Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Oh FFS quit calling 100 year old houses wooden shacks! You can find it remarkable that there are SFH’s along Memorial drive across the river from DT but it’s beyond dishonest and underhanded to call some of the nicest homes in the city wooden shacks.

"Wooden shacks":

https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0544017,-...wf1pA4HSq-yiMn5n9l88A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Semantics aside (and conceding that many of the other houses on that street are more clearly wooden), it is uncommon to see this style of postwar detached housing so close to a major city centre. I think ultimately that was the main point here.

If anything, "wooden shacks" tends to make me think of those "Eatons" quick-assemble houses that were popular in the immediate post-war era. Most of the SFHs in that part of Calgary tend to be a bit older than that (and with a bit more character) or 40+ years newer. I would agree that from an Eastern perspective it feels like a large downtown surrounded by modest but attractive inner-ring suburbs, and very little of what I'd consider a typical "inner city". To me it all just feels very new.

Edmonton and Winnipeg's downtowns ended up surrounded by a lot of dreary, utilitarian, brown & beige stuff of bygone eras that Calgary seemed to largely miss out on (or redevelop more quickly). IMO Calgary kind of hit the sweet spot in terms of booming just late enough to not have an inner city dominated by that kind of stuff (which I would consider worse than the status quo)


(edit: I suppose these are wooden and somewhat more shack-like, perhaps this is what he meant https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.0546813,-...SsIg2CLmg8yevZkmXQVIw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656. Still, this feels much more "typical North American inner city" to me than the first picture, even if the houses are made of wood, though I'll also concede that yes, this is different than what you'd see in Montreal or NYC, which are the other extreme in terms of inner-city urban fabric)

[Pavlov]

Probably worth keeping in mind that all of this discussion is regarding only the two small neighborhoods north of the CBD across the river. Directly north of the CBD are the (albeit small) neighborhoods of Chinatown and Eau Claire, both of which consist exclusively of midrise and highrise residential buildings. The residential neighborhoods west, south and east of the CBD are also all dominated by midrises and highrises.

[Maldive]

Originally Posted by Mister F

https://funkyimg.com/view/379Fa

Nice shot of the pancake city MisterF

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Isn’t it remarkable how Montreal has so many hideous mansard faced seniors centres? The whole city is filled to the brim with Residences Soleil complexes. Just an observation as I find it so exotic and unfamiliar to have ugly clocktowers overlooking the streets in my city. Not in any way meant to be an asshole. Just an opinion.

Also interesting that Quebec city is so dense and historic and beautiful and across the river is a suburban dump called Levis that consists of nothing but St. Huberts and a Four Points Sheraton Inn.

lpcdn

[esquire]

Homers gonna homer.

[Coldrsx]

https://twitter.com/RuthBlakely/status/1300434929587646465

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Edmonton and Winnipeg's downtowns ended up surrounded by a lot of dreary, utilitarian, brown & beige stuff of bygone eras that Calgary seemed to largely miss out on (or redevelop more quickly). IMO Calgary kind of hit the sweet spot in terms of booming just late enough to not have an inner city dominated by that kind of stuff (which I would consider worse than the status quo)

Calgary has more than its fair share, as does Toronto, Vancouver, Mtl, but those cities have seen more development since, which has hidden them by way of taller towers with curtainwall.

[Masoliantekw]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Also interesting that Quebec city is so dense and historic and beautiful and across the river is a suburban dump called Levis that consists of nothing but St. Huberts and a Four Points Sheraton Inn.

I'd be more than happy to live in such a suburban dump


@genevieve.gauthier, sur Instagram


@emiclo007, sur Instagram


@joelsonpiaia, sur Instagram


@neoexpressionnist, sur Instagram



@sabtrente_un_quebec, sur Instagram


@joelsonpiaia, sur Instagram

Bonus: Québec's skyline.

[Peggerino]

Ya Levis looks pretty sweet as far as suburbs go.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Oh FFS quit calling 100 year old houses wooden shacks! You can find it remarkable that there are SFH’s along Memorial drive across the river from DT but it’s beyond dishonest and underhanded to call some of the nicest homes in the city wooden shacks.

It's dumb. Is a hundred plus year old , wood framed,single family house in Toronto (and they are nearly all wood framed) any different because it happens to have a brick skin? There is no place in the homes that is level to the point that gravity may be the only thing holding up the structure. The hand forged nails barely have any grip left in them.

The clay brick is extremely brittle in its own right and the mortar has detached from the brick. It wouldn't take much for it to fall apart. There are no tiebacks holding the facade to the wood framed structure.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Masoliantekw

I'd be more than happy to live in such a suburban dump
.

The hyperbole on here can sometimes get a little bit out of hand.

[Maldive]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

... as I find it so exotic and unfamiliar to have ugly clocktowers overlooking the streets in my city. Not in any way meant to be an asshole. Just an opinion...

https://clockzillakingoflaval.tumblr.com

^ Your link served up some much-needed chuckles... thx!

"Two ugliest things in Canada" was low-hanging fruit but still a definite homerun.

[lio45]

I agree with most of what O-Tacular said, actually. Except that I'd point out there's ungodly quantities of absolutely horrible architecture on the north side of the river too, and that Lévis has nice parts. In other words, his general evaluation of the metro area is fine, just has to be re-balanced a bit to match reality. The older parts (on both sides) are nice, the newer ones often suck (on both sides). Most of Charlesbourg, Beauport, etc. is positively Soul-Sucking.

Originally Posted by Masoliantekw

I'd be more than happy to live in such a suburban dump

Yeah, it's got a nice core. In fact it mirrors Quebec City pretty well (cliffs on the south shore too, old buildings in the core, newer parts are mostly horrible cheap-ass crap built only for profit by developers who don't care). It's just significantly smaller, obviously. Here's the center:

(I would say it's above average, by (admittedly low) Canadian standards.)




The core's main street is a hill with a nice view.

Originally Posted by Laceoflight

Côte du Passage, Lévis by Louis-Philippe Rousselle-Brosseau, sur Flickr

Queen Mary II passing, same view as above
(I'm going to pass on the opportunity of a landlock joke, I'm in a peaceful mood tonight)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Isn’t it remarkable how Montreal has so many hideous mansard faced seniors centres? The whole city is filled to the brim with Residences Soleil complexes. Just an observation as I find it so exotic and unfamiliar to have ugly clocktowers overlooking the streets in my city. Not in any way meant to be an asshole. Just an opinion.

That's generally correct, but I would say that unfortunately this phenomenon (that what's getting built these days is absolutely tasteless, and it's been that way for decades) is country-wide. (If you know of any region of this country that's unaffected, I'll seriously consider making it my new home and doing my part to beautify it.)

These modern neo-mansard roofs, what a plague. We're again in agreement

[TorontoDrew]

Mississauga and Toronto skylines at sunrise, image by urbantoronto.ca Forum contributor Jasonzed

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by lio45

(I would say it's above average, by (admittedly low) Canadian standards.)




Queen Mary II passing, same view as above
(I'm going to pass on the opportunity of a landlock joke, I'm in a peaceful mood tonight)

Is that the Port of Edmonton?

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

lpcdn

Is that the mayor of Montreal or the Premier of Quebec?

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Masoliantekw

I'd be more than happy to live in such a suburban dump


@genevieve.gauthier, sur Instagram


@emiclo007, sur Instagram


@joelsonpiaia, sur Instagram


@neoexpressionnist, sur Instagram



@sabtrente_un_quebec, sur Instagram


@joelsonpiaia, sur Instagram

Bonus: Québec's skyline.

Can it be a real city though when there are wooden shacks situated near the core of the vieux village?

https://www.google.com/maps/@46.801972,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Besides, I only saw a St. Hubert and a stripmall when I stayed at the Four Points Sheraton over a decade ago passing through on my way to QC.


Using streetview the whole place looks like a prison:

https://www.google.com/maps/@46.764626,-...itch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Maldive

https://clockzillakingoflaval.tumblr.com

^ Your link served up some much-needed chuckles... thx!

"Two ugliest things in Canada" was low-hanging fruit but still a definite homerun.

Why thank you. Clockzilla appreciates your homage.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Is that the mayor of Montreal or the Premier of Quebec?

'tis the dark lord of Clockzilla

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"