The Great Canadian Cities that are never talked about on SSP thread

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Does it matter that it is a BC based website? (Dylan from Victoria)?
Also heard Vancouver posters prefer to stick to their own section versus posting in the national section. Unlike some other cities who love to talk about themselves in front of the ROC.

yes, this, plus the fact that there is currently no strong contender (other urban development site centred on BC/Vancouver) unlike MTLurb for Montreal (which has discussions primarily in French) and Toronto has Urban Toronto.

[MolsonExport]

I can't recall reading posts about Chilliwack, Courtenay, Port Alberni, Prince George, all decent sized places in BC. for Alberta, have people posted about Leduc, Lllllloydminster, or St. Albert? Saskatchewan gets a lot of representation for only three places: Maple Creek, Regina, and most of all, Saskatoon.

St Catherines is practically a void. The downtown has real potential (great bones) and seems teetering between becoming a worthy destination (you can see there have been attempts at sprucing things up) or declining further (those attempts have not all been successful, and there are a lot of abandoned/underutilized buildings in the core).

Does Oshawa have a downtown?
Woodstock is growing quickly but it seemed a bit of a hole to me when I drove through it on several occasions.

Amos? Blainville? Boucherville? Brossard? Chateauguay? Mascouche? Mirabel? Repentigny? Rouyn-Noranda? St. Eustache? St. Hyacinthe? Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu? St. Jerome? Salaberry de Valleyfield? Terrebonne? Val d'Or? Victoriaville? Quebec's medium cities are woefully underrepresented on SSP. (props to Rimouski though!).

[vanatox]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yes, this, plus the fact that there is currently no strong contender (other urban development site centred on BC/Vancouver) unlike MTLurb for Montreal (which has discussions primarily in French) and Toronto has Urban Toronto.

Agora Montréal is also a good source for what is happening in Montreal. Very good i would say.

https://forum.agoramtl.com/c/projets-immobiliers/8

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by vanatox

Agora Montréal is also a good source for what is happening in Montreal. Very good i would say.

https://forum.agoramtl.com/c/projets-immobiliers/8

I do shadow that forum (not a member yet). It is better than MTLurb. Less maleky.

[Harrison]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Dryden is quite small. I've passed through it twice driving across Canada (late 80s and early 90s). Nothing really of note (there was a Moose statue as I recall), except that it was the first larger settlement encountered after a long drive westward from Thunder Bay. I believe it had a McDonald's, where I stopped once for a Big Mac combo. I recall thinking it was a utilitarian-ugly sort of place.

I stopped at that exact McDonald's when I drove through on the way to Cambridge only 4 weeks ago. Dryden is, truly, ruled by the almighty Domtar Pulp Mill (like most northern Ontario communities, a single industry dominates).

[ScreamingViking]

Welland, Fort Erie, Brantford, and Peterborough don't get mentioned much at all. But there's not much going on in those places development-wise, especially the first two which are also fairly small but probably better known (?) on account of the canal and the border crossing. Barrie also doesn't get a lot of talk, a city of about 150,000 and CMA that probably holds more than couple hundred thousand people now. I'll add Cornwall too, which is bigger than I thought.

Many places in Quebec have been noted, and aside from Sydney (mentioned already) I can't think of any others in Nova Scotia offhand. Nor Newfoundland. But for New Brunswick, Moncton and Saint John get most of the attention here; Fredericton does not.

Heading west: Brandon MB? Moose Jaw and Prince Albert SK? Red Deer and Medicine Hat AB ? And for BC, we see a lot about Kelowna here... but not so much about Kamloops.

[jigglysquishy]

In Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw is easily the nicest city besides Regina and Saskatoon.

Compact 1920s downtown with a mineral spa, casino, touristy shops, oddly high amount of local restaurants and retail, and the famous Tunnels of Moose Jaw.

Most of the attention to Moose Jaw is either focused on the name or its junior hockey team, but it's a surprisingly nice community.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Does Oshawa have a downtown?

A fairly substantial one. It feels similar to St. Catharines, to me, but is probably larger.

The city and its core get a bad rap. Some would say that is for good reason, but it's one of those places that has the bones to change and perhaps even thrive over the longer term.


Toronto's other eastern neighbours tend not to get mentioned here either, though they're fairly large cities of around 100K or more: Pickering, Ajax, and Whitby. But they all suffer from not having a "sense of place".

[megadude]

I've only been to DT Oshawa twice, both in the past 10 years. And I basically drove through so can't give a fair assessment. But it did very much feel like a proper downtown that warrants it being a CMA. But both times the sketch factor was high.

The last time, four years ago, I had my niece and nephew in the car as we were coming back from the Kawarthas and the 401 was fucked so we took hwy 2 (also for food and bathroom break). I said to them, we're approaching DT Oshawa. You will see a stark contrast to what you're used to seeing at home in Oakville. They would go to TO once in a while with their dad to a game or concert (or the odd time to Eaton Centre or Kensington Market) but even then, the squeegee kids are no longer at the off ramps.

Anyway, not like passing through abandoned areas of Detroit (in terms of surroundings) or a rest stop in the US midwest or south (in terms of people), but saw two prime examples of the 'Shwa's finest waiting at the bus stop.

[niwell]

Yep, Oshawa definitely has a mid-size rust belt city type of feel with a mostly appropriately sized downtown. I haven't been in many years - last time I think was when I was there for a job interview 10 years ago and had 45 mins to kill so walked around downtown. Definitely had some sketchy vibes - a little similar to a smaller version of Hamilton at the time. I wonder if it's improved commensurably in the intervening decade - guessing not though. Most of the "cool" businesses in the area seem to concentrate around downtown Whitby which gentrified (to a degree) some time ago, and also has better direct GO access.

[JHikka]

Oshawa's OHL rink, which is very downtown Oshawa, is the only one i've been to with multiple levels of security and signs posted indicating that you should protect and watch your drink at all times. fwiw.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

St Catherines is practically a void. The downtown has real potential (great bones) and seems teetering between becoming a worthy destination (you can see there have been attempts at sprucing things up) or declining further (those attempts have not all been successful, and there are a lot of abandoned/underutilized buildings in the core).

Does Oshawa have a downtown?

St. Catharines like Oshawa was a big GM town. There used to be two GM plants that employed 10,000+ people. Many Niagara residents could afford nice homes, a boat, inground pools, cottages because of all the overtime raked in at this plant or various other manufacturing plants (a shocking amount were located in Welland).
But GM was the platinum standard (amazing benefits plus option for double/triple overtime pay). Now the lone plant is a fraction of what it used to be.

I think St. Catharines has a bit more charm than Oshawa since it grew early, and thanks to the picturesque Niagara escarpment.
There's still a decent stock of pre-1900 housing and commercial structures in the core, including an Olmsted park (Montebello park). Also, Lakeside park in the Port Dalhousie area has an amazing beach and setting on Lake Ontario.

Since Niagara (pop ~485k) is not a true Metro like say Hamilton, and more just a collection of cities and small towns, St. Catharines (est pop. 141k) feels smaller than it otherwise would. But it does have the largest and newest hospital (all Niagaran babies are born here ), and largest shopping mall (Pen Centre) which are both anchors for Niagara residents.

The downtown has benefitted greatly from a new arena/concert venue, and a new performing arts center with an additional art house/indie single screen cinema. The Niagara symphony finally has a home lol
Brock University (19,000 students total) up on the escarpment is partnered with the downtown performing arts space and Arts students have classes in the adjacent complex.
Covid lockdowns unfortunately killed a lot of downtown businesses. I hope things pick up again.

Niagara is currently benefitting from the exodus of GTA retirees seeking cheaper housing and less traffic. There are new subdivisions either planned or being built in every corner of the Niagara region.
Welland (mini Hamilton lol) of all places now has ~500 new residential building permits/year

[Tone]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Amos? Blainville? Boucherville? Brossard? Chateauguay? Mascouche? Mirabel? Repentigny? Rouyn-Noranda? St. Eustache? St. Hyacinthe? Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu? St. Jerome? Salaberry de Valleyfield? Terrebonne? Val d'Or? Victoriaville? Quebec's medium cities are woefully underrepresented on SSP. (props to Rimouski though!).

I like to post some Rimouski material and news as i feel its appreciated by you and some other forumers. I wish we would see more of the other places though.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Wigs

Niagara is currently benefitting from the exodus of GTA retirees seeking cheaper housing and less traffic. There are new subdivisions either planned or being built in every corner of the Niagara region.
Welland (mini Hamilton lol) of all places now has ~500 new residential building permits/year

A social worker friend of mine had her first real position in Welland and commuted from Hamilton. I've heard stories, to say the least - her current job in Toronto sounds less stressful if anything. Crazy that the GTHA bleedover has now reached Welland!

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by niwell

A social worker friend of mine had her first real position in Welland and commuted from Hamilton. I've heard stories, to say the least - her current job in Toronto sounds less stressful if anything. Crazy that the GTHA bleedover has now reached Welland!

My former HS buddy is a 911 operator. The craziest calls are either from Niagara Falls or Welland.

In the rural parts of West Niagara, the car accidents are usually terrible because the rural folks apparently do not wear seatbelts (see also: human projectiles)

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Wigs

My former HS buddy is a 911 operator. The craziest calls are either from Niagara Falls or Welland.

In the rural parts of West Niagara, the car accidents are usually terrible because the rural folks apparently do not wear seatbelts (see also: human projectiles)

Geez, is it still the 70s or something over there?

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by le calmar

Geez, is it still the 70s or something over there?

this is the riding of the young right winger Christian fundamentalist conservative MPP Sam Oosterhoff

[theman23]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I think St.Catherines/Niagara has to be tops for the major centres. Considering it's the 13th largest metro in the country and a huge tourist destination, it gets very little attention.

Abbotsford/Mission has over 200k and gets no mention but in that case it's a good thing as it is truly the ugliest dump in the country.

St Catharines/Niagara is basically the Abbotsford of Ontario

[Hali87]

Anecdotally I was in downtown Oshawa with a few hours to kill about 10 years ago and checked out a few local stores. I asked the clerk at one whether he knew of anywhere that sold local souvenirs - he gave me a confused look and asked me (unironically) "Why would anyone want to remember being here?"

It does have a fairly substantial downtown, but a fairly unremarkable one. It's dominated by 4-lane 1-way streets; the buildings seem almost incidental. I've never been to Hamilton but it reminds me of what I've seen of Hamilton, minus any of its distinctive buildings. It very much seems like the type of downtown that people mostly go to if they have to work there. Whitby's downtown is smaller but also seems a bit more leisure-oriented. "Vibrancy" or even "Joie de vivre" are not really terms I'd associate with Oshawa or even its own self-image. Its self-image is mostly "ordinary cars" and specifically, GM. It feels like a very low-frills, work-oriented type of place in a similar way to Edmonton, maybe even more so. It didn't seem like there was much in terms of remarkable, large-scale development; other than industrial stuff, most of the new development seems to be quintessential 905 suburbia. The city does have some interesting historic buildings, but most of them are not downtown AFAIK. It has large factories. It seems to have a Ukrainian neighbourhood. Its GO station is so close to the Whitby one that the trains don't even have time to reach full speed. Other than that I'm not sure there's much to say about it.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by theman23

St Catharines/Niagara is basically the Abbotsford of Ontario

"Niagara: hey, at least we're not Abbotsford!"