Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Too bad. Any current pics?

Small ones, but here you go.

[O-tacular]

Whoa! I had no idea it did that much damage to Halifax. Has it recovered at all in 15 years?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Whoa! I had no idea it did that much damage to Halifax. Has it recovered at all in 15 years?

The city decided to let the park regenerate naturally. It takes a long time to grow a tree.......

[Hali87]

There was a bit of reforestation effort about 10 years ago but it was pretty minimal. There are still a few stands of mature trees but for the most part the park is much more "open" as a result of the damage and the forest that does exist is mostly young trees. There are still a few areas where you get a hint of old growth though. The park is still very well-used, FWIW.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax has a very different urban form from Calgary. In fact they are almost "opposites" in terms of when and how they developed. Halifax's inner city is mostly old neighbourhoods from 1750-1900, and Calgary barely existed during this period. Calgary and Halifax were about the same size in the 1950's and 60's, and most modern development has been suburban or commercial.

Despite this (and very different regulatory environments/cultural baggage) the two cities seem to be on a pretty similar trajectory at the moment when it comes to planning and design-related stuff. The overall vibe in the downtown/inner cities (walkable areas) of both is also decently similar, while I found this was not really true in Edmonton outside of Whyte Ave.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Despite this (and very different regulatory environments/cultural baggage) the two cities seem to be on a pretty similar trajectory at the moment when it comes to planning and design-related stuff. The overall vibe in the downtown/inner cities (walkable areas) of both is also decently similar, while I found this was not really true in Edmonton outside of Whyte Ave.

I would agree with this. In particular some new buildings like the Doyle or Maple remind me like they could have been built in Calgary or maybe Vancouver.

A lot of it is good although I think Halifax is doing a pretty poor job of maintaining its historic character. The "old Halifax", like the stuff the Doyle replaced, or the old Roy building, is more unique and once it's gone it's gone.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Despite this (and very different regulatory environments/cultural baggage) the two cities seem to be on a pretty similar trajectory at the moment when it comes to planning and design-related stuff. The overall vibe in the downtown/inner cities (walkable areas) of both is also decently similar, while I found this was not really true in Edmonton outside of Whyte Ave.

I could see that. I was told today, by an Edmontonian I was touring around the city, that he thought Calgary reminded him of if Ottawa and Vancouver had a baby. I could definitely see where he was coming from. Just with a fair amount less historic structures.

I have never been to Halifax, so can't speak for that, but I do find that Calgary and Edmonton are quite dissimilar, despite the widespread protestations on this forum. This isn't homerism speaking, this is 6 years of experience in both cities, combined with three years of university-level urban studies informing this opinion.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I could see that. I was told today, by an Edmontonian I was touring around the city, that he thought Calgary reminded him of if Ottawa and Vancouver had a baby. I could definitely see where he was coming from. Just with a fair amount less historic structures.

I have never been to Halifax, so can't speak for that, but I do find that Calgary and Edmonton are quite dissimilar, despite the widespread protestations on this forum. This isn't homerism speaking, this is 6 years of experience in both cities, combined with three years of university-level urban studies informing this opinion.

Not sure I see it, but it's many years since I've been to Calgary. Also many years ago, but I thought Edmonton had a slightly "Toronto in the 1970s" vibe to it.

[mistercorporate]

The city of lights:


by Shirley Howarth on flickr

[Calgarian]

I found downtown Ottawa felt quite similar to Calgary (mostly office buildings), whereas Vancouver was completely different. Edmonton always felt under utilized to me, glad that's changing, they have the potential for quite a nice downtown.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I found downtown Ottawa felt quite similar to Calgary (mostly office buildings), whereas Vancouver was completely different. Edmonton always felt under utilized to me, glad that's changing, they have the potential for quite a nice downtown.

To me Edmonton in some ways feels like a larger version of Winnipeg. There is definitely some common parentage between those two cities.

[ciudad_del_norte]

^I know i've posted about this a bit on here before. But culturally/historically Winnipeg and Edmonton have a lot more in common than Edmonton and Calgary. Sharing a province has created many similarities within the Alberta cities but for many reasons Winnipeg is still a closer match than Calgary imo.

[Calgarian]

Yeah I agree with the Edmonton - Winnipeg comparison, both cities have a pretty similar vibe.

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Yeah, they've done a really good job on their campus in my opinion, and with the New Central Library opening soon, the old central library (directly behind BVC in this photo) lands are opening up for further expansion of BVC. Hoping to hear some plans soon, but I have heard rumours that they are planning their first student residences in that space.

Last I heard they were looking at the old library to expand the college proper. (Not res). They did a study with Stantec and found out they have only about 2 years worth of space to expand to. Not sure they needed to pay Stantac to get that answer but whatever. They really can't do much with the West campus and the powers at be at BVC can't wrap their head around classroom utilisation improvements.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Yeah I agree with the Edmonton - Winnipeg comparison, both cities have a pretty similar vibe.

It depends on your frame of reference. We have some people in this thread saying that Calgary and Edmonton are different while someone pointed out that Calgary and Halifax are similar in some ways. I don't think many people would argue that Calgary is more similar to Halifax than it is to Edmonton.

When people say two cities are very different I often wonder what other cities out there are less different, and how distant they are. I'm not very familiar with Winnipeg but I could see people arguing that it's more similar to Calgary than Edmonton is.

Merely pointing out noticeable differences isn't very interesting. No two cities are quite alike.

[ciudad_del_norte]

Originally Posted by someone123

It depends on your frame of reference. We have some people in this thread saying that Calgary and Edmonton are different while someone pointed out that Calgary and Halifax are similar in some ways. I don't think many people would argue that Calgary is more similar to Halifax than it is to Edmonton.

When people say two cities are very different I often wonder what other cities out there are less different, and how distant they are. I'm not very familiar with Winnipeg but I could see people arguing that it's more similar to Calgary than Edmonton is.

Merely pointing out noticeable differences isn't very interesting. No two cities are quite alike.

Actually, if somebody wanted to make that argument I would be quite interested in hearing it and the types of things that they had noticed that perhaps I hadn't.

Nobody is saying two cities are exactly the same. A basis for human description and understanding is finding points of comparison and differentiation, especially for abstract or intangible qualities like the feel and culture of a place. Granted, maybe this isn't the place to have those discussions but that doesn't make the discussion meaningless.

Of course it depends on your frame of reference that's how we perspective on places that I may not have gotten otherwise...so I actually find people's observations of the differences and similarities between places (even if subtle) to be quite interesting.

[Chadillaccc]

The eastern side of the Calgary CBD from the Eau Claire Lagoon, taken by me yesterday...

[Coldrsx]

https://twitter.com/IanOyeg/status/1044354736156098560
@ianoyeg

[Laceoflight]

Québec from Sainte-Pétronille, at the tip of Orléans island.


La p'tite ville de Québec par @dray_05, sur Instagram

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

I could see that. I was told today, by an Edmontonian I was touring around the city, that he thought Calgary reminded him of if Ottawa and Vancouver had a baby. I could definitely see where he was coming from. Just with a fair amount less historic structures.

I have never been to Halifax, so can't speak for that, but I do find that Calgary and Edmonton are quite dissimilar, despite the widespread protestations on this forum. This isn't homerism speaking, this is 6 years of experience in both cities, combined with three years of university-level urban studies informing this opinion.

The impressions I got last time I was there:

Edmonton:

Peak Modernism, retro, no-frills, flat, stability, functionality, sports/gambling, indoor-oriented, everything is wide, reminiscent of other Modern Prairie/River cities including Winnipeg, Ottawa, London, Moncton, Saskatoon, and to a lesser degree, Calgary.

Calgary:

Post-Modernism, hip, frills, hilly, dynamic, clean, arts/nightlife, outdoorsy, inner city areas are reminiscent of Eastern Cities/Van/Vic in terms of scale.

They're also really similar in a lot of ways though, or at least comparable. On paper they're very similar. It's only because they're so alike that the subtle differences are really obvious to someone who's familiar with both. To someone from Edmonton Calgary probably feels garish, decadent, and overrated. To someone from Calgary Edmonton probably feels like a "boiled perogies with no salt" kind of place. From an Eastern perspective though it's kind of like comparing different suburbs of Toronto. There's a sort of structural similarity between the two that's the result of being in the same province, being around the same size, having similar geographic constraints, and booming within a reasonably similar timeframe (although Edmonton was clearly a bit earlier).