Ugly Canada 2 (Only architecture, planning and design faux pas)

[itom 987]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

Not sure if anyone has posted Manchester Square in Edmonton yet? It's (no joke) an Instagram hot spot for people pretending to be in Europe. I think it's actually 1 storey in most parts with some mezzanine in the corner.

I used to be one of the loudest critics of this project but have changed my mind after seeing up close. The quality of workmanship that went into the building is way above average compared to similar projects in its class. There is a parking lot but there is also a decent pedestrian sidewalk along the store fronts that connects to a bike path. It has a fountain in the middle and all CRUs have two levels. This project is more pedestrian friendly than the shantytown crap that was there before.

Connection to the bike path, and yes there is a wall facing the park but who ever did the mural did a very nice job.
Manchester Square by Paula Kirman, on Flickr


Most developers would ignore the side street but this development didn't. This is the opposite side of the building from the pic above.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.55104...7i16384!8i8192

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Shouldn't that be "5325 Prive Madeleine Meilleur"???

It actually says "privé MEILLEUR Private" on the sign. Which IMO makes no sense in either language.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.43718...7i16384!8i8192

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I agree that it's really weird. I also find it funny when a crescent is called "croissant" in French. Some places just use "rue" but others will use the direct translation.

Crescents are pretty common in English-speaking Canada but rare in the U.S.. In Quebec you will normally only find them in areas with lots of Anglophones.

Quebec used to have streets named "croissant" but they had a toponomy reform a few years ago and did away with incongruities like that in most places. As you say they generally just "rue" for that now.

Ottawa has a lot of streets named "Crescent" but AFAIK they've never used "croissant" in French.

So the signs awkwardly say "rue LOCO101 Cres."

[MolsonExport]

After Bill 101, they changed a street next to the one that I grew up on from Gingerwood Crescent to Croissant Gingerwood. Yes, the Waste Island.

I found that a bit funny (And note that I have/had no problem with making it French, like Rue, Chemin, etc.), because it made me think of a ginger-ale flavored Croissant.

I love Croissants (can't get good ones anywhere here in London, but ahh the Duc du Lorraine on Ch. Cote-des-Neiges in Montreal...) but somehow ginger flavor would not work in my mind.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by CityTech

This "cancel Canada Day" BS is a red line for me.

Yes, we stole the country. You can say the same about pretty much any other country. Humans conquer each other.

Also, yes we "stole the country" but we also built it. All of the cities, highways, railway, etc were not here when we arrived. They complain about not having running water in the deep woods 1000km from the nearest city... Well we invented running water!

You know..when the proud boys leader said that he was "sick and tired of being made to apologize for creating the modern world" that line really resonated with me.

All of human history has been people conquering each other. White people simply played this game better than anyone else in history.. and that makes us evil?

Posted for gross insensitivity and general horribleness.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Posted for gross insensitivity and general horribleness.

Kudos to the mods for finally banning MIGS but how in the fuck is this guy still on here?! A few weeks ago he flat out said that killing grandparents was the moral thing to do so that kids can go back to school and we can all go about our normal lives. Now he’s regurgitating hate group speeches. He has no place here. Ban his ass!

[MolsonExport]

I don't know. He is the biggest crybaby on this forum, but also displays astounding levels of callousness towards the suffering of others. A complete snowflake a$$hole. Identifying with the leader of the Proud Boys? How fucking low can one go?

[J.OT13]

Hudson's Bay Ottawa flagship, George Street (ByWard Market) face.


https://twitter.com/mchkzn/status/1406679190267645956

[O-tacular]

80’s trash! Those brown smoked windows are the worst.

[RoshanMcG]

This building in prime Spring Garden real estate (Halifax) has always bugged me.



Better seen towards the centre of this picture:

Source

[itom 987]

That wall could be a money maker in advertising.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by itom 987

That wall could be a money maker in advertising.

Don't give them any ideas. My guess is the original developer thought there was gonna be another tall building next door, but the businesses held on. Either way, I consider it quirky and charming, exactly the type of haphazardousness that makes a dense downtown like Halifax fun to look at.

[esquire]

I don't mind big blank walls that maximize lot usage and accommodate another tall building next door. In those cases, the problem is with the short stumpy building next to it that fails to take advantage of the opportunity.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

Not sure if anyone has posted Manchester Square in Edmonton yet? It's (no joke) an Instagram hot spot for people pretending to be in Europe. I think it's actually 1 storey in most parts with some mezzanine in the corner.

I'd be totally fine with a block or two of this pseudo-Amsterdam stuff on a street somewhere like this:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.55643...7i16384!8i8192

Move it up to the sidewalk, put some parking in the back if you need it, and hell, I think it'd be really cool on some streets.

Even better, take an entire downtown city block devoted to parking and concoct a pedestrian only complex straight out of medieval northern Europe. It would inevitably be a bit kitschy, but you could do it right with good design. Why the hell not?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.25814.../data=!3m1!1e3

[megadude]

This is ugly because it's abandoned. Was actually never completed. Even if it were, I wouldn't consider it a looker in terms of housing. Looks more like a museum, science centre or campus facility.

One of the largest homes in the country and it's way up in NE ON on Lake Temiskaming. Built by forestry magnate Peter Grant. And the the town was going to take possession but I read that at the last hour, someone paid all the back taxes. Some company from Toronto apparently bought it.

https://freaktography.com/largest-ab...ion-in-canada/

[esquire]

Quite often lakeside or oceanside mansions that big and grand are built in secluded locations away from the hoi polloi... it's interesting to see that this one is on a bald, wide open field basically around the corner from normal bungalows.

Curious to see what will happen with it... you would think the pool of potential buyers of mega-mansions in those parts would have to be pretty limited. It's not like Kylie Jenner is going to show up with a cheque in hand, ready to buy it.

[O-tacular]

Growing up in suburban Calgary in the 80’s and 90’s there was plenty of ugly to go around but even then this monstrosity of a building always struck me with its profound hideousness. It offended and alienated me before I even cared or knew about good urban design.

Here is the front:

https://goo.gl/maps/pudEUoEJQaKf38d39

The back might as well be the soviet version of the Great Wall of China:

https://goo.gl/maps/VT52QhfLrAM6tZrv5

There it sits, perched atop the hill, like a giant middle finger to all humanity who isn’t shopping at Winners or Dollartree at that particular moment.

https://goo.gl/maps/n2Uxe5veNo2Gz8iS7

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

Quite often lakeside or oceanside mansions that big and grand are built in secluded locations away from the hoi polloi... it's interesting to see that this one is on a bald, wide open field basically around the corner from normal bungalows.

Curious to see what will happen with it... you would think the pool of potential buyers of mega-mansions in those parts would have to be pretty limited. It's not like Kylie Jenner is going to show up with a cheque in hand, ready to buy it.

No kidding. What a bizarre compound.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Growing up in suburban Calgary in the 80’s and 90’s there was plenty of ugly to go around but even then this monstrosity of a building always struck me with its profound hideousness. It offended and alienated me before I even cared or knew about good urban design.

Here is the front:

https://goo.gl/maps/pudEUoEJQaKf38d39

The back might as well be the soviet version of the Great Wall of China:

https://goo.gl/maps/VT52QhfLrAM6tZrv5

There it sits, perched atop the hill, like a giant middle finger to all humanity who isn’t shopping at Winners or Dollartree at that particular moment.

https://goo.gl/maps/n2Uxe5veNo2Gz8iS7

Frightfully fugly, and a textbook example of all that is wrong with commercial development (and the policies/infrastructure that encourage it) in this country.

[Innsertnamehere]

I always reserve a special hate for this one in Whitby:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.9565...7i16384!8i8192