The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[ssiguy]

It's great that Edmonton is starting to "fill-in" but I'm curious, how did it get to that state in the first place?

In the US often downtown areas were decimated by white-flight or urban freeway projects but Edmonton had neither. Toronto certainly had huge Waterfront areas that were unpopulated but that was due to both the Great Toronto Fire and the Waterfront was mostly created by land reclamation but again neither of those things apply to Edmonton. Where did all the huge expansive lots come from? Were they always there or were they once urban and were torn down?