Just got back from a road trip last week passing through QC, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Niagara Falls. I gotta say I definitely developed a much greater respect for Montreal skyline. Up close, the variety of building styles, layering, arrangement, and nightime lighting are really made to impress. The architecture on Maisonneuve could be better though. I feel like a lot of those concrete residential towers in the western part of downtown could use more ground level retail and could have their facades renovated to make them more attractive. But I just love the views looking south seeing buildings like Aldred or 1250 René-Lévesque with their lighting schemes is just sensational. Also, I really can't say how happy I am about he gaps being filled on the western part of Rene Levesque. For me that was central Montreal's weakest area. I also found it incredibly cool to see the night skyline off in the distance looking north from autoroute de l'Acrier because I assumed it would be too far from downtown.
Toronto I feel like is still growing into its skyline in a way. It's scale is definitely gigantic relative to Montreal but I just find there is so much "texture" so to speak and too few landmarks - and the landmarks are kind of grouped really tightly in the financial district. Once there are more landmark buildings more off on their own (such as Aura) I think the skyline will have a stronger presence. Overall, Toronto is more impressive from a distance and Montreal I find more impressive up close.
Ottawa I find really stunning and enjoyable but not so much for the skyline. I didn't spend very much time there but the downtown - especially Wellington and Elgin are just beautiful. One thing that makes me laugh though is coming in from the east from Monteal they show the "welcome to Ottawa" sign when you're in the middle of nowhere and just surrounded by farms and fields and just driving along thinking "Hmm, I was expecting something a little less farmey and a little more urban LOL". It was like another 10 minutes of driving before I actually saw anything hehe.
Quebec City kind of gives me an inferiority complex from the cityscape but of course the population is like double the size of Halifax. But I'm not sure that even two of our urban cores could equal that. The built form is just phenomenal for a city that size. I think the core could even anchor a city 2-3 times that size. #depressed
I can't say I'm terribly jealous of the skyline but it is way more visable than ours since it's on such high ground whereas ours is at the bottom of a hill. Coming into town at night and seeing it looming in the distance from autoroute Felix Leclerc for the first time is an incredibly cool experience.
But overall, the biggest impression I got from this trip is, Canadian and Quebecois cities are NOT meant to be accessed and enjoyed by car. Traffic is horrible (like I honestly had no real comprehension), parking is expensive and confusing, and the urban landscape is too finely knit to take in at higher speeds. All of which is a good thing. We just need stronger public transit higher transit modal split and we'll be all set.
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