The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[Rico Rommheim]

By "classic urban neighbourhood" I'm thinking of a sphere consisting of old districts "Old Quebec", "Old Montreal" and shit like that. St-Lawrence in TO didn't come across as "Old Toronto", too modern, too many new developments. The exchange district is very much an "Old Winnipeg" in that the entire district remains almost intact. Gastown and parts further east like chinatown is the only other "classic urban" district that measures up in western canada in my opinion. Hamilton definitely has solid bones, but I have yet to see a thread or photo to convince me that it has an intact historic district like the Exchange. But then, Hamilton was subjected to an unbelievable, American-level amount of urban "rejuvenation" or whatever the hell the bulldozer drivers called it back then.

Old strathcona, for all the hype of it's old architecture and old urban bones, simply doesn't measure up. Actually, one could argue there is Old Quebec and old Montreal, and there's everything else.

[Trans Canada]

^ Calgary has Stephen Avenue, the surrounding blocks have a good number of historic buildings but definitely not as large and consistent as the Exchange District looks to be. It is only really the single street for about 4-6 blocks length that could be considered a "historic district".


Credit Chuck Czmurlo, Wikimedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen-Ave-Historic-Szmurlo.jpg
More information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Avenue

[Martin Mtl]

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that the district around St.Lawrence market was levelled. What were they thinking ? Ironically, though, that district is now a very nice, very urban neighbourhood and the few stretch of historic buildings that survived are gorgeous.


Source

[Martin Mtl]

Source

[Delirium]

^ great shot!


Photo by Bart Shore https://www.flickr.com/photos/bartshore/14823443788/sizes/h/


Photo by Bart Shore https://www.flickr.com/photos/bartshore/14823455038/sizes/h/

[ZeDgE]

Originally Posted by 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.

Having family from England too they were amused by this also, especially by "Shaganappi Trail" for obvious reasons.

Shag a nappie (nappie is a diaper, shag is well you know)

Most people here don't use the word trail anyway to be honest. We just call the roads by name without 'trail'. Take Deerfoot, or Stony, etc.

[ssiguy]

Gastown in Vancouver certainly has some good architecture and is a unique place but I have never really thought of it as a real part of the city. It's been getting better but it is still very much a tourist destination with all the standard tacky souvenir shops and Old Spaghetti Factory. It's just not part of the Vancouver urban fabric.

Vancouverites don't go to Gastown unlike Peggers who do go to The Exchange. Gastown is still very much a tourist trap and although that is beginning to wane, Vancouverites tend to avoid it. Another problem with Gastown and Chinatown is that it is quite dangerous and is Canada's only true skid-row.

You can't go 10 feet without being asked if you want "company", pot, meth, heroine, coke, spare change or just look at the hundreds of street people who's sole occupation is looking for their next fix. It's a very sad area where young girls openly shoot-up right on the sidewalks. Chinatown and Gastown are in the thick of skid-row which is why the one thing you will never see in the area is young children with their parents.

It's for these reasons that, although Vancouverites may say it's nice area to visit for tourist, they would never even dream about going there themselves. This is completely the opposite of The Exchange in Winnipeg which is truly a vital part of the city and her residents.

[1overcosc]

Ottawa has some very small pockets of a classic old city feel, most notably along Sparks Street.

Kingston's downtown has quite a classic feel but only for a very small area as there's enough modernness in certain areas to ruin it, for example the post-industrial highrises on the waterfront and the additions to various heritage buildings especially in the north of the core.

What Kingston does that is nice, is it marries old and new quite elegantly with heritage buildings that would have been demolished if they were in any other Ontario city repurposed with modern expansions that often enhance the whole thing. But that's a whole different thing from completely preserving the history like Exchange does.

[Razor]

It was interesting to read these past few posts on old classic urban neighbourhoods...I've been to old Montreal more than a few times, but only heard of Winnipeg's exchange district on here in the past year or so.

I really can't think of anything for Ottawa that stands out the same way. There are definitely a few old established neighbourhoods like the Glebe, New Edinburgh,Lowertown or Westboro..They just aren't strong or distinct enough to be thought of in the same realm as Van's gas town, the exchange district, Saint Lawrence market or The Old Port in Montreal..The Market (Lowertown)maybe, but that's more touristy and Kitch nowadays save for the decent summer patio scene.

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Ottawa has some very small pockets of a classic old city feel, most notably along Sparks Street.

Kingston's downtown has quite a classic feel but only for a very small area as there's enough modernness in certain areas to ruin it, for example the post-industrial highrises on the waterfront and the additions to various heritage buildings especially in the north of the core.

What Kingston does that is nice, is it marries old and new quite elegantly with heritage buildings that would have been demolished if they were in any other Ontario city repurposed with modern expansions that often enhance the whole thing. But that's a whole different thing from completely preserving the history like Exchange does.

Well stated..I agree...As a matter of fact, we are booking a weekend at the Whitney Manor along the sea way for October..My wife and I like Kingston that much .ha

[beatlesque]

Originally Posted by ZeDgE

Having family from England too they were amused by this also, especially by "Shaganappi Trail" for obvious reasons.

Coming from the land of Happy Bottom, Cock Lane, Great Snoring, Shitterton, North Piddle, Sandy Balls and Crapstone, no less.

Having lived in Europe, I think a lot of North American names of indigenous origin (which I'm assuming that one is) obviously sound very foreign to certain ears. Winnipeg is Western Cree for 'muddy waters', Toronto apparently originated as the Mohawk phrase tkaronto, "where there are trees standing in the water", etc.

Anyway, I like 'trail' and think Calgary has a good idea with that regardless of whether it's actually used or not. It evokes the foothills leading to the mountains.

As for the earlier comments about the Exchange District and Gastown, again having lived in both cities, I think both are great architecturally and there is information in the link below. They list 141 buildings in Gastown and roughly 150 in the Exchange, although some of the taller buildings in the Exchange stand out as well, e.g., below. http://www.historicplaces.ca

After the initial boom years when WPG was on its way to becoming a new Chicago or St. Louis, a lot of buildings in the city were saved through a lack of pressure to 'redevelop', although many beautiful ones were lost.

'Urban experience' is a whole other question if it goes beyond the architecture; obviously Vancouver by virtue of its climate (allowing easy year-round pedestrian activity despite the periods of never-ending rain), the compact geography of the downtown peninsula, Beasley planning, etc. (not any innate superior urbanity) has shaped a relatively vibrant downtown seen on streets like Granville, Robson, etc.

Hopefully some other Canadian cities will take as much from that as possible and WPG is moving in a better direction, despite its ridiculous amount of ongoing big box development which drains massively away from the downtown core and some of the re-development steps taken there.

[travis3000]

Quebec City and Montreal are on a whole different level when it comes to historic buildings and streets. I know every city has older buildings but nothing like Quebec.

[kool maudit]

to me, the trail thing seems western and frontier-ish. that's a good thing as it reflects the origins of those cities. the feel it engenders is not contrived but is rather a real reflection of a certain aspect of history and life there.

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by travis3000

Quebec City and Montreal are on a whole different level when it comes to historic buildings and streets. I know every city has older buildings but nothing like Quebec.

I agree.

But, St-john, Halifax and St-John's has an impressive stock of old buildings for their sizes. I was impressed myself ( Visited the two first ) and just saying, I come from Montréal and live in Québec city !

I should make a photo thread soon.

P.S.: a very good mention to Lunenburg & mahone bay !

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

to me, the trail thing seems western and frontier-ish. that's a good thing as it reflects the origins of those cities. the feel it engenders is not contrived but is rather a real reflection of a certain aspect of history and life there.

Exactly. Just like the term "chemin" in french, which describe a small road in the country. Like for exemple the Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine in Montreal, which is a grand urban boulevard that happened to follow the path of a 18th century country road.

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[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Hamilton definitely has solid bones, but I have yet to see a thread or photo to convince me that it has an intact historic district like the Exchange. But then, Hamilton was subjected to an unbelievable, American-level amount of urban "rejuvenation" or whatever the hell the bulldozer drivers called it back then.

Yeah, Hamilton has no one neighbourhood that competes with the Exchange, but I think a bigger chunk of the city over all is historic. Huge swaths of it are filled with Victorian or Edwardian housing with pre-war commercial corridors. I'm fairly certain that spread out urban form with a so-so downtown is a side effect of being a working class port city as the only city I've been too that gives a similar over all feel is Thunder Bay, but maybe it's more a sign of slow growth.

[drizzo_613]

rare view of ottawa skyline looking west from my balcony

https://www.flickr.com/photos/drizzo613/14827002399

Cant find a better software to share the photo. Seems like theyve changed flickr layout to not share the photo directly. If anyone can help with that let me know! Oh and fyi, I suck at panos can't find a good software

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by drizzo_613

rare view of ottawa skyline looking west from my balcony

https://www.flickr.com/photos/drizzo613/14827002399

Cant find a better software to share the photo. Seems like theyve changed flickr layout to not share the photo directly. If anyone can help with that let me know! Oh and fyi, I suck at panos can't find a good software

It's the icon on the right that looks like a right arrow. Click on that and go to BBCode.


ottawa from balcony by drizzo613, on Flickr

I use Hugin for stitching panos. It can be a bit complicated to get running (esp. if you have UAC turned on) but it works.

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Gastown in Vancouver certainly has some good architecture and is a unique place but I have never really thought of it as a real part of the city. It's been getting better but it is still very much a tourist destination with all the standard tacky souvenir shops and Old Spaghetti Factory. It's just not part of the Vancouver urban fabric.

Vancouverites don't go to Gastown unlike Peggers who do go to The Exchange. Gastown is still very much a tourist trap and although that is beginning to wane, Vancouverites tend to avoid it. Another problem with Gastown and Chinatown is that it is quite dangerous and is Canada's only true skid-row.

You can't go 10 feet without being asked if you want "company", pot, meth, heroine, coke, spare change or just look at the hundreds of street people who's sole occupation is looking for their next fix. It's a very sad area where young girls openly shoot-up right on the sidewalks. Chinatown and Gastown are in the thick of skid-row which is why the one thing you will never see in the area is young children with their parents.

It's for these reasons that, although Vancouverites may say it's nice area to visit for tourist, they would never even dream about going there themselves. This is completely the opposite of The Exchange in Winnipeg which is truly a vital part of the city and her residents.

this is a joke right? Or do your opinions of Vancouver stem from the late 90s? Gastown is easily one of the most vibrant neighbourhoods in Vancouver for Vancouverites. I always find it funny how easy it is to pick out suburbanites who pretend to understand Vancouver based on their opinions of Gastown. If you dont know that it has changed drastically into what is one of Canada's dining and boutique meccas then you probably haven't been a block east of waterfront for the better part of a decade. But please, continue to stay away from "scary" Chinatown too while the rest of the city revels in its resurgence.

[ssiguy]

Quite the contrary...............I stayed in the area for 3 weeks late last year while I was attending class, right near Chinatown.

As I said, the area is improving but it has a long way to go. Maybe you have gotten use to people shooting-up or having track marks on ever part of their body but I haven't. If you were to place the social ills of Gastown and Chinatown in any other city in the country there would be an incredible outcry at the inhumanity, drugs, poverty, prostitution, filth, garbage, and despair. Vancouverites have gotten use to it and seem to be able to pass it by without a second thought and Victoria and City Hall view the area and her many troubles with supreme indifference.

The streets every morning were littered with dirty syringes, plastic bags, and people heading to the park to get some sleep because it's closed after dark. Maybe you find it agreeable but most in the city don't and wouldn't be caught dead in the area. Hell, when Campbell was showing off Vancouver to the IOC he completely avoided Hastings which is the main street in the area. I can count on my fingers and toes how many children I saw in the area walking with their parents.

It's coming along but it is still a very pathetic environment which would not be tolerated in any other city in the country.