Great Canadian Skyline Thread II - Page 270

Calgarian · #**5381** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 7:46 PM**

Can't wait to see that new bridge make an impact on the Montreal Skyline.

softee · #**5382** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 7:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metro-One

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I actually agree that out of all the big cities in Canada Montreal does have best ground level refinement in the urban core.

That said I personally feel that Vancouver and Calgary would tie for second place (each city for different aspects though, Vancouver does an amazing job with water features).

In third would be Toronto. Although it has the best skyline by far IMO, I do feel that overall the pedestrian level of the streets could be improved (although there are areas that are amazing).

Fourth would be Ottawa, and fifth would be Edmonton.

This said all of Canada's major cities seem to be making big improvements in this realm.

Just my opinion and not trying to trash talk about anywhere.

As far as I'm concerned Toronto is firmly in second place to Montreal for street level experience -- and not by much -- the two cities are pretty close. This thread by Monkey does a great job of bringing the feel of street level Toronto to the forum. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=229485

isaidso · #**5383** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 9:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Why it any kind of Mies' anniversary to have his moto illuminated on the TD center towers ? That's pretty cool.

It's the 50th anniversary of the TD Centre.

csbvan · #**5384** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 10:59 PM**

Montreal is excellent at street level in most areas, as long as they are older. The new built form here is quite unimpressive. It lags considerably behind Toronto and certainly behind Vancouver regarding street level experience in areas built after the 1950s. I would still place Montreal as the best in the country as a whole however.

GreaterMontréal · #**5385** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 11:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by csbvan

Montreal is excellent at street level in most areas, as long as they are older. The new built form here is quite unimpressive. It lags considerably behind Toronto and certainly behind Vancouver regarding street level experience in areas built after the 1950s. I would still place Montreal as the best in the country as a whole however.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/16-201-x/2016000/m-c/map3.15-eng.htm

speedog · #**5386** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 11:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Calgary's streets are super wide, we have 5 lanes in several places. This is a city that has grown around driving though, and without geographical constraints, there was no pressure to tighten up so to speak. Narrow sidewalks is my biggest complain here, cars were given total priority up until about 15 years ago.

Calgary's downtown streets were as wide as they are now as they were over 110 years ago and cars certainly were not a going concern 110 years ago. There is some other reason as to why Calgary's downtown was developed with such wide streets because they were wide in the horse and buggy days as well.

1905 Stephen (8th) Avenue courtesy the University of Alberta...

1884-1885 Stephen Avenue courtesy Glenbow Museum...

speedog · #**5387** Posted **Sep 5, 2017, 11:47 PM**

Well I may have stumbled onto why Calgary's downtown streets are so wide and it kind of makes sense - it all has to do with the Dominion Land Survey and road allowances which were set at 1 chain or 66.5 feet wide. This web page explains the above and though it references Edmonton, I would hazard a guess that something similar happened in Calgary as well. Lethbridge also has ridiculously wide downtown streets, probably same thing.

ainvan · #**5388** Posted **Sep 6, 2017, 12:47 AM**

Untitled by ncrashb, on Flickr

WhipperSnapper · #**5389** Posted **Sep 6, 2017, 1:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rousseau

Opinions are like, well, you know.

Whatever Toronto is, it is decidedly, objectively not this.

LOL. Ever here of context? We may not agree but, there is no — way it can't be debated that Toronto is denser and more concrete than either Vancouver or Calgary and is at least equal to anywhere else in Canada. Personally, Montreal is first for urban form but, Toronto still beats it as a concrete jungle.

Calgarian · #**5390** Posted **Sep 6, 2017, 3:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedog

Well I may have stumbled onto why Calgary's downtown streets are so wide and it kind of makes sense - it all has to do with the Dominion Land Survey and road allowances which were set at 1 chain or 66.5 feet wide. This web page explains the above and though it references Edmonton, I would hazard a guess that something similar happened in Calgary as well. Lethbridge also has ridiculously wide downtown streets, probably same thing.

Interesting. The really wide streets I was getting at are the 5 lane one way streets (9th, 6th, 5th, 4th), not sure if they were always that wide.

Barnes · #**5391** Posted **Sep 6, 2017, 4:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedog

Well I may have stumbled onto why Calgary's downtown streets are so wide and it kind of makes sense - it all has to do with the Dominion Land Survey and road allowances which were set at 1 chain or 66.5 feet wide. This web page explains the above and though it references Edmonton, I would hazard a guess that something similar happened in Calgary as well. Lethbridge also has ridiculously wide downtown streets, probably same thing.

Downtown Calgary was not organized by DLS. North of 17th ave to the Bow is surveyed off the CP Rail line. 14th st, 4th st, and 6th st NE are range roads in road allowances between sections 14, 15, 16, and 17 and run perfectly north-south. 17th Ave is a township road running along the north part of of sections 8, 9 ,10, 11. All other downtown roads run slightly NE-SW.

Because of this, you can trick people by haveing people meet you on the corner of 16th ave and 6th st. It doesn't exist. 16th Ave ends at 7th.

skylinegazer · #**5392** Posted **Sep 7, 2017, 5:58 AM**

fantastic 'couver photos!

speedog · #**5393** Posted **Sep 7, 2017, 6:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barnes

Downtown Calgary was not organized by DLS. North of 17th ave to the Bow is surveyed off the CP Rail line. 14th st, 4th st, and 6th st NE are range roads in road allowances between sections 14, 15, 16, and 17 and run perfectly north-south. 17th Ave is a township road running along the north part of of sections 8, 9 ,10, 11. All other downtown roads run slightly NE-SW.

Because of this, you can trick people by haveing people meet you on the corner of 16th ave and 6th st. It doesn't exist. 16th Ave ends at 7th.

I am aware that the DLS didn't organize downtown Calgary's streets but the DLS road allowance width may still have been used as a reference in determining downtown Calgary's street widths as it was in Edmonton.

harls · #**5394** Posted **Sep 7, 2017, 4:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedog

Well I may have stumbled onto why Calgary's downtown streets are so wide and it kind of makes sense - it all has to do with the Dominion Land Survey and road allowances which were set at 1 chain or 66.5 feet wide. This web page explains the above and though it references Edmonton, I would hazard a guess that something similar happened in Calgary as well. Lethbridge also has ridiculously wide downtown streets, probably same thing.

A lot of main thoroughfares were wide due to ruts created by carts. Portage Avenue in Winnipeg comes to mind.

edit - explained here:

The (red river) carts left deep ruts in the soft prairie turf, so deep that the wagons tended to spread out, the right wheel of one cart travelling in the wake of the left wheel of the cart ahead; thus, the prairie trails could be as much as twenty carts wide, a phenomenon that helps explain the many broad streets in Winnipeg. Portage Avenue is the widest thoroughfare in Canada and was known as Queen Street during the period from 1891 to 1893 as part of a failed scheme to introduce a numbering scheme to Winnipeg's streets. It is actually part of the old trail that led west to Portage la Prairie and then on to Edmonton.

— Pierre Berton, The National Dream

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Route_85

Martin Mtl · #**5395** Posted **Sep 7, 2017, 6:55 PM**

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYtlUK9Fi5a/?tagged=livemontreal

Black Star · #**5396** Posted **Sep 7, 2017, 7:59 PM**

Fantastic.

Every city needs a Ferris wheel in their skyline shot.......

And possibly a clock tower!

speedog · #**5397** Posted **Sep 8, 2017, 1:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by harls

A lot of main thoroughfares were wide due to ruts created by carts. Portage Avenue in Winnipeg comes to mind.

edit - explained here:

The (red river) carts left deep ruts in the soft prairie turf, so deep that the wagons tended to spread out, the right wheel of one cart travelling in the wake of the left wheel of the cart ahead; thus, the prairie trails could be as much as twenty carts wide, a phenomenon that helps explain the many broad streets in Winnipeg. Portage Avenue is the widest thoroughfare in Canada and was known as Queen Street during the period from 1891 to 1893 as part of a failed scheme to introduce a numbering scheme to Winnipeg's streets. It is actually part of the old trail that led west to Portage la Prairie and then on to Edmonton.

— Pierre Berton, The National Dream

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Route_85

Never the less, Calgary's wide downtown streets are not the result of a car centric society or designing for such. Same for probably every prairie city.