The Soul-Sucking Canada Thread

[905er]

^^^ the first ten seconds of that footage looks very much like it was taken somewhere in Britain.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I know people are ragging all over places like Markham and Brampton in this thread, and there's that go-to shot of suburbia that is considered emblematic of suburban soullessness that pops up all over SSP, but check out the first ten seconds of the helicopter shot in this video of a police chase somewhere along the 401:

• Video Link

That actually looks epic and kinda spooky in a uniquely Toronto/GTA way. There's also a strong UK vibe to it.

[jamincan]

Suburban housing is pretty easy to pick on, but this block of houses near my place is quite possibly its nadir: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.46345...7i16384!8i8192

[davee930]

Originally Posted by jamincan

Suburban housing is pretty easy to pick on, but this block of houses near my place is quite possibly its nadir: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.46345...7i16384!8i8192

Fucking chumps who live in a place like that. I like how the house on the left could only afford 1 fake shutter. By the way what the fuck is the point of a fake shutter that can only cover a 1/4 of the window?

What am I saying? I'm sure the foundation is great, the inside is warm with lots of space!

[itom 987]

The shutter probably fell off the cheaply built house and the owner didn't bother to put it back on.

[MolsonExport]

Pyongyang?
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7567...7i16384!8i8192

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Pyongyang?
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7567...7i16384!8i8192

Wow look at all those power lines at the intersection! And we have hydro electric dams in town!

[Bishop2047]

I love Saint John NB. That said this monstrosity is just in the absolute strangest location, with nothing else around.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.2944...7i13312!8i6656

[HomeInMyShoes]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Pyongyang?
https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7567...7i16384!8i8192

Pyongyang has more colour.

[MolsonExport]

Real Canadian Soulsucking Store. That dingy overhanging area (usually filled with shitty barbecues, picnic coolers, leaf bags, and clearance dreck) is utterly soul-sucking

Come and get your soul sucked by the Bread-price Baron.

torontoist

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by jamincan

Suburban housing is pretty easy to pick on, but this block of houses near my place is quite possibly its nadir: https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.46345...7i16384!8i8192

Oof.

[GreaterMontréal]

I have something else

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.56357...7i16384!8i8192

[shreddog]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

I have something else

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.56357...7i16384!8i8192

Pending lawsuit #1
Pending lawsuit #2
I understand the need for "inexpensive" volume housing ... but do you have to really build it like a f'ng idiot!!!

[megadude]

I'm starting to think we actually need more red tape. Well particularly for monotonous stretches of housing like these two examples. Skyscrapers go through rigorous approvals. Well damn, we might have to start having every individual house be approved!

Where I grew up in Brampton, my neighbour's house was a replica, inside and out, of my cousin's house 15 minutes away. Different coloured bricks though. This is cool. What's not cool when it's the same house over and over again right beside each other! There are townhouse complexes with more variation than those.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by shreddog

Pending lawsuit #1
Pending lawsuit #2
I understand the need for "inexpensive" volume housing ... but do you have to really build it like a f'ng idiot!!!

I've never seen water main valve stick up so high before. Can't imagine how that was acceptable. Is the first pic also the water main without the cap on it?

I'm wondering if someone had to do a rush job after these were built and just stuck whatever they had in there to cap it off.

Last year my valve was drip leaking for my house shut off. It only started after I had turned off the water and turned it back on. The valve was corroded. I called Halton region and they said no problem we have a guy 5 minutes away. It's a free service. He comes in and replaces the knob.

Well... to do that, they have to turn off the water from the street main to the house and we could not find that in my yard. This was a Saturday and in total three separate guys came over, two of them with specialized equipment and some ancient blue prints to try and locate this. They're being paid time and a half. The marked potential spots with evaporating blue paint and dug up a big chunk of my front lawn too on their first guess, but that was fine, they just put the chunk right back.

Anyway, neighbour beside said 10 years ago the previous owners re-did the driveway and he warned them not to do what some others did and bury the valve cap because they didn't want it visible on their driveway. Newer houses of course put them on the lawn. Well that's exactly what they did. And I can see it happened to my other neighbour and some others on the street.

So they took a pick axe and chopped up my driveway in one small place and discovered the pipe for the main, but no cap! Anyway, they turned if off, replaced my knob in 5 minutes and laid down some cold patch asphalt and left... 5 hours after they started. Good thing is that this spot is right where my driveway meets the paver stones on the side so it's way less obvious. However, the cap is not flush because a paver stone is in the way on one side.

[GreaterMontréal]

They build houses like we were in Arizona or something, where do you put the freakin snow ?

[YOWflier]

Far be it for me to defend crappy home builders but I have my doubts that the hideous interlocking depicted in those pictures was done by the home builder. More likely it was done after the fact by an equally crappy (or moreso) hardscaper that didn't supply enough aggregate and adequately compact the grade.

Those water pipes routinely pop up during freeze/frost and can usually be settled back down with a few taps of a hammer. Most people, however, are scared to touch them. I've never seen one that high though. The occupants must have just let it do its thing for years. The pic showing the missing cap is ... hilarious ... but again likely not a builder or hardscaper issue. More of a crappy homeowner/occupant issue.

[GreaterMontréal]

water pipes, destroying lawn mowers since 1970.

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by ac888yow

Far be it for me to defend crappy home builders but I have my doubts that the hideous interlocking depicted in those pictures was done by the home builder. More likely it was done after the fact by an equally crappy (or moreso) hardscaper that didn't supply enough aggregate and adequately compact the grade.

Those water pipes routinely pop up during freeze/frost and can usually be settled back down with a few taps of a hammer. Most people, however, are scared to touch them. I've never seen one that high though. The occupants must have just let it do its thing for years. The pic showing the missing cap is ... hilarious ... but again likely not a builder or hardscaper issue. More of a crappy homeowner/occupant issue.

Sanitary and storm services are likely placed in a common trench with the water.

Settlement occurs. If the service connections were made in winter, it is likely that settlement may be more severe.

It happens all the time. It will vary from location to location, but in the Edmonton region, the contractor/developer will have a walkthrough with the city 2 years after the neighbourhood servicing occurred and raise/lower the CC's as necessary to ensure everything meets municipal standards prior to the infrastructure being turned over form the developer to the city. Obviously lots that do not have a house built, or has one under construction, it gets skipped....but will still be tested for functionality.

We normally attempt to locate CC's in the yard, rather than the driveway, because the settlement is not as big of an issue. If a lot has street furniture on property line, such as a transformer, street light, hydrant, etc, it may have to be shifted under the driveway to provide clearance.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

They build houses like we were in Arizona or something, where do you put the freakin snow ?

I've asked this question many times when driving by houses with connected driveways on either side or a tiny strip in between.

I've also asked, for townhouses that have actual lawns, where you keep the mower. Some of those garages are so laughably small I can't imagine how you can keep a decent sized car and things like a mower in there at the same time.

I know someone in townhouse that has the gas mower in the backyard in a small shed then a manual reel mower hanging in the garage for the front.