The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by isaidso

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).

You absolutely needed a tour guide. The Ramada is in a dead zone west of the best part of Stephen Ave (between 4 St and Olympic Plaza- there is NOTHING "sterile" or uninviting for pedestrians about this stretch; it's absolutely clotted with people especially on nice days and comprises The Core mall which is nice in any season, breathtaking even). And you went to MEC- you didn't proceed the six blocks to 17th?? That's insane. That'd be like if I went to Edmonton, stayed in some boring part of downtown, crossed the High Level Bridge from downtown and ate at the High Level Diner without even proceeding to 82nd. Terrible choices.

[Rusty van Reddick]

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.

Wow, that's exactly how I feel about Montreal.

[Martin Mtl]

Great Vancouver "must-see/do" list. I need to go!

[chrisallard5454]

LMAO, I can't believe the name was actually changed. Good stuff, I definitely got a crack out of it. While we are at it, I love all of our skylines, each is unique and brings forward a completely special character from the last.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

You absolutely needed a tour guide. The Ramada is in a dead zone west of the best part of Stephen Ave (between 4 St and Olympic Plaza- there is NOTHING "sterile" or uninviting for pedestrians about this stretch; it's absolutely clotted with people especially on nice days and comprises The Core mall which is nice in any season, breathtaking even). And you went to MEC- you didn't proceed the six blocks to 17th?? That's insane. That'd be like if I went to Edmonton, stayed in some boring part of downtown, crossed the High Level Bridge from downtown and ate at the High Level Diner without even proceeding to 82nd. Terrible choices.

My God. If you need to have such a precise and restrictive itinary to appreciate the city...

[ue]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

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).

Really? Even ahead of Toronto? Sorry, I just have a tough time comprehending Vancouver being a league above Toronto in its urbanity. Maybe you're meaning by a different metric though? Natural beauty is something Vancouver beats every other large city in Canada at, as is mild and agreeable weather year-round. On the urban front, though, I find Vancouver quite underwhelming, and not that far ahead of places like Calgary or Edmonton. Certainly not as ahead as BC-lusting Albertans seem to think.

Originally Posted by 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.

I agree to a point. I wouldn't call it Ottawa-esque, but Vancouver definitely doesn't feel very big city. Or maybe you could say it feels big city only due to the absence of a real big city out West. It's like a smaller Seattle or a more international and yuppie-fied Portland urbanity-wise.

It definitely doesn't have the amenities of Canada's true big cities -- Montreal and Toronto. I'm not sure why this is, though. I mean, Vancouver does an excellent job in a textbook way at creating an inviting urban realm, and does amazingly well at building sustainably. But it still feels sleepy to me. Or maybe it isn't really sleepy, but due to hype, I end up expecting more.

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

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

This as well as any CBD is bound to be sleepy outside of the regular business hours. Even New York City.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

You absolutely needed a tour guide. The Ramada is in a dead zone west of the best part of Stephen Ave (between 4 St and Olympic Plaza- there is NOTHING "sterile" or uninviting for pedestrians about this stretch; it's absolutely clotted with people especially on nice days and comprises The Core mall which is nice in any season, breathtaking even). And you went to MEC- you didn't proceed the six blocks to 17th?? That's insane. That'd be like if I went to Edmonton, stayed in some boring part of downtown, crossed the High Level Bridge from downtown and ate at the High Level Diner without even proceeding to 82nd. Terrible choices.

But I walked from the Ramada all the way to Centre Street, checked out most of the surrounding streets, then walked north to the river (Chinatown). Isn't that the CBD? Granted these are only first impressions from a one day trip to Calgary, but I was pretty sure I covered a good swath of the CBD on foot.

I did go to the Core Mall and that pedestrian mall close by which were both very nice, but expected the whole area between the belt line and the river to be equally appealing. I suppose it will be one day.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

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.

Originally Posted by Calgarian

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.

I hope I wasn't too harsh, but thought people might appreciate an outsider's first impressions. I think Calgary is going to be a fabulous big city and it's exciting times for sure.

I also agree with you that Calgary is doing all the right things; it will just take some time.

[MolsonExport]

ah fukit

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by isaidso

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.

Why don;t you ask Flar about this, and view his Vancouver photo threads, according to his comments he was very surprised how urban Vancouver is and how much he enjoyed its urban fabric, and believe it was also a lot busier than he imagined.

I sometimes suspect those who say "the don't feel it is Canada's third largest city" etc... either were in Vancouver at horrid times (for example, on a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 rainy December day) or simply went to the wrong places.

Riding the Canada line daily (aka the tourist airport line) I have probably heard 9 to 1 good / impressed / surprised how busy Vancouver is comments to disappointed / boring comments.

Many are impressed off the bat with our automated train system, hehe.

If you do come, ask me for some good spots to see, urban and natural.

[urban_planner]

Here are a few more from Hamilton!
someone else has posted some from my flickr I might as well post some!









if you go here http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/gods_eyes/

You can see more of what I have take from Hamilton, Including the waterfalls!

[logan5]

Originally Posted by kw5150

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.

Yaletown and Downtown South were basically built from scratch in about 20 years to a population of around 50 000 people, and I believe the West End was built in about 2 decades as well. With Calgary growing at a faster rate than Vancouver, it's certainly theoretically possible for Calgary to do the same thing.

The Beltline is on it's way to becoming a super vibrant neighborhood (it is already), but I would hope Calgary does a better job (than Vancouver) of creating more interesting retail spaces along burgeoning high streets because there doesn't appear to be a lot of older neighborhoods in Calgary that can be rehabilitated to create a character 'hood. Garrison Woods should be a template for new neighborhoods.

http://peakexperienceimagery.com/


WRT Toronto vs Chinese cities, I try to refrain, but I can't help but comment... I don't know why any official list is necessary when one need only look at photographs of these cities to see how much larger they are than Toronto, even 20 years from now.

[KnoxfordGuy]

Great Hamilton shots!

[Chadillaccc]

Those are some of the best Hamilton skyline photos I've ever seen! Bravo!

[roccerfeller]

Amazing Hamilton shots!

Really like the first one.

[Beedok]

Very nice Hamilton views. I like the W Loft sneaking in the one.

[G.S MTL]

EDIT. is it just me or was this thread called "The great Toronto skyline vs all other cities in Canada or something like that???

WEIRD.

[someone123]

I have a feeling Vancouver is easily under-appreciated by visitors looking for city things, much like LA. People who think LA is just like an East Coast city go downtown, wander around a bit, and leave underwhelmed. At the end of the day though there is a lot more stuff going on there than in most other cities in the US, just like there's a lot more going on in Vancouver than in most other cities in Canada.

Originally Posted by Metro-One

either were in Vancouver at horrid times (for example, on a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 rainy December day)

Some cities are better than others, but every city in Canada has bad winter weather. It is hard to imagine somebody from another part of the country visiting Vancouver in the winter and not realizing that it isn't like that year round, but maybe it happens.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Why don;t you ask Flar about this, and view his Vancouver photo threads, according to his comments he was very surprised how urban Vancouver is and how much he enjoyed its urban fabric, and believe it was also a lot busier than he imagined.

I sometimes suspect those who say "the don't feel it is Canada's third largest city" etc... either were in Vancouver at horrid times (for example, on a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 rainy December day) or simply went to the wrong places.

Riding the Canada line daily (aka the tourist airport line) I have probably heard 9 to 1 good / impressed / surprised how busy Vancouver is comments to disappointed / boring comments.

Many are impressed off the bat with our automated train system, hehe.

If you do come, ask me for some good spots to see, urban and natural.

I found downtown Toronto sleepy when I moved here in 2001; and still find it a bit pedestrian. It's likely good advice from my friends not to expect Vancouver to be busy. They do know me well. Flar's threads? They're very good, but they do seem to support what my friends have been telling me. That said, I will take you up on your offer when I make it to Vancouver.

Love your Kamloops photos, btw. It's more on my to do list than Vancouver actually. It's possibly my favourite landscape in the country.

[franktko]

Originally Posted by G.S MTL

this is a stupid thread.

lol. No, I'd say the weather thread is pretty stupid

Nice aerial shot this morning in La Presse...