Great Canadian Skyline Thread II - Page 372

isaidso · #**7421** Posted **May 13, 2018, 2:36 AM**

There will be as many opinions as people but something perhaps we can all agree on is that Canada punches above its weight in this area. Maybe we can get back to photos of them, etc.

mcminsen · #**7422** Posted **May 13, 2018, 3:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monolith

Seasons in the Park New Menu May 7[/url] by jenn chan, on Flickr

Unique and incomparable. I love to see views like this that I haven't seen before.

I took me moment to figure out what the two red lights are on top of the Telus Garden condo tower. I think they are actually the Scotiabank tower's signs, just behind the Telus tower.

Hourglass · #**7423** Posted **May 13, 2018, 3:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

I wasn't just speaking about the skyline. Australia has very limited product variety compared to Canada

Curious what you mean here?

scryer · #**7424** Posted **May 13, 2018, 3:43 AM**

Can we get back to the photos here? I feel that we have been trolled.

mistercorporate · #**7425** Posted **May 13, 2018, 3:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hourglass

Curious what you mean here?

They have a protected market, think "Australia First", so lots of overpriced crappy local goods (their food is high quality though), not as many imported products. Our malls are veritable emporiums in comparison.

softee · #**7426** Posted **May 13, 2018, 6:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

For me Sydney, and to a lesser extent Melbourne, have the edge due to the street level environment in their CBDs. The skyscrapers are rarely set back behind things like podiums or large plazas and instead often have the entry/lobby/reception areas inset under the actual footprint of the tower which I LOVE.

https://goo.gl/maps/3kNguSmboqH2
https://goo.gl/maps/GeEdoRWcnmT2

And they're better at doing large areas of wall-to-wall highrises without having large gaps between the buildings making the environment appear denser and more impressive.

https://goo.gl/maps/VqU7WzS8VGJ2

If an Australian's jaw drops when being introduced to a Canadian CBD, I would strongly suspect that it isn't because they're impressed.

These streets in Toronto's financial district seem a lot more hemmed in and imposing to me than those Sydney links you posted.

https://goo.gl/maps/r81HxfxnYcs

https://goo.gl/maps/WCn2xVpkZwA2

https://goo.gl/maps/mSJifP2RaiH2

mcminsen · #**7427** Posted **May 13, 2018, 6:59 AM**

Here's another one of Jenn Chan's pics. Similar to the previous one but obviously a few hours earlier that evening. What caught my eye on this one was Vancouver House on the extreme left.

Seasons in the Park New Menu May 7 by jenn chan, on Flickr

Coldrsx · #**7428** Posted **May 13, 2018, 9:31 PM**

Seasons is just so damn beautiful and the food is ok as well, tough act to follow.

@ianoyeg

dleung · #**7429** Posted **May 14, 2018, 1:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneralLeeTPHLS

I was about to ask if this was Sydney....it is. I only knew because I was bored on SSP and noticed they have that fugly tower that's like a cheap skeleton for a communications tower.

They'd say ours is a cheap concrete bunker of a communications tower. Every city thinks theirs is the best. Except for Calgary's.

I wasn't referring to bank towers or bridges or waterways, but the composition of many things that make the skyline recognizable.

Anyway I love how we're still talking about Sydney 6 pages after my last post here

Dr Awesomesauce · #**7430** Posted **May 14, 2018, 1:57 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Here's another one of Jenn Chan's pics. Similar to the previous one but obviously a few hours earlier that evening. What caught my eye on this one was Vancouver House on the extreme left.

Seasons in the Park New Menu May 7 by jenn chan, on Flickr

What's the vantage point? Is it taken from UBC?

mcminsen · #**7431** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

What's the vantage point? Is it taken from UBC?

No, not from UBC. It's looking north. Jenn Chan took that pic from Seasons In The Park Restaurant (or near there) in Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver (33rd Ave. and Cambie St.).

source: https://www.vancouverdine.com/seasons/

Dr Awesomesauce · #**7432** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:31 AM**

That makes more sense. Beautiful.

Acajack · #**7433** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

I wasn't just speaking about the skyline. Australia has very limited product variety compared to Canada, so I usually begin my walking tour of the city for out of town visitors with a trip to the Eaton center followed by a casual walk across yonge-dundas to grab a snack. That diagonal crosswalk with that mass of loud energetic humanity and the looming modern towers just beyond it are no big deal to someone from Tokyo or NYC but for an Australian its usually quite overwhelming and impressive to experience. Particularly in a midsize country like Canada, it shatters their expectations. Ending the tour with an early dinner at the CN Tower's restaurant usually renders them uncharacteristically silent and contemplative

You had me for the Toronto skyline vs. the others but this is where I get off.

Different people appreciate different aspects of a city, but overall I don't think the downtowns of Sydney and Melbourne (or even Montreal

) give up much to Toronto when you're down at street level.

niwell · #**7434** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:18 PM**

While it's certainly not a representative sample size, my relatives from Sydney who value city living weren't particularly interested in spending time in Toronto's CBD. But they aren't particularly interested in Sydney's CBD either... at the end of the day these areas aren't really that exciting if you're from a big city. We did a bit downtown but mostly walked around neighbourhoods in the west end and went to some bars / restaurants. Impressions were overall very positive (not dissimilar from high street areas in Sydney), although the big takeaway was that Toronto's craft beer scene was way ahead of Aus at the time.

When in Calgary my aunt in particular was not impressed with the CBD at all, but enjoyed the commercial areas in Kensington and Inglewood.

The product variety thing definitely rings true though, lots of time was spent shopping at MEC and suburban malls as consumer goods are much cheaper in Canada.

Coldrsx · #**7435** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:19 PM**

Quite a unique view of our skyline from along the river to the east of the Downtown.

@randallTT

WhipperSnapper · #**7436** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:26 PM**

I would think an Australian being more or less impressed by Dundas Square would depend on where they live in Australia. I've only met a few over the years. The one universal impression I've gotten from Australians is that Toronto has a lot of wires. Most visitors aren't as frank about it.

I will also add, the messy phone and cable lines crisscrossing backyards appeared to have more of an effect than the power lines running along the streets.

kool maudit · #**7437** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:38 PM**

I really don't think that anyone who is taking 25-hour plane trips is going to have the total, just-fell-off-the-turnip-truck, gaping at the towers reaction. Not to Toronto, not even to New York. Canada's large cities are wonderful places where life is good, but they're not these sort of awe-inspiring super-spectacles and we shouldn't need them to be.

niwell · #**7438** Posted **May 14, 2018, 2:51 PM**

Purely speculation, but I wonder if there is a more distinct association with power lines and class / neighbourhood desirability in Australia. Large swaths of the older suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne are rife with overhead wires as well, but it seems like the historically more upscale areas got rid of them a while back. Which would probably be done through fees levied by local councils.

My uncle used to send me indie cds from Australia in the early 2000s and one of the things I noticed is that almost without fail you could find a picture of old tin / tile roof houses with a mess of power lines looming over them somewhere in the liner notes. Like these were the areas where the scene kids lived back then. Obviously pretty much all of the inner cities have gentrified since...

Acajack · #**7439** Posted **May 14, 2018, 3:12 PM**

I've spent quite a bit of time Down Under and accompanied many Aussies visiting the area between Niagara and Quebec City (including Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal).

While they're not really the gold standard like Switzerland, their major cities tend to be a bit more prim and proper than ours with more attention to public realm. Plus their public realm amenities don't get beaten up by winter like ours do.

They were almost always positive though and really liked all of the places I/we visited with them in Ontario and Quebec.

someone123 · #**7440** Posted **May 14, 2018, 3:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool maudit

I really don't think that anyone who is taking 25-hour plane trips is going to have the total, just-fell-off-the-turnip-truck, gaping at the towers reaction. Not to Toronto, not even to New York. Canada's large cities are wonderful places where life is good, but they're not these sort of awe-inspiring super-spectacles and we shouldn't need them to be.

It's possible that an Australian could leave their home country for the first time and go directly to Toronto to be awe-stricken, but most of the Australians I've met are well-traveled and have also been to the US, Europe, and Asia.

Australians get a lot more annual leave than Canadians do and seem to travel more. They start at 4 weeks off per year, and get something like 2 months off after 10 years at an employer.