Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Exactly. Those are the best farmlands in the province. They are protected, thankfully.

Most of the St. Lawrence Lowlands are like that, right?

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

There's a green belt of protected agricultural land on the South Shore, but there's a lot of sprawl in other directions. From the middle of downtown, it's about 45km to the edge of the built-up area if you travel north, 40km to the west and 30km to the east. But only a little over 10km to the south.

It's no coincidence that people settled in the areas with the most fertile soil. I've always been surprised how much Montreal sprawls but assumed it was in all directions. It's good that protections are in place to the south. Food self sufficiency is strategically important. Being overly reliant on imports puts one in a precarious position; one that's playing out right now during the pandemic.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

We have 2-3 in the 180-200m range...but given everything, who the F knows.

BMO, Great Gulf, & .... Aldrit ?

[Chadillaccc]

BMO is 175. The only active proposal over 180 there is Great Gulf. I wouldn't consider Alldritt to still be active as nothing has been mentioned about it publicly in 3 years as of next month. But there are an impressive 5 active proposals between 150 and 185 meters there. All of which will be the 3rd tallest in the city if constructed.

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Most of the St. Lawrence Lowlands are like that, right?



It's no coincidence that people settled in the areas with the most fertile soil. I've always been surprised how much Montreal sprawls but assumed it was in all directions. It's good that protections are in place to the south. Food self sufficiency is strategically important. Being overly reliant on imports puts one in a precarious position; one that's playing out right now during the pandemic.

The Loi sur la Protection du Territoire et des Activités agricoles (LPTAAQ) was implemented in 1979 and basically encapsulates and constrains the urban areas to small perimeters, inside of a protected and agricultural St. Lawrence valley. Montreal's worst sprawl occured on the laurentidian piedmont, where such protection doesn't apply. What happened around MTL (Brossard, St-Hubert, St-Bruno, Blainville, St-Eustache, Terrebonne, etc.) was that before the LPTAAQ (1979), in the 50s, 60s and 70s, there was a lot of speculation on the agricultural land, where Highways 640 and 30 are today. It resulted in an abandonment of agriculture. Therefore, when the Law took place in 1979, it was not possible anymore to put these lands back to culture. They were removed from the protected agricultural perimeter and suburbs were built.

[Kilgore Trout]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It's no coincidence that people settled in the areas with the most fertile soil. I've always been surprised how much Montreal sprawls but assumed it was in all directions. It's good that protections are in place to the south. Food self sufficiency is strategically important. Being overly reliant on imports puts one in a precarious position; one that's playing out right now during the pandemic.

Yes, and those areas to the south of Montreal are some of the most productive in Quebec, because they benefit from the combined warming effect of the St. Lawrence and Lake Champlain.

Laval still has quite a lot of farmland but I'm not sure if it's protected. The North Shore is where the Laurentians start and I assume the soil is a bit rockier and less productive. It's also colder.

[Chadillaccc]

By Chinese_T on SRC

[isaidso]

Laceoflight & Kilgore Trout: thanks for the information. It was much appreciated. That Lake Champlain also has an effect never occurred to me but makes a lot of sense.

[q12]

Halifax Nova Scotia 2019. by Arthur Jordan, on Flickr

Downtown Halifax by Daniel MacDonald, on Flickr

Seadog by Adrian Schaap, on Flickr


https://flic.kr/p/2gEiQ1L

[BillM]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yeah I noticed that too. It looks like the city is on Baffin Island there but in the summer those are green farm fields.

I was always mesmerized by the "Baffin Island" effect in winter when approaching Montreal from the states. The landscape seems to feel increasingly remote while traveling through the Green Mountains or Adirondacks and the Champlain low lands. Even though there may be road signs for Montreal, there is a sense that there is little in terms of civilization between here and the Arctic. Blizzard conditions add to the mystique. Eventually, the silhouette of Mont-Royal begins to appear while the skyscrapers of the sequestered city seem to be set on a platter in front of and around the hill.

[TorontoDrew]

CN.Tower spreading the love across the GTA.

https://www.kotsy.ca/
Love From Above by kotsy, on Flickr

Heart of Lights by Gogol Ghosh, on Flickr


Niagara Falls killing it with it's almost empty hotel skyline.
source: https://instagram.fyto1-1.fna.fbcdn.net

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by craner

BMO, Great Gulf, & .... Aldrit ?

Alldritt - redesign/resubmit

BMO - 150-200m is permitted, 175m is likely, but that may change.

Great Gulf is somewhere around 180m

102 Street Centre - 161m

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by BillM

I was always mesmerized by the "Baffin Island" effect in winter when approaching Montreal from the states. The landscape seems to feel increasingly remote while traveling through the Green Mountains or Adirondacks and the Champlain low lands. Even though there may be road signs for Montreal, there is a sense that there is little in terms of civilization between here and the Arctic. Blizzard conditions add to the mystique. Eventually, the silhouette of Mont-Royal begins to appear while the skyscrapers of the sequestered city seem to be set on a platter in front of and around the hill.

Yeah that's true. I can see that.

Though at least the drive up to Montreal is on expressways.

Going up to Quebec City from much of New England is even more of a shocker.

You drive for hours on two lane roads like this:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.7976074,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

And then you end up here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdxvKxwryj0

Ottawa is a bit like this too. Though you do typically approach the city on expressways, but you're in fairly dense woods (without the impression there is anything behind the trees, as in New England), and then all of a sudden - bang! you're in the city on a multi-lane highway with lots of traffic.

Toronto and Vancouver are a bit different as crossing the border there is more of an impression that's it's just the continuation of the same settlement patterns of the country you just left.

[Martin Mtl]

montreal skyline rainbow by Eva blue on Flickr


Jacques Cartier Bridge RAINBOW by Eva blue on Flickr


champlain bridge RAINBOW by Eva blue on Flickr

[JHikka]

That Cohen mural is still one of the best in Canada, if not the best.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by JHikka

That Cohen mural is still one of the best in Canada, if not the best.

Twenty years ago I got into an irritating (and thankfully short) discussion with a sour, passive-aggressive person from Portland Oregon who lived in New York at the time but was visiting Montreal with her boyfriend who was considering doing postgraduate studies at McGill.

There were eight people sitting at the breakfast table of a B&B. "So what's Montreal like?" she asked me after I'd already made pleasant small-talk with her boyfriend. I said I was a visitor who loved it to death, and proceeded to rhapsodize about its charms, ending with what I thought was a poetic flourish: "I mean, this is the city of Leonard Cohen."

That triggered her. "Why do Canadians do that all the time?" she pointedly asked me. It was pretty obvious by that point that she wasn't thrilled with the idea of moving to Montreal. "Every Canadian I've ever met always talks about who's Canadian. Why do you do that?"

I was taken aback by her vehemence, and thought about correcting her on a fine point of her misunderstanding of my intention. Because I wasn't "bragging about who's Canadian" to an American, but rather, I was anthropomorphizing a city that I loved. I wasn't concerned with nationality at all.

It wasn't that Leonard Cohen was Canadian. It was that Leonard Cohen was a Montrealer.

Even so, while I find the "he's Canadian!" thing cringeworthy as well, it's not like other people don't homeristically claim ownership of celebrities. Like she never mentioned to her friends that a band that came up in conversation was from Portland?

I hope they split up. He deserved better.

[905er]

MISSISSAUGA



city of Mississauga/Facebook

[yaletown_fella]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Twenty years ago I got into an irritating (and thankfully short) discussion with a sour, passive-aggressive person from Portland Oregon who lived in New York at the time but was visiting Montreal with her boyfriend who was considering doing postgraduate studies at McGill.

There were eight people sitting at the breakfast table of a B&B. "So what's Montreal like?" she asked me after I'd already made pleasant small-talk with her boyfriend. I said I was a visitor who loved it to death, and proceeded to rhapsodize about its charms, ending with what I thought was a poetic flourish: "I mean, this is the city of Leonard Cohen."

That triggered her. "Why do Canadians do that all the time?" she pointedly asked me. It was pretty obvious by that point that she wasn't thrilled with the idea of moving to Montreal. "Every Canadian I've ever met always talks about who's Canadian. Why do you do that?"

I was taken aback by her vehemence, and thought about correcting her on a fine point of her misunderstanding of my intention. Because I wasn't "bragging about who's Canadian" to an American, but rather, I was anthropomorphizing a city that I loved. I wasn't concerned with nationality at all.

It wasn't that Leonard Cohen was Canadian. It was that Leonard Cohen was a Montrealer.

Even so, while I find the "he's Canadian!" thing cringeworthy as well, it's not like other people don't homeristically claim ownership of celebrities. Like she never mentioned to her friends that a band that came up in conversation was from Portland?

I hope they split up. He deserved better.

All cities are homeristic. But there is a certain coldness to people in the Pacific Northwest region that I cant quite put my finger on. It could be a carry over from the region's high WASP & Germanic/Scandinavian ancestry

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by 905er

MISSISSAUGA



city of Mississauga/Facebook

That is actually pretty impressive.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Twenty years ago I got into an irritating (and thankfully short) discussion with a sour, passive-aggressive person from Portland Oregon who lived in New York at the time but was visiting Montreal with her boyfriend who was considering doing postgraduate studies at McGill.

There were eight people sitting at the breakfast table of a B&B. "So what's Montreal like?" she asked me after I'd already made pleasant small-talk with her boyfriend. I said I was a visitor who loved it to death, and proceeded to rhapsodize about its charms, ending with what I thought was a poetic flourish: "I mean, this is the city of Leonard Cohen."

That triggered her. "Why do Canadians do that all the time?" she pointedly asked me. It was pretty obvious by that point that she wasn't thrilled with the idea of moving to Montreal. "Every Canadian I've ever met always talks about who's Canadian. Why do you do that?"

I was taken aback by her vehemence, and thought about correcting her on a fine point of her misunderstanding of my intention. Because I wasn't "bragging about who's Canadian" to an American, but rather, I was anthropomorphizing a city that I loved. I wasn't concerned with nationality at all.

It wasn't that Leonard Cohen was Canadian. It was that Leonard Cohen was a Montrealer.

Even so, while I find the "he's Canadian!" thing cringeworthy as well, it's not like other people don't homeristically claim ownership of celebrities. Like she never mentioned to her friends that a band that came up in conversation was from Portland?

I hope they split up. He deserved better.

Yes, it's especially ironic since Americans are generally the worst for this stuff.

It's not weird to do what you did when you're actually in the city the icon is from, and discussing the appeal of the city. Regardless of your nationality.

I am sure lots of people visiting Vienna express their love of Vienna and reference Mozart or Strauss when doing so.

But it is weird for Canadians to reference famous Canadians from other cities out of context. We do do that.

Though Americans are just as bad. Maybe worse.

Cue a whole bunch of personal anecdotes where for example you're sitting around the hotel pool in Abu Dhabi, and people from a whole bunch of nationalities start chatting, saying where they're from. And this USian say he's from Columbus, Ohio, and he adds "you know, the Buckeyes..."

Well, no. Except for Americans and a few Canadians, no one around the pool has heard of the Buckeyes.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's not weird to do what you did when you're actually in the city the icon is from, and discussing the appeal of the city. Regardless of your nationality.

I am sure lots of people visiting Vienna express their love of Vienna and reference Mozart or Strauss when doing so.

Exactly, and that's a good analogy. This is the city of Mozart. We're in the city of Oscar Wilde. Let's go for a walk in the city of Balzac. Etc.

It's not an exercise in trying to define the totality of a city through one personage either, as if Montreal were encapsulated entirely by the personality of Leonard Cohen. It just adds shades of nuance.

Actually, with the linguistic divide, I would imagine that a francophone would use another celebrity to claim ownership of Montreal. Like how you could say that New York is the city of Jerry Seinfeld (or any Jewish comic, really), but to lots of people it's the city of Grandmaster Flash. Or Leonard Bernstein. Or any other of a number of accomplished creative people.

Funny how this grates on me twenty years later. She actually thought I was saying "Hey, Leonard Cohen's Canadian, you know!"

Sheesh.