The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by MexiQuebecois

I've never been a fan of Calgary's skyline, but I gotta say that lately it's been growing on me. The new projects look pretty cool.

I visited Calgary for the first time last month and have to say I had mixed feelings about it. The residential areas on the outskirts looked very pretty although I didn't drive into any of them. I only saw them from the highway. The skyline was quite good, but coming from Toronto felt small. That's not really fair as Toronto is such a big city; my expectations were unrealistic. I suppose Toronto would feel small to someone from Shanghai.

The new bits are very impressive (the Bow, Eighth Avenue Place) and I loved the old bridge with the lions on it and that pedestrian mall. That said, I found downtown rather uninspired architecturally. The public realm was quite ugly and cold. There was too much hum drum office and so little 'high street'. It was uninviting from a pedestrian point of view. Downtown could do with lots more residential. With that will come more stores, cafes, restaurants on the street, and fewer blank canvasses of concrete.

That said, I did sense that Calgary was rapidly going in the right direction. It's only beginning to blossom and all that money/affluence will start being reflected at street level. Calgary's not there yet, but it might feel like a bona fide big city in 15-20 years if it keeps developing as it is. It's a work in progress. I haven't been to Vancouver, but perhaps I'd feel the same way about that too?

[Doug]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I visited Calgary for the first time last month and have to say I had mixed feelings about it. The residential areas on the outskirts looked very pretty although I didn't drive into any of them. I only saw them from the highway. The skyline was quite good, but coming from Toronto felt small. That's not really fair as Toronto is such a big city; my expectations were unrealistic. I suppose Toronto would feel small to someone from Shanghai.

The new bits are very impressive (the Bow, Eighth Avenue Place) and I loved the old bridge with the lions on it and that pedestrian mall. That said, I found downtown rather uninspired architecturally. The public realm was quite ugly and cold. I suppose it's because there was so much office and so little 'high street'. Downtown could do with lots more residential. With that will come more stores, cafes, restaurants on the street, and fewer blank canvasses of concrete.

That said, I did sense that Calgary was rapidly going in the right direction. I think it's only now blossoming and all that money and affluence will start being reflected at street level.

Downtown Calgary suffers a perception problem. What most consider to be downtown is really the financial district and it is no more uninviting than financial districts in other cities (How inviting is the MINT area in Toronto?). Calgary's financial district is remarkably out sized relative to the city's population. The nascent "high street" type of environment exists in a ring around downtown and is still too separated, too sparse and too small. That will finally change this decade as development bridges the rail line, river and surface parking barriers with downtown, and areas such as the Beltline, East Village, West Village, Sunnyside, Sunalta and Bridgeland densify at astonishing rates.

[kw5150]

Sounds like you needed a better tour guide. I had someone tell me they saw Calgary's skyline only from the trans Canada highway and they said it looked small and stubby......Trouble is, from the trans canada, you only see the top half of the skyline.....I laughed

Calgary will feel quite large in 5 years. There are hundreds of condo units and bunch of good sized highrises under construction. Seeing how we have embraced urban living at an early start, thing should really come together soon.

Vancouver is twice the size of CAlgary and you will be VERY impressed. I can guarantee that. Make sure and rent a bike and do the cycle loop around the downtown and stanley park.

Originally Posted by isaidso

I visited Calgary for the first time last month and have to say I had mixed feelings about it. The residential areas on the outskirts looked very pretty although I didn't drive into any of them. I only saw them from the highway. The skyline was quite good, but coming from Toronto felt small. That's not really fair as Toronto is such a big city; my expectations were unrealistic. I suppose Toronto would feel small to someone from Shanghai.

The new bits are very impressive (the Bow, Eighth Avenue Place) and I loved the old bridge with the lions on it and that pedestrian mall. That said, I found downtown rather uninspired architecturally. The public realm was quite ugly and cold. I suppose it's because there was so much office and so little 'high street'. Downtown could do with lots more residential. With that will come more stores, cafes, restaurants on the street, and fewer blank canvasses of concrete.

That said, I did sense that Calgary was rapidly going in the right direction. I think it's only now blossoming and all that money and affluence will start being reflected at street level. Calgary's not there yet, but it could start feeling like a bona fide big city in 15-20 years. Currently, it felt like a work in progress. I haven't been to Vancouver, but perhaps I'd feel the same way about that too?

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I visited Calgary for the first time last month and have to say I had mixed feelings about it. The residential areas on the outskirts looked very pretty although I didn't drive into any of them. I only saw them from the highway. The skyline was quite good, but coming from Toronto felt small. That's not really fair as Toronto is such a big city; my expectations were unrealistic. I suppose Toronto would feel small to someone from Shanghai.

The new bits are very impressive (the Bow, Eighth Avenue Place) and I loved the old bridge with the lions on it and that pedestrian mall. That said, I found downtown rather uninspired architecturally. The public realm was quite ugly and cold. There was too much hum drum office and so little 'high street'. It was uninviting from a pedestrian point of view. Downtown could do with lots more residential. With that will come more stores, cafes, restaurants on the street, and fewer blank canvasses of concrete.

That said, I did sense that Calgary was rapidly going in the right direction. I think it's only now blossoming and all that money and affluence will start being reflected at street level. Calgary's not there yet, but it could start feeling like a bona fide big city in 15-20 years. Currently, it felt like a work in progress. I haven't been to Vancouver, but perhaps I'd feel the same way about that too?

I agree entirely, except that the downtown area is a financial core currently and not meant to be our high street bloor-type area. The Beltline does pretty well for the population we have. We definitely are a work in progress.

Vancouver is absolutely leagues ahead of us and, in my opinion, every other city in Canada (except I haven't been to/lived in Montreal like I have all of the other major cities so I don't know personally). However, people in Calgary have made projections for what it will take, and how long it will take for our Beltline to become as dense and busy as Vancouver's West End. I don't exactly remember how long they said it would take, but it required a doubling of the Beltline's population. However, this will be achieved rather quickly, over a decade, but within 20 years hopefully

KW5150 is right.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Doug

Downtown Calgary suffers a perception problem. What most consider to be downtown is really the financial district and it is no more uninviting than financial districts in other cities (How inviting is the MINT area in Toronto?). Calgary's financial district is remarkably out sized relative to the city's population. The nascent "high street" type of environment exists in a ring around downtown and is still too separated, too sparse and too small. That will finally change this decade as development bridges the rail line, river and surface parking barriers with downtown, and areas such as the Beltline, East Village, West Village, Sunnyside, Sunalta and Bridgeland densify at astonishing rates.

I think you basically said the same thing as me, but it a different way. The CBD in Toronto isn't the most vibrant place after 5pm either, but the architecture is noticeably better (Mies, IM Pei, etc.). The Bow is a game changer for Calgary and gave me lots of optimism about where Calgary is heading. Toronto's CBD population is also growing (Trump, One King West, etc.) which is making the whole area better each passing year.

I think Calgary will develop the same way, but Toronto is a lot further along that path.

[Chadillaccc]

Absolutely. Especially with Telus Sky, it's basically our solution to 1 King West, but with office in the lower floors instead of hotel. Kings On Fourth would be almost perfect, Office, Hotel, and Residential all in one, at 210 meters tall. Would definiely be a game-changer for the west end of downtown.

[chrisallard5454]

Toronto's own airport has facts stated when arriving, and they state that in the Delta alone there are more high-rises than all of North America combined. Sorry Caltrane, you can't win this one.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by kw5150

Sounds like you needed a better tour guide. I had someone tell me they saw Calgary's skyline only from the trans Canada highway and they said it looked small and stubby......Trouble is, from the trans canada, you only see the top half of the skyline.....I laughed

Calgary will feel quite large in 5 years. There are hundreds of condo units and bunch of good sized highrises under construction. Seeing how we have embraced urban living at an early start, thing should really come together soon.

Vancouver is twice the size of CAlgary and you will be VERY impressed. I can guarantee that. Make sure and rent a bike and do the cycle loop around the downtown and stanley park.

Possibly I needed a better tour guide, but I stayed at the downtown Ramada. My views of the skyline weren't from the highway. I took the C-train and also walked to the other side of the belt line (where Mountain Equipment Co-op is located). Don't get me wrong, Calgary is an immensely impressive place for its size. I suppose I'm waiting for it to morph into one of north America's great cities and want it to happen yesterday.

I really want to visit Vancouver next. I'm sure I'll find the scenery/setting breath taking, but I suspect the city itself might under whelm. My friends that are from there or have visited have all told me not to expect a big bustling city. If I go there with that mindset, I'll end up being disappointed.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Absolutely. Especially with Telus Sky, it's basically our solution to 1 King West, but with office in the lower floors instead of hotel. Kings On Fourth would be almost perfect, Office, Hotel, and Residential all in one, at 210 meters tall. Would definiely be a game-changer for the west end of downtown.

I just googled Kings On Fourth. That's exactly the type of residential that Calgary needs. A few more like that but 6-8 blocks east would be ideal. People in Toronto used to argue that the CBD being all office was fine, but steps have been made to significantly add residential (Trump, 1 King West) and it's made the world of difference. It's still too 'empty' but a few more residential towers are planned (INDX being the latest: 58 floors) for the CBD.

Don't you think it would benefit Calgary to go that route as well?

[kool maudit]

i didn't find vancouver really felt like canada's "third big city"; urbanity-wise, it was like a very well-located ottawa with lots of condo towers.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I really want to visit Vancouver next. I'm sure I'll find the scenery/setting breath taking, but I suspect the city itself might under whelm. My friends that are from there or have visited have all told me not to expect a big bustling city. If I go there with that mindset, I'll end up being disappointed.

What's surprising about Vancouver is how well it manages to hide it's density. Where tens of thousands of people live you will find tree lined streets and well manicured landscaping. I find it to be the antethisis of typical North-Eastern density one would find in NYC Toronto etc... Both are great, but for drastically different reasons.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Can you read Chinese? - Maybe you can be of some assistance in clearing this up for us. - An honest count will give us a fair assessment of where Toronto stands in reference to these mega Chinese cities, that are still growing at a rapid rate.

Cal we've had this discussion before but take it from me as someone who lives in Toronto, works in Toronto development and just spent a few weeks in mainland china, its not even close.

China is expecting roughly 300 million people to move from rural areas to cities in the next 10-15 years, that's the entire population of the US to move into cities. IT's literally almost incomprehensible how large that is.

The are LITERALLY 10s of thousands of highrises under construction all over china. It's mind boggling. No one can keep track of it outside of the Chinese government, and they aren't exactly known for their propensity to share information!

Also google maps in China is a joke. Check for yourself. It's very low res and difficult to understand what is going on. The only way to really appreciate what is going on is to go there and see it first person.

I highly recommend you, and anyone else who hasn't, try and see this while they can, because nothing like this urbanization will ever happen again in any of our lives.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I just googled Kings On Fourth. That's exactly the type of residential that Calgary needs. A few more like that but 6-8 blocks east would be ideal. People in Toronto used to argue that the CBD being all office was fine, but steps have been made to significantly add residential (Trump, 1 King West) and it's made the world of difference. It's still too 'empty' but a few more residential towers are planned (INDX being the latest: 58 floors) for the CBD.

Don't you think it would benefit Calgary to go that route as well?

Absoluely, I agreed with almost every point you made. It's definitely the route I want us to take, and it is going that route. There are a few full-residential towers going up too that should help. Unfortunately most of this is in the west end, which already has most of downtown's residential. But City Centre II, Telus Sky, Waterfront, the International Hotel Addition and the towers going up in the East Village should really bring downtown to a new level, hopefully.

[Martin Mtl]

i think someone should open a thread titled "The great Toronto skyline vs any other city's skyline thread", so those of us who don't care can just avoid it.

Those are great aerials of Calgary by the way.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I visited Calgary for the first time last month and have to say I had mixed feelings about it. The residential areas on the outskirts looked very pretty although I didn't drive into any of them. I only saw them from the highway. The skyline was quite good, but coming from Toronto felt small. That's not really fair as Toronto is such a big city; my expectations were unrealistic. I suppose Toronto would feel small to someone from Shanghai.

The new bits are very impressive (the Bow, Eighth Avenue Place) and I loved the old bridge with the lions on it and that pedestrian mall. That said, I found downtown rather uninspired architecturally. The public realm was quite ugly and cold. There was too much hum drum office and so little 'high street'. It was uninviting from a pedestrian point of view. Downtown could do with lots more residential. With that will come more stores, cafes, restaurants on the street, and fewer blank canvasses of concrete.

That said, I did sense that Calgary was rapidly going in the right direction. It's only beginning to blossom and all that money/affluence will start being reflected at street level. Calgary's not there yet, but it might feel like a bona fide big city in 15-20 years if it keeps developing as it is. It's a work in progress. I haven't been to Vancouver, but perhaps I'd feel the same way about that too?

Large parts of Calgary's downtown are pretty uninviting and sterile, that's for sure, but it is massively better than it was just 10 years ago. The large business district is pretty empty in the evenings (save for Stephen Ave) but there is lots going on around the periphery of downtown. More condo towers are being built now, but Calgary had to hit a point where you couldn't drive to the edge of the city in rush hour to inspire more people to live closer to the core, and with traffic getting worse by the day, this trend will only accelerate.

[kw5150]

I have a list of things to do for you to fall in love with vancouver and it's people:

Get dropped off somewhere in kitsilano and walk around 4th ave(st?). Then make your way across the burrard bridge........

http://martingoodman.com/soyouwanttobeawriter/uploaded_images/Burrard%20Bridge-739975.JPG


Head into the downtown core, then take a left on davie and go to denman Steet. Spend some time around there and grab lunch, go to english bay beach.....then go north on denman to one of the 5 bike rental shops. Do the pathway system around the core and stanley park.

http://pricetags.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/denman.jpg


return your bike and go to english bay again to sit with hundreds of people and cheer at the sunset while sitting behind a giant log.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/h...65228_10151475448486086_2006313164_n.jpg


Then head into the downtown core and party it up at whatever club (or lounge) that appeals to you.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bVtGlUaW-tA/TKB8VYOtL4I/AAAAAAAAPP4/R1-DlKXTuoE/s1600/16.jpg


Make sure and walk down robson and burrard. Pacific is cool as well.
http://www.renthomas.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/DSCF7273.jpg


Cap the night off with a drive over the Lions gate bridge and back into the city.....
http://photoblog.mrussellphotography.com...ons-gate-bridge-night-traffic-23488c.jpg


The next day: do granville island, false creek, gas town.

Te next day: do english bay and head over to wreck beach, and be there for sunset.

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/u/T...uorpDq99iNLv6U7D3n6tYWmIaeigxKf6rnZsvDA/


watch out for these stairs on the way out though!!!! Difficult after a couple beers. (for sale on the beach for 4.00)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_4h2eUeZmoUg/TM...Le8IghkSxOU/s1600/wreck+beach+stairs.jpg

.........but I suspect the city itself might under whelm. My friends that are from there or have visited have all told me not to expect a big bustling city. If I go there with that mindset, I'll end up being disappointed.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Large parts of Calgary's downtown are pretty uninviting and sterile.

You could say the exact same thing about Montreal and Toronto. Canadian cities are all work in progress.

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by caltrane74

Yes, I do. It's urban area is the not the actual farmland that surrounds it, is less than Toronto and really probably closer to Montreal than anything else. I'm not counting it's province which is about the same size of Nevada and counted towards it city population count. Perhaps not, 20 towers under-construction, but likely not far off.

Here is an old list from a Chinese Forumers



This list is old. I'm asking for an updated list right now

That list, as I expected, includes zero of the large scale multi-tower residential developments that are extremely common in major Chinese cities. There may only be 20 major skyscrapers under construction, but there's likely way more residential towers than that under construction at the same time. They don't make these kinds of lists because they're all very cookie-cutter.

For example, my wife and I recently bought an apartment in a residential complex that contains at least 20 26 storey buildings, as well as at least 5 33 storey buildings. Developments like these are very common on the outskirts of all major Chinese cities, and they are often larger/taller than that as well.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

You could say the exact same thing about Montreal and Toronto. Canadian cities are all work in progress.

Definitely, especially in areas that are mostly office buildings.

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by Doug

Downtown Calgary suffers a perception problem. What most consider to be downtown is really the financial district and it is no more uninviting than financial districts in other cities (How inviting is the MINT area in Toronto?). Calgary's financial district is remarkably out sized relative to the city's population. The nascent "high street" type of environment exists in a ring around downtown and is still too separated, too sparse and too small. That will finally change this decade as development bridges the rail line, river and surface parking barriers with downtown, and areas such as the Beltline, East Village, West Village, Sunnyside, Sunalta and Bridgeland densify at astonishing rates.

I think that's exactly right. I think once mixed use areas like East Village, Eau Claire and Beltline live up to their fuller potential, people will care less about the evening vitality of the Central Business District. Every NA CBD is similar - ever been in Chicago's Loop in the evening? Pretty dead - but no one cares because other areas of "downtown" are bustling. That said the CBD itself has room for improvement in the pedestrian experience that's very achievable.