The Ugly Canada Thread

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The whole thing looks like something neo-capitalists would have built in Eastern Europe somewhere circa 1995, a few years after their country abandoned communism.

Or maybe how these same neo-capitalists would have renovated/modernized a communist-built facility to make it "spiffier" (sic).

In fairness, the little known Abominable Architecture Act requires new purpose-built casinos in Canada to look like total pieces of cartoonish dog shit.

---

I kid, I kid. But in seriousness, the only tasteful casinos that I know of, in Canada at least, are the ones that have readapted elegant older buildings like the Casino Regina which occupies the old CPR station in that city, as well as the Casino de Montreal which is really at the top of the heap given that it is housed in a spectacular Expo 67 pavilion.

If you want to gamble in Winnipeg your choices are this overgrown railway-themed McDonald's:



Source: East Side Ventilation

or this pseudo-tropical resort.




Source: allwinnipeg.ca

Both are located in some of the drabbest quarters and on the ugliest stroads that can possibly be found in Winnipeg.

[MexiQuebecois]

Originally Posted by esquire

In fairness, the little known Abominable Architecture Act requires new purpose-built casinos in Canada to look like total pieces of cartoonish dog shit.

---

I kid, I kid. But in seriousness, the only tasteful casinos that I know of, in Canada at least, are the ones that have readapted elegant older buildings like the Casino Regina which occupies the old CPR station in that city, as well as the Casino de Montreal which is really at the top of the heap given that it is housed in a spectacular Expo 67 pavilion.

If you want to gamble in Winnipeg your choices are this overgrown railway-themed McDonald's:



Source: East Side Ventilation

or this pseudo-tropical resort.




Source: allwinnipeg.ca

Both are located in some of the drabbest quarters and on the ugliest stroads that can possibly be found in Winnipeg.

Are those........fake palm trees?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MexiQuebecois

Are those........fake palm trees?

Had to look it up but yeah... it's real! Operated by an aboriginal group.

[SignalHillHiker]

I never heard the older theme song before, but this one has been engraved in my brain through constant advertising. I thought it was much older than it appears to me.

• Video Link

[Acajack]

Casino Charlevoix, Pointe-au-Pic, QC

[Acajack]

Casino Tremblant, Mont-Tremblant, QC

[Acajack]

Casino Windsor, Windsor, ON

[SignalHillHiker]

Those Quebec ones aren't so bad to me. They look like they could be suburban McMansions in Montreal and Vancouver respectively. They're not fully fucked like the others.

[SignalHillHiker]

Nova Scotia's is as funny as New Brunswick's, and for many of the same reasons:

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/14477330

We don't even have one yet.

[Acajack]

Rideau-Carleton Racetrack Slots, Ottawa, ON

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Rideau-Carleton Racetrack Slots, Ottawa, ON

Should be a northern airport. Or a Mini Cooper dealership on Kenmount Road.

[Acajack]

Casino Rama, Rama, ON

[Acajack]

Casino du Lac Leamy, Gatineau, QC

[esquire]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Those Quebec ones aren't so bad to me. They look like they could be suburban McMansions in Montreal and Vancouver respectively. They're not fully fucked like the others.

Yeah, the Quebec ones look remarkably restrained. Only Lac Leamy is gaudy out of the ones seen.

[O-tacular]

Here's one of Calgary's major casinos (the Elbow River Casino). It's a bit theme-y but by no means the worst in this city or this forum. True story: I was stopped at a red light beside it Weds night and there was a guy playing guitar busking for money. This other guy runs across the cross walk in front of me from across the street, tries whacking the guitar out of the guy's hands and then tries stealing the money from his hat. The guitar player managed to hit him with his guitar a couple times to fend him off but fell while in pursuit. Funny thing was there were 3 cops just standing around a block away. I have no idea what ended up happening after the little shit ran off or whether he managed to actually get any money or not from the hat.

[Acajack]

Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, ON

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Had to look it up but yeah... it's real! Operated by an aboriginal group.

Real fake palm trees... I don't think plant genetics are advanced enough yet to get real palms to grow in Winnipeg

The Winnipeg casinos are run by the provincial government's most fun crown corporation: Liquor and Lotteries. There are three First Nations-run casinos in Manitoba and while they're all fairly small, they're not quite as ugly as the older Winnipeg ones.

One of them does have fake palm trees too... a little piece of South Beach in the middle of Eastern Manitoba's scrub bush



Source: Gamingfloor's flickr

[Acajack]

Casino Niagara, Niagara Falls, ON

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by esquire

Yeah, the Quebec ones look remarkably restrained. Only Lac Leamy is gaudy out of the ones seen.

I actually really like the look of the Mont Tremblant casino. The Alpine theme/aesthetic is obvious, but makes a ton of sense and looks attractive - at least in that lighting and from that angle.

[SignalHillHiker]

Outside of the heritage protection areas, the older parts of St. John's (streetcar SFD-style areas) tend to be done without lube once a building burns down.

The in-fill out in these areas, wow...

At first we kept SOME semblance of urbanity...



But, you can see from that StreetView the type of people who were prepared to live in these buildings. So the planners went full suburban to attract "better" folks: