The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[Delirium]

photo by Scott Merriman on flickr.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottmerriman/8754903966/sizes/h/in/photostream/

[ZeDgE]

Beautiful!

[logan5]

Nice up to date shot. It's more subtle, but you can see the density that is quickly building around SE False Creek. Downtown Vancouver's density is unmatched in Canada, and probly never will be... it's still growing!

[Wooster]

I've gotta think Downtown Toronto is more dense, no?

Nice shot though.

[caltrane74]

Originally Posted by logan5

Nice up to date shot. It's more subtle, but you can see the density that is quickly building around SE False Creek. Downtown Vancouver's density is unmatched in Canada, and probly never will be... it's still growing!

Lol!

[Martin Mtl]

By BeerBaron23 on Flickr

[Martin Mtl]

By TEDDSON on Flickr

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Wooster

I've gotta think Downtown Toronto is more dense, no?

Nice shot though.

Correct, downtown Toronto has higher population density than downtown Vancouver. Vancouver is a little bit of an optical illusion because it's a sea of towers. What's not readily apparent is that the vast majority of them are only about 15-40 floors high. Downtown Toronto hasn't filled in like downtown Vancouver, but there are lots of substantially taller residential towers to mitigate against the lower density row houses one sees in many pockets of the core. Toronto's downtown core had a population of 175,064 in 2011 over an area of 4.5 square miles. That's about 38,900 people/square mile:



According to the link below, downtown Vancouver had 54,690 people over 1.5 square miles. That's about 36,400 people/square mile. Not only is downtown Toronto denser, but it's 3 times bigger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Vancouver

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Correct, downtown Toronto has higher population density than downtown Vancouver. Vancouver is a little bit of an optical illusion because it's a sea of towers. What's not readily apparent is that the vast majority of them are only about 15-40 floors high.

And Paris is a sea of 8-storeys buildings and it's probably denser than Vancouver or Toronto will ever be. Density is a very relative concept.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Correct, downtown Toronto has higher population density than downtown Vancouver. Vancouver is a little bit of an optical illusion because it's a sea of towers. What's not readily apparent is that the vast majority of them are only about 15-40 floors high.

Vancouver has a lot of slimmer point towers that are pretty tall but don't have many units because of their small floor plates. For example, Shangri-La in Vancouver is about the same height as One Bloor in Toronto, and they're both mixed condo/hotel buildings. One Bloor will have almost 700 units and Shangri-La has 307 units (hotel + condo).

The other thing I always wonder about is why somebody would compare two downtown business districts based on the residential population alone. What about office workers and visitors? It takes more than just residents to make a vibrant urban core.

[caltrane74]

Here's another optical illusion

I took this photo about 5 minutes Ago as a construction update



In it we have 5 towers taller than anything in Vancouver, 6 taller than anything in Vancouver with exception to the Vancouver Shangrila and 7 taller than anything in Vancouver excluding Shangrila if you include the one tower u/c only one floor tall now, 8 if you include the other u/c tower that will appear in this shot when completed at 165ish meters. In total 10 buildings at or over 500 feet in this shot alone. If you're talking about density of tall buildings regardless of cut off point Toronto also has the edge there too. Vancouver has a great looking skyline but as mentioned most of the towers are between 60 to 110 meters tall, and have very slender floor plates.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

And Paris is a sea of 8-storeys buildings and it's probably denser than Vancouver or Toronto will ever be. Density is a very relative concept.

Ever? That's an awfully long time; are you sure you want to make a blanket statement like that? Besides, the discussion was about Vancouver and Toronto. Should we now start bringing Dhaka into the conversation too?

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Ever?

During my lifetime, probably.

[isaidso]

That's better.

Originally Posted by someone123

Vancouver has a lot of slimmer point towers that are pretty tall but don't have many units because of their small floor plates. For example, Shangri-La in Vancouver is about the same height as One Bloor in Toronto, and they're both mixed condo/hotel buildings. One Bloor will have almost 700 units and Shangri-La has 307 units (hotel + condo).

The other thing I always wonder about is why somebody would compare two downtown business districts based on the residential population alone. What about office workers and visitors? It takes more than just residents to make a vibrant urban core.

The permanent residential population in the core of a city does matter. Cores that are home to lots of jobs, but few residents get eerily quiet after 5pm. I agree with you that floor plates are much bigger in Toronto. That said, One Bloor is about 255m while Shangri-La Vancouver is about 200m, they're not similar in height.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Here's another optical illusion

I took this photo about 5 minutes Ago as a construction update



In it we have 5 towers taller than anything in Vancouver, 6 taller than anything in Vancouver with exception to the Vancouver Shangrila and 7 taller than anything in Vancouver excluding Shangrila if you include the one tower u/c only one floor tall now, 8 if you include the other u/c tower that will appear in this shot when completed at 165ish meters. In total 10 buildings at or over 500 feet in this shot alone. If you're talking about density of tall buildings regardless of cut off point Toronto also has the edge there too. Vancouver has a great looking skyline but as mentioned most of the towers are between 60 to 110 meters tall, and have very slender floor plates.

There are 30 completed towers over 110 meters downtown, so a more honest quote would be that most of the towers in Van are between 80 and 130 meters tall, nice try though.

I always love your downplaying of other cities to help further bolster Toronto.

Look what you did Logan5, once you even mention the idea of Vancouver being over Toronto in any category the tsunami of Toronto civic boosters have set you straight!

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Look what you did Logan5, once you even mention the idea of Vancouver being over Toronto in any category the tsunami of Toronto civic boosters have set you straight!

Caltrane is prone to embellishment and hyperbole, but Logan5 should check his facts before making statements like he did. I often complain about Torontonians assuming they're #1 in everything, but when making claims to the contrary it's best to get one's facts straight.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Caltrane is prone to embellishment and hyperbole, but Logan5 should check his facts before making statements like he did. I often complain about Torontonians assuming they're #1 in everything, but when making claims to the contrary it's best to get one's facts straight.

Yeah, this I agree with.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by logan5

Nice up to date shot. It's more subtle, but you can see the density that is quickly building around SE False Creek. Downtown Vancouver's density is unmatched in Canada, and probly never will be... it's still growing!

ignorance is not bliss

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

And Paris is a sea of 8-storeys buildings and it's probably denser than Vancouver or Toronto will ever be. Density is a very relative concept.

How is that a sign of relativity?

[BIMBAM]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Correct, downtown Toronto has higher population density than downtown Vancouver. Vancouver is a little bit of an optical illusion because it's a sea of towers. What's not readily apparent is that the vast majority of them are only about 15-40 floors high. Downtown Toronto hasn't filled in like downtown Vancouver, but there are lots of substantially taller residential towers to mitigate against the lower density row houses one sees in many pockets of the core. Toronto's downtown core had a population of 175,064 in 2011 over an area of 4.5 square miles. That's about 38,900 people/square mile:



According to the link below, downtown Vancouver had 54,690 people over 1.5 square miles. That's about 36,400 people/square mile. Not only is downtown Toronto denser, but it's 3 times bigger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Vancouver

I don't know if it's fair to compare the 4.5 square miles of downtown Toronto to Vancouver while excluding the West End. If the West End's 42,560 residents in .788 square miles is included, the peninsula's 2.236 mile area has a density 44,387 people per square mile and 99,250 residents. That actually is significantly denser then Downtown Toronto, and I do feel that the whole of the peninsula is what properly corresponds to the area that was cited as DT Toronto.