Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

East of the Rideau, there's a good mix of "shacks" and mid-century brick bungalows. Those types of houses are going way over asking these days, and many being replaced by infill condos and apartments.

To build on that, and it's a little off topic, the City has recently approved new zoning for "R4" zones. This new zoning is meant to redevelop those single family homes into multi residential units.

The areas in black are effected by this new policy:


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/r4-zoning-review-planning-committee-1.5718664

[PortaPetee]

Good god people, I came here to see skylines. You're batshit, all y'all.
Except someone123 - you are far too reasonable. You could be a lot heavier handed with the moderating LOL

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by someone123

It's a city with a lot of diffuse medium scale development, not one where you have specific grandiose views or a specific main intersection or commercial street. Downtown does not even have the tallest buildings and in a few years it might have 0 in the top 5. To me the stuff that makes Halifax feel like a bigger city is e.g. the rowhouses and midrises in the Hydrostone a few km outside of downtown or even the commercial development happening around Dutch Village Road which would be 100% suburban in most smaller North American cities. There are not many Canadian cities that have Quinpool Road or downtown Dartmouth type neighbourhoods.

Agreed. If you look at an aerial view of similar sized cities like London or even bigger cities like Hamilton or Calgary - Halifax has a lot of midrise and highrise development scattered loosely across the city and out into the burbs, whereas those other cities appear to be mostly flat outside of their downtowns. I think if Halifax were ever to truly to boomtown it would end up a few skylines rather than one. There would probably be a clear downtown, midtown, and uptown - Atlanta is like that (although a much much larger metro area.)

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

Why hello *bats lashes*

The downtown does look good and dense due to the tight old grid and narrow streets. It's getting modern and built up but it still feels pretty human scale and old at the street level.

Yeah man definitely see that in street level pics. I was mostly referring to the density bones in how widespread the built up area is for a city of only 430 000. Sooo much potential, and y'all are taking advantage of that potential finally! So great. My top Canadian city I haven't been to yet.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

Agreed. If you look at an aerial view of similar sized cities like London or even bigger cities like Hamilton or Calgary - Halifax has a lot of midrise and highrise development scattered loosely across the city and out into the burbs, whereas those other cities appear to be mostly flat outside of their downtowns. I think if Halifax were ever to truly to boomtown it would end up a few skylines rather than one. There would probably be a clear downtown, midtown, and uptown - Atlanta is like that (although a much much larger metro area.)

To me what's interesting about Halifax is how extensive the pedestrian-oriented core is, where the streets are narrow, there aren't many or any highways, buildings are built mostly close up to the street, and most shops are storefronts. There are highrise blobs out in the suburbs that aren't so interesting in person even though they may look nice in a photo one day (e.g. Bayers Lake getting that 28 storey hotel), but the Young Street area is going to end up feeling like a part of the urban core in the long run.

Most cities in North America don't have the same infill opportunities in the older parts or simply refuse to allow that type of development. Either they are newer cities with bungalows 1 km out of downtown, or they're not growing much, and/or they are heritage snowglobes.

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

Yeah man definitely see that in street level pics. I was mostly referring to the density bones in how widespread the built up area is for a city of only 430 000. Sooo much potential, and y'all are taking advantage of that potential finally! So great. My top Canadian city I haven't been to yet.

You must visit. Like any Canadian city, come in Summer or Fall. Winter is winter. Spring sucks here. Summer is great. We make up for our long chilly Spring with our long warm Fall. Real winter starts pretty late.

A lot of people hate that Halifax doesn't yet have 40 or 60 story building, but the effect you're seeing - of how widespread the built up area is - is, I think, a product of the fact that we have approved many more mid-and-high rise buildings and driven the market in that direction.

I always think, would you rather one 80 story building, or one 40 and two 20, or four 20? I'd say that for a city of this size the fours 20s are contributing far more to an urban look and feel of density than the other options. Yeah Niagara Falls and Atlantic city have taller hotels that make for a "skyline", but if you look closely they both have a few buildings along a single strip and that's all.

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by someone123

To me what's interesting about Halifax is how extensive the pedestrian-oriented core is, where the streets are narrow, there aren't many or any highways, buildings are built mostly close up to the street, and most shops are storefronts. There are highrise blobs out in the suburbs that aren't so interesting in person even though they may look nice in a photo one day (e.g. Bayers Lake getting that 28 storey hotel), but the Young Street area is going to end up feeling like a part of the urban core in the long run..

There is a pretty significant amount of high-rise development at Kearney Lake / Larry Uteck and in a photograph, yeah it's looks like a new developing skyline and maybe it's a real "uptown". But sadly when you go out there, it's very suburban, big parking lots in front of buildings and business. Residential and commercial are pretty much separate.

It could be done so much better and you're right, it looks like Almon to Young St. could be a proper midtown (if it doesn't eventually merge with downtown.)

[Peggerino]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

You must visit. Like any Canadian city, come in Summer or Fall. Winter is winter. Spring sucks here. Summer is great. We make up for our long chilly Spring with our long warm Fall. Real winter starts pretty late.

A lot of people hate that Halifax doesn't yet have 40 or 60 story building, but the effect you're seeing - of how widespread the built up area is - is, I think, a product of the fact that we have approved many more mid-and-high rise buildings and driven the market in that direction.

I always think, would you rather one 80 story building, or one 40 and two 20, or four 20? I'd say that for a city of this size the fours 20s are contributing far more to an urban look and feel of density than the other options. Yeah Niagara Falls and Atlantic city have taller hotels that make for a "skyline", but if you look closely they both have a few buildings along a single strip and that's all.

I would go even further with 10 8-storey buildings being the optimal ratio of height to quantity. More buildings provides more opportunities for architectural diversity and I think interesting neighbourhoods.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

You must visit. Like any Canadian city, come in Summer or Fall. Winter is winter. Spring sucks here. Summer is great. We make up for our long chilly Spring with our long warm Fall. Real winter starts pretty late.

A lot of people hate that Halifax doesn't yet have 40 or 60 story building, but the effect you're seeing - of how widespread the built up area is - is, I think, a product of the fact that we have approved many more mid-and-high rise buildings and driven the market in that direction.

I always think, would you rather one 80 story building, or one 40 and two 20, or four 20? I'd say that for a city of this size the fours 20s are contributing far more to an urban look and feel of density than the other options. Yeah Niagara Falls and Atlantic city have taller hotels that make for a "skyline", but if you look closely they both have a few buildings along a single strip and that's all.

Yeah man I'll def be there as soon as I can afford it. It's just so much easier for m with Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, and Ottawa cause free places to stay with friends an family. Thank godddsss I'm graduating this year so I'll (hopefully) be able to afford the fancy hotel travel soon!

I agree with you man. I would take ten 6 storey buildings in the inner ring neighbourhoods of Calgary than another 56 - 60 storey in the core. For a city like Halifax, I would love to see one pinnacle in the skyline, but with that built form, I'd farrr prefer that pinnacle be 30 to 40 floors of quality architecture, and other quality development throughout the zone.



Another day showing the Montreal boys around!


A trek through Calgary with the Montrealers by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

A trek through Calgary with the Montrealers by Chadillaccc, on Flickr

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by Peggerino

I would go even further with 10 8-storey buildings being the optimal ratio of height to quantity. More buildings provides more opportunities for architectural diversity and I think interesting neighbourhoods.

That's definitely how parts of Halifax are going. And mixing in some higher rises here and there.

There seems to be some resistance to the notion that mid-rise is more urban, but, well, Europe? Halifax will not likely every look truly European, but i feel like it's going a bit more in that direction than other cities with monolithic downtowns and endless flat sprawl.

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

That pic of the three building tops reflected in a pool is fantastic.

I was in Calgary once around 2006, maybe? The skyline has built up an insane amount even since then.

But it was a good example of that "monolithic downtown" I mention in another post. It was a lot of tall buildings an nothing else, and it was completely deserted after 6 pm. (Maybe it's not like that anymore.)

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

That pic of the three building tops reflected in a pool is fantastic.

I was in Calgary once around 2006, maybe? The skyline has built up an insane amount even since then.

But it was a good example of that "monolithic downtown" I mention in another post. It was a lot of tall buildings an nothing else, and it was completely deserted after 6 pm. (Maybe it's not like that anymore.)

It's definitely not like that anymore. The downtown population has nearly tripled in that 14 years (around 20 000 in downtown/Beltline in 2006 to 50 000 in 2020), and the city has invested billions either creating or revitalizing parks, plazas, and sidewalks, with billions more proposed/underway. The skyline has added 142 towers since 2006 as well, so lots of changes. The "dead past 6" is certainly a persistent mindset for those outside of the region still though. Nenshi and his administration has been a godsend for Calgary.

Even just in the 8 years I've been here the Beltline alone has gone from 15 000 to around 27 000 now, and the vibrancy and perceptions of safety are night and day.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Peggerino

I would go even further with 10 8-storey buildings being the optimal ratio of height to quantity. More buildings provides more opportunities for architectural diversity and I think interesting neighbourhoods.

One could go even further and argue that the inner city Montreal/Brooklyn built form of continuous/attached 3-4 story tenements is actually more "urban" than most towers-in-parks regardless of their height.

In fact, I'd say true urbanity comes from a bunch of factors; the densest cities have lots of very tall buildings, sure, but height by itself isn't the be-all end-all.

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

It's definitely not like that anymore. The downtown population has nearly tripled in that 14 years (around 20 000 in downtown/Beltline in 2006 to 50 000 in 2020), and the city has invested billions either creating or revitalizing parks, plazas, and sidewalks, with billions more proposed/underway. The skyline has added 142 towers since 2006 as well, so lots of changes. The "dead past 6" is certainly a persistent mindset for those outside of the region still though. Nenshi and his administration has been a godsend for Calgary.

Even just in the 8 years I've been here the Beltline alone has gone from 15 000 to around 27 000 now, and the vibrancy and perceptions of safety are night and day.

Oh that's great to hear, because I was coming from lil ole Halifax and thinking, "wow, itty bitty Halifax is WAAAAYYY more vibrant and exciting than this wasteland." People told me to go to 17th Ave. so I did and I was like, OK 5 minutes from downtown and I'm in the suburbs already and still "where is the nightlife?? I swore I'd never go back LOL. Perhaps I'll give it second chance one day.

To be fair, I was alone and didn't have a guide and it wasn't like today where you'd just go on an app and find one. So that might have been part of the problem.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

Good god people, I came here to see skylines. You're batshit, all y'all.
Except someone123 - you are far too reasonable. You could be a lot heavier handed with the moderating LOL

I'm pretty sure someone123 doesn't have moderator powers in the Canada section, and now that you brought it up I'm curious enough that I must ask whether it's the case

[PortaPetee]

Oh shit did I just change this from a Calgary-Montreal fight into a Halifax-Calgary fight?
I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!

[lio45]

Originally Posted by PortaPetee

Oh that's great to hear, because I was coming from lil ole Halifax and thinking, "wow, itty bitty Halifax is WAAAAYYY more vibrant and exciting than this wasteland." People told me to go to 17th Ave. so I did and I was like, OK 5 minutes from downtown and I'm in the suburbs already and still "where is the nightlife?? I swore I'd never go back LOL.

Now I'm wondering what would happen if *I* had posted this

To be fair, I was along and didn't have a guide and it wasn't like today where you'd just go on an app and find one.

Speaking of guides, I actually intend to anonymously get Chad as my guide next time I'm in Calgary. I see no reason to assume we won't get along okay in person

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by lio45

I'm pretty sure someone123 doesn't have moderator powers in the Canada section, and now that you brought it up I'm curious enough that I must ask whether it's the case

I might be completely wrong about that. It was a tongue in cheek reference to my complaints about someone else in another thread and I thought someone123 might recognize me for that. But he's too fair and probably decided not to pay attention to my provocations.

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by lio45

Now I'm wondering what would happen if *I* had posted this

Speaking of guides, I actually intend to anonymously get Chad as my guide next time I'm in Calgary. I see no reason to assume we won't get along okay in person

You probably would. Sometimes two people just get one another's goats online. Humour doesn't translate, etc. I have my mortal enemy on another thread, but I often find myself grudgingly agreeing with his posts. I don't tell him that of course. LOL

[PortaPetee]

Originally Posted by lio45

One could go even further and argue that the inner city Montreal/Brooklyn built form of continuous/attached 3-4 story tenements is actually more "urban" than most towers-in-parks regardless of their height.

In fact, I'd say true urbanity comes from a bunch of factors; the densest cities have lots of very tall buildings, sure, but height by itself isn't the be-all end-all.

Wandering around certain sections of Istanbul late at night, the streets are full of people, the restaurants and the clubs are booming, the street performers are lit up, everything is so. damned. euro. urban.

And the skyscrapers are in the far distance.