The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[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.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

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

The Ottawa area has some good ones.

Despite its proximity to Ottawa some good bands apparently played shows in Almonte back in the day, and everyone I know from there seems to have been in a punk/hardcore/post-emo band in the late 90s. I still hear stories about seeing Propagandhi and At the Drive-in who apparently made Almonte a tour stop, though I can't find any evidence of the latter actually happening (this would have been when they were quite small, to be fair).

[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.

[esquire]

The small cities can't resist it... the short term bump in tax revenue, part time jobs and "status" is too hard to say no to, even though it inevitably comes back to bite you when Main Street hollows out a few years later.

Selkirk, Manitoba is a classic case of always chasing rainbows. There is a 1920s small town main drag, right nearby is a 1960s more car-centric strip where there are parking lots in front of the stores, then way out on the edge of town is the newer power centre with massive parking lots. Guess which of those is struggling and which is thriving.

[VANRIDERFAN]

Originally Posted by esquire

The small cities can't resist it... the short term bump in tax revenue, part time jobs and "status" is too hard to say no to, even though it inevitably comes back to bite you when Main Street hollows out a few years later.

Selkirk, Manitoba is a classic case of always chasing rainbows. There is a 1920s small town main drag, right nearby is a 1960s more car-centric strip where there are parking lots in front of the stores, then way out on the edge of town is the newer power centre with massive parking lots. Guess which of those is struggling and which is thriving.

Being from SW MB, Brandon is the poster child for destroying its downtown. Back when dinosaurs roamed the plains the downtown was the place to be with the Wheat City arena downtown. The Fair Grounds were on the southern periphery of the city. Then the province built the Keystone Centre at the fair grounds, then further south the Brandon Shoppers mall was built where the old Imperial Oil Storage area was located. As a result the downtown started to stagnate and then the final nail was the building of the Corral Power Centre on the fucking Assiniboine Flood Plain! Brandon's downtown has/had some good bones but I think its too far gone for recovery.

[ssiguy]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Being from SW MB, Brandon is the poster child for destroying its downtown. Back when dinosaurs roamed the plains the downtown was the place to be with the Wheat City arena downtown. The Fair Grounds were on the southern periphery of the city. Then the province built the Keystone Centre at the fair grounds, then further south the Brandon Shoppers mall was built where the old Imperial Oil Storage area was located. As a result the downtown started to stagnate and then the final nail was the building of the Corral Power Centre on the fucking Assiniboine Flood Plain! Brandon's downtown has/had some good bones but I think its too far gone for recovery.

Brandon may have made some mistakes but it's downtown still has good bones.

The true poster-child of downtown destruction is Brantford because they really did destroy it. They took 2 full blocks of their decaying but still historic downtown and razed it to the ground.

in terms of actually having the worst and smallest downtown of any Canadian city, Abbotsford still reigns supreme. It's 'downtown" {and I use that word in the very loosest term} is one the size of a town of 1,000 people not one of 150,000 and you could drive right thru it and never even notice it.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

Being from SW MB, Brandon is the poster child for destroying its downtown. Back when dinosaurs roamed the plains the downtown was the place to be with the Wheat City arena downtown. The Fair Grounds were on the southern periphery of the city. Then the province built the Keystone Centre at the fair grounds, then further south the Brandon Shoppers mall was built where the old Imperial Oil Storage area was located. As a result the downtown started to stagnate and then the final nail was the building of the Corral Power Centre on the fucking Assiniboine Flood Plain! Brandon's downtown has/had some good bones but I think its too far gone for recovery.

The funny thing is that people in Brandon seem to cheer on downtown's demise. No one loves downtown Brandon. I get the impression that the best news possible for Brandon would be to announce the "Brantford treatment" consisting of demolishing everything on Princess and Rosser with replacement by a typical Sobey's-Home Depot-Winners power centre. They'd be cheering in the streets.

Winnipeg has done a pretty shoddy job with its downtown but at least we're trying. Brandon, on the other hand, hates its downtown like no other place I've ever seen in Canada. Which is sad, because as you point out the bones of downtown Brandon are good and with a modicum of effort it could easily have been the best downtown (for its size) anywhere on the prairies.