The Great Canadian Skyline Thread! II

[Beedok]

Oh come on, you don't need Toronto to make it an actual skyline pic.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I have to admit it made me laugh out loud.

KW: If you want to make the case for Calgary density, it's wise not to include photos like these 2 below. The first one has a good km of virgin land at the top left

I hate to become involved in this squabble, but the "good km of virgin land" is Prince's Island Park, which is roughly 200 m wide.

EDIT: Sorry, I was confused. That is actually the Elbow River valley, which is more like 100 m wide.

In any event, my two cents on the Calgary v. Ottawa density debate (having grown up in Calgary and now residing in Kingston [and therefore visiting Ottawa frequently for work and leisure]): Standing at the intersection of 1st Street and 8th Avenue SW in Calgary delivers a big city feeling that does not exist in Ottawa. However, Ottawa has more areas or neighbourhoods that one could reasonably describe as "urban" than Calgary. All in all, Calgary feels slightly larger and more urban to me, but that is from my largely western North American perspective (in my defense however, I have visited hundreds of cities around the world (and lived in several large ones, including Beijing, and Istanbul briefly).

Anyway, it largely comes down to one's definition of "urban" or "big city", which is an elusive and largely personal, depending on one's childhood memories of the local metropolis, idea.

[Razor]

Okay, obviously you never thought of the idea that there are also countless people from Montreal that spring into Ottawa for whatever reason.

-They want to catch an often sold out Habs game, so they jet into Ottawa.
Springsteen the night before was sold out at the Bell centre, so they wrangled tickets at Scotia bank place.
-it's a hot summer day, and are looking for a change of pace, so they jet into Ottawa, and hit the market patios for a few pints on a Saturday
-Ottawa Bluesfest is going on, well you get the Jist.

I often run into Montrealers here doing the same as i would in Montreal..

So you see, there is a more symbiotic thing going on then you probably realized. You made it sound like the road was tilted down from Ottawa to Montreal. Now a regional centre is where Little Mary from Merrickville jets into to grab a prom dress on one of her families Sunday trips into the city an 45 minutes away. That place where the family of four go to to have that birthday dinner, because Renfrew doesn't have a KEG. If Montreal were to disappear altogether because let's say it wants to move closer to Toronto (move over Hamilton), then I suspect that Ottawa would actually suffer at the tills.Montreal is far enough away that Ottawa has it's own region to service..Now Calgary acting like a more important city than Ottawa..Gimme a break..Doesn't warrant a comment...I'm willing to bet my year's salary that if a city the size of Montreal were to be just under 2.0 hours away from Calgary, Calgary would actually be busier. Now having said all of this, I do see your point in that there is more focus on your city..The same way that Winnipeg or even Regina gets more attention because of less competition. Using that logic, Yellowknife is more of an important regional city than Ottawa..This in no way makes a Ottawa less of a regional centre. You have to remember, with over 10.0 million people in a triangle, there's room for more than one regional centre, even if it is in the shadow of the other two..Doesn't mean less in the till.

Originally Posted by Allan83

Cleary you're not understanding my point. It is completely irrelevant why you go to Montreal, or whether you have to or not. The fact that you and so many others do go means that those dollars are spent in Montreal and Toronto. The restaurant owners in Ottawa don't care if you have to go to Montrel. If you are going to Montreal then they're not getting your money. Even if you only go twice per year, and many people go much more than that, if half of Ottawa did this the cumulative impact would be very large, a million trips per year. And they do, and it is, and it shows. Again, this isn't a knock. It's just the way it is. Maybe you should ask yourself why you're have trouble accepting the idea that Ottawa acts like a smaller city than Calgary.

[whiteford]

Originally Posted by Beedok

My only problem is calling that gritty. That looks totally clean and orderly, not gritty.

none of those photo's make the mountains appear any closer than they actually are. not by much anyway's thats for sure.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by whiteford

none of those photo's make the mountains appear any closer than they actually are. not by much anyway's thats for sure.

I didn't mention the mountains at any point.

[Martin Mtl]

the old Quebec city by Wichan Yingyongsomsawas on Flickr


St. John's downtown and harbour at nightfall by Wichan Yingyongsomsawas on Flickr

[FrAnKs]

^^
Two wonderful cities. They both get all my respect.

Except the rooms

[Chadillaccc]

amazing shots! Probably the best St. John's shot I've ever seen.

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

But look ! They have the Rocky mountains right next to their downtown ! And it's not the magic of telephoto, apparently.

Actually that is how the mountains appear from the city on a clear day. The front ranges begin only 60 km from town.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Reesonov

I hate to become involved in this squabble, but the "good km of virgin land" is Prince's Island Park, which is roughly 200 m wide.

EDIT: Sorry, I was confused. That is actually the Elbow River valley, which is more like 100 m wide.

In any event, my two cents on the Calgary v. Ottawa density debate (having grown up in Calgary and now residing in Kingston [and therefore visiting Ottawa frequently for work and leisure]): Standing at the intersection of 1st Street and 8th Avenue SW in Calgary delivers a big city feeling that does not exist in Ottawa. However, Ottawa has more areas or neighbourhoods that one could reasonably describe as "urban" than Calgary. All in all, Calgary feels slightly larger and more urban to me, but that is from my largely western North American perspective (in my defense however, I have visited hundreds of cities around the world (and lived in several large ones, including Beijing, and Istanbul briefly).

Anyway, it largely comes down to one's definition of "urban" or "big city", which is an elusive and largely personal, depending on one's childhood memories of the local metropolis, idea.

I don't find that there is that big of a difference between the two cities, although Calgary obviously has way better skyscrapers. But that's not something you really notice at street level.

[ZeDgE]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

But look ! They have the Rocky mountains right next to their downtown ! And it's not the magic of telephoto, apparently.

The mountains do look like that, larger in fact on a clear day.

No telephoto here. My pic. Not sure how to make it smaller so you can click, sorry.

Even better from the NE which is higher up. Driving east down Memorial Dr towards downtown is an awesome view. On a clear day it does look like the mountains are right next door.

[O-tacular]

Agreed. Even from the SE in Auburn Bay the mountains look massive on a clear day.

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I don't find that there is that big of a difference between the two cities, although Calgary obviously has way better skyscrapers. But that's not something you really notice at street level.

I agree. They are obviously different, but if I put them on a spectrum of "urbanity", they would be very close (but with the caveat that urbanity is a difficult thing to measure.)

[Razor]

I just wish that some Calgarians on here were more like their counter-parts in Edmonton..Isn't that city doing amazingly well too?..There is something to be said about quiet confidence...How do you good folks in Edmonton deal with this if this over the top boosterism is that rampant through-out that city let alone this internet forum?..I'm willing to bet that if by next Census Ottawa were to miraculously hang on to that "4th largest" (snicker) status, there would be a whole lot of "who cares", but by Ottawans themselves..OTOH, the day before the census I can see a certain group of Calgarians waiting by their computers for that count to be posted..If/when Calgary overtakes Ottawa, there would still be a whole lot of "who cares" from every-where but Calgary, and a whole bunch of chest thumping like they were that Jamaican Bob sled team that finished their run...never mind that prick in the red convertible analogy which was funny btw..Try that cocky friend you know that knows you can't skate very well, but blows by you backwards leg' over leg with his one hand behind his back every chance he gets, and blows snow in your face..

[kw5150]

This is actually good density in the pic below. Way to go Hamilton! But, what makes Calgary any worse?
How many skyscrapers are in Hamilton again? I dont think I ever made it sound like Calgary was better than anywhere else.
In, fact I try my best to pay other cities compliments. YES, that one time I got really excited and said the Beltline was Like
Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon Combined. Sorry!lol

And an actual skyline photo scroooooolllllll----->

The ugly about Calgary:

-It actually kinda sucks but we make due.
-Calgary needs to fill in.
-Yes there will be another recession
-Yes some of the buildings will be deformed, others will be great.
-Yes we have a lot of ugly crap
-The chinooks utterly decimate our landscape! Its Crazy. We are going to end up a big stone / stucco city with a couple of giant trees here and there, lol

Tidbits about Calgary:

-There are people all over the place for a city this size! And for each condo they build there are more; just like the sim's game! (kidding)

-There are many styles of development happening in Calgary right now. Multi-family townhome style units and side-by-sides are popping up like dandelions in Bankview.

-Other areas like Kensington, Bridgeland, the Beltline, Marda Loop, West Hillhurst, 16th ave Corridor, Inglewood,
Montgomery, Mission, Westbrook, are all experiencing a low- mid-rise boom. No, not at the same level as you biggier cities!

University, Centre Street North, Mcleod Trail South and the beltline are undergoing a higher rise boom.
Mcleod Trail and Centre Ave are our newly born Younge Streets. Imagine the view driving down to the Calgary Tower from upper centre street in 2050.

-9th ave SW in Calgary is our "Sherbrooke" Ave (But MUUUUUUCH shorter) and they need to convert the rest of it
to a 2 way so you can drive right through Calgary on a dense street.

-I dont find Calgary to have one of those Cool, endless-inner-city cruising streets! Such a shame. You always have to
fucking turn somewhere whenever you drive on an intererting street!! You really have to expoerience it on foot I think and have
a good guide to know the right areas.

-Its cool to watch the inner city change so dramatically. Isn't it amazing Toronto? Though we can never measure up to you (brown nose)

-Yes, we post a lot of photos of Calgary, that's because there are so many publicly owned vantage points.




-Montreal: You are like, SO COOL!!!! And you are like SO fashionable! Keep it up. Can you build some 30-50 storey buidlings
with solid glass walls at least on one side! I think it would blend in really well with the rich urban fabric and take the city to the next level.
(We know you have the BEST designers there!) It must be fun to spend SO much on your city! I dont think we quite have the money
yet in Calgary! We need to fill in and get those taxes rolling

-You too Ottawa!! Keep building all of the great facilities, soon we will have our own canadian version of Washinton DC!! Minus the racial
crime and instability!

Anyway come visit, we love people that come here to live; AND, especially the ones that have a good, laid back attitude. Oh and you have to snowboard.

It gets better!

[kw5150]

Obviously!

Well except for the part the says:

"Now Calgary acting like a more important city than Ottawa..Gimme a break..Doesn't warrant a comment..."

Cuz I really dont think anyone from Calgary really said that. All we do is respond to the BARAGE of ugliness strewn towards this city, and yes it is defensive because we love it here.

Originally Posted by Razor

Okay, obviously you never thought of the idea that there are also countless people from Montreal that spring into Ottawa for whatever reason.

-They want to catch an often sold out Habs game, so they jet into Ottawa.
Springsteen the night before was sold out at the Bell centre, so they wrangled tickets at Scotia bank place.
-it's a hot summer day, and are looking for a change of pace, so they jet into Ottawa, and hit the market patios for a few pints on a Saturday
-Ottawa Bluesfest is going on, well you get the Jist.

I often run into Montrealers here doing the same as i would in Montreal..

So you see, there is a more symbiotic thing going on then you probably realized. You made it sound like the road was tilted down from Ottawa to Montreal. Now a regional centre is where Little Mary from Merrickville jets into to grab a prom dress on one of her families Sunday trips into the city an 45 minutes away. That place where the family of four go to to have that birthday dinner, because Renfrew doesn't have a KEG. If Montreal were to disappear altogether because let's say it wants to move closer to Toronto (move over Hamilton), then I suspect that Ottawa would actually suffer at the tills.Montreal is far enough away that Ottawa has it's own region to service..Now Calgary acting like a more important city than Ottawa..Gimme a break..Doesn't warrant a comment...I'm willing to bet my year's salary that if a city the size of Montreal were to be just under 2.0 hours away from Calgary, Calgary would actually be busier. Now having said all of this, I do see your point in that there is more focus on your city..The same way that Winnipeg or even Regina gets more attention because of less competition. Using that logic, Yellowknife is more of an important regional city than Ottawa..This in no way makes a Ottawa less of a regional centre. You have to remember, with over 10.0 million people in a triangle, there's room for more than one regional centre, even if it is in the shadow of the other two..Doesn't mean less in the till.

[kw5150]

I love going to Edmonton. Its a cool city. I would say Calgarians go to Edmonton fairly often. We need a train that goes there.

[kw5150]

Edmonton: This is a cool city. One day it will be really awesome. Calgary too!

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Oh, love Ottawa's density and not trying to take anything away from it... but it is amazing how often Edmonton is forgotten about with regards to skyline, length, # and even density in some areas... especially given how much land we have and how far north we really are.




(http://medias.photodeck.com/46d0c888-ad38-11e2-8367-fbc1ddf8b129/12-09-23-0515_xgaplus.jpg)

[leftimage]

Wow Edmonton is beasting in that photo ! Beautiful.

[Black Star]

I like Calgary....Seems every time I have been there its been a good time.

One thing I can say about Edmonton is that it is very eclectic. Some would say ...Cool

[Deepstar]

And if Ottawa was the growing at Calgary's rate and overtaking Calgary it would be Ottawans waiting by their PCs. Same goes for any other city in that situation, It's the nature of the beast.

Just so you know, Calgary already passed Ottawa, so no need to place any bets on the next census.

Originally Posted by Razor

..I'm willing to bet that if by next Census Ottawa were to miraculously hang on to that "4th largest" (snicker) status, there would be a whole lot of "who cares", but by Ottawans themselves..OTOH, the day before the census I can see a certain group of Calgarians waiting by their computers for that count to be posted..If/when Calgary overtakes Ottawa, there would still be a whole lot of "who cares" from every-where but Calgary, and a whole bunch of chest thumping like they were that Jamaican Bob sled team that finished their run...never mind that prick in the red convertible analogy which was funny btw..Try that cocky friend you know that knows you can't skate very well, but blows by you backwards leg' over leg with his one hand behind his back every chance he gets, and blows snow in your face..