Streetview Before and After

[someone123]

I've always been interested in the Gottingen area of Halifax. I would not describe it as beautiful but when I first went there it had an almost post-apocalyptic vibe and I never expected it to change. It has a history that is not apparent from the building stock that survived up until the 2000's. These days it's turning into a more vibrant medium density urban district.

Here is part of Gottingen in 1900:


Source

In the 1960's it was a busy shopping area with lots of neon:

Source

The first streetview images are from 2009. By then a lot of the buildings had a shantytown-like appearance or were gone entirely.





It has new imagery from 2021. It has been getting a lot of fine-grained low-rise buildings, that look somewhat simple and modern.





There are still many active development sites.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by someone123

I've always been interested in the Gottingen area of Halifax. I would not describe it as beautiful but when I first went there it had an almost post-apocalyptic vibe and I never expected it to change.

I find this is one of the better reminders on streetview of how bleak and unsettling this area used to be. 2009 seems to be after a lot of the residual interesting stuff was gone (there were things like a large concert hall and various after-hours dance clubs that haven't really been replaced or replicated since then). There wasn't much active retail in the area at the time and the crime rate in the surrounding area was higher than it is now. Even back then, though, there wasn't block after block of empty storefronts as seen in many Canadian inner cities. This one building captures the overall spirit of those times well though, I think:

[Hali87]

Here's a few interesting ones - Woodside (South Dartmouth):

2009:


2021:



Shannon Park (North Dartmouth):

2009:


2021:



Highway 102 between Wedgewood and Bedford:

2009:


2021:


2009:


2021:




Sackville Street:

2009:


2021:



Argyle Street:

2009:


2021:


Queen Street:

2009:


2021:

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

This is a cool transition but I’m gonna need to see pictures of what the women who live in these wear because I’m expecting prairie gowns. Sssooo culty.

In John Carpenter's "In the Mouth of Madness", 1994:



Pretty solid movie btw.

[SpongeG]

^^^ that's why it looked familiar

[SkahHigh]

Three other interesting ones for Montreal

Corner Guy/De Maisonneuve (Concordia Campus)

2007:



2021:



Around the Champ-de-Mars Metro station

2009:



2021:



Glen Site (McGill University Health Centre)

2009:



2021:

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by someone123

I've always been interested in the Gottingen area of Halifax. I would not describe it as beautiful but when I first went there it had an almost post-apocalyptic vibe and I never expected it to change. It has a history that is not apparent from the building stock that survived up until the 2000's. These days it's turning into a more vibrant medium density urban district.

It has new imagery from 2021. It has been getting a lot of fine-grained low-rise buildings, that look somewhat simple and modern.



There are still many active development sites.

Leaving the architecture aside, the massing of those buildings is almost ideal (from my POV) relative to the width of the street. Even if these were vinyl sided boxes, they'd be a positive addition to the street environment.

Besides, we can leave it to future generations to reclad these buildings (which they will inevitably have to do) with nicer materials in the future.

[quall]

Another massive public realm upgrade in Montreal:

Plaza-St-Hubert

2015


2021


2015


2021


2015


2021

[esquire]

That's interesting, I was unaware of Plaza St-Hubert's existence.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

That's interesting, I was unaware of Plaza St-Hubert's existence.

It's where Gatineau girls (and I am sure girls from many other parts of southern Quebec) go shop for their prom and wedding dresses!

Though in terms of urban design, I was always surprised at how long the rigid awnings survived. In Ottawa the ones they installed on Rideau St. were a tragically failed experiment and were removed long ago.

I notice the new sidewalk design actually retains a form of permanent overhang along some stretches. I betcha that's at the request of the shop owners.

[hipster duck]

Isn’t that strip where the first St-Hubert rotisserie chicken restaurant was located?

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It's where Gatineau girls (and I am sure girls from many other parts of southern Quebec) go shop for their prom and wedding dresses!

Though in terms of urban design, I was always surprised at how long the rigid awnings survived. In Ottawa the ones they installed on Rideau St. were a tragically failed experiment and were removed long ago.

I notice the new sidewalk design actually retains a form of permanent overhang along some stretches. I betcha that's at the request of the shop owners.

Those old awnings have strong 1992 vibes.

I assume that this was an old neighbourhood high street that gradually morphed into a dress shop/fashion district?

[rotten42]

Thanks Innsertnamehere for starting this thread. It is one of the more interesting threads in this sub in a longtime.

[begratto]

Originally Posted by esquire

Those old awnings have strong 1992 vibes.

I assume that this was an old neighbourhood high street that gradually morphed into a dress shop/fashion district?

The Plaza St-Hubert is transitionning into a cooler street, with less chains and more independant stores and restaurants. It's less fashion/wedding dresses centric than it was before.

There have been many openings and renovations since the City redesigned the street.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Isn’t that strip where the first St-Hubert rotisserie chicken restaurant was located?

Yes, the chain is still there in the same location. Since 1951. The name comes from the street, and not the Montreal south shore suburb of the same name.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x4...KEwjZ6-_c-Iv1AhVFlIkEHTaYAoAQpx96BAgnEAg

[Innsertnamehere]

A couple more Toronto ones:

Cherry Street:

2009:


2021:


Front Street East:

2009:


2021:


Regent Park:

2009:


2021:


Gould Street:

2009:


2021:

[Innsertnamehere]

Also, Waterloo is now slowly rebuilding the streets in the student ghetto to more closely match the more urban character of the area now.

Streets like Spruce and Larch have been reconstructed, to mixed results.

A shot of Larch I took in October as it was finishing up:

[someone123]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Leaving the architecture aside, the massing of those buildings is almost ideal (from my POV) relative to the width of the street. Even if these were vinyl sided boxes, they'd be a positive addition to the street environment.

Yes, the problems are fixable and for now these buildings are a net win. On the whole they are better than they look on streetview because they have nice storefronts and folksy additions like artistic metalwork, plus in many cases special lighting installations. They tend to be built by small local firms that find local businesses to rent to immediately (complete opposite of the 200 foot frontage with Shoppers and an insurance company).

There is a ~3x1 km part of the North End that is becoming really interesting.

[Kilgore Trout]

Glad to see Waterloo is doing some public realm improvement!

Originally Posted by quall

Another massive public realm upgrade in Montreal:

Plaza-St-Hubert

2015


2021

I have mixed feelings about the St-Hubert upgrade. I like the width of the sidewalks, and the new awnings have exposed the building façades which are now being refurbished. But I think it was a mistake to retain parking along one side of the street. It's officially a shared street with a 20 km/h speed limit, but you wouldn't know it from the way drivers behave. It still feels like a street dominated by cars. I think it would have been better to have staggered parking areas along both sides of the street in order to slow traffic and make it clear that it's a pedestrian-priority space. Ideally, one block would have been fully pedestrianized to prevent drivers from using St-Hubert as a thoroughfare. Using the same paving stones for the entire street, with bollards instead of a grade difference between the sidewalk and roadway, would have been good too.

That said, the new layout has some flexibility, so everything I mention above could be implemented at some point in the future.

[Al Ski]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I find this is one of the better reminders on streetview of how bleak and unsettling this area used to be. 2009 seems to be after a lot of the residual interesting stuff was gone (there were things like a large concert hall and various after-hours dance clubs that haven't really been replaced or replicated since then). There wasn't much active retail in the area at the time and the crime rate in the surrounding area was higher than it is now. Even back then, though, there wasn't block after block of empty storefronts as seen in many Canadian inner cities. This one building captures the overall spirit of those times well though, I think:

This really resonates with me.

I visited Halifax in 2004 on a whim with some Aussie mates, who took me up on a return visit to Canada invite, and liked it so much that I decided to move there.

I stayed at the backpackers on the left (HBH) and later worked there as well as at the downstairs café (Alteregos).

The building in the photo was 'inhabited' by Wayne, who described himself as "The Enviroscaper From The Caper". He struck up quite the rapport with my Aussie mate Craig, who was fascinated with Wayne and his 'Enviroscaper' schtick.

One night, Craig announced that Wayne had invited us on an (unprecedented) tour so the 5 of us eagerly went in..

What a disaster! The place was piled floor-to-ceiling with every form of junk that you could imagine. He even had a Corvette that was covered by a tarp and in turn, covered with junk. It was so densely packed that we all felt like archaeologists meandering through caverns!

As much as that building obviously had to go I can't help but miss that time when characters were allowed to exist, before Borg financialisation of everything turned every place into every other place.

The cheapo, quick money grab crap you see on Gottingen today is no better or worse than all the budget, max profit garbage that's going up everywhere else.

Questions will be asked, 20 years from now.

Photos exist of that night, I will try to dig them up!