Rank Canadian Skylines

[Architype]

Originally Posted by logan5

That list is outrageous!! Halifax and Niagara Falls, but no North Vancouver? With the majestic Cascade mountains as a backdrop, she has Winnipeg and Ottawa beat.


https://www.vancouverplanner.com/north-vancouver/

You are correct, it's evident that - even without the mountains, this would be an impressive Canadian city skyline by any standards.

[logan5]

Actually it won't take long for the Broadway CBD to climb up the ranks. It's already got a strong base of mid to short high rises. Add a handful of 35 to 40 story towers, which will be built in fairly short order, and it will be 5th or 6th on the list.

[Denscity]

And actually it's the Coast Mountains. The Cascades are in Manning Park and go south from there. Skagit river flows from here to Skagit County in Washington State.

[Coldrsx]

MTL
Van
Cal
Tor
Edm

[Architype]

Originally Posted by logan5

Actually it won't take long for the Broadway CBD to climb up the ranks. It's already got a strong base of mid to short high rises. Add a handful of 35 to 40 story towers, which will be built in fairly short order, and it will be 5th or 6th on the list.

It's going to be impressive on its own, and is well defined and far enough from downtown to be viewed separately.

_______________________________________________

I can rank all the Atlantic cities, while they are still asleep!

(1) Halifax (includes both sides of the harbour)

Special mention goes to:

Saint John
St. John's
Moncton
Sydney
Fredericton
Charlottetown

[logan5]

I honestly don't think Toronto should be ranked #1. Greenish bluish condo towers completely dominate, and with no real substantial natural surroundings, or other man made structures like bridges to add visual interest, the Toronto skyline looks very sterile.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by logan5

I honestly don't think Toronto should be ranked #1. Greenish bluish condo towers completely dominate, and with no real substantial natural surroundings, or other man made structures like bridges to add visual interest, the Toronto skyline looks very sterile.

What other city would you put first? It seems like no contest.

Originally Posted by logan5

Actually it won't take long for the Broadway CBD to climb up the ranks. It's already got a strong base of mid to short high rises. Add a handful of 35 to 40 story towers, which will be built in fairly short order, and it will be 5th or 6th on the list.

It's hard to find good pics, there may be better angles that show it less spread out. But yes, it will become more of a skyline with some taller towers, but the thing is, it has character, substance, variety, & grit, not just a few new towers in the middle of some random suburban area.

Vancouver - West Broadway Skyline

https://goo.gl/maps/stF13GEZ9KbVtD667


https://goo.gl/maps/dSgQSDwXapcEW4NS7

[zahav]

I love all the city skylines mentioned on here, and obviously being from Vancouver I am partial to ours. But I'm also no blind, obv Toronto's skyline is the most impactful of all cities, it's a no-brainer. It doesn't mean the city is mor beautiful or whatever, but the skyline is definitely the biggest and best, it's just not even debatable. That is not a diss to anyone else's, but Montreal and Vancouver are clearly not in the same league. But the sooner people see that Toronto is in a different category, the sooner the "competition" won't matter to you.

Toronto is lucky, because they are in a league of their own. But Montreal, Vancouver, and Calagry are always cometing.

[The Great Scaper]

I think Victoria could be at the bottom of the list.

Victoria B.C. Canada Skyline by thegreatscaper, on Flickr

Victoria B.C. Canada skyline by thegreatscaper, on Flickr

[zoomer]

Nah, I disagree Scaper - what it lacks in height it makes up for in length, density, variety and stand out buildings. I’d much rather have a condo overlooking Victoria’s skyline than a lot of Canadian cities. Leaving Victoria out for now, for me it’s:

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Vancouver
4. Calgary
5. Edmonton
6. Quebec City
7. Winnipeg
8. Ottawa
9. Regina, Saskatoon, Kelowna, Kitchener, Saint John, St. John’s, Hamilton, Halifax and the Vancouver, Toronto suburbs all tied for ninth place

Blue Bridge during Blue Hour by David Axford, on Flickr

Victoria's inner harbour by William Wood, on Flickr

DSC_1747.jpg by Cameron Knowlton, on Flickr

Victoria Moonrise II by David Axford, on Flickr

Victoria, BC by Benjamin Schnetzler, on Flickr

Pano-Victoria from the Rock by Cameron Knowlton, on Flickr

Night shots inner harbour-2 by Andrew Chan, on Flickr

Victoria and Mount Baker by Heather_K_Jones, on Flickr

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by flar

Someone should recreate this shot of Ottawa in present day, I'm curious if anything rises above the table top

Ten years ago:

A few more layers have been added, especially at the far left behind the mammoth Place Bell, but nothing, within the main skyline, taller than any of the existing buildings.

[J.OT13]

Victoria and Montreal have some similarities I find, both having a layered skyline with the old Downtown by the waterfront and more modern buildings at the back. In most skylines, you may have one or two stand-out heritage buildings, but are mostly dominated by modern towers.

Winnipeg has that too, with the Exchange District, but a far different geography, of course. Same with Ottawa and the Parliamentary Precinct + Confederation Boulevard and Vancouver with Gastown, and a few towers in the CBD. I think that layer of visible history deserves a few points.

Toronto's early 20th Century buildings are all lost in the clump of modern towers.

[niwell]

Hah, it's been a while.

1. Toronto
2. Montreal (I remember getting flack in the day for putting it high, but I think it's justified)
3. Vancouver

gap

4. Calgary

gap

5. Edmonton

Realllllllll big gap

6. Winnipeg
7. Ottawa
8. Halifax
9. Regina
10 Victoria


Quebec City not included because it's in it's own special category.

[BillM]

The best skyline is subjective.

The most over-rated skyline is obvious.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by logan5

I honestly don't think Toronto should be ranked #1. Greenish bluish condo towers completely dominate, and with no real substantial natural surroundings, or other man made structures like bridges to add visual interest, the Toronto skyline looks very sterile.

I often wonder how many millions have been spent to erase the CN Tower and also the Rogers Centre from aerial views over the years. Glass condos dominate this era almost everywhere. Every major Canadian city is expanding the number of washed out glass condos in their skylines. Vancouver and Toronto are lost to this. Montreal will be. Halifax, Kitchener, etc. may not make it either. IMHO, this skyscraper boom is 100 years too late. I adore the scale and design of the greatest real estate investment boom experienced south of the border (filtered up into Eastern Canada too late) that came to an abrupt halt in 1929. Natural setting enhances the look of a skyline but I'm not one to rate the clustering of tall man made structure on their setting. In that case, Vancouver's skyline becomes much closer to Chicago.

The list is a bore. The top 3 or 4 reasonable choices are obvious and the rest are open to personal preferences. With that said, I do think the Prairie cities are forgotten with Niagara Falls appearing on many lists. Niagara Falls does have height though.

[J.OT13]

Fascinating how Edmonton would not have been part of the conversation five years ago, but with the addition of two towers in the Ice District, it consistently ranks top 5.

Natural settings should be sure be considered as well, with the likes of Vancouver and Victoria being tops. Most cities in Canada outside the Prairies (other than Edmonton IMO), Toronto and Southern Ontario have amazing natural features.

[Odyssey]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Fascinating how Edmonton would not have been part of the conversation five years ago, but with the addition of two towers in the Ice District, it consistently ranks top 5.

Natural settings should be sure be considered as well, with the likes of Vancouver and Victoria being tops. Most cities in Canada outside the Prairies (other than Edmonton IMO), Toronto and Southern Ontario have amazing natural features.

I think Edmonton had a nice skyline even before the skyscrapers, it was dense and still relatively tall in a "midsized city" kinda way.

Only recently learned that Edmonton's tallest new skyscraper is the tallest in Canada outside of Toronto which is really cool.

[Odyssey]

Originally Posted by logan5

I honestly don't think Toronto should be ranked #1. Greenish bluish condo towers completely dominate, and with no real substantial natural surroundings, or other man made structures like bridges to add visual interest, the Toronto skyline looks very sterile.

I actually think it looked kinda sterile before all of the tall condos, they "fill in" the skyline and really make it look like the huge metropolis it is, it's all subjective though. What do you think Canada's #1 is?

[logan5]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Fascinating how Edmonton would not have been part of the conversation five years ago, but with the addition of two towers in the Ice District, it consistently ranks top 5.

Natural settings should be sure be considered as well, with the likes of Vancouver and Victoria being tops. Most cities in Canada outside the Prairies (other than Edmonton IMO), Toronto and Southern Ontario have amazing natural features.

That’s why I consider Vancouver number 1. No city comes close to that combination of cityscape and natural setting. Plus other elements like bridges add visual interest. And even the shoreline that is nicely landscaped and sculpted, and beaches as well are part of the skyline presentation. Top to bottom fantastic skyline presentation.

[Odyssey]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Fascinating how Edmonton would not have been part of the conversation five years ago, but with the addition of two towers in the Ice District, it consistently ranks top 5.

Natural settings should be sure be considered as well, with the likes of Vancouver and Victoria being tops. Most cities in Canada outside the Prairies (other than Edmonton IMO), Toronto and Southern Ontario have amazing natural features.

considering natural settings London, Ontario is probably the worst then. You can't see it unless it's from above lol.