The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by logan5

Obviously Calgary is not Chicago or Paris but for at least the downtown area, the city should try and make the river walk a more urban experience (like Chicago, Paris etc). There's too much of a buffer zone right now imo.

Calgary 2040...


http://www.panoramio.com/photo/16978739

No, the Bow is not the Chicago River. The Chicago River became a canal 100 years ago when they reversed the direction of the flow away from Lake Michigan.

[logan5]

I didn't consider direction of flow before. Maybe the Bow River can be reversed.

[davidivivid]

Rarely seen angle of Quebec, shot from Lévis.



http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4925934


Canada - Ville de Québec by Chris&Steve, on Flickr

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by logan5

I didn't consider direction of flow before. Maybe the Bow River can be reversed.

Why?

[Chadillaccc]

How on Earth could the Bow be reversed? Not to mention... why? The elevation of the NW of the city (where it enters) is over 1250 meters, and the elevation of the SE (where it exits) is under 1000 meters, so I don't think it's possible to begin with. Most Calgarians seem to like the naturalized paths, considering how heavily used the river walk is every single day in every season.

On that note, I am really super excited about the redevelopment of West Eau Claire Park, the perfect mix of naturalization and urban mix, similar to the EV Riverwalk but more interactive

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Why?

Not sure actually. Whippersnapper says flow direction has some bearing on how a river edge can be developed, so I assume that's correct.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by logan5

Not sure actually. Whippersnapper says flow direction has some bearing on how a river edge can be developed, so I assume that's correct.

If you wanted to reverse it, you would need some sort of diversion channel around the city, and one that could handle the water from a far bigger flood than we saw last summer. Makes absolutely no sense to do this.

Besides, the riverbank is being developed in a really nice way, no need to change it to match Chicago.

[niwell]

I think Whippersnapper was referring more to the rate of flow, not the direction. The Bow is a swiftly moving river with a high risk for flooding. Channelization isn't exactly optimal - naturalized banks deal with erosion/floods much better. The Chicago river was basically transformed into a canal where flow is minimal.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

It's not suburban at all, Sunnyside / Hillhurst is a pretty dense neighbourhood, and it's rapidly infilling with 5 - 10 storey condo buildings.

From the pics it certainly appears to be a LOT less urban than what I've explored in Chicago, where the riverwalk is indeed something that can be considered to be "an urban experience" by everyone.

I mean, do you really think that both shores of the Bow river can reasonably be turned into something like this in the foreseeable future?

[Trans Canada]

As niwell said direction doesn't matter so much as the change from river to canal and increase in flow. The Chicago River is essentially a man-made canal like the Rideau or canals in Amsterdam. And Chicago was able to reverse and increase the flow due to the essentially endless supply of water in Lake Michigan whereas Calgary's only source for flow is the watershed.

Another factor is density as lio45 said, there isn't pressure to build right up to the river as there is in metropolises like Paris and Chicago.

Not to mention that Paris and Chicago were built up at a time when there was far less consideration for the natural environment. Today you would not be able to build right up along a waterfront like that due to environmental concerns.

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by lio45

From the pics it certainly appears to be a LOT less urban than what I've explored in Chicago, where the riverwalk is indeed something that can be considered to be "an urban experience" by everyone.

I mean, do you really think that both shores of the Bow river can reasonably be turned into something like this in the foreseeable future?

Calgarian never said that it should turn into something like that, he just challenged the statement that Sunnyside is "suburban."

[Trans Canada]

Originally Posted by giallo

^Mount Royal is fantastic, but funny enough, it reminded me a lot of Stanley Park as it seems to have the same function to Montreal residents that ST has for Vancouverites.

Stanley Park is much more than just wilderness (that'd be the last reason I'd go there for). It's got the 'riverwalk' (Stanley Park isn't on any fresh body of water. It borders Burrard Inlet and English Bay), a number of beaches (third beach being the best), Vancouver Aquarium, large open grass fields for picnics, outdoor movies, musical performances or just plain summertime boozing, farms, a pitch and putt....you get the idea. The entire entrance is a sculptured park not unlike the ones you mentioned in St.J. You could just hang around the entrance, and never even explore the other 95% of the park, and it'd still be huge.

I guess what I'm getting at is that Stanley Park is Vancouver's backyard, and therefore serves many, many purposes for the residents. I freaking adore the place.

When was the last time you explored it?

Well put. Stanley Park just seems to have so much more than Mount Royal. But I do have to give Mount Royal points for the epic views of downtown it provides.

[Ashok]

Can we just agree that both the parks are great, quite different and both have so much to offer. Why make assertions that are very complicated to back up? Mount Royal is a focal point for Montrealers, and it offers so much more than just a traditional park.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by lio45

From the pics it certainly appears to be a LOT less urban than what I've explored in Chicago, where the riverwalk is indeed something that can be considered to be "an urban experience" by everyone.

Calgary is less urban than Chicago? holy newsflash batman!

I mean, do you really think that both shores of the Bow river can reasonably be turned into something like this in the foreseeable future?

On the south side, definitely, the north side would take a while to develop but it could if we wanted to make it look like that. As I said before, there is no need as we prefer the more natural bank and are developing it nicely as a public amenity.

[Ashok]

Yeah - all it will take is a major developper to build a few hi-rises across the river, and make it much more accessible from downtown. But will the residence of sunnyside allow that?

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

Calgarian never said that it should turn into something like that, he just challenged the statement that Sunnyside is "suburban."

I just picked a random spot in Sunnyside on the non-satellite map (where only the streets are visible, so I didn't even have the sat view to give me an idea of the built form) and put the Google Street View little orange guy there.

This is my first and only try. I swear I'm not cherrypicking.

Looks totally suburban to me. In fact areas near the core of Longueuil are a lot more urban than that...

https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0582242,-...1!3m2!1s27QMGsUc0qAVZk1BD6geYQ!2e0?hl=fr

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Calgary is less urban than Chicago? holy newsflash batman!

One guy says it would be nice for the Bow riverwalk to maybe approach Chicago (or Paris) in terms of riverfront urbanity.

So I'm pointing out that from the pics the non-downtown shore of the river (I now know it's the north one) is downright suburban at the moment, so there's no way you can possibly have thick walls of highrises on both sides of the river in the foreseeable future. (Well, technically, only a few things are truly impossible, but it's incredibly unlikely to happen.)

Also, someone brought up a good point about the way the shores of the Seine and Chicago rivers were treated... ecologically, we wouldn't do it nowadays, regardless of whether or not the concrete/urbanity looks are deemed desirable or the opposite.

[Calgarian]

So any single family housing is suburban now?

You guys always call us out on being too sensitive, but all I see on the recent pages is people looking for things to knock Calgary on. Our landscape isn't as pretty as Toronto, We don't have the density of Montreal, We don't have Stanley Park, the river isn't walled, the whole city outside downtown is suburban. You guys (see mostly Montreal forumers) are ridiculous!

[Ashok]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

So any single family housing is suburban now?

You guys always call us out on being too sensitive, but all I see on the recent pages is people looking for things to knock Calgary on. Our landscape isn't as pretty as Toronto, We don't have the density of Montreal, We don't have Stanley Park, the river isn't walled, the whole city outside downtown is suburban. You guys (see mostly Montreal forumers) are ridiculous!

There, there. *hugs*

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

So any single family housing is suburban now?

You guys always call us out on being too sensitive, but all I see on the recent pages is people looking for things to knock Calgary on. Our landscape isn't as pretty as Toronto, We don't have the density of Montreal, We don't have Stanley Park, the river isn't walled, the whole city outside downtown is suburban. You guys (see mostly Montreal forumers) are ridiculous!

I think the issue is more related to pretentions (or maybe aspirations?) that some people have about Calgary, as opposed to any people really disliking the city.

Calgary's skyline has been unanimously praised on here and no one has ridiculed it or called it rinky-dink. And it's only effectively tied for fourth-largest city in the country with two other cities.

I mean, what more do you want?