My wife and I had the immense privilege in August of driving across the country from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver. I hope many Canadians will have the experience of driving or travelling by train across our land to get a sense of the breadth and the beauty of the country. We drove through every major city between the two with the exception of Edmonton. As it happens, we were in Edmonton for a wedding just over a year ago and we visit Victoria from time to time also. Here are my own personal top ten skylines, based on that experience.
1. Toronto. With respect to what humans have constructed, as opposed to natural setting, Toronto is clearly number one. The tallest buildings and many of the more interesting structures architecturally can be found there. Moreover, it is easy to get a view of the Skyline by taking a harbour tour or riding the ferry or a water taxi to the Islands. The one thing about that classic view is that the extent of the north south axis of the skyline is not visible from that angle. To get that view, looking across the Don Valley from the aptly named Broadview is the best choice. Flying into Toronto if the wind is westerly can be very interesting also, either to the Billy Bishop island airport or to Pearson. Get a starboard seat on the former and port on the latter.
The next three are so close that I could not argue against any possible order. But here is my own preference.
2. Calgary. This has the second greatest concentration of high towers and a view from the east on a clear day with the Rockies in the background is spectacular. Flying into the Calgary airport with the right combination of weather, direction and seating within the aircraft can also be amazing. But it is easy to catch a great view from just about anywhere driving through the city on Highway 1.
3. Montreal. There is nothing like Vieux Montreal in the other major cities of Canada but admittedly the historic buildings do not show up on the skyline. The classic view from Mont Royal will, nevertheless, display some impressive modern towers and a number of Canada's most beautiful Art Deco structures.
4. Vancouver. If were talking primarily about natural setting, this would be number one. The towers of the downtown area look more impressive than their height as constructed might warrant because they are on a ridge that adds significantly to their apparent height. Vancouver might also have the widest spread of highrises, after Toronto, even if they are not impressively tall. Not too long ago, I drove back into the city over the Lions' Gate Bridge. About the middle of the bridge I could see through the structure in succession, the towers of the downtown, the increasingly impressive skyline of Burnaby, the snow capped cone of Mt. Baker bathed in the setting sun and rising above the mountain, an almost full moon. That was the greatest skyline view I have ever seen... anywhere.
5. Quebec City. Our GPS directed us into the city from the east by way of the ferry across the St. Lawrence from Levis. This is certainly the most historic skyline view in Canada with the classic CP French chateau architecture of the Chateau Frontenac and the looming citadel. It will be interesting to see what happens to the view if Le Phare is actually built. But even so, height isn't everything. Old Quebec is amazing. "Qui vive?" "Les touristes anglais!"
6. Edmonton and heading upwards in more ways than one. The height of its downtown was restricted for many years by the near downtown airport but that is done with now that the airport has been moved halfway to Red Deer. (A slight exaggeration.). But you get a very good view of the old downtown across the Saskatchewan River from a park in the Strathcona area. And with the new construction, the city is beginning to catch up to its southern rival in Alberta.
7. Ottawa. Parliament Hill. Need I say anymore? The Sparks Street Mall is very enjoyable on a summer evening. I don't know about the winter.
8. Mississauga, assuming you don't lump this in with Toronto. I don't think you should since it has a very separate skyline. Marilyn and Joe, or Absolute World, are perhaps the most shapely and architecturally impressive modern towers in the country.
9. Winnipeg. The downtown towers are perhaps not all that impressive in themselves but the view of them rising over the prairies as you approach on Highway 1, either from the east or the west, is wonderful. This is true to a lesser degree of Regina also.
10. Burnaby. Cf. Mississauga above. Burnaby seems a bit more hospitable to high rise construction than Van City and that is beginning to show in its skyline. Perhaps I should say skylines since the concentrations of towers at Brentwood and Metrotown are fairly widely separated. But what is there is impressive and the mountains are always there in the background. The view up the fjord called Indian Arm from the campus of Simon Fraser University is spectacular.
Smaller cities... Victoria, St. John's (from another trip) and Charlottetown all deserve special mention. The view of St. John's from Signal Hill comes in second to Quebec in the history department.
What a privilege to see all these cities and others I haven't mentioned here. (Sorry, Halifax and Hamilton!)
Last edited by The Macallan; Oct 17, 2016 at 11:04 PM.
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