Quote:
Originally Posted by hipster duck
Pound for pound, I would say the best public realm in Canada is in Vancouver.
If you go to any random sidestreet or park in an area where tourists never go, you'll find things like cohesive materials and design guidelines that are applied citywide. Things like decent sidewalks, curb bulbouts for pedestrians, attractive landscaping and planting, pavement in good condition, attractive lamp posts, etc.
Vancouver is probably the closest to a northern European city when it comes to general user-friendliness and design of its public spaces. Like in Northern Europe, the Oceanic climate certainly helps. I'm not one of those guys who uses climate as an excuse not to improve our public realm, but you can't deny that the eastern half of the North American climate subjects our spaces to a lot more challenges than what they face in Amsterdam. Snowplows chew up the curbs; aggressive weeds accidentally introduced from the Eurasian continent where they're native poke out of any sidewalk crack and take over lawns; road salt kills street trees.
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I agree. Of every Canadian city I've visited, Vancouver feels the most "complete". Transit, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure are all well built and in good conditions (as you mentioned, the mild climate helps from a maintenance perspective). Very few surface parking lots. Great public buildings and squares.
I'd say Hull/Gatineau is the least complete of the cities I've truly experienced. Built for cars. Poorly maintained. Quality and design of buildings is sub-par (with a few exceptions). The contrast between Ottawa, which is quite mediocre outside the central area, and Gatineau is quite jarring. It has potential, but that hasn't been tapped.
EDIT - The above applied mostly to Hull, old Gatineau, Mason-Anger. Historic places like Aylmer are gems. The Plateau is a decent modern suburban area with plenty of density. Development over the last five years in Le Plateau has been far superior to Ottawa's modern suburban areas. Even old Gatineau's 1990s downtown is developing into a decent (in terms of municipal amenities, not bars/restaurants) entertainment district.