The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Brizzy82

Winnipeg - Exchange District -Lindsay Building by Christopher Allard, on Flickr

Nice. I just love the exchange district. I visited in 2004 and I was very impressed.

[Chadillaccc]

Metropolis by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

[tomthumb2]

^^^ I've always thought Calgary had the dumbest road names I've ever seen. I know its a nod to past history but "Trail"??? Sounds so hick. And then there are the neighborhood streets - all sounding the same. If you live in say, West Springs every street name starts with West! Whoever came up with that idea should be dragged through those streets, lol.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

^^^ I've always thought Calgary had the dumbest road names I've ever seen. I know its a nod to past history but "Trail"??? Sounds so hick. And then there are the neighborhood streets - all sounding the same. If you live in say, West Springs every street name starts with West! Whoever came up with that idea should be dragged through those streets, lol.

THe original roads in the Calgary area where named "trail": Macleod Trail went to Fort Macleod, Edmonton Trail went to Edmonton, Morley Trail went to Morley and Banff Trail went to Banff.

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by Doug

THe original roads in the Calgary area where named "trail": Macleod Trail went to Fort Macleod, Edmonton Trail went to Edmonton, Morley Trail went to Morley and Banff Trail went to Banff.

I know, and they were probably literally trails at the time. But now they are real roads. Do we have to keep Trail? Do we have to maintain the cowboy image ALL the time?

[Chadillaccc]

Many of those "trails" were actually trails, before they became roads. Native trails.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

I know, and they were probably literally trails at the time. But now they are real roads. Do we have to keep Trail? Do we have to maintain the cowboy image ALL the time?

Talk about a non issue...

[tomthumb2]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Talk about a non issue...

Don't get me wrong - I'm not outraged or anything. The neighborhood streets names are confusing as hell though, wouldn't you agree?

[LeftCoaster]

I always found the trail thing to be quite hokey. Certainly not a huge deal or anything but there is just something lame about taking 'deerfoot trail' to downtown, doesn't really give off that cosmopolitan metropolis vibe.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

Don't get me wrong - I'm not outraged or anything. The neighborhood streets names are confusing as hell though, wouldn't you agree?

I kinda like the trail thing, mostly because you don't see it very often outside of Calgary. We could change Deerfoot to have Expressway or Freeway after the name, but I don't think it's worth the money to change all the signs.

You mean suburban streets? yeah they are confusing when they all start with the same root word and there is no logic to the layout lol.

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I always found the trail thing to be quite hokey. Certainly not a huge deal or anything but there is just something lame about taking 'deerfoot trail' to downtown, doesn't really give off that cosmopolitan metropolis vibe.

Fair enough. Though having a big skyline full of shiny glass towers counteracts the effect "trail" might have on the feel of a place.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I always found the trail thing to be quite hokey. Certainly not a huge deal or anything but there is just something lame about taking 'deerfoot trail' to downtown, doesn't really give off that cosmopolitan metropolis vibe.

I believe Winnipeg had the same thing (Portage Trail, Pembina Trail, etc.) at one time until we became a real city in the early 20th century and dropped the frontier lingo. However, it resurfaced in the 1980s with the Chief Peguis Trail which I can only surmise was a bit of Calgary-envy.

The trail thing is generally goofy, but somehow for Calgary it works in much the same way that not many other cities could pull off the Stampede the way that they do.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Many of those "trails" were actually trails, before they became roads. Native trails.

Many roads and streets in eastern Canada were trails at one point too though.

[niwell]

The "trail" thing never really bothered me personally, but that's probably because I grew up with it. Friends and relatives from elsewhere seemed to think it hilarious, and not in a good way. Especially family from the UK for some reason.

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Many of those "trails" were actually trails, before they became roads. Native trails.

This is the case everywhere. Dundas street in Toronto for instance (west of Ossington at least). And Davenport road.

And many of the trails in Calgary were never such thing.

[Chadillaccc]

I know, I didn't say it's a Calgary-specific thing, just that there is a reason that they have been and are called trails.

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by tomthumb2

^^^ I've always thought Calgary had the dumbest road names I've ever seen. I know its a nod to past history but "Trail"??? Sounds so hick. And then there are the neighborhood streets - all sounding the same. If you live in say, West Springs every street name starts with West! Whoever came up with that idea should be dragged through those streets, lol.

The trail thing I don’t mind at all. As others have pointed out the main ones were originally trails, which were the main transportation routes of the day, and they eventually evolved into the major roadways in Calgary. And then following that precedent we continued to name our major roadways trails. That’s a nod to real history, and I don’t mind that at all. I like it, in fact. The suburbs where everything is oak this and oak that, otoh, I’m not as fond of. It helps in that you just need to see the street address and you know where someone lives, but it’s not very imaginative. Although, with the way Calgary has grown over the years I guess it would be hard to come up with a good, relevant, name for every new street and crescent.

[floobie]

I could do without the "trail" thing as well. But, I guess having grown up with it, I don't really care. Yeah, it's a bit hokey, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't think it matters. I'm all for de-emphasizing the "wild west frontier town" thing, but I think there are much more obvious examples of it anyway.

I actually kind of like the community name thing. West____, Edge____, etc. It at least tells you that you haven't left the neighbourhood yet... even if navigating it is a nightmare of randomly winding streets and cul-de-sacs.

[logan5]

Yeah the European and American routes sound more impressive with names like the M-1 or I-5, or SR 170. They sound like fast cars or weapons of some sort. Names like Cowpoke Trail don't elicit visions of a big city.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by logan5

Yeah the European and American routes sound more impressive with names like the M-1 or I-5, or SR 170. They sound like fast cars or weapons of some sort. Names like Cowpoke Trail don't elicit visions of a big city.

Personally, I find those names to be generic, bland, and nondescript.

[Denscity]

I don't mind the Calgary "Trail" thing. When you're on a 6 or 8 lane road obviously the term Trail is a nod to the past and doesn't make that wide road feel like a village pathway.

[Allan83]

If I want to convince someone that Calgary is a big city all I have to do is show them a picture of the skyline. No insecurities here about that. The trail thing, otoh, is real history and I’m glad we kept it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_and_Edmonton_Trail