The Ugly Canada Thread

[TorontoDrew]

No way does this deserve to bi in this thread.
From Urbantoronto.ca

[WhipperSnapper]

The name is Yonge + Rich. Find me another as ridiculous.

[TorontoDrew]

There are plenty but ya I was never a fan of the name here.In 3 years will will only go by its address.

[Franco401]

That's gorgeous. Very bold, far better than the soft shit getting built all over the place. They can call it International Class Warfare HQ for all I care, it's a douchey name on a great building that doesn't belong here.

[GeneralLea]

The ONLY thing I like about this project is the floorplate and that the floor plate is a bit unique. (I know it's not but I have not seen this floorplate on a project in a bit)
I've never liked this project, and I really don't wanna know what this will look like in twenty years......if balconies are damaged and that white mazey-looking panelly stuff is damaged, I can't expect much of a suitable replacement.

[Mister F]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

No, you're really not getting it. Buried is not specific. Walking into a neighbourhood and seeing no wires or hidden away in lanes doesn't tell the whole story. I've been around. I totally disagree that so many cities will have spent the money to have buried perfect serviceable overhead infrastructure on a main street so far outside the core. It just costs that much. I guess I'll have to find the rebuild options for Roncesvalles since you chose to ignore that part of my post.

Toronto wasn't designed with through laneways on most street.

**edit. The city has removed the options from there website. Don't believe me the costs would have added tens of millions to the reconstruction project. Don't believe tens of millions in additional costs is a lot of money to the city's budget.

It'll get done when it's no longer serviceable. I read a report not too long ago about half the wooden poles in the city receiving a poor to failing grade upon inspection. The substation that services most of downtown has been obsolete for 20 years. There's a little bit more important things on the agenda.

Just because someone disagrees with you that doesn't mean that they don't get it. Buried hydro wires (or in alleys) on neighbourhood main streets well away from the city centre are very common in cities around the world. Not universal, sure, but very common. And it's not as if Toronto's overhead wires are limited to places away from downtown. They're on Bay Street in the heart of the financial district of all places (albeit not nearly as bad as on Queen or College). Of course getting rid of these things costs money, but aesthetics don't come for free. There are much poorer cities than Toronto that have very few overhead wires. If they can afford it, so can we.

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Fuck, more of the powerline debate! There is so much uglier shit to discuss than that!

As long as they exist in prominent areas to the extent that they do, there will be debates about them. They're butt-ugly so this is the perfect thread for them!

Does complaining about people complaining about ugly things in a thread about ugly things count as ugly?

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Just because someone disagrees with you that doesn't mean that they don't get it. Buried hydro wires (or in alleys) on neighbourhood main streets well away from the city centre are very common in cities around the world. Not universal, sure, but very common. And it's not as if Toronto's overhead wires are limited to places away from downtown. They're on Bay Street in the heart of the financial district of all places (albeit not nearly as bad as on Queen or College). Of course getting rid of these things costs money, but aesthetics don't come for free. There are much poorer cities than Toronto that have very few overhead wires. If they can afford it, so can we.


As long as they exist in prominent areas to the extent that they do, there will be debates about them. They're butt-ugly so this is the perfect thread for them!

Does complaining about people complaining about ugly things in a thread about ugly things count as ugly?

No one has denied that there are many cities with neighbourhoods far from the core have their wires buried. They existing in Toronto too. Neither has anyone denied that Toronto has a ton of overheads wires lining its main streets. It has also been said the few remaining wires for street lighting and traffic signals in the financial core is rather unique to Toronto. It's your simple conclusion that Toronto is somehow failing at burying these wires because it comparably has a lot of overhead wires on its main streets to other cities without considering the circumstance and everything said is why I say you don't get it.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Mister F

Just because someone disagrees with you that doesn't mean that they don't get it. Buried hydro wires (or in alleys) on neighbourhood main streets well away from the city centre are very common in cities around the world. Not universal, sure, but very common. And it's not as if Toronto's overhead wires are limited to places away from downtown. They're on Bay Street in the heart of the financial district of all places (albeit not nearly as bad as on Queen or College). Of course getting rid of these things costs money, but aesthetics don't come for free. There are much poorer cities than Toronto that have very few overhead wires. If they can afford it, so can we.


As long as they exist in prominent areas to the extent that they do, there will be debates about them. They're butt-ugly so this is the perfect thread for them!

Does complaining about people complaining about ugly things in a thread about ugly things count as ugly? :runaway:

Lol!!!!

[OutOfTowner]

I always laugh at how people, when presented with something that is substandard or downright backwards in their particular place, will attempt to rationalize: "It exists elsewhere!", "It adds character!"

Right.

I absolutely hate pole-based hydro. I have this absolutely beautiful church on my street. Think I can photograph it? No, there's this p.o.s. wooden hydro pole positioned exactly in the middle of the sidewalk in front of it.

While I realise that cheapo Canadian 'Taxpayers' could give a fuck about anything as debauched as mere aesthetics (one look at our generally ugly cities with their cheapo public realm will confirm that aspect of our culture), there are some reasons why hydro should be buried that make that all so important economic sense:

Hydro poles are highly susceptible to ice storms, high winds, weather events in general. How much do these outages cost us in lost productivity, bean counters? Bah! It's highly unlikely that we will encounter an increased number of any of these situations.

Hydro poles require continual trimming of trees. Who cares, right? But what about the resale value of your investment property? With tree/without tree. Oooooh! Never thought of that, did you?

Burying hydro creates jobs! Higher GNP, GDP, KFC, PFK! All that tasty stuff.

So buried hydro does make sense, even though there are other priorities ie: failing infrastructure, laughable public transit, schools falling apart, rat-infested public housing, deteriorating public parks, increasing wealth gap..

Nevermimd. Buried hydro is the least of our worries. Skylines and urban canyons are the basis on which our future greatness will be determined, not that street level bullshit.

[casper]

Originally Posted by OutOfTowner

I always laugh at how people, when presented with something that is substandard or downright backwards in their particular place, will attempt to rationalize: "It exists elsewhere!", "It adds character!"

Right.

I absolutely hate pole-based hydro. I have this absolutely beautiful church on my street. Think I can photograph it? No, there's this p.o.s. wooden hydro pole positioned exactly in the middle of the sidewalk in front of it.

While I realise that cheapo Canadian 'Taxpayers' could give a fuck about anything as debauched as mere aesthetics (one look at our generally ugly cities with their cheapo public realm will confirm that aspect of our culture), there are some reasons why hydro should be buried that make that all so important economic sense:

Hydro poles are highly susceptible to ice storms, high winds, weather events in general. How much do these outages cost us in lost productivity, bean counters? Bah! It's highly unlikely that we will encounter an increased number of any of these situations.

Hydro poles require continual trimming of trees. Who cares, right? But what about the resale value of your investment property? With tree/without tree. Oooooh! Never thought of that, did you?

Burying hydro creates jobs! Higher GNP, GDP, KFC, PFK! All that tasty stuff.

So buried hydro does make sense, even though there are other priorities ie: failing infrastructure, laughable public transit, schools falling apart, rat-infested public housing, deteriorating public parks, increasing wealth gap..

Nevermimd. Buried hydro is the least of our worries. Skylines and urban canyons are the basis on which our future greatness will be determined, not that street level bullshit.

This is more of an old-city vrs new-city problem. At least that is the case in the West.

Hydro poles are found in the older built up areas. In new sub-burbs they are generally non-existent.

However this may not solve your problem. Churches that are worth photographic preservation and publication generally do not appear in sub-burbs.

[GeneralLea]

Originally Posted by OutOfTowner

I always laugh at how people, when presented with something that is substandard or downright backwards in their particular place, will attempt to rationalize: "It exists elsewhere!", "It adds character!"

Right.

I absolutely hate pole-based hydro. I have this absolutely beautiful church on my street. Think I can photograph it? No, there's this p.o.s. wooden hydro pole positioned exactly in the middle of the sidewalk in front of it.

While I realise that cheapo Canadian 'Taxpayers' could give a fuck about anything as debauched as mere aesthetics (one look at our generally ugly cities with their cheapo public realm will confirm that aspect of our culture), there are some reasons why hydro should be buried that make that all so important economic sense:

Hydro poles are highly susceptible to ice storms, high winds, weather events in general. How much do these outages cost us in lost productivity, bean counters? Bah! It's highly unlikely that we will encounter an increased number of any of these situations.

Hydro poles require continual trimming of trees. Who cares, right? But what about the resale value of your investment property? With tree/without tree. Oooooh! Never thought of that, did you?

Burying hydro creates jobs! Higher GNP, GDP, KFC, PFK! All that tasty stuff.

So buried hydro does make sense, even though there are other priorities ie: failing infrastructure, laughable public transit, schools falling apart, rat-infested public housing, deteriorating public parks, increasing wealth gap..

Nevermimd. Buried hydro is the least of our worries. Skylines and urban canyons are the basis on which our future greatness will be determined, not that street level bullshit.

This makes very little sense to me, especially with the financial abilities and priorities of our multi-tiered government, but alright then.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by OutOfTowner

I always laugh at how people, when presented with something that is substandard or downright backwards in their particular place, will attempt to rationalize: "It exists elsewhere!", "It adds character!"

sorry, but I tend to laugh at your posts too. . If there is one consensus on urbantoronto, it is the overhead wiring needs to go. I just think a small section of the old timey poles has a place for preservation. The only thing being rationalized are the massive costs and budgetary constraints to bury wires for purely aesthetic purposes and that most places haven't taken that step outside of public/ tourist areas.

The city of Toronto also does things differently than most. Other cities tend to upgrade their downtown core/ prime areas first. Toronto considers everything equal. The traffic signals have been upgraded with wires buried in my neighbourhood bordering Scarborough for about 10 years. 10 years later, about the only place you see older signals connected with overhead wiring is in the downtown core because they are obviously harder to accomplish without effecting traffic flow.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Franco401

That's gorgeous. Very bold, far better than the soft shit getting built all over the place. They can call it International Class Warfare HQ for all I care, it's a douchey name on a great building that doesn't belong here.

100% with you. It will actually look really good where it's being built also.

[O-tacular]

A particularly ugly stretch of DT's west end. Prison commie block on one side of the street with Lacaille's spandrel monsters on the other. Once streetview updates you will also have the horrible stucco addition to the Buddhist temple at the end of 4th Ave to look at in the distance.

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Calgary...!8m2!3d51.0486151!4d-114.0708459!6m1!1e1

[matthew6]

I'll raise you this


https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5321193,-...Y4bcZ3iiH9j2iCWS4l47g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[GeneralLea]

Originally Posted by matthew6

I'll raise you this


https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5321193,-...Y4bcZ3iiH9j2iCWS4l47g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Reminds me of parts of the QEW near Burnamthorpe (Etobicoke) in Toronto
I would say that's fair ugliness, not strong IMO but still a good shade of ugly

[GeneralLea]

Alright, a brand spanking new building from the GREATEST of developers, Pemberton, featuring the 5th tower in the park near Erin Mills, a mall in Mississauga. (Sarcastic post, in case anyone cant sniff it)
[IMG]5 Towers in the Park by Joshua Kennington Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]
And..it features a VERY high quality material, spandrel!!
[IMG]Entranceways to life by Joshua Kennington Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Spandrel bleeding by Joshua Kennington Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by matthew6

I'll raise you this


https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.5321193,-...Y4bcZ3iiH9j2iCWS4l47g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Okay you win.

[matthew6]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Okay you win.

But I was looking forward to more Calgary awfulness

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by GeneralLee(Toronto )

Alright, a brand spanking new building from the GREATEST of developers, Pemberton, featuring the 5th tower in the park near Erin Mills, a mall in Mississauga. (Sarcastic post, in case anyone cant sniff it)
[IMG]5 Towers in the Park by Joshua Kennington Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]
And..it features a VERY high quality material, spandrel!!
[IMG]Entranceways to life by Joshua Kennington Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]Spandrel bleeding by Joshua Kennington Photographics, on Flickr[/IMG]

I wonder if a lot of what makes it so ugly is the environment it's in? Alone it's boring but doesn't seem fugly.