Guelph, Ontario: Canada's Royal City & the place of skyscraper wind tunnel tests

[miketoronto]

I was in Guelph for two days for an urban planning convention, and I had some time to walk around the downtown. So I took some pictures, eventhough it was cold out

Guelph is located about an hour and ten minutes north west of Toronto, and is famous for the University of Guelph. The U of G is actually world reknown in the skyscraper circle, as many of the worlds tallest buildings have had their designed wind tunnel tested at the U of G. The U of G has the most advanced wind tunnel machines.

Downtown Guelph for a small Ontario city is really great. It does not have the decay that other cities near Guelph have, and the downtown is still a hot spot for shopping, dining, and entertainment. The store mix is very high quality, and the university students at the convention liked to point out that downtown has over 40 entertainment venues.
The restaurants I tried downtown were very good, and the city has this alternative edge to it.

Also of note is that unlike most other small city Ontario downtowns. Downtown Guelph is not a single long main street. Instead downtown Guelph is a collection of little streets, that actually form a little uneven grid of streets. So you have plenty of blocks to stroll around on, etc.

It was cold out, so I did not snap as many pics as I wanted or wander as much as I wanted. But enjoy.

Guelph has about 100,000 people.

The University of Guelph




Downtown Guelph

This church overlooks the entire downtown from a hill.






View from the church.








St. Georges Square, the heart of downtown. This is where all the buses meet. Bus service is pretty good for a city this small, with buses during the day running every 20 minutes to all points of the city, and every 30 minutes at night. They even have late night bus service until 3 a.m. from Wednesday to Sunday nights, for the downtown revelers. Although the overnight night service does only go to the south side of the city, where the university is.




















The rest of downtown



































































On the bus back to the university.








Back downtown for dinner. Downtown on a cold night.

[MplsTodd]

I visited Guelph back around 2001 and really liked the city. The stone and slate facades on the buildings were especially impressive. I do remember walking through an enclosed mall in the downtown that was, at the time, was probably about half-empty. Did you happen to walk through it? If so, how's it doing?

[MOTOR]

Nice photos as always, Mike. Canada is full of great cities.

[miketoronto]

Originally Posted by MplsTodd

I visited Guelph back around 2001 and really liked the city. The stone and slate facades on the buildings were especially impressive. I do remember walking through an enclosed mall in the downtown that was, at the time, was probably about half-empty. Did you happen to walk through it? If so, how's it doing?

The mall is gone. It was turned into a stadium. And one small portion was redone as an enclosed street, called Old Quebec Street. It basically is an extension of Quebec Street, but is like an arcade. It has maybe a dozen or so shops in it, and offices above. In the warm months, they open these huge glass doors, and it is a covered street so to speak.
But yeah the old Eaton Centre is gone.

[ColDayMan]

SaveaPharm!

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures. I'm guessing that that's a Catholic church on the top of the hill? How did a Catholic church get put in the middle of a Canadian town?

[softee]

Another great yet small Ontario city!

[LMich]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Nice pictures. I'm guessing that that's a Catholic church on the top of the hill? How did a Catholic church get put in the middle of a Canadian town?

You know, I was about to make some sarcastic crack (i.e. "there aren't any Catholics in Canada?"), but after looking at the history and demographics of the city, I have the very same questions. Looking at the demographics, this has been one of the most WASPy major cities in the province for decades, it seems.

[Thundertubs]

Great downtown. I like the gray stone look of the place.

[subterranean]

Cute town. One of my friends went to the University of Guelph for her MLA and I always wondered what the place looked like. Thanks for posting.

[DHLawrence]

Originally Posted by LMich

You know, I was about to make some sarcastic crack (i.e. "there aren't any Catholics in Canada?"), but after looking at the history and demographics of the city, I have the very same questions. Looking at the demographics, this has been one of the most WASPy major cities in the province for decades, it seems.

The founder of Guelph, John Galt, gave the land to the Church because he had been supported in his land development efforts by the Bishop of Kingston, Bishop Macdonell. In his autobiography, he wrote:

"a beautiful central hill was reserved for the Catholics, in compliment to my friend, Bishop Macdonell, for his advice in the formation of the [Canada] Company."

In Guelph's early history, much of the population was Irish, which further explains the presence of a Catholic cathedral in Ontario.

http://www.churchofourlady.com/history.htm

[asher11]

Actually, there are more catholics in canada than any other religion.

[flar]

Many towns in Southern Ontario are about half and half Protestant and Catholic.


I toured Guelph 2 or 3 years ago, it's got an impressive and healthy downtown. Many great stone buildings and excellent Victorian housing stock.

[Dr Nevergold]

Cute town!

[samne]

I like Guelph. Its a quirky-hippy town, with a lot of things to do close by.

[jdcamb]

My Uncle went to prison in Guelph. I used to visit there quite a lot as a child for Hockey Tournaments...

[OhioGuy]

I enjoyed the photo tour.