Downtown Canada

[ssiguy]

When I saw the title I thought it was a Toronto thread.

[Rico Rommheim]

Thank goodness it isn't. We don't need more smugness (from any member from any city) or city vs city on this board.

[Beedok]

"What part of China?"


" . . . . . . . . Downtown."

[SKYSTHELIMIT]

Originally Posted by Beedok

"What part of China?"


" . . . . . . . . Downtown."

I got it RP! Awesome

[BretttheRiderFan]

Post about your downtown. Do it.

[Hali87]

Downtown Halifax is basically the original townsite, laid out on a strict grid between the Citadel and the Harbour, with the Grand Parade at the centre. The E-W streets are on a fairly steep slope, with the N-S ones cutting across the hill. Block sizes are among the smallest in Canada.

Architecturally it's a hodgepodge of Victorian and earlier commercial buildings (some converted from houses), with a few clusters of 1960s-1990s highrises and a few Art Deco/Beaux Arts/Chicago School buildings. There's substantially more variety in building colours and materials than the Canadian average. An increasing number of buildings are being converted/renovated, some with pretty substantial towers, which is starting to result in a layer of old architecture with a layer of contemporary stuff on top. Nova Scotia Power headquarters is a converted power plant, and the Purdy's Wharf complex is built partially over the water.

Urban renewal projects have broken up the street grid in a few locations and erased a large part of the transitional area between downtown and the North End. Downtown kind of drops to "main street" intensity north of Cogswell, south of Spring Garden, and west of South Park. The two largest farmer's markets are at the southern end of downtown, and the casino is at the northern end, with Canada's largest naval base immediately north of that.

Street level is generally very engaging and there are a huge number of restaurants and bars - Argyle Street is the focal point of the entertainment district, but the restaurants and clubs are basically everywhere throughout downtown. The waterfront boardwalk and piers are very much an integral part of downtown. Province House and City Hall are both in the middle of downtown. Sidewalk patios are common. Historically most apartments were in the upper floors of old commercial buildings, increasingly there are purpose-built apartment and condo buildings. Dalhousie's architecture, planning, and engineering schools are downtown. There are two "major" malls (mid-sized by local standards and small, nationally) and a number of micro-malls. Seafood, donairs, cannabis, diesel exhaust, and the ocean are the dominant smells.

[SignalHillHiker]

The general concept of "downtown" doesn't really have clearly defined borders in St. John's - people just know what they don't consider to be part of it. But the Downtown, as a neighbourhood, is clearly defined.



And it's very small - basically entirely visible (plus most of several other neighbourhoods) in this Bing aerial:



St. John's has just two main downtown streets. Water Street, which is a 3-4 floor strip of brick commercial buildings. It's, in my opinion, a healthy blend of facilities for locals and tourists. For locals, the restaurants, coffee shops, bars, bakeries, and clothing stores are the most popular. We loves our Jumping Bean brews, and drinks at the Grapevine, and and Fog Off clothing. For tourists there are lots of souvenir shops and the like. Antique shops, etc.

Duckworth is much more of a mix. There are stately stone areas (with nicer buildings than Water Street, really, as Duckworth was always more well-to-do and less industrial). Lots of wooden buildings as well. A few stretches of rowhouses behind terraced roads. Duckworth is much more local - bookstores, weird shops, comic stores, theatres, yoga studios, dance studios, and more international restaurants (from Afghan to Indian).

These two streets run lengthwise along the hillside so they're not steep themselves, but are interconnected by many staircases and little streets which also form part of the downtown (for example, the famous George Street - it's really just a back lane for a few portions of Water Street). Most of those are quite steep. Immediately after those two streets the hillside juts up into the rowhouse districts. In some areas, it's literally a cliff face between the two. Many of the ones closest to downtown are quite commercial, and some even look and feel that way, but you're already out of the area purposely built to be a commercial core.

Overall, downtown St. John's is very, very healthy. A fine summer day can see as many people on the street as cities many times our size. George Street and a couple of adjacent blocks of Water maintain a satisfying level of late night vibrancy year-round. There's always lots that can be improved, especially when you live here or visit long enough to notice - but it's in a good place as is too. The main complaint I have is the lack of variety in certain things more common in other cities. Hali87 mentioned Halifax's outdoor patios. There are probably only a half dozen downtown here, most very small. There's none on Water Street at all, just a single row of chairs/tables on the sidewalk outside a handful of cafes. If I want a rooftop bar with a view, there's one outdoor one. If I want a central pedestrian-only courtyard cafe, there's one (well three or four, but all in the same courtyard, so one).

[J.OT13]

I think a lot about how Montreal's Downtown shifted from Old Montreal and St. James Street to North-West around St. Catherine and Gare Centrale when Place Ville-Marie was built over the train tracks and has now expanded further west around Centre Bell.

Ottawa has seen such a shift as well, from the Byward Market, and then across the canal closer to Parliament, centered around Sparks. In the late 60s, it shifted west when Place de Ville was built and soon, LeBreton Flats will see towers rising around a future arena (hopefully).

How has your city's downtown shifted over the years?

[Pinion]

Vancouver has moved a few blocks west, after it moved 500km north in the 1800s (Oregon Treaty).

It's starting to feel like Burnaby will be the future downtown 100 years from now though, if trends continue.

[1ajs]

winnipegs started over by where the old fort garry gate is and and migrated towards the 2 trails of portage and main as the railways came through it pushed it more to meet inbetween with industry mixed into it resulting in what we know as the exchange today our city has definatly evolved over the last 150ish yrs

[Innsertnamehere]

Toronto's as originally around King and Princess in the east end of downtown, butnover time shifted west. In the early 1900's King and Yonge was the most important intersection downtown, this shifted to King and Bay with the construction of the big bank buildings.

[Boris2k7]

Calgary's downtown moved about 2 km northwest from Inglewood (then East Calgary), which was our de facto downtown from roughly 1875 to 1886, when a fire ravaged the community. This fire was the same one that made the city introduce ordinances which forced the use of our naturally abundant sandstone in big buildings. Settlement started east of the Elbow River because the land on the opposite site (including, of course, Fort Calgary), was originally reserved for the government. The coming of the railway changed all that.

[craneSpotter]

Victoria's 'downtown' has not shifted at all - AFAIK.

The original Fort Victoria location is where Bastion Square is now located - which is considered the 'heart' of downtown (and OldTown). The downtown was actually quite substantial by 1862, the year the City of Victoria was incorporated.

[Coldrsx]

Edmonton is about the same give or take since 101st/Jasper was more or less always the centre of the modern city.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

winnipegs started over by where the old fort garry gate is and and migrated towards the 2 trails of portage and main as the railways came through it pushed it more to meet inbetween with industry mixed into it resulting in what we know as the exchange today our city has definatly evolved over the last 150ish yrs

Yes, Winnipeg’s began to shift westward from Main Street (from Portage to Higgins) in 1905 when Eaton’s chose Portage and Donald as the site for its store.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

winnipegs started over by where the old fort garry gate is and and migrated towards the 2 trails of portage and main as the railways came through it pushed it more to meet inbetween with industry mixed into it resulting in what we know as the exchange today our city has definatly evolved over the last 150ish yrs

I always thought of Winnipeg as having two downtowns... there is the old original downtown consisting of Portage and Main at the south end, the CP station at the north and the stretch of north Main (around City Hall) being at the core of it.

Then over the years the old Hudson's Bay Reserve SW of P&M really became the heart of downtown. That was especially the case once Eaton's and then later The Bay and a bunch of other retailers set up shop around there.

Here's a map of downtown... the red circle is a rough estimation of 'old downtown' while the green circle represents the new.

When you go to the 'old downtown' there is very little new commercial development. Anything built in the last 75 years is mostly publicly funded with the exception of the Portage and Main skyscrapers, although there are a lot of commercial functions occupying those older buildings.

[SignalHillHiker]

Not at all. Water Street bills itself as the oldest street in North America, which is surprisingly a slightly more credible claim than our general oldest city in North America one.

It used to be known as Lower Path, and Duckworth Street as Upper Path. The eastern sections of both were straightened at some point, I believe after the Great Fire of 1892. But otherwise it's pretty much as it's been.

[ScreamingViking]

Hamilton's has remained centred on the King/James intersection and Gore Park. The borders of "downtown" may have fluctuated, but the core is basically the same place its been since the city was incorporated in 1846 (and before that).

[Loco101]

Downtown Timmins has shifted a bit to the East by a block or so. hehe

[lio45]

I would tend to say the downtown hasn't moved, but by the OP's standards (distinguishing Old Montreal, which never moved, and the current location of the CBD) I would say the current CBD is at the bridges, 10 km west of Old Quebec.

No one would ever speak in terms implying the old town core isn't the "downtown", but in terms of function, the location where the tallest towers are and biggest business is done is now 10 km away from where it used to be at the beginning of the city, if that's the question.