Commie-block (slabsville) capital of Canada

[Bcasey25raptor]

Why do people hate commie blocks? I actually quite like them.

My vote regardless is Vancouver's west end which is literally almost entirely made up of commie blocks.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by softee

I think a drive through Toronto on the 401 would make a strong case for Toronto being the commie block capital not only in actual numbers but also on a per capita basis. Toronto is easily the commie block capital of Canamerica.

If we separated the original boroughs then North York or Scarborough would probably be the commie-block capital of Canada!

But yeah the first time I was old enough to appreciate it on annual trips to Toronto I was shocked at the number of highrises along the 401 compared to anywhere in suburban Calgary. Especially fascinated by NYCC which looked like an entirely separate downtown, and at the time was mostly commie blocks and office towers. Nowadays I just think that downtown Toronto and the increasing number of tall towers along the Yonge spine and west lakeshore offset the blanket of suburban slabs.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Mrs Sauga

Toronto has the most but London or Hamilton takes the title because their skylines are made up almost entirely of commie blocks.

Yeah. I agree. Toronto has the most in raw numbers, but London's high-rises are about 70%+ commie-block, whereas Hamilton is close to 99.998% (exaggeration of course _

[king10]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

London is kinda weird.

Nearly every high/midrise residential tower built in the last 20 years in Canada have been for condos but in London they have been rentals. I don't know why this is but condos have never taken off in London although I imagine that a lot of that has to with cheap cost of housing. There are of course a lot of condos in London but nearly all were built originally as rentals and then converted over. When buildings are built as rentals they usually are of lower design quality.

As far as commie blocks I don't like them but I don't find a lot of the mundane blue-glass towers that litter our cities much better. They probably have superior amenities and fixtures but I find then to be the commie blocks of the 21st century. Some are quite innovative but many are nothing more than glass boxes with no more character than the traditional concrete commie blocks.

CityPlace in Toronto is a great example as is much of the new builds in Vancouver. Suburban commie blocks are all over the damn place in Metrotown and North York.

A lot of student rentals in london. I know of a lot of Western students renting apartment units.

[MTLskyline]

Montreal's most densely populated neighbourhood, the Shaughnessy Village, is mostly a commie block district. I would say it is the part of the city with the most activity day and night. Not beautiful, but urban.

Downtown living by christopher dewolf | urbanphoto.net, on Flickr

[J.OT13]

That actually looks kind of cool.

[MolsonExport]

I spent a hell of a lot of time in Shaughnessy village (Montreal). 90% of my UG, Grad-school (MSc & PhD) friends lived there and in the nearby McGill Ghetto. And many of my girlfriends. Lived there for a spell or ten. My stomping grounds, so to speak.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Why do people hate commie blocks? I actually quite like them.

Yay! I'm not totally alone.

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Montreal's most densely populated neighbourhood, the Shaughnessy Village, is mostly a commie block district. I would say it is the part of the city with the most activity day and night. Not beautiful, but urban.

Downtown living by christopher dewolf | urbanphoto.net, on Flickr

Enough minimalistic ugly can develop a strange beauty. Like many pictures of Hong Kong. You try scaling up the masonry patterns that work on midrises though and you often get an assault of the senses with too much stuff.

[ehlow]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Why do people hate commie blocks? I actually quite like them.

My vote regardless is Vancouver's west end which is literally almost entirely made up of commie blocks.

I think they can be alright when sprinkled in with many other building styles.

When it's only commie blocks, it can be depressing. The other thing is that many are badly maintained and therefore look even worse, dirty and old.

That's one of the things I like about downtown Toronto, because there were multiple "boom" cycles you get a variety of styles, commie blocks mixed with new glass towers and older brick buildings next to Victorian & Edwardian houses.

Interesting commie block buildings:
-Uno Prii did lots of pretty good ones in Toronto:

Google his name for more

-This is one of my personal favs in TO: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.709489,-7...3m4!1e1!3m2!1s_GFP54QrVcST_V9uFVtYMA!2e0

-They did this to one to liven it up:

[Bcasey25raptor]

Vancouver's Downtown West End neighbourhood is almost entirely made of commie blocks and yet I find it to be my favourite part of Vancouver (I actually don't quite like yaletown)



Source: http://www.123rf.com/photo_10028225_aerial-vancouver--west-end-beaches.html

[ssiguy]

^ I know what you are saying but Vancouver is a very different urban form.

In the rest of the country commie blocks are not only concrete non-descript buildings but also quite overwhelming with large footprints. Footprints in Vancouver are very small and the building quite slender so you aren't as overwhelmed by them and they don't create as much of a shade/block out the sun.

Vancouver really doesn't have real commie blocks compared to what you can find in the rest of the country. Look at some of those pics from St.James in Toronto, those buildings are absolutely massive.

[hipster duck]

^Yeah, the West End's apartment buildings are more like something out of Brazil than something out of Toronto.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

^Yeah, the West End's apartment buildings are more like something out of Brazil than something out of Toronto.

Like rio type of deal?

What's the real history behind the commie block west end anyhow? Were they originally social housing?

[MolsonExport]

Marseille (where I work for a month of each year) has some really beautiful areas. But it also has some hideous behemoth apartment slabs. Emphasized all the more given their placement atop hills and mountains.


masterfile.com


worldtravelimages

[WhipperSnapper]

Leave North York Centre and all you'll see are slabs. The community of North York has more high rise slabs than just about any Canadian City has towers.

[harls]

I once lived near Sizzling Islington station in Etobicoke. (Mabelle Ave?) Commie central. I lasted one year there, and that was more than enough.

The only good thing about that place was that it was on the subway line. and it was close to Bloor west village.

[Trans Canada]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Like rio type of deal?

What's the real history behind the commie block west end anyhow? Were they originally social housing?

ssiguy is right, those aren't commieblocks. They just happened to be built in a time where all residential towers were ugly (from our perspective)

[kool maudit]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

this reads "edmoitoi"

[lio45]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

this reads "edmoitoi"

Plus the 'D' wouldn't have that shape in Cyrillic, it would be 'Д'.

So it would read "E_moitoi" to someone not willing to guess or adapt.

[333609543]

Commie blocks may be ugly, but as many said before me; They are dense and encourage development. In my opinion they're truly not extremely ugly: Referring to "Eye in the sky" and some others... I believe commie blocks and high rise low-middle income residences and apartments are healthy and almost essential to Toronto and it's population; which is why you can find Commie clusters everywhere in the city. I don't want any fairly unattractive buildings anywhere in my city or in Canada but they're for density, and I know for sure that almost every single person on this forum likes density.