Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[The Chemist]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I think this is a really terrific and thought-provoking itemized ranking.

My quibbles? I'd go with 3 for Quebec City on variety, 6 for Montreal on natural surroundings, 1 for Calgary on urban surroundings, and for Chicago I'd go with 6 for urban surroundings and 1 for natural surroundings.

Toronto and Chicago equal at 6 on urban surroundings, you might furrow your brow? Well, yeah. Toronto missed out on the 19th multi-story streetwalls of the northeastern seaboard, resulting in too much row-housing too close to the city centre, but the shopfronts on its main commercial streets are a lot nicer than Chicago's, and Chicago's tenements are detached, making for a mostly bleak hodge-podge on its residential streets.

Giving Calgary a 1 on urban surroundings would be incredibly unfair. It's not the most urban city in the country, obviously, but there are plenty of good urban neighbourhoods in the city that should give it at least a 3 or 4 on this kind of ranking. Of course, you've never even been to Calgary so your judgement on this issue is not exactly informed.

[leftimage]

Mount-Royal sexiness.
Now that's variety...

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I like Halifax a lot but as far as skylines go it has virtually none. Sure it has a waterfront and a bridge, but not really a place full of skyscrapers imo. Why would you place that ahead of Toronto?

I couldn't disagree more. The skyline is one of my favourite aspects of the local landscape and a very prominent part of the urban form. We all have our aesthetic preferences, but saying it doesn't exist is completely ridiculous. I mean, I could have sworn that I've taken countless pictures and even a few videos of it over the years (like the one below from 3 years ago), but if it doesn't exist I guess I must have just dreamt it...

Best view is around 6:50
• Video Link

[Tosin007]

Originally Posted by BretttheRiderFan

Here's my list of the best skylines in the country:

1. Toronto
2. Calgary
3. Montreal
4. Vancouver
5. Edmonton
6. Mississauga
7. Burnaby
8. Niagara Falls
9. Ottawa
10. Winnipeg


If I were counting the separate skylines of the city of Toronto, this list would look different.

Not a bad Top 10! But IMO Vancouver definitely has a Better Skyline than Calgary does for me it goes!

1st Toronto (Depth, Architecture, Density, Height, Setting). <- Too big to fail.
2nd Vancouver (Depth, Architecture, Density, Setting). <- Mountains, Harbor, Trump Tower nuff said. Edges out Calgary.
3rd Calgary (Depth, Architecture, Density). <- Soon to be more Height. Beltline, the Bow River & the Canadian Rockies in some Shot's helps it edge out Montreal.
4th Montreal (Depth, Density, Height). <- Not as beautiful a Setting as the Other 3.
5th Ottawa (Depth, Architecture, Density). <- Still a ways to start having height.
6th Edmonton (Will pass Ottawa as soon as Stantec HQ is completed).
7th Mississauga (Architecture, Density, Depth). <- Not nearly enough Architecture or good enough natural Setting to beat out Edmonton solidly. Doesn't have the Same Aesthetic Appeal. You must see the Edmonton Skyline with ALL its Apartment Buildings & Commercial Buildings (Like the Pearl Tower too in the same shot).
8th Winnipeg (Architecture, Density). <- Much better Architecture than the last 2. (Soon to be more Height).
9th Hamilton (Setting, Depth). "Lake Ontario", Height edges out London, but a Much visibly larger Downtown.
10th London (Depth, Density).

[logan5]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

To get nerdy and quantify it, I would say a skyline is some combo of variety (often based on history), height, urban surroundings and natural surroundings.

On a scale of 0-10, I would say:

Variety / Height / Urban Surr / Natural Surr [TOTAL]

Toronto 6 8 6 4 [24]
Montreal 5 3 8 5 [23]
Quebec City 6 1 7 8 [22]
Vancouver 2 3 5 10 [20]
Calgary 4 7 3 4 [18]
Halifax 3 2 5 6 [16]
Winnipeg 4 3 4 3 [14]
Edmonton 3 4 3 4 [14]
Mississauga 2 6 1 1 [10]

Some comparisons:

New York 10 9 10 7 [36]
Rio de Janeiro 3 2 8 10 [23]
Hong Kong 8 10 9 9 [36]
Chicago 9 9 9 4 [31]

WTF! Vancouver tied with Miss for variety? And there should be another column for skyline mass.

[Tosin007]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Mine......Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver in that order.

Vancouver's Skyline is better than Calgary & Ottawa's. I dunno what Crack some of u guys are smoking. Vancouver has more than twice as Many Skyscraper's than Calgary & Ottawa's. (Its not even close). Even if they both added BOTH of their Skyscraper's together Vancouver still has 3 more!
875 Completed According to Skyscraperpage!
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=1&statusID=1
Are u seriously going to to tell me nearly 500 more Buildings than Calgary magically makes its Skyline somehow worse & LESS visually appealing?
(& in the case vs Ottawa nearly 400 More).
Vancouver also has the MOUNTAINS (Way way closer to it than Calgary). Has a Taller Tower. (The Trump Tower), Vancouver Lookout, Vancouver Harbor for its setting, Condo's that reflect beautifully in the water & BC Place, Canada Place & the "Science World". Vancouver is ahead of Calgary & Ottawa period!
MAYBE if Calgary already had CalgaryNEXT Completed it'd be close (Cause then they would BOTH have Sporting Facilities within close Distance to their Downtown's Urban Fabric but ONLY Vancouver has this).
The Only argument one could make is Calgary or Ottawa having better Architecture but in every other Area that matter's, Density, Setting, Depth, Height, Vancouver is FAR, FAR ahead. Finally, Vancouver's Metro Area has nearly 1 Million more Canadian's living in it than the Calgary or Ottawa Region's, saying Calgary or Ottawa have a better skyline is insulting these Canadian's that Contribute to Vancouver's Built form. All Canadian Cities are NOT built to scale, this means that the bigger ones tend to offer more & have much larger Downtown's its not like Vancouver is a US City, it's a Canadian one! & Therefore any City or Metro in Canada that is larger is ALWAYS going to offer More & have a bigger downtown! (With the Exception of maybe London vs Hamilton vs Winnipeg vs Quebec City or something).

Calgary 382!
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=3&statusID=1

Ottawa 490!
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=60&statusID=1

PS. You guys also forget that Vancouver is a Condo King! Its small by land area but the vast majority of Vancouverites are living in Condo's & Apartment Buildings instead of Single Family Detached Homes. (unlike Calgary/ Ottawa), because its "Prohibitively Expensive"!
Therefore Vancouver is FAR, FAR more of a City that focuses on its High Density, High-rise living so its not an Apples to Apples comparison. Vancouver is built to be more of a "Skyscraper" City. (Which means its ahead in that area). Vancouver has a VERY high Downtown Residential Population compared to Cities 3 to 4 times its Population.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

To get nerdy and quantify it, I would say a skyline is some combo of variety (often based on history), height, urban surroundings and natural surroundings.

On a scale of 0-10, I would say:

Variety / Height / Urban Surr / Natural Surr [TOTAL]

Toronto 6 8 6 4 [24]
Montreal 5 3 8 5 [23]
Quebec City 6 1 7 8 [22]
Vancouver 2 3 5 10 [20]
Calgary 4 7 3 4 [18]
Halifax 3 2 5 6 [16]
Winnipeg 4 3 4 3 [14]
Edmonton 3 4 3 4 [14]
Mississauga 2 6 1 1 [10]

Some comparisons:

New York 10 9 10 7 [36]
Rio de Janeiro 3 2 8 10 [23]
Hong Kong 8 10 9 9 [36]
Chicago 9 9 9 4 [31]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I think this is a really terrific and thought-provoking itemized ranking.

My quibbles? I'd go with 3 for Quebec City on variety, 6 for Montreal on natural surroundings, 1 for Calgary on urban surroundings, and for Chicago I'd go with 6 for urban surroundings and 1 for natural surroundings.

Toronto and Chicago equal at 6 on urban surroundings, you might furrow your brow? Well, yeah. Toronto missed out on the 19th multi-story streetwalls of the northeastern seaboard, resulting in too much row-housing too close to the city centre, but the shopfronts on its main commercial streets are a lot nicer than Chicago's, and Chicago's tenements are detached, making for a mostly bleak hodge-podge on its residential streets.

I just realized that in my estimation Toronto and Montreal would be tied, and we can't have that. I'd probably have to give Toronto a 7 for variety, and drop Montreal down to a 4. There. Done.

Actually, the suggestion of another column for skyline mass seems like a good one.

[Tosin007]

Originally Posted by Skyisnolimit

Calgary posters stop being so insecure. Your downtown is a ghost town at night like those Empty built Chinese cities,. You will never be Toronto Montreal or even Vancouver as major metropolitans . You hang with the Ottawa's and Edmonton's.

I agree lmao!

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Tosin007

Vancouver's Skyline is better than Calgary & Ottawa's. I dunno what Crack some of u guys are smoking. Vancouver has more than twice as Many Skyscraper's than Calgary & Ottawa's. (Its not even close). Even if they both added BOTH of their Skyscraper's together Vancouver still has 3 more!
875 Completed According to Skyscraperpage!
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=1&statusID=1
Are u seriously going to to tell me nearly 500 more Buildings than Calgary magically makes its Skyline somehow worse & LESS visually appealing?
(& in the case vs Ottawa nearly 400 More).
Vancouver also has the MOUNTAINS (Way way closer to it than Calgary). Has a Taller Tower. (The Trump Tower), Vancouver Lookout, Vancouver Harbor for its setting, Condo's that reflect beautifully in the water & BC Place, Canada Place & the "Science World". Vancouver is ahead of Calgary & Ottawa period!
MAYBE if Calgary already had CalgaryNEXT Completed it'd be close (Cause then they would BOTH have Sporting Facilities within close Distance to their Downtown's Urban Fabric but ONLY Vancouver has this).
The Only argument one could make is Calgary or Ottawa having better Architecture but in every other Area that matter's, Density, Setting, Depth, Height, Vancouver is FAR, FAR ahead. Vancouver's Metro Area has nearly 1 Million more Canadian's living in it than the Calgary or Ottawa Region's, saying Calgary or Ottawa have a better skyline is insulting these Canadian's that Contribute to Vancouver's Built form.

Calgary 382!
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=3&statusID=1

Ottawa 490!
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=60&statusID=1

From the outside, I definitely prefer Calgary's skyline. Vancouver may have more highrises, but Calgary has far larger highrises. I pace great value on residential density from an overall planning prespective. But in terms of skyline views, smaller, shorter, balcony-cluttered residential buildings just don't do it for me the same way that heftier, sleeker office buildings do.

[Tosin007]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

From the outside, I definitely prefer Calgary's skyline. Vancouver may have more highrises, but Calgary has far larger highrises. I pace great value on residential density from an overall planning prespective. But in terms of skyline views, smaller, shorter, balcony-cluttered residential buildings just don't do it for me the same way that heftier, sleeker office buildings do.

Aw ok fair enough I guess, I still feel like Vancouver is impressive because of its amount of Residential Space in its Downtown Core. (I admire it alot for that). Its one of the highest density Major Cities in North America, it basically epitomizes the Definition of "Urban". Whereas Calgary/ Ottawa are ALOT more Sprawly, but Vancouver is only Sprawly in the Burbs & even still its dense.

[logan5]

It's true that residential towers are not great to look at, but there's something kind of impressive when you have such a large density of towers. It seems to provide good visual support for the taller and better looking towers, and for the skyline as a whole.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by FFX-ME

Look at this new shot of Toronto!!!

CLiffordStead on Flikr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cliffordst...noBj-dPnoZu-dPnoW3-4M6PHc-4M6PNX-fdXs6V/

...Jk, that's 1992

[Tosin007]

Originally Posted by logan5

It's true that residential towers are not great to look at, but there's something kind of impressive when you have such a large density of towers. It seems to provide good visual support for the taller and better looking towers.

EXACTLY Thank you! That's why Vancouver's is beautiful, because most of the good Skyline Photo's can be taken from Balconies & Rooftops as well anyways.
Also u guys act like Toronto doesn't have ALOT of Downtown Residential it DOES! So many Waterfront Properties in Downtown Toronto are Residential
& Not Commercial, but it still makes Toronto's Skyline look great, so why can't people like Vancouver's too? Game Changers for the Toronto Skyline are City Place &
those 2 New Sleek Condo's u always see in the newer Toronto Photo's/ Aerials. & Many of the Tall Proposal's are Condo's too!
So ya!

[Martin Mtl]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIdvpEqAI6C/?tagged=champlainbridge


https://www.instagram.com/p/BId4g_HjMfk/?taken-by=rox.trudeau


https://www.instagram.com/p/BIBdt2cAJy4/?tagged=montrealskyline


https://www.instagram.com/p/BIbh3qfBtVZ/?tagged=champlainbridge


https://www.instagram.com/p/BILHEBQB6C2/?taken-by=dhimbert


https://www.instagram.com/p/BHlX4h5hLnf/?taken-by=douglasairaerialphotography


https://www.instagram.com/p/BDZjqekymQT/?taken-by=douglasairaerialphotography


https://www.instagram.com/p/BH5jIy2gQTo/?tagged=montrealskyline


https://www.instagram.com/p/BGknvRnolGD/?tagged=champlainbridge

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Tosin007

EXACTLY Thank you! That's why Vancouver's is beautiful, because most of the good Skyline Photo's can be taken from Balconies & Rooftops as well anyways.
Also u guys act like Toronto doesn't have ALOT of Downtown Residential it DOES! So many Waterfront Properties in Downtown Toronto are Residential
& Not Commercial, but it still makes Toronto's Skyline look great, so why can't people like Vancouver's too? Game Changers for the Toronto Skyline are City Place &
those 2 New Sleek Condo's u always see in the newer Toronto Photo's/ Aerials. & Many of the Tall Proposal's are Condo's too!
So ya!

Well I'm not sure that Toronto is a good comparison. If the issue with Vancouver is that its skyline compared to Calgary it's dominated by smaller, shorter residential buildings, then it has little in common with Toronto whose tallest residential buildings are even taller than Calgary's tallest office buildings.

Although I suspect that if some of Toronto's huge new residential buildings were actually new office buildings of the same height, its skyline would be even more impressive still.

But of course Toronto and Vancouver are far more impressive with their wealth of residential highrises than they'd be without.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Actually, the suggestion of another column for skyline mass seems like a good one.

OK, fair enough. And also I realized that I did screw up some of the numbers re: height. Plus I didn't add up the numbers correctly. Whatever, it was the last thing I did in the office before the long weekend.

So, revised:

Variety / Height / Urban Surr / Natural Surr/ Volume [TOTAL]

Toronto 6 8 6 4 8 [32]
Vancouver 3 4 4 10 6 [27]
Montreal 5 4 7 5 5 [26]
Calgary 4 7 3 3 5 [22]
Edmonton 3 4 3 4 4 [18]
Quebec City 3 1 6 7 1 [18]
Halifax 3 2 5 6 2 [18]
Winnipeg 4 3 4 3 3 [17]
Hamilton 2 3 5 4 2 [16]
Mississauga 2 4 1 1 2 [10]


Some comparisons:

New York 10 9 10 7 10 [46]
Rio de Janeiro 3 2 7 10 7 [29]
Hong Kong 8 10 9 9 9 [45]
Chicago 9 9 6 3 8 [35]
London (UK) 4 7 10 3 4 [28]
Detroit 9 5 1 1 4 [20]


And a skyline that I always thought covered all the bases, but was never exceptional in any category:

Seattle 5 6 5 6 4 [26]

[Ramako]

The above factors are good but I think a possible x-factor is the overall quality of the architecture, which none of the above factors quite capture.

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I just realized that in my estimation Toronto and Montreal would be tied, and we can't have that. I'd probably have to give Toronto a 7 for variety, and drop Montreal down to a 4. There. Done.

Actually, the suggestion of another column for skyline mass seems like a good one.

Originally Posted by Ramako

The above factors are good but I think a possible x-factor is the overall quality of the architecture, which none of the above factors quite capture.

Yeah, you can never get it all.

Luckily it's just a subjective rating system for skylines and not, say, a cancer screening test.

Do any of you watch Silicon Valley? I kind of felt like this when I was writing the original post:

• Video Link

And on a Friday night, too!

[Xelebes]

Hey guys, I deleted a long chain of posts in this thread. Let this be an object lesson for us mods and other users of letting spiteful comments simmer. If you let it leave, it can simmer and boil and the hurt can grow. And as a moderator, I have to apologise for not getting on top of this earlier.

If you see an unreasonable and spiteful comment in threads like this, it doesn't hurt to hit the report button instead of trying to counter it with your own invective. I didn't notice the offending post back on the 24th until someone did hit the report button, and I thank whoever did so.

Thank you and carry on.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Tosin007

EXACTLY Thank you! That's why Vancouver's is beautiful, because most of the good Skyline Photo's can be taken from Balconies & Rooftops as well anyways.
Also u guys act like Toronto doesn't have ALOT of Downtown Residential it DOES! So many Waterfront Properties in Downtown Toronto are Residential
& Not Commercial, but it still makes Toronto's Skyline look great, so why can't people like Vancouver's too? Game Changers for the Toronto Skyline are City Place &
those 2 New Sleek Condo's u always see in the newer Toronto Photo's/ Aerials. & Many of the Tall Proposal's are Condo's too!
So ya!

Quality has dropped in Toronto since the days the CBD dominated the downtown skyline. I don't think anyone here needs a reminder that Toronto has many residential towers or that the scale of those towers is massive compared to their counterparts in Vancouver.