The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[1ajs]

winnipeg technicaly has 7 downtowns..... and it does not do enough to celebrate this heritage of pre unicity

but anyhow the north end has been left outa the discussion

[isaidso]

Saint John is smaller (pop. 127,761) but it has comparable streetscapes. I'd argue that they are more impressive although 3 Rivers (pop. 151,773) is good.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

winnipeg technicaly has 7 downtowns..... and it does not do enough to celebrate this heritage of pre unicity

Perhaps this explains why I was having difficulty with the argument that Winnipeg is more urban than Calgary. From my visits to Winnipeg (admittedly only twice), CBD/Exchange District/Forks did not feel nearly as urban as city centre Calgary (CBD/Chinatown/Beltline/Eau Claire). However, outside of that, Calgary's urbanity drops off pretty quickly (there are no other real urban centres or high streets [unless one counts the ethnoburbs in the North and East of the city as "nuevo-urban"], apart from maybe Marda Loop).

[YOWflier]

Ottawa looking West -> East from above the river parkway.



Image: 99parkdale.com

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by Reesonov

Depends on how one measures urbanity. But there is no way that it is Victoria, by any measure. The answer is likely either Ottawa or Calgary (not surprisingly), again, depending on how one measures a subjective thing like "urbanity."

Agreed. cities like Calgary, Quebec, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Halifax would come as the cities with the most urbanity after the big three. Victoria isn't even close.

[Coldrsx]

^Ahem

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

Agreed. cities like Calgary, Quebec, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Halifax would come as the cities with the most urbanity after the big three. Victoria isn't even close.

What about Edmonton, Hamilton, and London? Surely they at least compare to Halifax?

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Reesonov

Perhaps this explains why I was having difficulty with the argument that Winnipeg is more urban than Calgary. From my visits to Winnipeg (admittedly only twice), CBD/Exchange District/Forks did not feel nearly as urban as city centre Calgary (CBD/Chinatown/Beltline/Eau Claire). However, outside of that, Calgary's urbanity drops off pretty quickly (there are no other real urban centres or high streets [unless one counts the ethnoburbs in the North and East of the city as "nuevo-urban"], apart from maybe Marda Loop).

It probably depends on what your definition of what urban is. For me the most important thing isn't a high density CBD or even attached residential, but the presence of functioning, walkable main streets outside of the immediate core. Zero lot line wall to wall commercial preferably 2 stories or more. This is hard to find outside of the eastern portion of the country really. 17th ave in Calgary is far more sporadic in this regard than main street strips in Ottawa a few km from downtown (though the stores / restaurants are generally nicer).

Also I forgot about Quebec city in my previous (admittedly drunken) post, so I would place that a solid 4th.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Beedok

What about Edmonton, Hamilton, and London? Surely they at least compare to Halifax?

And I'm sure that Victoria at least compares to Halifax and London.

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by Beedok

What about Edmonton, Hamilton, and London? Surely they at least compare to Halifax?

Agreed. I said cities 'like' which would mean Edmonton, or Hamilton also

[kw5150]

This wins for the most idiotic conversation of the year so far. To leave Edmonton out of the discussion is just plain lame. You definitely know Edmonton is a big city as soon as you drive in. The closer you get to the middle, the more dense and exciting it gets. Lol, and to put Calgary after Winnipeg is even more funny.

[kool maudit]

it seems to have to do with the fact that everyone has different visual signifiers as to what constitutes a "big city."

a scene like this contains the idea of "big city" to me, in a way, but geneva is not a big city.

(credit: columbusmmug.com)



because i am seemingly wired to seek out these sorts of scenes in order to feel like i am approaching a sizeable city, i would probably tend to underestimate a place like edmonton. similarly, if one looked more to things like skylines, a place like vienna, and a scene like this within vienna, might not be enough to convince a guy from calgary or denver that he is indeed within a big city.

it gets subjective and aesthetic, even where the numbers are readily available.

[kw5150]

Its all about inner city density and cool pocket neighborhoods. Calgary is loaded with great neighborhoods that form a ring around the CBD and they continue to fill in everyday.

-The next 5 years will see some very dramatic changes to the urban fabric in Calgary.
-The morning bicycle and pedestrian rush hour is getting really exciting here for such a small city.
-The train stations in the morning are busting at the seams.
-Its a great place to live and feel urban.
-We have lots of space to fill in, which is really exciting.
-Even the biggest skeptics are starting to like the changes in Calgary
-Its not a spread out as some cities. Where the city ends.....it ends and there is literally nothing. You can be 10 minutes west of Calgary and feel like there is no city anywhere close at all.
-And i find the people here really friendly, that is why I moved here.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by kw5150

This wins for the most idiotic conversation of the year so far. To leave Edmonton out of the discussion is just plain lame. You definitely know Edmonton is a big city as soon as you drive in. The closer you get to the middle, the more dense and exciting it gets. Lol, and to put Calgary after Winnipeg is even more funny.

I guess everyone here is an idiot, except you of course. Thank you for illuminating us with your infinite wisdom.

[Razor]

^ That last shot of Ottawa..very cool!..Thanks for posting

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

it seems to have to do with the fact that everyone has different visual signifiers as to what constitutes a "big city."

a scene like this contains the idea of "big city" to me, in a way, but geneva is not a big city.

(credit: columbusmmug.com)



because i am seemingly wired to seek out these sorts of scenes in order to feel like i am approaching a sizeable city, i would probably tend to underestimate a place like edmonton. similarly, if one looked more to things like skylines, a place like vienna, and a scene like this within vienna, might not be enough to convince a guy from calgary or denver that he is indeed within a big city.

it gets subjective and aesthetic, even where the numbers are readily available.

And this is why there are still some people out there (though the number are fading fast thanks to the high-rise boom and other factors too) who will tell you that Montreal feels like a bigger city than Toronto. Because Toronto has those gable and bay single-family homes (few of them inhabited by single families any more it is true) right off many of its downtown streets.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by kw5150

Its all about inner city density and cool pocket neighborhoods. Calgary is loaded with great neighborhoods that form a ring around the CBD and they continue to fill in everyday.

-The next 5 years will see some very dramatic changes to the urban fabric in Calgary.
-The morning bicycle and pedestrian rush hour is getting really exciting here for such a small city.
-The train stations in the morning are busting at the seams.
-Its a great place to live and feel urban.
-We have lots of space to fill in, which is really exciting.
-Even the biggest skeptics are starting to like the changes in Calgary
-Its not a spread out as some cities. Where the city ends.....it ends and there is literally nothing. You can be 10 minutes west of Calgary and feel like there is no city anywhere close at all.
-And i find the people here really friendly, that is why I moved here.

Whenever I've been in Calgary, the vehicular traffic was awful. Traffic congestion is a symptom of urban sprawl.

Having lots of space that still requires infill is also a symptom of urban sprawl.

You moved to Calgary because Calgarians are so friendly?... It's been my experience that people choose their living arrangements based on employment, mostly. If 'personality' was your actual reason for moving, you would have moved to one of the municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Whenever I've been in Calgary, the vehicular traffic was awful. Traffic congestion is a symptom of urban sprawl.

Having lots of space that still requires infill is also a symptom of urban sprawl.

You moved to Calgary because Calgarians are so friendly?... It's been my experience that people choose their living arrangements based on employment, mostly. If 'personality' was your actual reason for moving, you would have moved to one of the municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

By that definition Toronto should be the sprawl capital of the universe!!! Then again so would most Canadian and North American cities. Also, not really sure how you can make such sweeping claims about Calgary's traffic being so awful and therefore the city being a centre for sprawl, when basically any metropolis on the planet has similar or much worse traffic. Small towns must be the most urban then because they have less traffic.

[Chadillaccc]

Calgary's is pretty bad though at times. I wouldn't say that all traffic congestion is a symptom of urban sprawl, but in Calgary's case, it most definitely is. The ring road should have been completed years ago, Deerfoot Trail (highway) needs serious improvements to its interchange with Glenmore Trail and a few other thoroughfares as well, Crowchild Trail should have been completely grade-separated decades ago, but now because of the lack of forsight, all of these short-comings have contributed to the traffic situation currently happening in Calgary. The city just announced late last year that they won't be working on any interchange or widening improvements on Deerfoot until the southeast Ring Road is complete, which could be 4 years away.

So hopefully within 10 years Calgary will have the traffic capacity to support a population of 1 million, finally. Except that by then, the population of the city/metro will be 1.6 million. :/ However, the SETWAY and Centre Street BRT should help with this.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

By that definition Toronto should be the sprawl capital of the universe!!! Then again so would most Canadian and North American cities. Also, not really sure how you can make such sweeping claims about Calgary's traffic being so awful and therefore the city being a centre for sprawl, when basically any metropolis on the planet has similar or much worse traffic. Small towns must be the most urban then because they have less traffic.

Calgary is the centre for sprawl?... I said traffic congestion is a "symptom of urban sprawl." I also realise Toronto's traffic congestion -- another city that is affected by sprawl.

You're overly sensitive.