Post some pictures of your city! II

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

I had no clue this parking garage ever existed, but now I must say I'm quite sad that it's been demolished. I would have renovated it for another purpose. The current "park" that is now there is a disgrace.

There was a project (hotel) for this lot a few years ago but nothing happened. I don't know why there's nothing planned there, in such a prime spot in old Montréal.

IMO, I would prefer that the city convert it into a nice little "true" park.

[Chadillaccc]

1

Calgary Blue Hour by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
2

Frosty Calgary by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
3

Memories of Summer by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
4

Downtown Calgary by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
5

Superheroes to the rescue! by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
6

I miss summer..... by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
7

Glass and Steel by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
8

Underpass art by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
9

Calgary, Alberta by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
10

Calgary in Black and White by BWCalgary, on Flickr
11

I miss summer..... by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
12

Beltline corridor by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
13

Calgary's Beltline neighborhood by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
14

Urban Windows II by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
15

Calgary summer day by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
16

Calgary at Night by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
17

Calgary at Night by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
18

Calgary, Canada by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
19

Calgary in Black and White by BWCalgary, on Flickr
20

Calgary, Canada by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
21

Dynamic Calgary by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
22

Calgary Sunset by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
23

Whoosh goes the train by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
24

Calgary Peace Bridge by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
25

Beltline View by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
26

Downtown Calgary by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
27

Calgary's Beltline Neighborhood by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
28

Darkness in the name of progress by Surrealplaces, on Flickr
29

Winter Cyclist by Surrealplaces, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

A few aerials from last autumn.

[lio45]

Gorgeous as always... except maybe those massive, bland waterfront office buildings. (And the Rooms.)

What's the building immediately downhill from the Anglican church?

Looks somewhat like a tiny version of Montreal's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor...%28Montreal%29

[SignalHillHiker]

The last picture shows the part of St. John's I loathe most - the Downtown West End. It was completely bulldozed in the 1950s/60s to make way for highrise construction that never happened. So it's a mess of towers and "O.K., b'ys, sure the land's been vacant for 20 years, let'em put a gas station/Chinese takeaway/whatever else there!"

And so many parking lots... it looks denser than it feels. It's a no-go area for pedestrians right now. It is just completely devoid of life. The only time there's either bit of crowd on the go is when there's an Ice Caps game at Mile One.

And this stands out in St. John's because we're generally REALLY busy downtown for a city our size:



*****

The harbourfront buildings are awful. It's SO industrial. There is literally not a single stretch of our harbourfront that is truly attractive. Not a single one, except Harbourside Park. And that's not so much it being attractive as it having a lack of hideous buildings. Everything else is completely industrial and no one goes there.

*****

That building is the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

*****

But yes, she's gorgeous.

[Rico Rommheim]

Lots of potential for that part of the city though. Add a few midrises with street retail and shit on those empty/under developed lots and voila!

[lio45]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

That building is the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

OK!
Your Parliament building is the one with the center part currently white (being recladded, IIRC) visible in the top right part of the first pic, correct?

(Why is it so far away...?)

Edit, oh, I suppose it's so far away because it was built right after 1949, and you guys were smart enough to not bulldoze a large chunk of downtown to make room for it just so it would not be "so far away".

[SignalHillHiker]

It was built in the 1950s out adjacent to a neighbourhood of the city called Little Canada, which was built to show us the wondrous, superior ways Canadians live. It's a typical, Post-WWII suburban neighbourhood. But it was a big deal at the time. Wealthy families left three-floor downtown rowhouses with bay windows for the prestige of moving to a cookie-cutter bungalow with (THE SHOCK) a front lawn there.

For extra cheese, check out the street names:



Our old Parliament is downtown, but not in any of these pictures. We couldn't use it after we joined Canada because, hilariously, running a Canadian province requires more people than running a country of equivalent size. It simply wasn't big enough.


Wikipedia

Also, as you know, St. John's voted overwhelmingly against Confederation with Canada. The 48% against represents almost the entirety of the city's residents, with very few votes against anywhere else (all but a couple of the districts that voted against are within today's St. John's CMA, and the others are directly adjacent). The British actually had plans to bring their army over to quash any riots following the referendum. But people in St. John's protested by flying all of our various flags at half mast and draping all businesses/homes/etc. in black funeral tarps. All involved with Confederation treaded lightly near the city in those days.

[lio45]

Very interesting, I always love to hear you tell us about Newfoundland.

[ue]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

And this stands out in St. John's because we're generally REALLY busy downtown for a city our size:

Is it usually that busy? Impressive for a smaller city like St. John's.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by ue

Is it usually that busy? Impressive for a smaller city like St. John's.

Yes and no. That's the busiest time of a typical summer, weekday afternoon. It'll be busier if there's any sort of event, and less busy at other times of the day/week/year.

Right now, for example, you'd be hard-pressed to take a picture that busy except during the morning, lunch, or evening rush. In the summer, you could take a picture busier than that on a Saturday afternoon.

Then there are places (like the extreme west and east ends of Water Street) that are never this busy (or even close, literally vacant of pedestrians), and places (like George Street) that are often way busier.

[ue]

^ That's pretty cool, but St. John's has the bones to justify it so it makes sense in a way. Pardon my ignorance, but I don't think even Downtown Halifax is that busy normally.

[SignalHillHiker]

Well, honestly, it may not give the impression that it's busier, but it almost certainly is. Downtown St. John's as in that picture is really one street. Even by the most generous definitions of downtown, we only have two main streets and the lanes that connect them. If Halifax's downtown was at a similar scale for its population, it'd almost certainly look as blocked.

BTW, this is how busy George Street is on a typical weekend night. Saturdays are WAY busier than Fridays, but this is a nice half-way point. Not nuts like a Saturday, not taken during any sort of special event.

• Video Link

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

A few aerials from last autumn.

Beautiful shot.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

It was built in the 1950s out adjacent to a neighbourhood of the city called Little Canada, which was built to show us the wondrous, superior ways Canadians live. It's a typical, Post-WWII suburban neighbourhood. But it was a big deal at the time. Wealthy families left three-floor downtown rowhouses with bay windows for the prestige of moving to a cookie-cutter bungalow with (THE SHOCK) a front lawn there.

Our old Parliament is downtown, but not in any of these pictures. We couldn't use it after we joined Canada because, hilariously, running a Canadian province requires more people than running a country of equivalent size. It simply wasn't big enough.

Could they have expanded the original parliament, or constructed administration buildings adjacent to it? Or was there a "start fresh" mentality at the time?

Does Little Canada have the same kinds of regional rivalries that Big Canada does?

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Could they have expanded the original parliament, or constructed administration buildings adjacent to it? Or was there a "start fresh" mentality at the time?

Does Little Canada have the same kinds of regional rivalries that Big Canada does?

There was definitely a "fresh start" mentality on the part of the provincial leadership at that time. Joey Smallwood was a pig farmer, a "get rich quick" schemer. He all but bankrupted the province (which entered Confederation with a surplus) trying to turn us into an industrial powerhouse. The ideas were just absurd, everything from bison farming on tiny islands off the coast to hockey stick factories. Part of his vision was architecture that resembled Canada's industrial factories - brutal, hideous, etc. It's very difficult to find an attractive building that was constructed here during his time as Premier. And most of them are famously unattractive, like the newer Memorial University buildings.

There are even architecture books about how hideous it all was:



In addition, our Terms of Union with Canada specified that our national public buildings would be transferred to the federal government whenever the percentage of federal employees working within any given building exceeded the percentage of provincial employees. So there was some desire to find uses for some of our most notable buildings that would ensure no federal employees need be there.

And, finally... the old Parliament was located in the centre of Bannerman Park, one of the few and certainly the most-beloved parks in the downtown core of St. John's. There would have been significant public opposition to giving any of it up, especially given the political climate at the time.

[Echoes]

After what felt like an eternity of frigid cold and grey, overcast days, it got to +6 and sunny in Saskatoon today. It's a cruel joke for it to warm up like this, really, because a day like today just makes me dream of summer....


22nd Street East


The Riverfront at River Landing


Buskers


Canada Building


Thorvaldson Building, U of S Campus


Broadway Avenue


Fringe Festival


The Rumley Lofts


Detail on the Rumley


21st Street patio


Dancing at River Landing


Spadina Beach

All photos by me.

To see more of summer in Saskatoon, check out my photo threads:

Part I | Part II

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

There was definitely a "fresh start" mentality on the part of the provincial leadership at that time. Joey Smallwood was a pig farmer, a "get rich quick" schemer. He all but bankrupted the province (which entered Confederation with a surplus) trying to turn us into an industrial powerhouse. The ideas were just absurd, everything from bison farming on tiny islands off the coast to hockey stick factories. Part of his vision was architecture that resembled Canada's industrial factories - brutal, hideous, etc. It's very difficult to find an attractive building that was constructed here during his time as Premier. And most of them are famously unattractive, like the newer Memorial University buildings.

There are even architecture books about how hideous it all was:

In addition, our Terms of Union with Canada specified that our national public buildings would be transferred to the federal government whenever the percentage of federal employees working within any given building exceeded the percentage of provincial employees. So there was some desire to find uses for some of our most notable buildings that would ensure no federal employees need be there.

And, finally... the old Parliament was located in the centre of Bannerman Park, one of the few and certainly the most-beloved parks in the downtown core of St. John's. There would have been significant public opposition to giving any of it up, especially given the political climate at the time.

Thanks! The history of these types of things is so interesting.

I had no idea this building even existed. Looking at a map afterward I can see what you're saying about the parkland (and it looks like putting any new government buildings across Military Rd. would have ripped up a neighbourhood)

From your photos and those of others, it looks like St. John's would be one of the most interesting cities to walk about in Canada. In a relatively compact area of the central city it's got a bit of everything.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Echoes

To see more of summer in Saskatoon, check out my photo threads:

Part I | Part II

Saskatoon is another city that doesn't get a lot of photos posted here. From these street-level pictures it looks quite nice.

I'll have to check out your other work.

[SignalHillHiker]

Very impressed with the Saskatoon pictures. I have this unfair stereotype of prairie cities as being surface parking lots punctuated by tall buildings. It's really nice to see pictures that prove otherwise.