Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[speedog]

Originally Posted by ainvan

Calgary Evening Skyline by Surrealplaces, on Flickr

Curious, early morning shot from Crescent Road NW?

[cyeg66]

^ great lighting (as far as low light pics go) & reflection.

[isotack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Maybe you should confirm what you believe before opening your mouth. This is taking from a condo in Scarborough Centre. The townhouses in question are a redevelopment of a former industrial site at Midland and Ellesmere. The entire area is still mostly industrial including a big ass, dirty as hell, paper plant a hop, skip and jump at Progress and Midland.

The hilarity is I don't have a problem with heavy industry in Scarborough. I just have a problem with its piecemeal planning.

Son you have no idea what heavy industry is. That "big assed' paper mill (Atlantic) recycles box board...it has one small paper maker. Sorry...not 'Heavy industry". The Atlantic plant in Whitby is bigger.

Midland is still home to some small stuff, mostly on Midwest. The town houses are on the former site of the former Fleshmans Margarine plant. Much of Scarborough's industrial land has been turned to big box plazas. Or Mosks, temples or non denomination pop-up churches. YOU might want to take a closer look.

The warehouses are gone too. Mostly moved north to Vaughan and west to Milton

As for heavy industry...the GM van plant came close (former Frigidaire), FAG, GE, Ford Glass, AG Simpson and a myriad of others that ARE ALL GONE! Actually, Oshawa had far more in it's day.

if you want heavy industry, go to Hamilton or Montreal. Steel, locomotives, castings, glass, ...etc.

Scarborough is not the nasty place you want it to be.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada by Watana, on Flickr

Boring, defined.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Boring, defined.

Nah, this is the definition of boring:

https://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/look-how-suburbs-are-changing-and-growing.html

[cyeg66]

I'd say they're (virtually) one and the same, except one is stacked vertically.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by isotack

Son you have no idea what heavy industry is. That "big assed' paper mill (Atlantic) recycles box board...it has one small paper maker. Sorry...not 'Heavy industry". The Atlantic plant in Whitby is bigger.

Midland is still home to some small stuff, mostly on Midwest. The town houses are on the former site of the former Fleshmans Margarine plant. Much of Scarborough's industrial land has been turned to big box plazas. Or Mosks, temples or non denomination pop-up churches. YOU might want to take a closer look.

The warehouses are gone too. Mostly moved north to Vaughan and west to Milton

As for heavy industry...the GM van plant came close (former Frigidaire), FAG, GE, Ford Glass, AG Simpson and a myriad of others that ARE ALL GONE! Actually, Oshawa had far more in it's day.

if you want heavy industry, go to Hamilton or Montreal. Steel, locomotives, castings, glass, ...etc.

Scarborough is not the nasty place you want it to be.

Should learn to comprehend before concerning yourself with semantics. We are talking about zoning here. This plant isn't allowed for employment industrial zoning because it's a dirty fucking plant. Size is redundant. We also discussed the disappearance of industry from Toronto. We don't need a pedantic history lesson of all these companies across the GTA. We are not opposed to these operations either or are we going to based the greatness of a place on the existence of these operations. These parts of Scarborough suck because of the lousy built form and piecemeal zoning supported by the worst disposable, inhuman, car unfriendly development ever contemplated ... big box retail.

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by Beedok

Nah, this is the definition of boring:

https://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/look-how-suburbs-are-changing-and-growing.html

Anyone know what street in Markham that is?

[WhipperSnapper]

I wish. I'm curious how it looks now.

edit ... found it
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.845795,-7...MjnmicjknkrAEsnMb2FnA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

Boring, defined.

I mean we're no Edmonton but we sure are trying. If only more of those towers were office and not residential. That would make the ground level way more interesting.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I wish. I'm curious how it looks now.

edit ... found it
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.845795,-7...MjnmicjknkrAEsnMb2FnA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

What's with everyone forcing a wider driveway when it's clearly meant to be a single driveway??!! Ugh

[speedog]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I wish. I'm curious how it looks now.

edit ... found it
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.845795,-7...MjnmicjknkrAEsnMb2FnA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Well that certainly is much more dense than my community but aesthetically, ugh.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

I wish. I'm curious how it looks now.

edit ... found it
https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.845795,-7...MjnmicjknkrAEsnMb2FnA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

A few things about this (and the other infamous photo - which I've seen used many times to illustrate suburbia in the U.S. BTW)...

First of all, that aerial photo has been around for a long time (a couple of decades?) and if this streetview is indeed the same area, it's astonishing that the area has not grown more of a tree canopy since then. My street is not even 15 years old and right now if you walk down it you see leaves as much as you see the façades of the houses (probably a 50-50 mix).

On another front, this particular development and its ilk are criticized quite harshly, but what's interesting is that in layout it mimicks dense inner city areas with SFHs, like much of the old pre-merger Toronto. (I realize it's not a perfect grid with a traditional commercial main street at the end of the block, but the way the houses are spaced, etc. is quite similar to, say, Parkdale where there are SFHs. I have no idea if this is intentional aping or if it's just a question of squeezing as many homes to sell as possible out of the available land.

I mean, would you guys prefer this?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.1775351,-...Cm5QFmka-2mp72mcXlsHQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[WhipperSnapper]

It is the same. Focus on the semi with the red garage doors in the lower centre of the photo and compare it to streetview.

There's no room for trees with street front driveways. The few trees in the neighbourhood are struggling. This also looks to be built at a much higher density than Parkdale not that it really matters. There's infill in Toronto at an even greater density than this that is tree lined. The reason? Laneways.



You don't have to go to New York. That looks butt ugly.

These are even newer communities in Markham.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8755906,-...tch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8978315,-...tch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

These are older communities in Markham

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8758153,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8925254,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

It is the same. Focus on the semi with the red garage doors in the lower centre of the photo and compare it to streetview.

There's no room for trees with street front driveways. The few trees in the neighbourhood are struggling. This also looks to be built at a much higher density than Parkdale not that it really matters. There's infill in Toronto at an even greater density than this that is tree lined. The reason? Laneways.



You don't have to go to New York. That looks butt ugly.

These are even newer communities in Markham.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8755906,-...tch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8978315,-...tch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

These are older communities in Markham

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8758153,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656


https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.8925254,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The leafier ones you posted are quite similar to what my street looks like.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

It is the same. Focus on the semi with the red garage doors in the lower centre of the photo and compare it to streetview.

There's no room for trees with street front driveways. The few trees in the neighbourhood are struggling. This also looks to be built at a much higher density than Parkdale not that it really matters. There's infill in Toronto at an even greater density than this that is tree lined. The reason? Laneways.

If trees can survive, and even thrive, on streets like these ones in Montreal, they can certainly survive in suburban settings, even with front driveways :

https://goo.gl/maps/E8oT3fftJDF2

https://goo.gl/maps/idck1d9NRW52

[WhipperSnapper]

It was a bad era for trees in subdivision design. It's still not great as density have gone even higher and people still park in the front but, you do see a more concerted effort in design to provide room for trees to grow. It's only going to improve as long as the feedback to developers asks for more space for mature trees.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by begratto

If trees can survive, and even thrive, on streets like these one in Montreal, they can certainly survive in suburban settings, even with front driveways :

https://goo.gl/maps/E8oT3fftJDF2

https://goo.gl/maps/idck1d9NRW52

Of course. I'm factoring in that modern subdivisions are heavily graded with very heavy machinery that compacts the earth. The good top soil is sold off to be coloured and package as black earth at your local garden centre. It costs the developer money to dig a proper hole in the compacted ground, fill it with top soil and plant a tree so it can flourish. They don't do this out of the kindness of there heart.

Also, none of your examples show trees in the narrow median between driveways. Roots can spread under sidewalk. People aren't that heavy. The weight of parked cars and the soil conditions mentioned above make it nearly impossible for trees to spread roots under driveways.

[WhipperSnapper]

oops

[ainvan]

Not a skyline pic, but I like the angle.


Dominion Public Building - Toronto by Tom Baker. (tombaker.photography), on Flickr