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

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by harls

I went to my hometown in SW Manitoba last winter, and the chinese restaurant left bleach in the coffee pot.

"Refill?"

No, I'm good.

Reminds me of this case from Lethbridge of a pregnant woman getting a cup full of cleaning chemicals instead of coffee:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...ning-1.4769286

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Awful. They take a unhandsome building and somehow make it much worse. BM-level awfulness. About what I would expect from Telus, based on their awful commercials.

On a side note, has the BM ever battled Clockzilla?

Not directly, though he has served coffee from a Residences Soleil Tims drive thru before:

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

It's a telecom hotel. Windows aren't ideal

I prefer the original. I don't hate the tower remodel. They could do a helluva lot more with the medium rise than a 10 storey wall with clouds imprinted on it.

That is the worst part. At least it won't be as visible sandwiched between Telus Sky and the skyscraper server.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Reminds me of how every single Middle Eastern or Indian owned pizza place has Best or Canadian or OK in the name.

Does this ring a bell? Small town restaurants with paper placemats featuring a collage of ads for local businesses like Joe's Excavation and Ted the real estate broker?

I am trying to figure out if this is a small town Canada thing or if it's just a French Canada thing (Quebec + spillover into places like Hawkesbury and Edmundston).

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Does this ring a bell? Small town restaurants with paper placemats featuring a collage of ads for local businesses like Joe's Excavation and Ted the real estate broker?

I am trying to figure out if this is a small town Canada thing or if it's just a French Canada thing (Quebec + spillover into places like Hawkesbury and Edmundston).

As I had mentioned last page Yavis Family Restaurant in Drumheller used to have similar. It was primarily for kids to colour and do activities but there might have been small adverts as well. Not sure what it's like today as I haven't been inside it for like 20 years.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

As I had mentioned last page Yavis Family Restaurant in Drumheller used to have similar. It was primarily for kids to colour and do activities but there might have been small adverts as well. Not sure what it's like today as I haven't been inside it for like 20 years.

Yes, but I am talking about ads. These aren't meant for kids to draw on them.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Not directly, though he has served coffee from a Residences Soleil Tims drive thru before:

I am sure he also tries to upsell the most unctuous donuts that Rim Whoreton's peddles. Voudriez-vous avoir un beignet 'Boston-Creme', avec votre café?

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

As I had mentioned last page Yavis Family Restaurant in Drumheller used to have similar. It was primarily for kids to colour and do activities but there might have been small adverts as well. Not sure what it's like today as I haven't been inside it for like 20 years.

It is like those shitty "Coffee Times" adpapers you find in second-rate coffee shops and local restaurants.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

It is like those shitty "Coffee Times" adpapers you find in second-rate coffee shops and local restaurants.

Yes we have those too.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I am sure he also tries to upsell the most unctuous donuts that Rim Whoreton's peddles. Voudriez-vous avoir un beignet 'Boston-Creme', avec votre café?

He'd be all about the Tim Biebs.

[biguc]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Hideous reclad of the Len Werry building in Calgary:







There will be a 15 story blank wall between Telus Sky and this literal Server farm building.

Yeesh what is going on in Calgary? Between this and the historical block across the street they're trying to raze, it's like they just remembered that they're a Prairie town--for the first time since the '70s.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by biguc

Yeesh what is going on in Calgary? Between this and the historical block across the street they're trying to raze, it's like they just remembered that they're a Prairie town--for the first time since the '70s.

Imagine this server farm building with a 15 story blank wall across the C-train tracks from another sterile block long 15 story podium. And this is part of our grand plan to 'liven up' our core.

[MolsonExport]

This style of Tim Horton's is just horrendously ugly. Beyond ugly. And it epitomizes all that is wrong with the Canadian urban fabric, where prickup trucks are prioritized over pedestrians. Two-gun Sam, batwing-style drive-thrus, and not a fucking seat in sight. Awful.

If I was in charge, I would ban all new Drive thrus, and implement a 10-year phase out of existing Drive thrus. They are a cancer upon the landscape, and completely distort traffic flows, while contributing immensely to emissions. Keep your gigantic prickup trucks running just to pick up a double-double? Only in Canada/USA. Nowhere else in the world do you see these.

[O-tacular]

Not sure if it's a bylaw or developer policy but in Calgary I've noticed there are no Tim's drive thrus in newer areas. I'll admit to using drive thrus heavily during the pandemic and with a toddler in tow, but not so much in normal times. I agree they are hideous and horrible for the environment. I also don't appreciate having my coffee tossed at me while I'm simultaneously paying for the coffee. There are literally 2 person teams at Tim's that do this. They shout thank you at you while almost scalding you with the hot drink when your hands are holding the debit terminal.

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

This style of Tim Horton's is just horrendously ugly. Beyond ugly. And it epitomizes all that is wrong with the Canadian urban fabric, where prickup trucks are prioritized over pedestrians. Two-gun Sam, batwing-style drive-thrus, and not a fucking seat in sight. Awful.

If I was in charge, I would ban all new Drive thrus, and implement a 10-year phase out of existing Drive thrus. They are a cancer upon the landscape, and completely distort traffic flows, while contributing immensely to emissions. Keep your gigantic prickup trucks running just to pick up a double-double? Only in Canada/USA. Nowhere else in the world do you see these.

Heh.

I admit to liking drive-throughs for a perfectly selfish reason. Why? On the rare occasion I have to get coffee (I usually bring my own), I just walk into the store while the idling line of vehicles sits. The inside is a ghost town, as everyone is sitting in their car waiting for the one window to the outside. I get my food/drink quickly, wander back to the car, observe that the line has hardly moved in that time and go about my merry way.

Inevitably, someone orders a huge meal at the drive-through anyway, stalling any hopes of speedy progress.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by thewave46

Heh.

I admit to liking drive-throughs for a perfectly selfish reason. Why? On the rare occasion I have to get coffee (I usually bring my own), I just walk into the store while the idling line of vehicles sits. The inside is a ghost town, as everyone is sitting in their car waiting for the one window to the outside. I get my food/drink quickly, wander back to the car, observe that the line has hardly moved in that time and go about my merry way.

Inevitably, someone orders a huge meal at the drive-through anyway, stalling any hopes of speedy progress.

I very very rarely go to Timmies, but when I do that is the strategy (with my wife).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Not sure if it's a bylaw or developer policy but in Calgary I've noticed there are no Tim's drive thrus in newer areas. I'll admit to using drive thrus heavily during the pandemic and with a toddler in tow, but not so much in normal times. I agree they are hideous and horrible for the environment. I also don't appreciate having my coffee tossed at me while I'm simultaneously paying for the coffee. There are literally 2 person teams at Tim's that do this. They shout thank you at you while almost scalding you with the hot drink when your hands are holding the debit terminal.

I believe the City of Ottawa may have banned all new drive-thrus on its territory a few years ago.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Similar enough, yeah. Just a bit too flat, trees too tall, and not enough alders.

Oh we have alders as well but I know what you mean. And yeah, the trees are too tall lol. If you go about 150 Kms North from there then the height of the trees are the same.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Does this ring a bell? Small town restaurants with paper placemats featuring a collage of ads for local businesses like Joe's Excavation and Ted the real estate broker?

I am trying to figure out if this is a small town Canada thing or if it's just a French Canada thing (Quebec + spillover into places like Hawkesbury and Edmundston).

I still see them in some independent restaurants and maybe the odd franchise family restaurants in Northern Ontario. Not as common as they used to be.

I've seen them in other provinces and in the U.S.. More common in smaller communities anywhere I've seen them.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

This style of Tim Horton's is just horrendously ugly. Beyond ugly. And it epitomizes all that is wrong with the Canadian urban fabric, where prickup trucks are prioritized over pedestrians. Two-gun Sam, batwing-style drive-thrus, and not a fucking seat in sight. Awful.

If I was in charge, I would ban all new Drive thrus, and implement a 10-year phase out of existing Drive thrus. They are a cancer upon the landscape, and completely distort traffic flows, while contributing immensely to emissions. Keep your gigantic prickup trucks running just to pick up a double-double? Only in Canada/USA. Nowhere else in the world do you see these.

Your comments are just so anti-Pierre Poilievre and you certainly have my vote!

In Timmins, we have a Tim's location just like the one in the photo but brown instead of silver. Guys have gone there for many years, order their double-doubles and hang out in their pickups right beside as it's in the Metro grocery store parking lot. They leave their trucks running while parked and there is a gang of them even on the coldest days in the Winter. They pull up close to one another and have their windows down. They could easily just go to another Tim's location, park their trucks, walk in, sit down and talk with their friends. Timmins is probably one of the worst places for the encouragement of car/truck culture.