The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[Trevor3]

The best places I think everyone needs to visit are along the south coast of NL. Inaccessible, remote, off the grid, unadvertised, and absolutely dying. Here are my 2 favourites, reachable only by boat or long distance hiking.

Francois, NL - Nope, no roads.
http://www.morganscloud.com/wp-conte...5II-181681.jpg

Grey River, NL - yes, this is all of it.
http://mauriceabarry.files.wordpress...greyriver3.jpg

As for the hometown of Stryker and I, well I'll concede we don't have what people expect from tv commercials, but here are my best attempts at trying to frame it within the mountains and ocean that he mentioned:

100_4151

100_3807

100_3711

100_3676edit

100_3204edit

100_2603edit

I still maintain that you have to spend 2 days here to really get it.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

The best places I think everyone needs to visit are along the south coast of NL. Inaccessible, remote, off the grid, unadvertised, and absolutely dying. Here are my 2 favourites, reachable only by boat or long distance hiking.
Francois, NL - Nope, no roads.
Grey River, NL - yes, this is all of it.

I still maintain that you have to spend 2 days here to really get it.

I spent a week in Great Harbour Deep back in the 80's. No roads and a generator powered the whole town.

[FrAnKs]

The beautiful villages of the Charlevoix region filmed by a friend :


Route 362 - Sainte-Irénée to La Malbaie
• Video Link

Route 138 - Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec
• Video Link

[FrAnKs]

François is Awesome !

[csbvan]

Often overlooked, I've always liked Ladysmith and the Cowichan Valley.

Ladysmith, B.C. - Heritage Town by Old Itch, on Flickr


Source: http://www.ladysmith.ca/


Source http://toadhollowphoto.com/2011/09/2...-down-1st-ave/


Source: http://toadhollowphoto.com/2011/09/2...-down-1st-ave/

Windows by gotchan68, on Flickr

Page Point Marina by D-Stanley, on Flickr

[eemy]

Goderich doesn't have quite the charm that it used to, unfortunately. The other towns (I'm thinking Kincardine in particular) along the Lake Huron coastline are quite nice as well.

I grew quite fond of Owen Sound after living in that area for awhile. It's not quite as polished as some of the other towns of Ontario, but it is a lovely location - similar to Hamilton in some respects, as it's situated below the Escarpment on a harbour. It has a lovely, well-used downtown area as well.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by middeljohn

A few cool towns along Lake Erie, my favourite is Port Stanley. Nice downtown and awesome landscape.

I've never been, but I'm told that Port Dover on Lake Erieis also OK. I guess it's best known for the tens of thousands of motorcyclists who show up ever Friday the 13th.

[Metro-One]

Good idea for a thread, but I do find that the original post of this thread perfectly displays a common level or arrogance recently found on this forum.

Yes, Europe is amazing for small towns, but there is not one single formula that equals what a charming, cute, and enjoyable small town is suppose to be like.

There are many soulless small towns in Canada, but I also think there is an equal number of very quant, cute, and interesting small towns across Canada (in ALL provinces), of varying styles.

here are some examples from BC:

Tofino looks nothing like a European small town, but it is great example of how enjoyable, unique, and interesting small fishing / ocean based towns in BC can be.

















The town of Revelstoke is a classic example of the small Interior towns found throughout BC. (and classic older PNW)













And then you get very south west style towns such as Ashcroft, that have their own charm.









All pics are mine.

So I am actually really happy that not every small town is a carbon copy of a European style small town. We have our own styles and variations, which to me makes many of these small towns more interesting to visit.

Can there be improvements? Of course! Are all these places write offs because they are not European style villages, heck no!

[giallo]

I love Tofino, and its remoteness. A gem hidden along the shores of the Pacific.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Good idea for a thread, but I do find that the original post of this thread perfectly displays a common level or arrogance recently found on this forum.

Yes, Europe is amazing for small towns, but there is not one single formula that equals what a charming, cute, and enjoyable small town is suppose to be like.

There are many soulless small towns in Canada, but I also think there is an equal number of very quant, cute, and interesting small towns across Canada (in ALL provinces), of varying styles.

.....

Actually, the original post of this thread makes no mention of Europe. The following post did express some views, but the subsequent posts have rather put the lie to that opinion.

[Metro-One]

The first post seems to have been edited since I first read it (I remember it being far more pessimistic before people started posting their pics of small towns)...or I confused it with the second post.

[kwoldtimer]

Although it was not much more than a coffee break on a long drive, I remember thinking Wolfville NS seemed charming when I passed through about 10 years ago.

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Good idea for a thread, but I do find that the original post of this thread perfectly displays a common level or arrogance recently found on this forum.

Yes, Europe is amazing for small towns, but there is not one single formula that equals what a charming, cute, and enjoyable small town is suppose to be like.

There are many soulless small towns in Canada, but I also think there is an equal number of very quant, cute, and interesting small towns across Canada (in ALL provinces), of varying styles.

Metro One, the first post (which was mine) was not arrogant at all, and in fact was stating exactly what you're saying now
Maybe you mixed up with the second post...
Totally agree with you.

The Europeans came here and created the New World. Doing so, they tried to invent new forms of urbanity. Themselves didn't want to copy what they had back there and what they often escaped from. That's why I created this thread, to promote the fact that Canada is an awesome country for villages and towns, It's just that we don't know a lot about them. Let's discover

[Metro-One]

haha, yeah, I totally mixed up your post with the second one. Sorry about that

Yeah, there are a lot of really nice small times to visit across Canada. That is why I prefer road trips over flying if going for a leisure trip to other parts of Canada.

Must visit small towns in BC are Tofino, Ucluelet, Nelson, Revelstoke, Cache Creek / Ashcroft (just for the desert like image / built environment / gold rush history), Osoyoos (tourist trap yes, but a beautiful one, summer only of course), Trail, Fernie, and Gibsons.

[Architype]

Here are two of my favorite small towns in Nova Scotia.

Chester, Nova Scotia, population 2,348:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.53807...R0YWzN4RKA!2e0

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia population 2,313:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.37692...a-vNl7Nfaw!2e0

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by Architype

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia population 2,313:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.37692...a-vNl7Nfaw!2e0

Lunenburg is a real gem! No wonder why it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...


Lunenburg Nova Scotia Canada, a colorful panorama. by PhotosToArtByMike, on Flickr

[FrAnKs]

I visited last summer, and YES, it's truly unique and wonderful aswell are incredibly colourful. At times, it looked like Norway to me.

[MonctonRad]

Top five small towns in New Brunswick (IMHO)

- Sackville (waterfowl park, Mount Allison University, theatre, art galleries)
- Sussex (thriving economy, great location, agricultural valley surrounded by mountains)
- Saint Andrews by the Sea (Algonquin Hotel, New England resort town vibe, great waterfront)
- Shediac (Parlee Beach, lots of inns, restaurants and souvenir shops)
- Woodstock (archtypical Maritime farming town, great scenery)

[esquire]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Actually, the original post of this thread makes no mention of Europe. The following post did express some views, but the subsequent posts have rather put the lie to that opinion.

I've seen some OK-looking small towns in this thread, but frankly nothing that would blow me away in the same way that small towns have in Europe and Asia.

Bear in mind I'm speaking mainly to built form here. There are some charmers posted so far like the Quebec towns and Tofino that rise above the rather lame North American small town vernacular, but generally speaking I remain unconvinced.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by Laceoflight

The Europeans came here and created the New World. Doing so, they tried to invent new forms of urbanity. Themselves didn't want to copy what they had back there and what they often escaped from.

This is utter nonsense.