Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[someone123]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Dal has a great looking campus. Regarding Southend Halifax, it's already quite good but the recent population growth bodes well for its continued improvement. Hopefully the downtown will eventually expand all the way to the MacDonald Bridge. It's a big swath of real estate but I can see it happening within a generation.

I bet that Gottingen up to Buddy Daye Street or so will be considered downtown in 5-10 years. It used to be part of downtown.

One big question mark is what happens with the public housing farther north. Uniacke Square is now over 50 years old, and there are many smaller townhouse style developments. They're generally only subsidized housing and have no commercial uses. It makes sense to redevelop them over time into medium density mixed use, mixed market/subsidized developments. Not unlike Regent Park.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by someone123

I bet that Gottingen up to Buddy Daye Street or so will be considered downtown in 5-10 years. It used to be part of downtown.

One big question mark is what happens with the public housing farther north. Uniacke Square is now over 50 years old, and there are many smaller townhouse style developments. They're generally only subsidized housing and have no commercial uses. It makes sense to redevelop them over time into medium density mixed use, mixed market/subsidized developments. Not unlike Regent Park.

Gottingen used to be a major downtown street but so did Quinpool. It's strange to think of them that way today. I think they'll both be re-integrated over time. Uniacke Square can't remain as it is but the optics of re-developing it are terrible. It can only happen if it goes the same route as Regents Park, like you mentioned.

What to do with the rest of the North End though? Its built form is historical but it's also ramshackle and functionally obsolete. There's really not alot one should restore or renovate. Halifax is better off taking most of it down, keeping the street grid, but building with a clean slate. I doubt that would go over very well though.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Gottingen used to be a major downtown street but so did Quinpool. It's strange to think of them that way today. I think they'll both be re-integrated over time. Uniacke Square can't remain as it is but the optics of re-developing it are terrible. It can only happen if it goes the same route as Regents Park, like you mentioned.

What to do with the rest of the North End though? Its built form is historical but it's also ramshackle and functionally obsolete. There's really not alot one should restore or renovate. Halifax is better off taking most of it down, keeping the street grid, but building with a clean slate. I doubt that would go over very well though.

It certainly wouldn't go over very well with me. The idea that it's "ramshackle and functionally obsolete" is complete fiction imo. Parts of the area are rough around the edges (fairly small parts perhaps 20%) but for the most part all the area needs is extra density and some fresh energy which it's already getting.

[SkahHigh]

Montréal by Ginette Champagne, sur Flickr

[Chadillaccc]

https://www.southernalberta.com/

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

It certainly wouldn't go over very well with me. The idea that it's "ramshackle and functionally obsolete" is complete fiction imo. Parts of the area are rough around the edges (fairly small parts perhaps 20%) but for the most part all the area needs is extra density and some fresh energy which it's already getting.

This discussion speaks to the divide in opinion. Your view is shared by lots of Haligonians but it's also true that lots of Haligonians view it as the way I described. These were modest structures when built and reflected the relative wealth of Halifax at the time. Should the area remain that way forever?

It's a discussion going on here in Toronto too. Toronto was a blue collar industrial city for most of its history. That built form doesn't reflect the affluent cosmopolitan nature of today's Toronto. Do we keep it because its old or is it time to accept that some things are no longer workable going forward?

For the most part Toronto has found a balance but there are some glaring examples of decisions made that aren't in the city's long term interest. The Union Station rail shed being one. It's historic but just doesn't meet the needs of the today or the needs of Toronto going forward. They should never have decided to incorporate it into the multi-billion dollar expansion and upgrade of Union Station. It needs to be taken down and perhaps donated to a museum.

[Nouvellecosse]

Well in fairness, modest structures don't just reflect Halifax's relative wealth at the time, they reflect it's relative wealth now. By Maritime standards we're very successful in the sense that we have slow but steady growth rather than decline or stagnation, but we're not some fast growing immigration or economic hub that needs to rip out large sections of built form and sacrifice the city's history and character just to accommodate everybody. The only reason for it would be because the current form doesn't meet some nouveau riche self image.

Honestly, that sounds more like the "slum clearance" and "urban renewal" schemes that Jane Jacobs fought in the 60s and 70s and that to this day people are still lamenting. Perhaps modern slum clearance wouldn't be replace neighbourhoods with parking lots or sterile megaprojects, but the justification that the built form isn't good enough and needs to be razed and replaced rather than improved respectfully and organically sounds pretty similar.

[TorontoDrew]

Mostly Yorkville from the castle.

[IMG]Casa Loma in Toronto by Ted Drake, on Flickr[/IMG]


And the rest.

[IMG]Untitled by Ted Drake, on Flickr[/IMG]

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Wow, there's a development in that photo that deserves to be in the ugly Canada thread. It makes all the 70s concrete slabs look tasteful and well thought out.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^Wow, there's a development in that photo that deserves to be in the ugly Canada thread. It makes all the 70s concrete slabs look tasteful and well thought out.

Which, the blue & green building paper-wrapped construction site?

[HomeInMyShoes]

^My mistake. It looks remarkably like finished product in many cities.

[BrickJunkie]

Thanks for the rare shot of my hometown; Lethbridge appears that green for about six weeks of the year depending on rain levels, ha.

[EspionNoir]

A Downtown Winnipeg pic. Gonna post again

[EspionNoir]

I hope that picture is not extremely huge...

[Chadillaccc]

It, of course, is extremely huge.


Somemore Calgary to feast your eyes on....


http://www.codyjames.ca/

http://www.codyjames.ca/

http://www.codyjames.ca/

[EspionNoir]

Delete...

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Well in fairness, modest structures don't just reflect Halifax's relative wealth at the time, they reflect it's relative wealth now. By Maritime standards we're very successful in the sense that we have slow but steady growth rather than decline or stagnation, but we're not some fast growing immigration or economic hub that needs to rip out large sections of built form and sacrifice the city's history and character just to accommodate everybody. The only reason for it would be because the current form doesn't meet some nouveau riche self image.

Honestly, that sounds more like the "slum clearance" and "urban renewal" schemes that Jane Jacobs fought in the 60s and 70s and that to this day people are still lamenting. Perhaps modern slum clearance wouldn't be replace neighbourhoods with parking lots or sterile megaprojects, but the justification that the built form isn't good enough and needs to be razed and replaced rather than improved respectfully and organically sounds pretty similar.

There is a happy medium between the 2 extremes and urban renewal doesn't have to look like the attempts at it made in the 60s/70s. That said, we're way off topic so perhaps we should get back to skylines?

[Prometheus]

Some super wicked (and super illegal) drone footage of downtown Vancouver:

• Video Link

[11a2b3]

Ottawa:

The View from the 24th Floor. by Ronald Campbell, on Flickr

[Martin Mtl]

Montreal by Ginette Champagne on flickr