Great Canadian Skyline Thread II

[MonctonRad]

I've never been to Kelowna, but I am certainly motivated to visit the Okanagan sometime in the next few years.

Kelowna seems to be a city with a bright future - perhaps a half million by the middle of the century.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by 905er

LeBreton flats is such an eyesore.. I can't believe it still sits the way it does and this is our capital for f**ks sake. At least the trinity site will fill that out nicely.

It looks somewhat like it did when I first visited maybe 15 years ago. I'd say it's remarkable but actually it's pretty normal in Canada for any kind of site that has federal government involvement (surplus federal land handed over to Canada Lands etc.). Not sure what the details of this area are or why the developments take so long in cities where there's lots of demand for space.

[craner]

Originally Posted by biguc

When Calgary is ready to build tall again I hope it's further west in downtown. The big-four cluster reminds me of Winnipeg.

I’m hoping the Calgary cluster is more indicative of the bank towers on King & Bay that dominated Toronto for all those years.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by someone123

It looks somewhat like it did when I first visited maybe 15 years ago. I'd say it's remarkable but actually it's pretty normal in Canada for any kind of site that has federal government involvement (surplus federal land handed over to Canada Lands etc.). Not sure what the details of this area are or why the developments take so long in cities where there's lots of demand for space.

LeBreton has been in the hands of the NCC since it was expropriated in the 60s. There have been quite a few development proposals over the last 60 years, but few panned out. Part of the land South of Albert was redeveloped intin the 70s into suburban style townhomes.

In the early 90s, the owner of the Sens tried to convince the NCC to let him build the arena on the Flats. As per then owner Firestone's account, the head of the NCC said that the official answer would be they would study it, but the private answer was never in a million years (verbatim).

In the early 2000s, they built the war museum and sold land East if Booth to Claridge after they won a competition by default (the other two dropped out because the NCC was hard to work with). They are about to start phase 4.

A few years back, the Sens won the right to redevelop what's left west of Booth, but the partnership between the Sens owner and Trinity imploded, resulting in Billions in lawsuits.

The NCC now has a master plan to redevelop the land by selling off one parcel at a time over 20 years, starting with the land next to the future central library. Space for an arena has been reserved, but that's far from guaranteed considering the current owner.

Considering what has been built over the last half century, maybe it's a goid thing it still sits empty. We may end up with a decent urban neighbourhood instead of a suburban wasteland or more bland condos designed by visionless government architects.

[someone123]

It seems like part of what's wrong is that whenever there is surplus government land it becomes a government planning exercise. Plus you get the people who view these big sites as opportunities to build large footprint megaprojects. In principle they could auction off parcels and leave it up to the cities to regulate the planning aspect just as they do with the other 98% of land parcels.

I question the land use trade-offs when these mega proposals could never be viable redevelopments of existing developed land. Government land banking is usually a horrible trade-off too.

[someone123]

Halifax South End skyline:


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[Brizzy82]

Winnipeg


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[SkahHigh]

2021_hiver_2532 by Denis Michelin, sur Flickr

[MolsonExport]

Winnipeg lookin' fresh with that new construction.

[ScreamingViking]

That looks quite dense.

And Fenwick Tower is a lot better looking than it used to be, relatively speaking.

What's that slabby conjoined-triplet thingy in the middle? Is it one building or three that are very close together?

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax South End skyline:


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[zahav]

For some reason I really love the feel in that first Winnipeg pic with the freeway in the foreground. Seems very put together and with a presence

[ScreamingViking]

This angle gives me a medium-sized midwestern US city vibe. Probably because of the 4-lane divided highway in the foreground.

Nice set of Winnipeg though. I love the fact those older buildings downtown weren't razed and left as rotting parking lots for decades. In Hamilton that's likely what would have happened.

Originally Posted by Brizzy82

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[someone123]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

This angle gives me a medium-sized midwestern US city vibe. Probably because of the 4-lane divided highway in the foreground.

The construction pattern in Winnipeg reminds me of American cities too. It looks like Winnipeg gets one major new building every few years, and there are a handful of buildings that stand above the rest. It is the opposite of say downtown Ottawa where there are a lot of similar medium scale buildings.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

What's that slabby conjoined-triplet thingy in the middle? Is it one building or three that are very close together?

Do you mean the yellowish one? That is Park Victoria, a single apartment building from the 60's or so.

[905er]

Love that Winnipeg set.. Those heritage buildings are beauties!!! So glad they weren't torn down.

[goodgrowth]

Winnipeg is the only large city Canada has that falls in the geographical longitude of what really would qualify as a "mid-western" city.

Everything else is a bit too far west or east.

[NewIreland]

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax South End skyline:


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Vladivostok vibes...

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by goodgrowth

Winnipeg is the only large city Canada has that falls in the geographical longitude of what really would qualify as a "mid-western" city.

Everything else is a bit too far west or east.

Agree, to the north of the US midwest is SW Ontario and Northern Ontario. The latter has next to no people while London and Windsor are the largest in SW Ontario. London is borderline large but your point stands. Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay never grew like their counterparts on their south. Northern Ontario really is the big blank spot in southern Canada.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I've never been to Kelowna, but I am certainly motivated to visit the Okanagan sometime in the next few years.

Kelowna seems to be a city with a bright future - perhaps a half million by the middle of the century.

Vancouverites would always give me a blank stare when I asked about Kelowna but feel like that's finally changing. Kelowna (+14.30%) was Canada's fastest growing CMA 2016-2000. There's nothing quite like the Okanagan Valley anywhere in Canada. The region has a bright future and will eventually grow into a significant population centre. There are only 400,000 in the valley today but wouldn't be surprised if there were 1 million by mid-century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_census_metropolitan_areas_and_agglomerations_in_Canada

[Brizzy82]

Originally Posted by zahav

For some reason I really love the feel in that first Winnipeg pic with the freeway in the foreground. Seems very put together and with a presence

I love the view coming in to downtown right there, that’s the Disraeli Freeway