The Great Canadian Towns and Villages Thread

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

It is. I don't usually spend much time in the town itself -- I might visit the trading post and walk around the harbour, grab a coffee, but that's it. Next visit I'll probably be with my wife and we'd likely do the tourist thing and have a bite to eat too.

For me it's the scenery. The lighthouse on the point across Big Tub Harbour, trails and lookout tower at Fathom Five park, and stops along the route there (Dunks Bay, Singing Sands, Bruce national park). It's also neat to drive some of the residential roads that meander along the Lake Huron shore. There are some on the Georgian Bay side too but I don't think I've gone down them yet.

From what I've heard Instagram has resulted in a lot of visitors to the Grotto.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by urbandreamer

On my recent trip to Windsor and back through small towns, I really liked Blenheim and Ridgetown. Great beach at Colchester. Two weeks ago I went up to Barry's Bay and back via a very isolated interesting route that took my through Farraday - epic driving road. I liked Haliburton, Bancroft, Coe Hill and Hastings the best of all the towns I drove through: Minden, Haliburton, Wilberforce, Maynooth, Combermere, Musclow, Bancroft, Havelock, Norwood, Hastings, Keene, Baileboro etc. Overall I prefer this side of Ontario - more isolated, less GTA people, cheaper housing, more scenic and just incredible driving roads. So now I'm torn - move to Windsor/Sarnia area for the better weather and access to Ohio/Kentucky/Tennessee or Ottawa/Cornwall/Perth area for a rugged Canadian winter and access to Montreal, Pennsylvania, Virginia etc.

Having lived in the GTA from age 13-30 and since then in eastern Ontario you couldn't pay me to move back to the GTA or 'southern Ontario'. As a friend of mine said once, 'once you get past Hamilton or Kitchener you may as well be in the USA..

Less GTA people is certainly a positive. I was in Algonquin Park a week ago and GTA people are easy to spot.

I was in Combermere a week ago. Surprisingly good food at a restaurant there.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

From what I've heard Instagram has resulted in a lot of visitors to the Grotto.

It's become a real problem at many scenic sites. Unfortunately many do not respect the natural environment, or don't even know they need to respect it, nor do they seem aware of dangers. These places end up being damaged.

I've only been to the Grotto once, long ago, but I don't recall the walk down being easy. Same thing has been happening at waterfalls around Hamilton for the past few years, to the point that the city has had to install fencing in places there never needed to be any, to keep people from climbing down into the gorges for their selfies (fire department rope rescues increased a lot; there have been serious injuries too, not just among visitors but rescuers have been hurt as well; a few deaths have occurred)

[TorontoDrew]

Originally Posted by Proof Sheet

From what I've heard Instagram has resulted in a lot of visitors to the Grotto.

So one of my good friends runs an adventure company, he takes tours to the Grotto frequently. I believe the numbers are kept under control because you need to book a day and time to park your car. There is limited parking, if you don't have one of these spots it's about a 4-5km hike from the nearest road.


Also as for the comment " GTA people are easy to spot" idiots come from all parts of the country. My same friend was in Killbear Provincial park last week with one of his tours and yelled at some people he said were from Ottawa climbing a tree that has been painted several times by the Group of 7. He said they were climbing it and breaking off small branches to take group pictures.

Lonely Pine by Craig Schenk, on Flickr

This would be the tree.


Wasaga Beach I avoid like the plague because it's nothing but 905 annoying idiots during the summer.

[Tone]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Looks like most of it is only a few feet above river/sea level. Is that on the fleuve st. laurent?

Yes, Sainte-Luce is located on the Saint-Lawrence a few kilometers east of Rimouski.


Source:https://www.facebook.com/Vuesaerienn...=page_internal

[905er]

that's my favourite pic of Rimouski!... much better angle.

[Tone]

Originally Posted by 905er

that's my favourite pic of Rimouski!... much better angle.

Agree, this might also be my favorite angle!

[megadude]

Was in Port Hope and thought I captured some nice dashcam video only to find out when I got home that $220 POS was skipping files and only recording for 1:21 per clip instead of 3 minutes so half my footage was gone. But thought I'd share a short video anyway.

Port Hope is easily one of the closest looking places in Canada to an idyllic American town you would find in the Midwest or Northeast. Hence why It was filmed there. Must have been a pain in the ass to move the million Canada flags and replace them with US flags.

• Video Link


https://www.northumberlandtourism.co.../getaways.aspx

[1ajs]

lynn lake mb last night

[esquire]

^ Gorgeous... perhaps some day you'll take us on a photo tour of Lynn Lake!

[1ajs]

or maybe ill go borrow a dog sled in feb and do a dog sled tour hahaha kinda joking but who knows

[ssiguy]

Ontario is Canada's "downtown" of small towns and villages. It has so many nice towns and hundreds of different villages to choose from and a multitude of ways to get to them. For people who like to drive around endlessly to just discover new places, Ontario is nirvana.

Sask/AB/Man certainly have a lot of roadway and villages/towns but, quite frankly, 95% of them aren't worth visiting.

[WhipperSnapper]

More GTA folks are coming everywhere. There's no escape unless you go way off the grid .

[megadude]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

Ontario is Canada's "downtown" of small towns and villages. It has so many nice towns and hundreds of different villages to choose from and a multitude of ways to get to them. For people who like to drive around endlessly to just discover new places, Ontario is nirvana.

Sask/AB/Man certainly have a lot of roadway and villages/towns but, quite frankly, 95% of them aren't worth visiting.

Like most people, I didn't care about walking around quaint or charming villages and towns. Now that I'm older, I do find walks down main streets interesting and when I don't have much to do on a Saturday or Sunday, I'll make a short trek to some place I haven't been in a while. By short I mean within half an hour.

Tomorrow I'll probably go to Dundas, ON (Hamilton area) and then go to Westfield Heritage Village after to take a trip back in time. Haven't been there, nor do I need to since I've already done the pioneer village thing at Black Creek (North York - standard field trip for west end GTA kids) plus the one around London. But it's 15 bucks for a car load and it'll give the kids something to do.

If I had money, I would do this more often and eat at the finest establishments in town. Instead, it usually ends up being Harvey's or something because for a family, it really adds up.

Closer to home where you can go on a weekday, quaint village type areas like Streetsville, Port Credit, DT Oakville, Kerr Village, Bronte Village and DT Burlington, all along the lake or river, are good options to kill 1.5 to 2 hours.

I also have a list of cheap things I save on kijiji or FB Marketplace that I want or need and I will try to get on the way to these places as it wouldn't be worthwhile driving just for one $5 or $10 item.

Lately, I've had the thought of moving to the fringe country of the GTA. My friend just got 5 acres in north Stouffville with a pond. He split his time between Etobicoke and Keswick previously. And my cousin just moved from soul sucking Milton to acreage in Erin, a few minutes north of Acton. His property also includes a pond that is fed by a narrow creek. But alas, I would really miss the vibrancy of an actual city and the ability to just hop in the car and go do something closeby.

[WhipperSnapper]

I love my neighbourhood. Unfortunately, a few of my favourite stops didn't survive the pandemic. The thing that is really getting to me (and this is surely not everywhere in Toronto or the GTA) is that it takes about an hour to drive 10 kilometres. I live in a city of millions but I end up staying in a "town of 15000" when I'm home. Street festivals are giant mobs that carry you along. Other things with limited capacities have 1000s applying for 100 places whereas, in much smaller communities, its the same 100 places and much fewer applicants.

I stayed at a friend's place; a 11,000 square foot house he purchased for 3 million USD. I wouldn't want to live his lifestyle. I did come to the realization that the equity I have tied up in real estate has so little worth in Toronto. It also is a bubble.

I'd love to have a place to have all my tools set up ready to go and a chest of gold buried somewhere on the property.

[megadude]

Although I've driven through three times before, I finally walked around a little bit in Dundas today. There are better Main Streets out there, but you can always find interesting housing stock in a town's downtown.

I walked a couple of blocks behind Main Street and man, there's some beautes as you might expect. I really love the ecclectic mix and wish every neighbourhood was like this. Mind you, as much as a I admire houses like these, I wouldn't want to live in these as family due to the single wide driveways, possibly only one car parking and small yards.

I like being able to walk around the corner for some entertainment and shopping, but on a smaller scale like this or any suburban downtown (not downtown TO for me) with some vibrancy and some natural features that hopefully includes water.



https://justinpluslauren.com/things-...undas-ontario/


Brandon Bartoszek

[urbandreamer]

Dundas is certainly the nicest neighbourhood greater Hamilton - you could argue Ancaster is the wealthiest but Dundas feels more interesting - I wish that stretch between Dundas and McMaster had a continuous Victorian streetwall.

Yesterday I drove from KW to London via Stratford and St Marys - in some ways I prefer St Marys to Stratford. On the way home, I was thinking the miles upon miles of field corn had a sort of soothing streetwall effect that only Victorian-era architecture does; towns like Thorndale - growing like crazy even since I was through there a year ago - and Kintore. Small town Ontario, at least north and west of the GTA, is becoming the new suburban dream.

I randomly drive through small towns for no reason other than sheer curiosity: since getting my DL 2 year's ago I've driven nearly 100,000km across Ontario.

[megadude]

I'd probably prefer Ancaster if I had to live in one or the other because of that wealth, even though those people can be snooty and arrogant. Dundas I've heard has a little bit more sketch factor. Afterall, there is a dude known for flying a confederate flag on a pole from his yard. For years. There was also an older guy walking between cars and looking through the windows yesterday at Dundas Driving Park.

My cousin got married at Ancaster Mill and there's some nice geography there, but Dundas is right up against the Escarpment so I think it actually has more interesting geography. However, I feel like Ancaster is a little bit more sophisticated having passed through there a few times and based on the credit applications I used to process back in one of my old jobs. It's the Oakville of Hamilton I guess.

However, Ancaster's Main Street is underwhelming. Every time I pass through I ask why there isn't more to this. There's nothing bad about it, and there's a handful of attractive buildings but I feel like there should be more.

When you think of the explosion of Waterdown's subdivision development, you think there's a lot of people there and so they should have a decent Main Street, but all that population is way too new so again, there's not as much going on downtown there either. A few nice elements for sure, but Dundas definitely beats both of them out.

As I'm an angler, I preferred St. Mary's riverside over Stratford's. And I liked the little quarry there. Cool to have the baseball HOF too. But Stratford has so much more substance to it. If I had to live in either it's definitely going to be Stratford.

These tiny communites you often mention are often off my radar. Never heard of them. I guess there are people moving there for affordability, but a suburban dream? I'm not sure what you mean by that. There's basically nothing to do in these places and they're surrounded by nothingness. At least they're not too far from actual cities.

I also pay attention to things like streetwalls. It's why I hate open ended stadiums where you can see the parking lot on one end and some boulevard with cars passing by on the other. It's nice to have something to close in empty gaps to create some kind of intimacy, even if it's in the distance, when it comes to being on the road. It sure would be nice to see mountains (or hills or the Escarpment) in the distance even if you're driving on a flat road with nothing but parched grass. It's also why I like wires crossing overhead in a small downtown. It encloses the space and creates some intimacy. I don't mean like 1930s New York, but some wires here and there with a couple banners too. Throw in a gateway entrance sign too on each end.

I do get why prairies people like "big sky" and vast open space. It's what they're used to and it can be beautiful when the sun is shining. But I'm not used to that and it is nice to be driving along tree or rock (Canadian Shield) lined roads when on a long road trip. So I do appreciate that about northern and eastern ON, but I do still find some interest in driving around SWO and seeing the crop fields along the way and the barn and farm house in the back.

With the price of gas right now, you might have to scale back on the kms. I almost went with an Acura MDX (used), but the need for higher octane gas spooked me.

[megadude]

I'm seriously thinking about doing a Brantford, Paris, Galt, Hespeler, KW, Guelph, Elora, Fergus and Erin trip soon. Hespeler, DTK, Fergus and Erin I've never explored. And my cousin just bought a home on acreage in Erin with a pond and he doesn't even know what fish is in it. So I might to go there and slay some fish. Well, slay figuratively, not literally. Need to keep that fish population to eat those god damn mosquitos on the surface of the water.

And dammit, my friend also recently bought acreage with a pond, but in north Stouffville and he hasn't even stepped foot within 20 yards of it because the previous owner let weeds and fescue, etc. grow chest high. Maybe I will have to do a DT Newmarket, DT Stouffville (never been - only my cousin's house in the soulless subdivision by Walmart) and Uxbridge trek.

Not enough time and gas prices really getting to be a major pain in the ass.

[ScreamingViking]

I drove back from Montreal today, part of the trip down the 2-lane roads close to the river and the Thousand Islands Parkway.

I believe someone mentioned Brockville here -- it was pouring rain so I didn't stop, but it looked like it would be great for exploring.

Gananoque too, though it seemed to have rougher edges.