The Great Canadian Skyline Thread!

[CurtisVerbatim]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

Am i the only one who likes Harbour Centre?

I happen to like it. although as others above mentioned the office portion is rather uninteresting architecturally. I think if the rotating part were higher and more separated from the building it would be better.

[Ashok]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

From MtlUrb member Anderson on MtlUrb.

Am loving the impact of TDC

[Mrs Sauga]

I didn't realize it was that wide... Good thing its tall otherwise it would just look like a slab.

[SkahHigh]

I know this POV is nothing new but I really like the impact of all the new towers.

Sans titre by Alex.MacDonald, sur Flickr

[itom 987]

Yes, those towers are good filler for Montreal's skyline.

[Martin Mtl]

Côte-Des-Neiges and Ville Mont-Royal


Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal by Ka Lung1 on flickr


Downtown Montreal/Centre-ville de Montréal by Ka Lung1 on flickr


Downtown Montreal/Centre-ville de Montréal by Ka Lung1 on flickr

[SkahHigh]

And a better view of Downtown:

Downtown Montreal/Centre-ville de Montréal by Ka Lung1, sur Flickr

[G.S MTL]

Amazing Montreal shots! Love it...!

[Calgarian]

Montreal looking good!

[philatonian]

I wasn't sure where to post this question, but this thread seemed like a good place. I live in Philadelphia, watch a lot of TV shows set in Canadian cities, and I've just been really impressed by the development in cities like Toronto and Vancouver, especially in the last 10-20 years.

Here, cities like New York and Chicago obviously still keep building hefty skyscrapers. But in a lot of ways I find the Canadian skylines more impressive because of the abundance of these sleek, slender residential mid-rise buildings. You see a bit of that in Seattle, and maybe Portland, but not on the scale you see it in Vancouver and Toronto.

I'm just wondering what it is that keeps cities like Philadelphia, Boston, even Los Angeles, from developing these kinds of towers on the same scale as Canadian cities. Is there better investment in transportation, lower taxes, or more incentive to live downtown driving the market for these kinds of buildings in Canada.

In Philadelphia - which is a densely packed city and very walkable - there are several areas that would do really well with that sort of development. But for some reason, developers aren't taking advantage of it yet.

I gotta give it to you, Canada is really setting the bar for North American skylines. I feel like we're lagging behind. Even in New York and Chicago, sure, when they build, they build some wild things. But in general, it's a lot of dull infill and developers reluctant to make a move.

[Klazu]

I think the issue is that Americans are still not embracing condo living in Downtown. To them Downtown is only a CBD and nobody lives there. It is a bit different in New York and Chicago, but other cities are more car-oriented cities with large suburbias.

You have to remember that most of the tower developments in Canada are condo towers.

[Beedok]

I think the big difference is race relations. Canada doesn't really have the same poverty tied to race thing the US has, so it wasn't as much white flight as just middle class flight. That made people more open to moving back.

That and it gets darn cold in some of our cities so apartments are a good choice on the insulation from.

[caltrane74]

Panamania Skyline

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[middeljohn]

Couldn't Miami and Seattle could be added to that list too? Condos seem to be going up pretty fast there as well.

Toronto and Vancouver's booms have a lot to do with geographic barriers to sprawl, which has caused property values to soar thus making condo-living the new cost-effective way to have a comfortable life. Vancouver's due to the mountains surrounding them and Toronto's due to the artificial boundary (Greenbelt). Because of the Greenbelt 2000 sq ft SFD homes have gone from 250K in 2000 to 900K+ today and are looking to continue along that trajectory for the foreseeable future. As long as land keeps becoming more scarce, automobiles continue to be the dominant form of transportation and the population continues to grow, property values will continue to go up. Toronto and Vancouver are the two most desirable locations for newcomers to the country and both are viewed as places people want to move to once they have money amongst many Canadians. So I don't see this trend changing anytime soon. Thus condos will continue popping up providing a cheaper alternative.

What you don't see in skyline pictures are the hundreds of midrise condos popping up all over the place in automobile oriented communities. Typically these are close to the freeways so people can easily get to work and back. Lack of space and far from everything. Worst of both worlds if you ask me haha.

[ssiguy]

Canadians have always been more receptive to communal/apt living than Americans or Australians for that matter. Americans like their space and freedom and condos are not congruent to that. Also there is a lot of racism/classism at work where downtown in most US cities still means poverty, drugs, and crime. Downtown condo living also is more conducive to urban transit which most Americans shun no matter how good the service. Americans also have higher birth rates and are less likely to be single or have children than Canadians.

[Surrealplaces]

Last Night was Mad Trill by Abdulkadir A, on Flickr

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

It's great to see how Calgary's downtown has gone from basically purely office towers to one with a good chunk of residential and that will only continue.

I agree, it's a welcome trend.

The last 10 or so years has brought some good change to Calgary. The Beltline alone has seen 33 high rise towers go up, and all but 3 of them have been residential.

[Surrealplaces]

Honda Celebration of Lights 2015 - China by jenn chan, on Flickr

[Surrealplaces]

Honda Celebration of Lights 2015 - China by jenn chan, on Flickr


Canada Day Fireworks by jenn chan, on Flickr