The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[megadude]

Second time I've passed through Schomberg. I was driving up north today and I remember when I passed through five years ago that it gave me a slightly eerie feeling so I decided to go through it again. And yup, the way they incorporated a few old industrial buildings into something else along the main street just gives off a different vibe. I've never seen a main street like it. A mix of buildings from a few different eras.

It's not fancy and it's not grimey. But it gives off a certain charm. And what made it more eerie was that the street was full of cars parked and the few lots had cars, but I saw like only two people outside. Sure, not many streetfront patios, but surely there should have been people and families walking up and down the sidwalks but nope! And that was the case five years ago too. That you would definitely find in another village also just off Hwy. 27, being Kleinburg.

And the week prior I drove through the tiny village of Orono at about 5pm, when there should have been more activity but there were only three cars parked. It just qualifies as a main street by having a few business and old town hall, with some of it being quite charming, and usually, that means there should be more activity. Was surprised to see the lack thereof. The only other thing I will remember Orono for was when I went to Jungle Cat World on the behind the scenes tour (for only $42 12 years ago) and got to pet a baby tiger (also did that at Killman Zoo in Caledonia along with a baby lion), feed and play with a half dozen lemurs and play with two young eurasian lynx with one of them grabbing my straw hat from behind and digging his claws into my scalp. I was sitting down when it happened and when I got up, the little feline bastard was still hanging on with his back paws planted into my back. Zookeeper had to pull him off. I will remember that and the story a couple years later of how a cougar escaped from there by digging under both fences from his enclosure and the zoo having to hire a hunter to track it down and shoot it from across a field.

[zoomer]

Mega dude - very interesting main Street for a town I’ve never heard of before. Feels kind of cozy because of the narrow street and non-angle parking, and as you mentioned an unusual mix of formal industrial and commercial.

A few pics I took this summer from Canmore and area:

Canmore Alberta - June 29, 2023 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Canmore Alberta - June 29, 2023 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Canmore Alberta - June 29, 2023 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Mount Rundle - June 29, 2023 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Elbow Falls Alberta, June 28, 2023 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Elbow Falls Alberta, June 28, 2023 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

[Architype]

I visited the small historic town of Trinity (in Trinity Bay) Newfoundland a few years ago. I am not sure if I ever posted the pics, so I will post some of them here.

Trinity is located on the west side of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, about three hours driving distance from St. John's. Trinity Harbour was used by fishing ships in the 16th century, and the town was settled by merchants from Poole, England in the 1700's. Today it is one of the most historically preserved locations in the province, and is home to summer festival activities and a theatre company. "During the 1720s Trinity was home to about 30 permanent families and host to 200-300 seasonal fishermen per year. By 1869, the population peaked at more than 800 people." Today the year round population is less than 100, and the village is renown as a tourist attraction.

I also have a personal connection to this town, the headstones pictured in the cemetery (the one with the flowers and ocean view) are those of a great-great-uncle who was a well known sea captain, and family, who lived here for most of their lives.

[TownGuy]

^ Awesome! Looks straight out of their tourism ads.

Originally Posted by zoomer

Mega dude - very interesting main Street for a town I’ve never heard of before. Feels kind of cozy because of the narrow street and non-angle parking, and as you mentioned an unusual mix of formal industrial and commercial.

Ontario is wild for the amount of towns of substance there are that no one has heard. I live in Ontario, am into this stuff, post on this forum, and explore Google Earth, still see and hear of towns that I hadn't previously heard of. And not just rinky dink villages, functioning places with built-up downtowns anchoring their own surrounding area. In this case with Schomberg, I had to stop and think if I had heard of it before. I think I have. As for its location, I have no clue.

[megadude]

Speaking of Canmore, we had security on a motel at my old job where the loan was in trouble and we were close to foreclosing on it. One of us was going to have to go out there for a visit and take care of some things but then covid hit. Nobody likes to deal with that but at least it would have been a good excuse to spend time in a mountain tourist town.

And yeah, those NL pics are postcards basically. Love how people there realize what a difference colour makes. That white church with the coloured trims is basically like a church I pass by in cottage country, which is a nice church, but doesn't particularly stand out. It would if it had those splashes of colour.

I would always take 27 at least a couple times a year to the cottage or back so I've seen the signs for Schomberg, but it's only been in the last 6 years or so that I've taken an interest in towns and villages. Part of the reason I stopped by a few years ago is because my cousin's best man said he ran a restaurant there with one of his partners. He was also a DJ and for some reason would get some big gigs like getting flown out to Bahamas or to San Fran by Google, etc. No idea why because I went to some DT Toronto clubs he was spinning at and it was pretty standard stuff.

Schomberg is technically in the GTA as it's in King city, just below the border with Simcoe County along Hwy 9. Up until a few years ago there were still towns or villages of substance, that fall within the bounds of the GTA I hadn't heard of before. But I have now visited all of them AFAIK after I went through Newcastle and Orono on the eastern end last week. I also scour google maps as soon as I know I'm going somewhere for personal or work reasons and figure out what spots I can pass through on the way or nearby. And places that only have a bunch of houses but no main street with shops and businesses I am not interested in. I tend to refer to those as hamlets or settlements instead of towns or villages even though technically they might be considered to be one of those last two.

But yeah, there's been a few mentioned on this thread in Eastern and Southwestern Ontario that I hadn't heard of before. If I'm ever going somewhere where those towns are within the vicinity of the route I'm taking, I will be sure to stop by.

Newcastle below. Not to be confused with Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the north of England. I wonder if some residents get the classic black and white striped kit from their namesake, Newcastle United. Ajax youth soccer used the Ajax of Amsterdam logo and kit. And I've professed my love of gateway signs here before. LCBO has one! And you gotta love it when a big old industrial building is maintained and repurposed and not just demolished. And of course sometimes new development is built around them like what's happening with Galt's Gaslight District.

[McKellarDweller]

Originally Posted by Architype

I visited the small historic town of Trinity (in Trinity Bay) Newfoundland a few years ago. I am not sure if I ever posted the pics, so I will post some of them here.

That post was a nice little mental health break for a weary dude staring at screens for work all day. Thanks

[megadude]

Just saw that Kapuskasing has a circle road. It looks like there would be a statue in the middle, but sadly there is not.

Originally Posted by megadude

Circle roads are cool. Where else can you find them? I can think of Niagara on the Lake, Fort Erie (Crystal Beach), Goderich and Downtown Toronto. Little roundabouts don’t count.

[Wigs]

Thanks for all the great photo contributions, guys. We truly live in a beautiful country.

megadude, that Kapuskasing centre is begging for a giant totem pole, inukshuk, or some distinctive feature!

[megadude]

Imagine how much nicer Frenchman's Bay in Pickering would have been if they just used some colour and not some dull palette. I get it, it's cheaper to have the same style and materials and same couple of colours, but that came as the expense of having a more vibrant community. I would like to think if they used a variety of colours that would stand out, it could have led to something greater, especially being on the waterfront.

It's like Friday Harbour in Innisfil mentioned a few pages back. Same thing over and over. Feels like a missed opportunity. Especially in an important and strategic location like this, it's times like these that I wish city council would lean harder on developers and tell them to step it up, even if it's going to cost more.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Thanks for all the great photo contributions, guys. We truly live in a beautiful country.

megadude, that Kapuskasing centre is begging for a giant totem pole, inukshuk, or some distinctive feature!

Yeah, seems like a natural thing to do. Maybe there was at some point and it's not in the budget now.

[megadude]

I’ve only driven through Bowmanville once and was pleasantly surprised by their downtown. Bowmanville is a lot like Milton. When you hear those two names you think of commuter town. Not much to do in the places themselves. You don’t think of them having historical downtowns (or in Milton’s case a lot of scenic nature in the rural parts as well). You just think of the subdivisions people sleep in and leave to go to work. In Bowmanville’s case, that could be Oshawa, Scarboro, North York, Downtown, Markham, etc. Bowmanville is down the road from Newcastle, which I posted above.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Thanks for all the great photo contributions, guys. We truly live in a beautiful country.

megadude, that Kapuskasing centre is begging for a giant totem pole, inukshuk, or some distinctive feature!

Kap's street layout was designed before the town was built as the pulp mill was what created the town. The design made the downtown Circle a focal point as well as the roads around the town hall, Kapuskasing Inn and other building in that section made them stand out.

The centre of the Circle isn't really all that big and there isn't enough room for objects. There are a benches all around it and it was intended as a place for socialization. In the very centre in Summer there are water sprayers in the ground that spray water high up but they aren't on all of the time.

[megadude]

Drove through Kleinburg, Vaughan a few days ago. Kind of reminds me of a couple other GTA villages that look like downtowns but are not their city's downtowns. The other two being Unionville, Markham and Streetsville, Mississauga. Obviously, it would be ideal to live in these specific neighbourhoods in these cities over the typical subdivisions found there.












Unionville:


















Streetsville:














up loading photos

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by megadude

Drove through Kleinburg, Vaughan a few days ago. Kind of reminds me of a couple other GTA villages that look like downtowns but are not their city's downtowns. The other two being Unionville, Markham and Streetsville, Mississauga. Obviously, it would be ideal to live in these specific neighbourhoods in these cities over the typical subdivisions found there.

It's one of only 3 areas of Mississauga I think I could stand to live in. Port Credit, Streetsville, and (less so) Cooksville.

They all became part of the amalgam that was Mississauga in the early 1970s.

[MolsonExport]

Trinity is lovely. Nice pix

[MolsonExport]

Gorgeous Canmore shots.

[megadude]

Some unexpected hamlets, in Hidden Valley, Burlington, Meadowvale Village, Mississauga, and Churchville, Brampton. I always get a kick out of driving through these places. And wish I could live in a spot like these. There is also a distinct lack of mcmansions, leading me to believe that the city prohibits tear downs just for the sake of building some monstrosity that stretches the lot coverage limits or at least has to approve new build plans or something like that.


Hidden Valley



















Churchville

















Meadowvale Village












post a picture

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by megadude

Some unexpected hamlets, in Hidden Valley, Burlington, Meadowvale Village, Mississauga, and Churchville, Brampton. I always get a kick out of driving through these places. And wish I could live in a spot like these. There is also a distinct lack of mcmansions, leading me to believe that the city prohibits tear downs just for the sake of building some monstrosity that stretches the lot coverage limits or at least has to approve new build plans or something like that.

I actually live in a place that was historically a small town that got swallowed up by an expanding city: Portsmouth, Kingston (founded in 1784, incorporated as a municipality in 1858, annexed to Kingston in 1952). Although it's nowhere near as dramatic & beautiful as an example of these ones you've posted because Portsmouth isn't that far from the historic inner city (the rural land historically separating Portsmouth from Kingston was built up in the 1950s) and Portsmouth was historically somewhat poor so the architecture isn't that impressive.

Here's some street view pics, as I'm not much of a photographer

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2208...8192?entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2214...8192?entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2193...8192?entry=ttu

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2201...8192?entry=ttu

[megadude]

Love that Portsmouth example. Even if it's just a block, I find these histroic enclaves very interesting. There's a few more I can think of off the top of my head, but they are quite small. I could even go with the trailer park that existed in the middle of Mississauga that went away 10-15 years ago. Perhaps I can try and find some pics online when I get a chance.

**********************************************************************

I drove through Brooklin in the north of Whitby a couple of weeks ago. First went there in the mid 90s on the way to Family Kartways with my cousins and uncle. And I think this was my fourth time going through. Not that I can recall all the new developments but have to appreciate that for anything new that they did build, or remodeled, they tried to maintain some historic style and/or integrity. Kind of like Fergus, ON with the stone material they try to incorporate in new buildings.

[DrJoe]

Brooklin looks great. Always had good bones.