What's missing from your city?

[logan5]

Seriously though, Vancouver's missing a top notch AAA baseball stadium on the waterfront. That would be our doorway to MLB. Just gotta make sure theAAA stadium is upgradeable to MLB standards.

[SignalHillHiker]

We also are missing a Chinese garden and zoo.

But seriously... the only thing that really causes any sort of issue for me is that there is a lack of affordable clothing options - especially for men. There are lots of local brands like Sin City and Fog Off, but they tend to be a bit too sporty or hipster for me. And the boutiques that carry better-known brands are generally costly - $300 for a simple grey spring jacket, for example. The mall brands are generally affordable but cheaply made and always a year or more behind what people are actually wearing on the street. It's almost like every clothing item for men in the city under $200 was selected by Sears, which was awful.

There's no formal outdoor, old town square. We work around it - lunchtime musical performances at Harbourside Park, protests and vigils on the front steps of the Colonial Building, outdoor festivals at Quidi Vidi Lake, etc. But it would nice to have a place fulfilling these functions without them having to be formal and organized. Water and George streets do so in all the important ways, but there's definitely something lacking when it's a street and not a square.

The cuisine is fantastic here, including the international options - we've gone from having nothing to having at least one excellent option for most cuisines - but I still haven't found good dim sum since I left Winnipeg. Pulled pork here, while still delicious, how could it not be, is not as good as out west.

Overall, though, it's fine. There's just not a lot of options for more niche interests. Your ex works at Mochanopoly? No board game cafe for you. There's only one. Same for the Geek Bar, Puffin Lounge (where no one lights up, RNC. No one. Don't worry about it), a lot of the international cuisine, and even the DMV - only place in the entire Northeast Avalon you can renew your license, etc., is one miserable suburban office complex on the outskirts of Mount Pearl. One office. Roughly 250,000 people.

[Aylmer]

Ottawa is missing a downtown train/bus station. Especially living in Europe right now, I realize how underwhelming it is to get to arrive in Ottawa by transit. Of course, we did once have a station which dropped you off in the very centre of town with a view of Parliament and the Canal. Arguably the most dramatic entrance to any city in Canada. Nowadays, you either disembark in a dilapidated bus station behind a warehouse beside the highway, or in a train station behind a smartcentre in an industrial park on the wrong side of the highway. In a few months, there'll be a metro station right beside it ferrying people to town, but there's just no replacement for a grand station right in the thick of things.

[Taeolas]

Fredericton, NB is missing a sports team. UNB has monopolized sports in the city so much that we don't even have any real non-university facilities to host a sports team, and UNB is very resistant to non-UNB teams using their facilities as their own.

In my opinion, Freddy needs a 8k seat arena, like Harbour Station in SJ or Avenir Centre in Moncton, located somewhere handy to the core, where a non-University hockey team (and probably basketball team) can play.

We missed the boat when we built 2 arena complexes instead of one big one, and now we're probably a decade+ before the city government can even start hinting at building a new arena. Which is extra disappointing because we have two downtown locations that would be perfect for a major arena project, and by the time the city gets around to proposing it, both will probably be subdivided into other projects.

[Nashe]

Moncton's got a little bit of everything, but could have a bit more.

Got:
* Zoo
* Waterpark
* 8k seating events center
* Close to beaches

Need:
* Better waterfront (maybe in 100 years?)
* More food diversity (strangely there is sushi everywhere, though)

[BillM]

What's missing from Montreal?

The Laurentien Hotel

Last seen, mid 70's

[esquire]

Originally Posted by someone123

There's Mills Brothers and a Miniso but this is generally true.

It's not something people would notice as much today but Hudson's Bay was conspicuously absent from downtown Halifax in 1950. I don't think they came to the region until the 1960's or so, and when they came they opened suburban stores. Quebec City also does not have a downtown location and I am not sure they ever had one, but they do have Simons (it started there).

The single Bay location left in metro Halifax is a depressing run down suburban location in Dartmouth, not even in the nicest mall in the city, let alone downtown.

I would not be surprised if Halifax ends up with a Simons soon.

Coming from the prairies, I always found that a bit peculiar with respect to Atlantic Canada... around here, a big downtown department store was a standard civic amenity. It seemed odd that in a city like Halifax there wasn't any such thing. These days it isn't such a big deal, but what about back in the 40s... where did everyone shop?

Other missing Halifax stuff:
- Stadium with more than 10,000 permanent seats
- Downtown train station or multimodal transit hub (instead trains go to one place, ferries are someplace else, buses terminate in a third location)
- Purpose-built performing arts venue with more than 1,000 seats or so. There are lots of medium-sized venues but no big ones (not counting arenas). The nicest theatre in the city was torn down in the 1970's and a bigger one was never built.

I didn't know that was the case... what is the main concert hall in Halifax? What would the local symphony, for instance, use?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

Coming from the prairies, I always found that a bit peculiar with respect to Atlantic Canada... around here, a big downtown department store was a standard civic amenity. It seemed odd that in a city like Halifax there wasn't any such thing. These days it isn't such a big deal, but what about back in the 40s... where did everyone shop?

You see the historic impact of the Hudson's Bay Company in the West when it comes to big downtown department stores. The Bay came later in main Atlantic cities but by that time the trend was more suburban malls in many places.

Though the major Atlantic cities did have downtown department stores like Simpson's or Eaton's, if my memory serves me right.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Missing from Ottawa? An NHL team.

I don't even mean this in a "haha the team is so bad they're barely an NHL team!" way, I mean it in a "They literally don't play in Ottawa" way. If the team plays out of LeBreton the city feels so much bigger and prominent, IMO.

In terms of non-sport I feel as if Ottawa really lacks a good mid-sized music venue. We have arenas (Lansdowne, CTC) and full-on concert halls (NAC) but we lack a good medium-sized concert for those acts that are between big arena shows and smaller bars/clubs.

The new Gatineau Olympiques arena (4000 seats, 5000 capacity for concerts) might fit that bill, but even if it's on Rapibus BRT and not too far from major highways it might be a bit out of the way for most of the Ottawa market.

At least in this perspective, it would have been better for it to be located where the old arena is, in central Hull.

The current decrepit arena (Robert-Guertin) once served this purpose in a modest way - as a secondary mid-sized concert venue in the Ottawa market. I think I saw Motley Crue there as a teen - please don't judge me!

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by esquire

I didn't know that was the case... what is the main concert hall in Halifax? What would the local symphony, for instance, use?

The symphony uses a few venues depending on the performance, from churches to theatres. The biggest is the Rebecca Cohn auditorium, an excellent venue with about a 1,000-person capacity on the Dalhousie campus.

But it's still not quite the same as having a proper theatre. We used to have a number of them, but they were also demolished or turned to other uses. It is pretty unfortunate that cities like Moncton and Saint John still have grand old theatres, but the region's biggest city doesn't.

A lot of live performances and events that would rightfully go to a venue like that happen at the Spatz Theatre at Citadel High, which is a really excellent venue, but also doubles as a high-school auditorium. It doesn't exactly scream "sophistication" when people are mingling at intermission down the hall from high-school students' lockers.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

You see the historic impact of the Hudson's Bay Company in the West when it comes to big downtown department stores. The Bay came later in main Atlantic cities but by that time the trend was more suburban malls in many places.

Though the major Atlantic cities did have downtown department stores like Simpson's or Eaton's, if my memory serves me right.

In western cities, it wasn't just HBC, but Eaton's and Woodward's as well. Even smaller cities like Brandon had a big downtown store or two. It was probably barely 15 years ago that Yorkton, SK (pop. 16,343) lost its HBC store when it converted to Zellers.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by CivicBlues

That's not Vancouver's Chinese Garden.

This is: https://vancouverchinesegarden.com/

Fixed it, thanks for pointing that out, that's International Buddhist Society Temple in Richmond.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by megadude

Toronto lacks lakes or reservoirs to boat in. Okay the big lake you can but most casual paddlers don't want to ferry over to the islands first and rent. And launching from mainland should only be done on really calm days.

But for instance, you can't boat on Grenadier pond in high park like you can in Central park NYC. There were rentals a long time ago. No idea why boating is not allowed in a place that seems perfect for a paddle.

There several lakes or ponds within city limits but no rentals and I'm fairly certain they have no boating signs.

Rivers are another story. Humber, Don, Rouge you can paddle in. Humber you can take a motor boat in.

As for GTA, lots of lakes and reservoirs to rent. Can also use electric motor in most.

You can paddle in High Park, not many people do though. My friend used to teach S.U.P there to inner city kids in the summer. I think Toronto offers as many paddling options as one could hope for minus white water.And if you don't want to power boat on this big lake it's a short drive to one of the most densely packed lake districts on the planet.

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Montreal lacks an Arby`s. And thank god for that.

OMG! I love Arby's I mean I only ever have it once every few years when I see one but the strange roast beef, sweet sauce, and curly fries. Being Keto I can't have that anymore but you're crazy!


Toronto also lacks Arby's at least downtown and thank god for that for my sake.

[Marty_Mcfly]

I'll add a bit more for St. John's...

We have a lot of great food, but it's nearly impossible to find authentic Chinese food. It's the one missing piece, since there are plenty of places to get authentic dishes from other countries. Every Chinese place is more or less Chinese-Canadian (come get your egg rolls).

Second SHH on a second DMV. One for about 250,000 people doesn't really count it.

Something other that I think is pretty lacking: downtown is lacking in the basic amenities that you need to make a neighborhood livable. One of the great advantages, in most cities, of living downtown is that you can ditch the car and walk 99% of the time to get what you need. That doesn't exist in St. John's. Sure, you're close to restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and boutique-styled shops, but these don't really help in your everyday life. There is no grocery store downtown. There is no pharmacy downtown. Need groceries for dinner? Better get in your car and drive uptown. Sort of defeats the purpose of living downtown, doesn't it?

[SignalHillHiker]

Isn't that old pharmacy by 351 still in operation? And Theatre Pharmacy is close at the bottom of Long's Hill.

Agreed about the lack of a grocery. There used to be a market at the east end of Water Street but I think that's folded into the new farmers market on Freshwater.

At least all of these things are met within a couple blocks of downtown so it's not like you have to go right out to the suburbs. They'd only have to come to my neighbourhood at the farthest.

[Marty_Mcfly]

^ Nay on that, and Theatre Pharmacy has been closed (I believe) for quite some time. Closest Pharmacy is Shoppers on LeMarchant, or the one at Sobeys on Merrymeeting.

[SignalHillHiker]

Theatre just re-opened. They got a new coat of paint, metal bars, and they laminated the "NO METHODONE" signs.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

You can paddle in High Park, not many people do though. My friend used to teach S.U.P there to inner city kids in the summer. I think Toronto offers as many paddling options as one could hope for minus white water.And if you don't want to power boat on this big lake it's a short drive to one of the most densely packed lake districts on the planet.

High Park website still says boats are not allowed. So do you mean people illegally row there because it's loosely enforced or just SUP because technically that's not a boat?

There are ponds like L'Amoreaux that have comparables in size to suburban ponds like Loafers Lake or Chinguacousy Park in Brampton where paddle boats were or are still being rented. And even though Loafers no longer rents, there are no signs stopping you from dropping a canoe in there. If I remember correctly, when I was last at L'Amoreaux five years ago, signs stop you from boating.

Eglinton Flats is another pond where I'm pretty sure you can't boat. The pond at Evergreen Brickworks is another.

Anyone know if they still rent out boats at Ontario Place? That's Lake Ontario but it's sheltered there so wind is not a factor. I don't think they rent there anymore.

Swan Lake in Markham had rentals but no longer. I also believe there are no signs stopping you from launching.

G. Ross Lord is an ugly reservoir so even if you could row there, don't know who would want to. But the reservoirs in the more rural parts of the suburbs encourage boating. However, don't know how often G. Ross actually fluctuates their water levels. And the reservoirs in the burbs are obviously in a better natural setting.

To compare TO to other big cities, as mentioned NYC you can boat in Central Park. You can rent pedal boats at Flushing Meadows in Queens. Same with Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Same with Humboldt Park in Chicago. And I believe you can boat in Wolf Lake Chicago.

These can all be compared to High Park, but for some reason not supposed to boat there. Would love to know why you're not allowed to anymore.

Oh, and another comparison, you can rent boats at Ile Notre Dame in Montreal for their inland lake. You can drive there of course which makes it very convenient. Can rent boats in TO islands, but of course, you can't drive there.

[MonctonRad]

I agree with Vorkuta - Moncton has a little bit of everything, and does very well for a city it's size which is not a capital city.

I do have a couple of wishes though.

1) - We've lost our Eaton's (and subsequently HBC) department stores, and the Sears at CF Champlain suffered it's demise last year. It's depressing to think that the pinnacle of department store shopping around here is currently WalMart and Costco. Granted, we have a good selection of quality specialty stores, but it would be nice if Simon's had considered coming in to replace the Sears store.

2) - I would like better options for anglophone post secondary education in the city. The Acadian community has the Universite de Moncton which is the provincial francophone comprehensive university, complete with graduate programs, a law school, and a medical school (affiliated with Universite de Sherbrooke). The situation for the English community is more of a hodgepodge. Crandall University is a small Baptist university along the lines of Trinity Western in BC. It has limited arts & sciences offerings and you can get an education degree here. Mount Allison University is a high quality undergraduate university, but isn't really in Moncton. It's in Sackville, which is a 25 minute drive from downtown and this drive is a nuisance in the winter time. Most Monctonians who go to MTA end up staying in residence. UNB has a small health sciences campus at the Moncton Hospital for nursing and medical students, and for students in x-ray technology. NBCC's (community college) has it's largest campus in Moncton too.

This sounds like a lot, but it is incoherent on the anglophone side and there is nothing in the city to rival UdeM for English speaking students. I have no idea why there are UNB campuses in SJ and Freddy, but not really in Moncton........