Great Canadian Skyline Thread II - Page 975

Rico Rommheim · #**19481** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 2:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harley613

Cool shot with some Byward Market construction in the foreground looking towards Parliament in Ottawa this morning, courtesy of u/poopitydoopityboop on Reddit.

This is a very good shot from a unique perspective.

AuxTown · #**19482** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 3:14 PM**

Deleted

AuxTown · #**19483** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 3:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Repthe250

I’m sure Ottawa is a great place, but for some reason it’s presence in this thread is overwhelming and I’m not quite sure why as it’s skyline is…very underwhelming. I wouldn’t have such high expectations if it weren’t the 4th largest CMA and the countries capital.

Just for you, a couple of interesting Ottawa shots from Reddit today ;-)

https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/comments/u00adr/centretown_looking_like_gotham_city_last_night/

Repthe250 · #**19484** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 5:08 PM**

Those are great. I think it was the aerial shots for me that weren’t doing the skyline any favours. But then again, aerial shots of any skyline can be unflattering.

I appreciate the photos regardless and I am in no shape to talk as I haven’t contributed any. If I knew how to post photos I would!

Rico Rommheim · #**19485** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 5:27 PM**

The thing with the Ottawa skyline is that it’s just not an impressive or attractive skyline from most angles. Ottawa skyline’s best asset are the parliament and government buildings dating from the 19th and early 20th century. But the drab collection of office boxes awkwardly placed south of the parliament don’t add anything interesting .

In an ideal world Ottawa would have two skylines: the classic one made of gothic towers along Wellington and a modern one kind of out of the way, a bit like la defense. I would have liked it if downtown Ottawa has materialized with 3-10 storey buildings, and letting the gothic towers, chateau-esque hotels and public buildings dominate the skyline.

Nowadays, Ottawa has multiple skyline nodes spread across the city, that definitely helps make the city look more impressive, but downtown Ottawa is a wash. I can’t imagine why anyone thinks it would be improved by adding a bunch of Mississauga style towers in there .

Repthe250 · #**19486** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 6:29 PM**

In regards to Downtown, is there a height restriction due to its proximity to the parliament building? There’s clearly taller buildings going up elsewhere in Ottawa so I imagine it has something to do with that?

WhipperSnapper · #**19487** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 7:07 PM**

Those taller towers are also residential.

Rico Rommheim · #**19488** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 7:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Repthe250

In regards to Downtown, is there a height restriction due to its proximity to the parliament building? There’s clearly taller buildings going up elsewhere in Ottawa so I imagine it has something to do with that?

Yes there is a height limit. This has created Ottawa's infamous table-top skyline. I'm pro-height limit in theory, I just think the limit should have been like 40m except for a few marquee buildings like the Chateau Laurier and etc.

Ottawa could have then constructed a much taller and bold modern skyline a bit further away. Instead now downtown Ottawa has the worst of both worlds: a boring table top skyline which still kind of ruins the parliament prominence.

Wigs · #**19489** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 9:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by cranes

Downtown Kitchener

Those photos go well with this recent short drone footage

• Video Link

Harley613 · #**19490** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 11:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Yes there is a height limit. This has created Ottawa's infamous table-top skyline. I'm pro-height limit in theory, I just think the limit should have been like 40m except for a few marquee buildings like the Chateau Laurier and etc.

Ottawa could have then constructed a much taller and bold modern skyline a bit further away. Instead now downtown Ottawa has the worst of both worlds: a boring table top skyline which still kind of ruins the parliament prominence.

Ottawa hasn't had a height limit since the late 1960's when Campeau fought and won to get Place de Ville built. What Ottawa does have is certain protected view planes that guarantee the prominence of Parliament from some angles in perpetuity. These are NCC regulations that the city has to adhere to. That is why the downtown skyline increases in height each block South of Parliament. There are many places in the centre that could have had taller buildings built over the years, but up until recently there was no support for height and density from City Hall and the NIMBYism was extremely intense. It's only very recently that the city is striving for densification and height, and a lot of the 'old guard' NIMBYs are now up there in heaven complaining about the height of the new pearly gates. So far nothing has been proposed that will significantly break the 'tabletop' of the downtown skyline, but I suspect that will change pretty soon, especially with all of the tall buildings being built in other skylines across the city.

WhipperSnapper · #**19491** Posted **Apr 10, 2022, 11:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Yes there is a height limit. This has created Ottawa's infamous table-top skyline. I'm pro-height limit in theory, I just think the limit should have been like 40m except for a few marquee buildings like the Chateau Laurier and etc.

Ottawa could have then constructed a much taller and bold modern skyline a bit further away. Instead now downtown Ottawa has the worst of both worlds: a boring table top skyline which still kind of ruins the parliament prominence.

IMO, The blandness of Ottawa's skyline has to do with the blandness of the downtown complexes and towers than height. Raising or lowering the height would do little without first upping the quality and interest in the architecture/ urban design. The growth occurred post war so I'm not going to expect a prewar era skyline. as you say, a couple Mississauga or Southcore towers wouldn't add much beyond a new tallest statistic.

Parliament Hill has plenty of room and is surrounded by traditionally designed public buildings except for a few jarring parking lots surrounding the new First Nations museum building (which is an ironic architectural style considering its new use) 40 metres or the current average height among the taller towers makes no difference.

J.OT13 · #**19492** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 1:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Repthe250

Those are great. I think it was the aerial shots for me that weren’t doing the skyline any favours. But then again, aerial shots of any skyline can be unflattering.

I appreciate the photos regardless and I am in no shape to talk as I haven’t contributed any. If I knew how to post photos I would!

Here's a helpful guide to posing images. Otherwise, on most websites, it's just a matter of right clicking on an image, selecting "copy image address" and pasting the link in the SSP photo box (yellow square with the mountain and sun). And always add the website URL at the bottom of the image as well, for proper credit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocketphish

How to link to images hosted on other services

Flickr:

1) While viewing the individual photo from your photostream, click on the Download button (in the lower-right corner), the select View all sizes:

2) From the list of possible sizes displayed above your image, click on Large 1024 (1024 × 768).
3) Right-click on the resulting image and choose Copy image location (might be slightly different wording in your browser). The link will look something like this: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50451644267_c5782100c0_b.jpg
4) In your forum post, click the Insert Image icon and then paste the image link:

Other hosting services:

For others who don't use Flickr, you need to upload your image to some other hosting service, then link to it from your forum post. Here's the process for doing this in Imgur, but it will be similar for other services (like http://postimages.org, http://imgbb.com, etc):

1) Go to https://imgur.com. You don't need an account.
2) Click New Post to a create a new post.
3) Drag or paste your image to the page, or choose it from your computer.
4) Once the image is uploaded and displayed, right-click on it and choose "Copy image location" (might be slightly different wording in your browser). The link will look something like this: https://i.imgur.com/abcdefg.png

5) In your forum post, click the Insert Image icon and then paste the image link:

That's about it. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty straightforward.

hipster duck · #**19493** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 3:10 PM**

Ottawa's skyline is pretty unfortunate and the buildings are rather drab, but I think the intended view corridor to Parliament Hill was always either from Major's Hill Park or across the river from Hull (for example, from the Museum of Civilization). In that sense, the tabletop skyline works.

Being able to view the Peace Tower from the 417 coming in from the west was probably never the intent.

Harley613 · #**19494** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 5:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Ottawa's skyline is pretty unfortunate and the buildings are rather drab, but I think the intended view corridor to Parliament Hill was always either from Major's Hill Park or across the river from Hull (for example, from the Museum of Civilization). In that sense, the tabletop skyline works.

Being able to view the Peace Tower from the 417 coming in from the west was probably never the intent.

These are the protected view planes:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2n3PVy1]

Acajack · #**19495** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 5:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Ottawa's skyline is pretty unfortunate and the buildings are rather drab, but I think the intended view corridor to Parliament Hill was always either from Major's Hill Park or across the river from Hull (for example, from the Museum of Civilization). In that sense, the tabletop skyline works.

Being able to view the Peace Tower from the 417 coming in from the west was probably never the intent.

In terms of people arriving from the 417, there is a protected view on Nicholas St. which is a highway-style road into the core off one of the main downtown exits off the 417.

There is also a protected on a straight coming up Metcalfe St., which a lot of people also access from the 417.

hipster duck · #**19496** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 5:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

In terms of people arriving from the 417, there is a protected view on Nicholas St. which is a highway-style road into the core off one of the main downtown exits off the 417.

There is also a protected on a straight coming up Metcalfe St., which a lot of people also access from the 417.

What's weird about the 417 is that the approach into downtown from the east is very different from the west.

The first impression Torontonians get coming from the west on the 417 lis the feeling of driving into a mid-sized East Coast American city on some Robert Moses-era freeway. The highway is narrow and somewhat elevated and cuts through pre-war neighbourhoods. Ottawa feels like it could be a place like Newark, NJ.

The first impression Montrealers get coming from the east is that Ottawa is some kind of Canadian Brasilia. The highway is extremely wide and generous and the surrounding area is very suburban with towers in a park style developments.

someone123 · #**19497** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 6:27 PM**

Ottawa seems to suffer from an expectation mismatch. A lot of people say it doesn't have what it should have for a national capital (though I wonder if national capital is sometimes confused with the primate capital status of cities like Moscow or Bangkok). Then on top of this Calgary is a somewhat obvious comparison, but Calgary is an extreme outlier as far as modern office towers go in a city of that size.

Acajack · #**19498** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 7:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hipster duck

What's weird about the 417 is that the approach into downtown from the east is very different from the west.

The first impression Torontonians get coming from the west on the 417 lis the feeling of driving into a mid-sized East Coast American city on some Robert Moses-era freeway. The highway is narrow and somewhat elevated and cuts through pre-war neighbourhoods. Ottawa feels like it could be a place like Newark, NJ.

The first impression Montrealers get coming from the east is that Ottawa is some kind of Canadian Brasilia. The highway is extremely wide and generous and the surrounding area is very suburban with towers in a park style developments.

Yeah. It's actually pretty freaky how the city just pops out of nowhere in a matter of minutes.

On the 416-417 route from the west, you literally go from driving here (this is has mostly been your scenery for quite a while):

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3197885,...LHISrovaTUHoFqkoD7-vA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

... to this in a matter of minutes:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3752247,...3Rac6FwKpjCU2bkT_WjMw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Acajack · #**19499** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 7:49 PM**

If there is no traffic at this point coming in on the 417 from the east you are barely more than 15 minutes away from Parliament Hill here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3735172,...hGhJYwBbeDyCIs29I6dYA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

(Note that some of the other approaches into Ottawa that are closer to the river like the 17-174 or the A-50 in Quebec do give off more of an impression that you're close to a major city.)

MolsonExport · #**19500** Posted **Apr 11, 2022, 8:10 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yeah. It's actually pretty freaky how the city just pops out of nowhere in a matter of minutes.

On the 416-417 route from the west, you literally go from driving here (this is has mostly been your scenery for quite a while):

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3197885,...LHISrovaTUHoFqkoD7-vA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

... to this in a matter of minutes:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.3752247,...3Rac6FwKpjCU2bkT_WjMw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Yes, only Ottawa is like this among the larger cities in Canada.

Surprisingly, depending on your access, so too is NYC, at least in the way that I approach it (from the Southwest, through Pennsylvania then New Jersey...mountains, trees, smallish towns, then suddenly WHAM! you are in the insane interwoven highway networks of East Orange, Newark, and Elizabeth, and right there in front of you looms the skyline of Manhattan.