The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I was in Detroit earlier this year, and while the city as a whole is obviously in pretty rough shape (thousands of abandoned/decaying/"missing" buildings, entire neighbourhoods foreclosed, public services streched extremely thin, etc.), the Midtown area basically just feels like a fairly standard North American city (maybe that's an understatement - there's a huge university presence, and things like the DIA that you won't necessarily find in other places). Downtown was... well not totally abandoned (there were certainly restaurants, bars, stadiums and casinos), but that said, I'd hesitate to call it "vibrant". Downtown Halifax, and Downtown London, both feel much more vibrant in terms of number of people you see, number of options in terms of dining/drinking/businesses, lack of conspicuous abandonment, and scale of land taken up by parking. Metro Detroit is about 10x the population of either Halifax or London. The difference between Detroit and Toronto/Mtl (where I went immediately afterwards) was, well, almost impossible to exaggerate. At the time, there were still tax breaks, but I think they were mostly for businesses.

Detroit is far from being totally dead, and is an interesting place in its own right, but it definitely has less "bustle" than what I'd expect from a city with a million+ metro. There are small pockets of activity where things feel "normal" (ie. you can easily find a bar or restaurant and not be the only person there) but "vibrant" to me implies crowds, variety, excitement. These things were conspicuously lacking in most of the city, including most of the downtown.

If you had seen what DT Detroit looked like a decade ago, you would be amazed at how far it has come, especially in the last 5 years. The city still has a long way to go to be healthy, but at least pockets of it are finally gentrifying, something that didn't exist just a few years ago. Plus, the optimism just keeps growing, with a very healthy, strong growing IT cluster DT, and lots of new residential planned.

[Hali87]

Yeah, I'm not saying that it couldn't be/hasn't been worse, I'd just hesitate to call it "vibrant" yet in the sense that that word is applied to most other places.

[SignalHillHiker]

Some of my favourite wee ones in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I mainly prefer one type: traditional Newfoundland vernacular, of course - but ONLY if the communities were founded with the intention of being larger. Communities of this type are still completely rural in appearance but have a denser, more haphazard mess of buildings when compared to communities that were always intended to be villages. The latter tend to consist solely of a single road with houses on both sides, businesses mixed among them, and have no identifiable core. People from most parts of the world probably wouldn't even recognize them as communities.

So here are a few examples of the former, the type I actually like, set to an old tune...

• Video Link

Brigus ("Brick House")
Founded: 1612
Population: 750






Harbour Grace
Founded: 1610
Population: 3,075








Newtown
Founded: 1849
Population: 390






Bonavista ("Beautiful Sight")
Founded: "1497" (Actually sometime in late 1500s; but changed hands between Basque, Spanish, French, and English many times; current town dates to early 1700s)
Population: 3,750














Trinity
Founded: 1700s (Exact year unknown)
Population: 191








Port Union
Founded: 1917 by the Fishermen's Protective Union; markets itself the only union-built town in Newfoundland and, now, Canada
Population: No idea, it's amalgamated with the whole region







The other main type I prefer were those built by the American military, which Trevor3 has already depicted well.

And a brief glimpse at what immigrating/living in one of these small towns can actually be like:

• Video Link

[FrAnKs]

Absolutely stunning !
I particulary liked the top right picture of Harbour Grace. It's like a copy paste of Ireland !

[P. Alouishous]

The main issue with moving to SW Ontario is that the economy is in shambles. If you're retired it's great because of the cheap housing, proximity to major centres, and favourable (by Canadian standards) climate. But if you need to work you're gonna be struggling.

[Innsertnamehere]

so like most rural areas across the developed world, then.

[ssiguy]

When I said SW Ont is safer than most Western places it's because it's true. Ontario has the lowest crime rate in the country and the West the highest. In both the cities and towns Ontario is much safer.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

When I said SW Ont is safer than most Western places it's because it's true. Ontario has the lowest crime rate in the country and the West the highest. In both the cities and towns Ontario is much safer.

I guess it is all relative. But like most places the area where crime is committed is quite compact. Prairie cities may have the highest crime rates in the country but it is concentrated in small pockets (North Central in Regina, the Alphabets in Saskatoon, North End in Winnipeg). I bet there are areas in every Canadian city that you can walk without fear while in the same city you would never think to walk in certain areas.

[MolsonExport]

Love some of those Newfoundland shots.

[Jimby]

Nanton Drug Co by LUMIN8, on Flickr

The Sweetest Corner In Alberta by LUMIN8, on Flickr

Nanton elevators by LUMIN8, on Flickr

[SignalHillHiker]

One more...

Placentia (Plaisance)
Founded: Early 1500s by the Basque. Officially conquered and declared capital of Terre Neuve by the French in 1655. The Treaty of Utrecht transferred control of the town to the English in 1713 and its French inhabitants fled, primarily to Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, or were expelled, primarily to St-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
Population: 3,650

• Video Link

[J.OT13]

Carleton Place, Ontario. Just outside Ottawa's western boundary, yet over 50 kilometers away from downtown.


https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/photo-gall...2021-1.5371990

[lio45]

Looks lovely

[CityTech]

Unfortunately, Carleton Place's historic downtown is hallowing out like crazy due to big box development along the highway at the edge of town.

[niwell]

^I have a fair number of friends from the Valley and they've reported the same thing. Apparently Almonte's downtown is going stronger than ever though, which is good to hear. It was always seen as the more "artistic" place, as far as that goes in the Valley.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by niwell

^I have a fair number of friends from the Valley and they've reported the same thing. Apparently Almonte's downtown is going stronger than ever though, which is good to hear. It was always seen as the more "artistic" place, as far as that goes in the Valley.

I've never checked that town out before, looks nice though!
https://goo.gl/maps/LEFGgHeSyPCBjS6ZA

The Ottawa area has some good ones.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by niwell

^I have a fair number of friends from the Valley and they've reported the same thing. Apparently Almonte's downtown is going stronger than ever though, which is good to hear. It was always seen as the more "artistic" place, as far as that goes in the Valley.

Almonte has resisted the march of the big box stores better than other villages around Ottawa. Fingers crossed that they will continue to do so.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Almonte has resisted the march of the big box stores better than other villages around Ottawa. Fingers crossed that they will continue to do so.

Correct. I was going to say it's all about municipal planning decisions.

Carleton Place has really favoured sprawly development in recent years and decades: both residential and commercial.

It has lots of residential developments that are similar to Ottawa's suburbs.

Almonte (the municipality there is actually called Mississippi Mills) is not really a place you hear about in terms of new housing developments, for example. So yes it appears they are resisting.

[CityTech]

Highway access seems to be a big factor. If you look at the region, the towns that stand out for not being as "suburbanized" - such as Carp, Almonte, and Russell - have in common that no major highways pass through or near them.

[MolsonExport]

Big Box Barf is like a reverse cancer, one that starts on the outside and metastasizes inwards. First, we pave paradise and build cookie cutter dumbcentres. This then sucks what life there still is out of the inner city retail and/or existing malls. Lose-lose proposition.