The Great Canadian Skyline thread for CMAs 1 million and under

[itom 987]

Is that a toll bridge? If it is, they should remove the toll.

[Dalreg]

Originally Posted by itom 987

Is that a toll bridge? If it is, they should remove the toll.

Why?

[Nouvellecosse]

Both the bridges are toll bridges, and on neither of them should they remove the toll. Although it might be nice to have boothless tolls like highway 407 in order to improve traffic flow and reduce overheard costs.

[Tone]

Originally Posted by itom 987

Is that a toll bridge? If it is, they should remove the toll.

They even have a toll on the highway leading to Halifax which I find kinda sad since its part of the Trans-Canada Highway but I know how to avoid it..

[osmo]

My view is that the Tolls are fine when there is another longer route available. Oddly my first experience with tolls was in BC, but those have been shut down so it appears Nova Scotia leads the way with toll roads in Canada currently.

Japan and USA seem to do a good job in getting road costs paid for with tolls. It also

[Tone]

^That's nice to know, the toll was still there last time I was in BC but that was already a few years ago. How time flies.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by osmo

My view is that the Tolls are fine when there is another longer route available. Oddly my first experience with tolls was in BC, but those have been shut down so it appears Nova Scotia leads the way with toll roads in Canada currently.

Japan and USA seem to do a good job in getting road costs paid for with tolls. It also

I expect in the electrified future of personal transportation that we will all be paying virtual road tolls based on usage.

Right now gas taxes pay for road maintenance (at least they're supposed to). Once gas consumption starts to plummet, then alternative revenue streams to pay for road construction and maintenance will be necessary. You could increase taxes on electricity, but this would unfairly penalize people without cars. The alternative would be to tax each vehicle based on kilometrage. If all vehicles are GPS enabled and permanently on-line, this could be easily accomplished. You could even vary the rate per km depending on the road travelled on and the time of day in order to deal with problems of congestion.....

[hipster duck]

Originally Posted by someone123

Halifax

Source

I actually should go to Halifax and check it out for myself, but at first sight, my impression is that there is a very awkward transition zone between the downtown and the North End. There is something that looks like a Staples, and then a weird low slung building with a sloped roof and then a bunch of surface parking lots. That's a shame. It looks like the real meat of the North End is around where that armoury is, and to the north, but the piece connecting that to downtown feels like a bit of a no man's land.

[Nouvellecosse]

It isn't just the transition; the northwestern part of downtown itself just isn't that great. Mid 20th century urban renewal resulting in parking podiums, commie blocks, set backs, blank walls etc. Basically everything in the triangle between Barrington, Duke, the Hill and Cogswell is... blah. Probably will be tough to fix although the planned addition to Scotia Square and some recent construction including street-level retail on Brunswick are helping.

[someone123]

Yeah, that area is pretty much what it looks like. There is little of interest at street level and there isn't a good path for pedestrians between the Barrington and Gottingen areas.

Those parking lots aren't that old though. One is from a warehouse that burned down a couple years ago and another was demolition for a new development. They'll probably be developed in the next few years. The Cogswell interchange is coming down too.

Halifax is worth the trip from Toronto and it has a somewhat unique flavour. It is not as picturesque as say Quebec City but it has a lot of history for a Canadian city.

[Echoes]

This would've been taken last fall as you can see the cranes at River Landing:


Source

[Brizzy82]

Winnipeg


source

[Kris22]

^I've never seen that angle of Winnipeg before. Thanks!

[Tone]

Rimouski

[Laceoflight]

^ Rimouski la Jolie !

[KnoxfordGuy]

Fall 2017. Saint John, NB

Originally Posted by Fischbob

The City has unveiled a new homepage as part of its web site redesign project. Still very much a work in progress as the Services and News section still links to the old site. It looks quite slick though (and should be more mobile-friendly), and the background image cycles through some great shots of the city including this recent aerial view of the Peninsula:



And this view of the Uptown:

[OTSkyline]

^Cool shots. Where are these cruise ships coming from and where are they heading? Do they actually stop and let passengers out to explore... Saint John's, NB?

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

^Cool shots. Where are these cruise ships coming from and where are they heading? Do they actually stop and let passengers out to explore... Saint John's, NB?

Saint John. No 's.

Cruise Ships typically come up the US East Coast and do a route around the Maritimes and Quebec. I think some come from further south but most passengers i've talked to are from NY/MA/VA...The Norwegian Gem, as an example, leaves NYC and visits Halifax, Saint John, Bar Harbor, and Portland before returning. The Royal Caribbean sails out of Baltimore and visits Boston, SJ, Halifax, Bar Harbour...

Yes, people actually get out and yes, people actually explore. Saint John is set to receive 75 ships in 2018 totalling 246K passengers and crew. Cruise activity represents $50M annually to NB's economy, including $21.5M in direct spending and roughly 300 jobs.

https://www.sjport.com/thirtieth-ann...s-19-increase/

https://www.sjport.com/cruise/cruise-schedule/

[MonctonRad]

In addition to Saint John (no "s") and Halifax, both Sydney and Charlottetown get considerable cruise ship traffic as well. Some cruise ships go to Quebec City and even Montreal. The odd cruise ship even makes it to St. John's (note the "s").

Not only do passengers get out and wander around the historic ports, there are often excursions to nearby attractions like the Fundy Trail, Fundy National Park, Hopewell Rocks, Peggy's Cove, Green Gables, Fortress Louisbourg etc (depending on your port of call).

The cruise ship industry is pretty big on the east coast and it can be really neat seeing three (and sometimes even four) cruise ships berthed at a time in Halifax and Saint John. The season extends well into October for the "leaf peepers".

[Odyssey]

parts of Windsor's skyline as seen from the Cobo Hall in Detroit
CMA ~ 344,747