Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[Zeej]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Depends if you're talking about landlocked from the perspective of a city skyline photo, or an actual functional connection to the ocean. You may have some ground to stand on if you were to argue that adding points to the Montreal skyline for being "seaside" is not fair.

In my mind, if you have a real container port, you're obviously not landlocked. That being said, the ocean is not what comes to mind when I think of Montreal, Portland, Hamburg, or even London.

I find Montreal to be a somewhat of a hybrid. It's obviously not a coastal city, though with no traffic, one can access the ocean in Maine in as little as a 4.5hour drive (Portland ME being approximately 400km away).

Even at its more narrow portions, the Saint Lawrence River is... large. Hell, the Riviere des Outaouais (Ottawa River for our neighbors) is no slouch. I find this gives the city a bit of a maritime feel that true inland river cities like Pittsburgh don't really posses.

This really amps up as the river continues to widen on its way to the estuary beyond Quebec City. Whenever I'm on La Terrasse Dufferin overlooking The River as it bends out of site, I always have the impression that the ocean lies just beyond the bend. It's really kind of phenomenal.

https://www.google.com/maps/@46.8119705,...D3Og4tgFAa7qrCi68Tjql!2e10!7i8000!8i4000

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by lio45

This is from this very thread, like a day ago (the page before last). Didn't have to dig much to find

"Landlocked Quebec City From the Perspective of a City Skyline Photo"

People that do not live on the shores of the St-Lawrence tend to forget that it is indeed an inlet, a vast estuary. BTW, the estuary goes up until lake St-Pierre, past Trois-Rivières. From Québec City to the tip of Gaspésie, most people call the St-Lawrence «la mer», or the sea. Many villages have names that end with «-sur-Mer».
Salt waters end at Rivière-du-Loup, and brackish waters end in Québec City. Few here know that the cities of Québec and Lévis are actually worried about the salinity around their freshwater intakes, in the St-Lawrence (but as a Lévis guy yourself, you probably know all of this).

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by lio45

This is from this very thread, like a day ago (the page before last). Didn't have to dig much to find

"Landlocked Quebec City From the Perspective of a City Skyline Photo"

Edmonton:

cruiseindustrynews, canadiansailings

"Medium-sized" river:

cbc

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Zeej

I find Montreal to be a somewhat of a hybrid. It's obviously not a coastal city, though with no traffic, one can access the ocean in Maine in as little as a 4.5hour drive (Portland ME being approximately 400km away).

It's neither coastal nor landlocked nor a hybrid of the two - it's simply an inland city. One with a large, navigable river that feeds into the ocean.

A landlocked city - like Calgary or Edmonton - has no navigable connection to the ocean.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by lio45

In a nutshell, Chadillaccc was whining that the two main Alberta cities were getting unfairly panned (by Canadians in general, or maybe just by SSPers in general) for having "being landlocked" listed as a drawback while Montreal was given a pass even though Montreal and Edmonton are both located on a "medium-sized river" and therefore are equally landlocked locations for a city.

For the record, that's the exchange that earned me a spot on his ignore list.

And he knows that I will continue to tease him about it until he chooses to grow up. He recently bragged about refusing to do that, so I don't feel bad about the teasing. I suspect MolsonEx sees it the same way

I think you're doing the right thing.

[craner]

Originally Posted by Maldive

Hebrewtext at SkyscraperCity posted this list in the "Best Skyline in the Western World (Occident)" thread, which profiles built/topped off + u/c.

The list uses a 100 meter (plus) base... which is interesting since that metric speaks to height (supertall obsessions briefly aside... 100m is a tall building), construction activity, density etc.

Was suprised that the T.O. (+ Missy) totals nibble at half of New York (+ Jersey City) totals, and pass Chicago.



Tel Aviv substantially ahead of Melbourne raised an eyebrow.

https://i.imgur.com/l4hHOdC.jpg?1

Proud to see Calgary on a list composed of much larger cities.

[Black Star]

Originally Posted by craner

Proud to see Calgary on a list composed of much larger cities.

Yeah....Calgary punches way above its weight class.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I think you're doing the right thing.

In a sense, I'm almost glad he's being a child about it; simplifies things for me (I can tease him with my conscience at ease).

I'm not sure I (or MolsonEx, for that matter) would have the willpower to resist on those occasions he's begging for it (for example, he recently argued that what Canada needs these days is a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, who could pass up on "Home port Edmonton, I imagine?" in that context? :p)

[FrAnKs]

Originally Posted by lio45

"Landlocked Quebec City From the Perspective of a City Skyline Photo"

Landlocked?
I missed something in the discussion or what?

[Maldive]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

Your Vancouver example demonstrates exactly why the metric isn't relevant when comparing cities with very different characteristics (such as taller top end vs shorter/wider). A list using that inappropriate makes it seem as if its shorter skyline practically don't exist, yet clearly people can see and appreciate it even if it doesn't impress them as much as would a taller one might. With results that inaccurate, how exactly is the metric useful?

Sorry, have trouble deciphering this (not your fault). The list remains somewhat interesting to me as an obvious Toronto fanboy for reasons explained earlier re: skyline breadth/density. Since Toronto also scores well at 150m+, 200m+ and eventually (hopefully) 300m+, I can also enjoy the hints this tallish metric offers my skyline preference (tallish base and lots of peaks).

This update/expansion below may not interest you in particular, but Hebrew Text added proposed/approved, and Vancouver numbers (which were clearly missed in the previous list). Sourced from Emporis I think.

This latest list (irrelevant or not) offers tall(ish) building bean counters some numbers to chew on for a while.

The T.O numbers are rather staggering, though myriad future unknowns will obviously impact how things play out.

Kinda funny to see T.O. chasing New York, not Chicago. Good for mindless entertainment perhaps ;-)



https://i.imgur.com/schGZy2.jpg

[Hackslack]

Originally Posted by Black Star

Yeah....Calgary punches way above its weight class.

I think what hinders Calgary's perspective is that downtown resides in a river valley, looking like the buildings are "cut off at its knees" as I've heard before... you have to travel down center street, or down 10th street or down bow valley, or down McLeod and Down memorial to get to downtown. basiclly viewing downtown from any such location, one's perspective is basically at the ~20th floor (just a guess).

[Monolith]

Dramatic Vancouver Weather


May_2020_XT39205 by Dominique Labrosse, on Flickr


rygDSC_6470 rainbow city Vancouver by camera30f, on Flickr

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Hackslack

I think what hinders Calgary's perspective is that downtown resides in a river valley, looking like the buildings are "cut off at its knees" as I've heard before... you have to travel down center street, or down 10th street or down bow valley, or down McLeod and Down memorial to get to downtown. basiclly viewing downtown from any such location, one's perspective is basically at the ~20th floor (just a guess).

Memorial Drive is at the same level along the river valley as downtown is. Looking east from the west side gives an amazing view of the skyline (probably the best in the city) from up above with the full valley below. The worst view where it looks cut off at the knees is from the north (especially the NE). Seeing DT from the airport makes the Bow look super stubby and fat because it chops it off at the knees, which is probably why many forumers from out of town think it’s so wide. Also driving in on Hwy 1 or Hwy 2 which both go through the NE you get a very chopped off look. Anything south or west has a much more flattering effect. It’s unfortunate that the most used entry points have the worst views.

[Chadillaccc]

To clarify, I never once stated that Montreal is landlocked, I laughed at the ridiculous notion postulated and supported by Lio and MX that Montreal is equally as coastal of a city as Vancouver is. That was the argument. I also never called the St Lawrence a medium sized river, why would I do that when I know it has one of the highest flow rates of any river on the planet, and highest in North America? The comparison I drew as medium sized rivers was the Ottawa River and North Saskatchewan River (Edmonton). The argument never had anything to do with Calgary or boosterism, only the laughability of the idea that Montreal is equally as coastal/oceanic as Vancouver. Quebec City was never discussed in that exchange.

Also, it occurred something like 6 years ago. Hilarious that it was brought up now, when I haven’t even been online in days I’m the one who needs to grow up, eh Lio? You never change do you, biscuit?

[Hackslack]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Memorial Drive is at the same level along the river valley as downtown is. Looking east from the west side gives an amazing view of the skyline (probably the best in the city) from up above with the full valley below. The worst view where it looks cut off at the knees is from the north (especially the NE). Seeing DT from the airport makes the Bow look super stubby and fat because it chops it off at the knees, which is probably why many forumers from out of town think it’s so wide. Also driving in on Hwy 1 or Hwy 2 which both go through the NE you get a very chopped off look. Anything south or west has a much more flattering effect. It’s unfortunate that the most used entry points have the worst views.

Yes I agree on all your points actually, good take, especially when viewing the skyline from above Sarcee in the west. I guess where I was referring to on memorial is east of the Deerfoot... I may be mistaking though, but coming through memorial west of the Deerfoot I agree they are great views that are not captured so much. I agree too regarding the view from the airport, that perspective really does make the Bow look stubby.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

To clarify, I never once stated that Montreal is landlocked, I laughed at the ridiculous notion postulated and supported by Lio and MX that Montreal is equally as coastal of a city as Vancouver is. That was the argument. I also never called the St Lawrence a medium sized river, why would I do that when I know it has one of the highest flow rates of any river on the planet, and highest in North America? The comparison I drew as medium sized rivers was the Ottawa River and North Saskatchewan River (Edmonton). The argument never had anything to do with Calgary or boosterism, only the laughability of the idea that Montreal is equally as coastal/oceanic as Vancouver. Quebec City was never discussed in that exchange.

Also, it occurred something like 6 years ago. Hilarious that it was brought up now, when I haven’t even been online in days I’m the one who needs to grow up, eh Lio? You never change do you, biscuit?

Okay, it's clear now. Let's hope we can turn to the page on that.

[Martin Mtl]

Last Sunday in Montreal


https://www.instagram.com/p/CA38C4gB44k/


https://www.instagram.com/p/CA3wS32JDXb/


https://www.instagram.com/p/CA3y8RJnHaW/


https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5L_44nJxg/


https://www.instagram.com/p/CA4WfGojY5Q/

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

Okay, it's clear now. Let's hope we can turn to the page on that.

Thank you Martin and great shots there.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Hackslack

Yes I agree on all your points actually, good take, especially when viewing the skyline from above Sarcee in the west. I guess where I was referring to on memorial is east of the Deerfoot... I may be mistaking though, but coming through memorial west of the Deerfoot I agree they are great views that are not captured so much. I agree too regarding the view from the airport, that perspective really does make the Bow look stubby.

Oh yes you’re correct about the segment coming from Forest Lawn down the hill towards Deerfoot. Quite a hill. Nice view though. Downtown doesn’t look chopped off from there. One of the best views is from the parking lot at Maxbell arena.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

To clarify, I never once stated that Montreal is landlocked, I laughed at the ridiculous notion postulated and supported by Lio and MX that Montreal is equally as coastal of a city as Vancouver is. That was the argument. I also never called the St Lawrence a medium sized river, why would I do that when I know it has one of the highest flow rates of any river on the planet, and highest in North America? The comparison I drew as medium sized rivers was the Ottawa River and North Saskatchewan River (Edmonton).

Incorrect: you put the St. Lawrence, Ottawa and North Saskatchewan all in the same size category. You didn't say "Montreal is landlocked" but you did essentially say "Montreal and Edmonton are equally landlocked" which is basically the same thing (you will note that approximately half the teasing is about Montreal being landlocked ("Whale sighting in Montreal? Clearly fake news!") while the other half is about Edmonton being a major seaport ("Canada's Navy needs a full-size aircraft carrier? Well how else can we hope to protect Edmonton against enemy warships?"))

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Which major cities in Canada over 1 million people have coastlines? Vancouver has an Oceanic Coastline... Toronto has a lake coastline... Montreal, Ottawa, and Edmonton all have large rivers, and Calgary has a medium sized river.

Also, it occurred something like 6 years ago. Hilarious that it was brought up now, when I haven’t even been online in days I’m the one who needs to grow up, eh Lio? You never change do you, biscuit?

Yep, you're the one who needs to grow up, as demonstrated by the fact you have a mile-long ignore list on this discussion forum whose entire point is to interact with other forumers, while I have never used the feature (never even looked at how it works; I'm not on a discussion forum to ignore other users).