many as something of a frontier town and not a "real" big city. You would likely get similar reactions if you told Montrealers than Calgary was more ethnically diverse.

I would attribute it to a lack of awareness of how much Calgary has evolved and a lack of awareness of how much Montreal has stagnated. Montreal is only starting to pick up again after a 20 year drought (unimaginable in Calgary) of skyscraper construction. If Montreal had built up more during those twenty years, it might have maintained a bigger skyline.

I don't view Calgary this way of course, but I'm just trying to explain the dismissiveness of Montrealers.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I think one of the reasons there tends to be so much animosity between Calgary and Montreal is just what you described about Montrealers being condescending and dismissive of Calgary. To many we are the equivalent of Mordor where the Tarsands spew from and Stephen Harper's fortress of Barad-Dur sits (mind you on some days I feel that way too LOL!)

And it goes the other way too. Many Calgarians only associate Montreal with snobby, money-sucking EI cases, seperatists and Pierre Trudeau.

[sync]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

My guess: It was not long ago that Montreal was Canada's largest city, the financial centre, and even arguably the best skyline (in the early-to-mid 1960s). Toronto usurped those three things from Montreal starting in the late 1960s and accelerating in the decades that followed. It was a tough blow to Montreal's ego. Montrealers really view Toronto to be their city's only rival on the same level. A lot of Montrealers aren't even aware how much bigger Toronto is (everyone knows it is larger, but I wouldn't be surprised if many thought it was only a few hundred thousand larger).

It is unimaginable to many that Calgary is now surpassing Montreal as a business and skyscraper centre. Especially given that Montreal is over 3 times as large. Back in the 1970s, Calgary was not any bigger than Quebec City, and perhaps smaller. It is probably viewed by many as something of a frontier town and not a "real" big city. You would likely get similar reactions if you told Montrealers than Calgary was more ethnically diverse.

I would attribute it to a lack of awareness of how much Calgary has evolved and a lack of awareness of how much Montreal has stagnated. Montreal is only starting to pick up again after a 20 year drought (unimaginable in Calgary) of skyscraper construction. If Montreal had built up more during those twenty years, it might have maintained a bigger skyline.

I don't view Calgary this way of course, but I'm just trying to explain the dismissiveness of Montrealers.

http://d22zlbw5ff7yk5.cloudfront.net/images/cm-36243-050bffabb05dbf.gif


Thank you for this post. Calgary is an up and coming city - but it is not Montreal.

[Calgarian]

I think the original post said Calgary has way more tall highrises, not more highrises in general. We are building a lot really quickly, but still have a long long way to go to match the built form and density of MTL.

One reason I think that people from different ends of the country have very skewed perceptions on other cities, is because Canadians don't tend to travel much in our own country, we always go to the US or Europe. The number of people I know that have never been east of Manitoba is quite surprising. Also the number of people from Ontario or the Maritimes that moved here to find out Calgary is a large cosmopolitan city when they were expecting something like Regina (no knock on Regina BTW) is also quite surprising.