The Great Canadian Skyline thread for CMAs 1 million and under

[someone123]

Yeah, some of the viewplanes have definitely produced good results, particularly the one preserving the view of the Town Clock and Citadel, the prominence of the Dominion Building, etc.

What I don't like is the southern viewplane's effect on buildings there. One particularly perverse side-effect of that viewplane is that the owners of the NFB building would have had to get a variance to rebuild the 1800's tower on their building, so they just decided to skip it in the restoration project. It is a bit silly to come up with height limits that are so restrictive that even 100+ year old heritage buildings would violate them.

When I get some more time I'd like to add the Roy Building and Discovery Centre. Demo work is apparently being done for the Roy right now, so it is at the same stage as the Bank of Canada redevelopment.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's a hastily-made rendering with the new TD tower and a couple of other projects under construction:



TD is a bit shorter than 1801 Hollis but it is about 10 m higher up in elevation. The Nova Centre similarly is only 65 m but its site has an average elevation about 30 m above sea level, so it will look more like a 90-100 m building.

The gaps in taller buildings between TD and the Nova Centre in the middle and then to the left of the Bank of Canada redevelopment (extending left out of the frame toward the Maritime Centre) exist because of height limits that protect views from Citadel Hill.

(Now that I think about it, I used the opposite elevation for the BoC building so it should have been flipped horizontally.)

Wow that looks pretty sweet. Halifax projects awesome density.

Give me density > height any day of the week.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Wow that looks pretty sweet. Halifax projects awesome density.

Give me density > height any day of the week.

In Atlantic Canada that is height.

But yes, I agree with you. I prefer density over height too. Downtown Halifax is only now beginning to truly fill in and finally be rid of most surface parking lots -- especially by the end of this decade. Other cities in the region that also have fairly dense cores are St. John's and Saint John.

[Nashe]

Some days, I wish Moncton had some natural barriers to contend with like Saint John (cliffs, harbour), Halifax (rocks, harbour) and St. John's (cliffs, harbour). You can literally build all the way from Salisbury to Dorchester and beyond without anything in your way. North? All the way up the "mountain", 10 miles distant. South? It gets hilly in Albert county, but that's miles and miles and miles outside Riverview.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Some days, I wish Moncton had some natural barriers to contend with like Saint John (cliffs, harbour), Halifax (rocks, harbour) and St. John's (cliffs, harbour). You can literally build all the way from Salisbury to Dorchester and beyond without anything in your way. North? All the way up the "mountain", 10 miles distant. South? It gets hilly in Albert county, but that's miles and miles and miles outside Riverview.

Oh -- I'd say the "cliffs and harbour" around parts of Saint John hasn't stopped the Province of New Brunswick from de-centralising that city as much as — possible, like all the other cities. Saint John has had a hell of a time just hanging on to what it's built in Uptown.

As far as Moncton's sprawl is concerned... Moncton actually does try (modestly) to develop more compactly; the Province just doesn't allow it. "Growth" is insistently directed outward.
Need to build more roads? Gotta buy more gas? WELL...Irving's got all of that to sell to you. And indeed, the Province has already put the roads on the public credit card.

[Mrs Sauga]

That has the be the best Halifax shot I've seen. The city looks huge. The skyline just keeps going. And I love that you can see the hill in the centre.

[SignalHillHiker]

I love Nova Centre. Not thrilled about the sheer size of the footprint or how it interacts with the street (I prefer smaller blocks and smaller footprints - Atlantic Place here bothers me for the same reason), but it is a beautiful building. One of the only modern ones in Halifax that I wish we had, no changes required.

And as for density, Halifax has always been fine in that regard. There are pockets like around the Casino where it can be a bit bare in certain directions but their bare is still quite dense by North American standards.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

And as for density, Halifax has always been fine in that regard. There are pockets like around the Casino where it can be a bit bare in certain directions but their bare is still quite dense by North American standards.

Outside of the peninsula, for the most part, Halifax sprawwwwwls and is very characteristic of North American cities in this regard. Unfortunately.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

Outside of the peninsula, for the most part, Halifax sprawwwwwls and is very characteristic of North American cities in this regard. Unfortunately.

It's probably just a result of St. John's situation, but I don't consider any of that Halifax. Lower Sackville is CBS, etc.

Amalgamated cities still escape me in terms of being able to think of them as one collective whole.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

In Atlantic Canada that is height.

But yes, I agree with you. I prefer density over height too. Downtown Halifax is only now beginning to truly fill in and finally be rid of most surface parking lots -- especially by the end of this decade. Other cities in the region that also have fairly dense cores are St. John's and Saint John.

Downtown Halifax is hemmed in pretty tightly by Canadian standards... I know there is still a fair bit of underused land in the downtown area, but it must be getting to a point where there is a real need to build up a bit more.

It'll be great to see Halifax grow a skyline that measures up to its status as the dominant city of the region.

[someone123]

Most of the vacant or underused land on the peninsula and downtown belongs to some level of government. The waterfront for example is managed by a provincial development corporation that has a bit of a reputation for dragging its heels. The one parking lot on Barrington is owned by the province. Very few sites now are available to developers and just sitting around.

[middeljohn]

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[someone123]

Here's a webcam view from today. The TD crane is now a couple of segments taller:


Source

[davidivivid]

Québec par Sous l'Oeil de Sylvie, sur Flickr

[c@taract_soulj@h]

^ Still a great day to shoot an aerial of Kelowna...looks much better than the day I stopped over on my way to Vancouver

[c@taract_soulj@h]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

Because of all the commie blocks?

I took that at Upper Paradise lookout, and in my opinion that is the second best angle. The best angle is on the Queen St access road, but unfortunately it's rather unsafe to stand there and take a picture due to the cars, and the stairs have trees in the way. But from that angle the skyline looks massive.

Chunky is definitely a word to describe it...but when you're actually in the middle of it all, it's pretty neat. Bay/Bold/Charlton Sts comprise a feel of Centretown, Sherbrooke St., or East Village. It's like a rainforest of old elm and maple trees mixed with ivy covered houses.

Delusional description I know, especially for the Hammer, but we're a city of many different communities (so says the boundary sign)..I have a dentist appt around that area today so I'll reaffirm my sanity when I'm down there today lol

[ErickMontreal]

Saint John - March 2014

[middeljohn]

Thanks for those pics of Saint John! I just realized how little I know about New Brunswick. For example, I didn't know Saint John has an urban freeway!

[middeljohn]

Well, I think all of the cities have been represented in this thread, so ignoring their populations, I'rank the skylines:

1. Hamilton
2. Winnipeg
3. London
4. Quebec City
5. Regina
6. Halifax
7. Windsor
8. Fredericton
9. Victoria
10. Saint John