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

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Chain-link fences around front yards in Buffalo, none in Hamilton.

That's a stretch.

Originally Posted by rousseau

You would never confuse Hamilton and Buffalo, but Hamilton and Toronto are siblings.

You would bnever confuse the built form of Toronto with Hamilton, that's a huge stretch.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

This is at the back of the property. What is going on here?

https://goo.gl/maps/b4qpRwwe2KqAMMcJA

This area shown on the street view image(s) looks like it is straight out of Kentucky

I wonder how the people who live in the townhouses next to this feel about it all....however, it looks like the oddly designed house was originally there.

Griner bros. live over that way


deliverance



Lewis : Your name Griner?

First Griner : What you wanna know for?

Lewis : Can you and your brother drive two cars down to Aintry for us?

First Griner : Drive 'em down there for what?

Lewis : Me and my buddy here are taking a canoe trip down the Cahulawassee. We'd like our cars to be down in Aintry when we get there. Be there about Sunday noon.

First Griner : [sarcastically] Canoe trip?

Lewis : That's right, a canoe trip.

First Griner : What the hell you wanna go fuck around with that river for?

Lewis : Because it's there.

First Griner : It's there all right. You get in there and can't get out, you gonna wish it wasn't.

Ed : [to Lewis, whispering] Look, Lewis, let's go back to town and, ah... play golf.

Lewis : [ignoring Ed] I'll give you thirty dollars to take those cars down to Aintry.

First Griner : I'll take fifty.

Lewis : Fifty, my ass.

Ed : Lewis, don't play games with these people!

First Griner : Whud you say?

Lewis : I said "fifty, my ass."

Ed : [whispering urgently] Lewis!

First Griner : I'll do it for forty.

Lewis : Mm-hmm...

[to Ed]

Lewis : You good for ten?

Ed : Sure.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

it could go into any one of a half-dozen threads in the Canada forum where some of our compatriots are hell-bent on minimizing the issue of prejudice and systemic racism.

I was actually thinking of two Quebecois posters when I shared that.

Edit: What threads do you recommend posting it in? I haven’t been engaging in online arguments lately as I have no time. Would I be crucified for posting it in the Quebecois Identity thread?

[megadude]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Is Buffalo considered midwestern? It’s in New York.

That's one of those funny ones. NYS is eastern, but ya, this portion definitely gives off MW vibes with their accent and culture.

The Sabres in the Atlantic division and Bills in the AFC East do not feel out of place because of their state's boundaries, but UB playing in the Mid-American Conference makes more sense. That conference consists of OH, IN, MI and IL teams. Their basketball team used to play in the East Coast Conference way back in the day though.

Pittsburgh is the ultimate hybrid city. In a NE state, but on the western end. And it's a short drive to the west to the midwestern state of OH and a similarly short drive across the Mason Dixon Line to the southern state of WV.

A couple of towns in the fringe GTA I consider hybrid are Uxbridge and Beaverton. Technically within GTA boundaries, but share a lot of similarties with neighbouring regions, which is not surprising.

Uxbridge, with the farm activity and number of pickup trucks feels much like the developed areas of the Kawarthas, but it still has a good amount of GTA type housing.

Beaverton, on Lake Simcoe, feels like a town in Simcoe County.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

Hmmm..I wonder what decade was the architectural inspiration for this.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...edium=referral

https://www.centris.ca/fr/maison~a-v...7?view=Summary another interesting place for sale in the Gaspe area.

https://www.briggsfreeman.com/sales/...-linn-or-97068

Not sure about the decade, but the inspiration might be:

Antebellum.
Draconian Disney gingerbread.
Wizard of Oz (not Kansas).

[TorontoDrew]

For the record, I love Buffalo. So me saying Hamilton reminds me more of that city then Toronto was not meant to be an insult.

[O-tacular]

I guess geographically Buffalo is closer to the midwest than the coast but it’s still bizarre to me. Never heard of it considered in that way before. Is Niagara Falls ‘mid western’ too? I realize that’s an American region but still.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Is Buffalo considered midwestern? It’s in New York.

I've heard it being referred to as an American mid-western city. But I don't think it actually is if you go by the state it's in. Culturally, it seems to fit in better with mid-western cities. And it's on Lake Erie which is often associated with the Mid-west.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I guess geographically Buffalo is closer to the midwest than the coast but it’s still bizarre to me. Never heard of it considered in that way before. Is Niagara Falls ‘mid western’ too? I realize that’s an American region but still.

That border, which is a river, makes all the difference. You could live in a house on the Canadian side of the Niagara River looking across at a house on the American side and you'd have a noticeably different accent than your US counterpart. I imagine this also holds true for Windsor/Detroit, Sarnia/Port Huron, The Soo, NB/ME, SK/MB/NWO with ND/MN. But these Canadian places wouldn't be referred to as the Upper Midwest or New England.

I don't think Buffalo would officially be considered Midwest, but an affiliate of the formal Midwest. Or, it can be called unofficially Midwestern.

I don't think Buffalonians consider themselves to be proudly Midwestern though like some pepole in the Missouri Ozarks or SE Oklahomans (also in the Ozarks) consider themselves proud southerners despite being in states that are in different regions. I see it more akin to the people in southern Indiana or Illinois who feel closer to the Upland South but don't think of themselves as proud southerners. Southern PA can be like that too. Half way between Pittsburgh and the Mason Dixon Line (border with WV) is where I heard people start talking in a southern accent. So about 40 minutes drive south of Pittsburgh. So if you crossed the border from Fort Erie into Buffalo and took the I-90 and then I-79, in 4.5 hours you'd start hearing people talk in a southern accent. Half an hour further and you'd officialy be in the South, which was mind blowing to my GF when we went to a football game at WVU in Morgantown.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by megadude

That border, which is a river, makes all the difference. You could live in a house on the Canadian side of the Niagara River looking across at a house on the American side and you'd have a noticeably different accent than your US counterpart. I imagine this also holds true for Windsor/Detroit, Sarnia/Port Huron, The Soo, NB/ME, SK/MB/NWO with ND/MN. But these Canadian places wouldn't be referred to as the Upper Midwest or New England.

I don't think Buffalo would officially be considered Midwest, but an affiliate of the formal Midwest. Or, it can be called unofficially Midwestern.

I don't think Buffalonians consider themselves to be proudly Midwestern though like some pepole in the Missouri Ozarks or SE Oklahomans (also in the Ozarks) consider themselves proud southerners despite being in states that are in different regions. I see it more akin to the people in southern Indiana or Illinois who feel closer to the Upland South but don't think of themselves as proud southerners. Southern PA can be like that too. Half way between Pittsburgh and the Mason Dixon Line (border with WV) is where I heard people start talking in a southern accent. So about 40 minutes drive south of Pittsburgh. So if you crossed the border from Fort Erie into Buffalo and took the I-90 and then I-79, in 4.5 hours you'd start hearing people talk in a southern accent. Half an hour further and you'd officialy be in the South, which was mind blowing to my GF when we went to a football game at WVU in Morgantown.

Searchmont Ski Resort North of Sault Ste Marie ON used to advertise itself in Michigan as "The Rocky Mountains of the Mid-West."

The resort which I believe is owned by an American company stills claims to be in the Midwest on its website: http://www.searchmont.com/the-mountain/about-us/
Carvable Area: 100 amazing acres of natural, rolling terrain. It's why we're considered the best in the MidWest!

[megadude]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Searchmont Ski Resort North of Sault Ste Marie ON used to advertise itself in Michigan as "The Rocky Mountains of the Mid-West."

LOL. Gotta do what you gotta do to sell tickets.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

You would bnever confuse the built form of Toronto with Hamilton, that's a huge stretch.

Just to put this to bed once and for all.

• Video Link

This could never be Buffalo, or indeed anywhere in the US, but it could certainly be Toronto (this video isn't ugly at all, it's actually pure southern Ontario rough-and-tumble funkiness, but I put it here to prove a point).

[Loco101]

I've been to Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo and while I agree that Buffalo has some big differences, but there are some similarities between Hamilton and Buffalo but still big differences. The three cities have been connected in many ways but as far as buildings and houses, Buffalo is different in a number of ways from my memories.

This reminds me of a railroad company that used to exist that my now deceased family members from the Niagara Region used to tell me about. The Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway. (TH&B) And it had passenger service as well as freight. It was ridiculed in many ways because it didn't actually take you directly into Toronto or Buffalo but did go through Hamilton. Nicknames for the TH&B were "To Hell and Back" and "Tramps, Hobos and Bums."

[Proof Sheet]

https://publish.twitter.com/?query=h...6&widget=Tweet

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Just to put this to bed once and for all.

• Video Link

This could never be Buffalo, or indeed anywhere in the US, but it could certainly be Toronto (this video isn't ugly at all, it's actually pure southern Ontario rough-and-tumble funkiness, but I put it here to prove a point).

This hardly puts it to bed. I'm not wasting more time then I already have but Hamilton is like if Toronto and Buffalo had a baby. The sheer amount of homes with siding instead of bricks screams Queen City. Even the the video image befor you even open it could pass as a Western New York town.

[J.OT13]

Claridge Plaza I-IV and the new Envie private student housing. Claridge is building a new set of three towers across the street, which should be less offensive.

Truly the worst type of urbanism.


https://twitter.com/mchkzn/status/1388933004425318401

And the blank walls of Envie, inviting more wall-to-wall 27/29-ish storey towers.


https://twitter.com/mchkzn/status/1388931102530752512

[O-tacular]

I find Ottawa less ugly and more banal. It’s the only major Canadian city that I couldn’t identify based on it’s CBD when excluding parliament hill and the Chateau / National Art Gallery. The office and condo buildings just seem like a reflection of nameless bureaucrats lol!

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

And the blank walls of Envie, inviting more wall-to-wall 27/29-ish storey towers.


https://twitter.com/mchkzn/status/1388931102530752512

Why is the blank wall on those identical twins a different height on each? Drives my OCD crazy! Ok that qualifies. So does the brown metal cladding on that brick building.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I find Ottawa less ugly and more banal. It’s the only major Canadian city that I couldn’t identify based on it’s CBD when excluding parliament hill and the Chateau / National Art Gallery. The office and condo buildings just seem like a reflection of nameless bureaucrats lol!

If you remove the most prominent and identifiable features from any place, it's going to be hard to identify.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by jamincan

If you remove the most prominent and identifiable features from any place, it's going to be hard to identify.

Fair enough but my point is more that the amalgam of buildings in Ottawa’s core are unidentifiably plain. Saskatoon and Halifax have more identifiable highrises. There is no individual flair or style. I don’t know if that is intentional because of Parliament but it’s very bland.