City Analogues

[MolsonExport]

What other city looks most like your city, in terms of physical characteristics?

I still think of Montreal as my hometown. It is hard to think of a city that has the river in the forefront and large hills/small mountain(s) right behind the skyline. (Vancouver is on a completely other level with its soaring peaks).

Pittsburgh, maybe? I cannot find a good skyline shot of Pittsburgh that has its mountains/hills as a backdrop, but the city does have mountains of similar height to Mount Royal, and is on the (mighty Ohio, as well as the Monogahela) river. It has a skyline comprised of buildings from various eras, with none too tall (not a sore-thumb, rather like Montreal's skyline).


pittsburghmagazine

What are the best Analogue skylines for Vancouver? (Santiago? Hong Kong? Rio?)
For Toronto? (Chicago? Sydney? surely not Seattle?)
For Calgary? (Dallas?)
For Victoria? (Christchurch, NZ?)
For Edmonton?
Ottawa?
Quebec City?
Winnipeg?
etc.

[SignalHillHiker]

Hobart, Tasmania is the general consensus for St. John’s.

I like the other St. John’s (Antigua): https://flic.kr/p/6swbXh

There are also a few very small towns in the northeast United States that have EXACTLY our style of rowhouses with the Mansard roofs, the same scale of hilly streets. Many of theirs, though, are stone.

And, of course, my favourite quote from that Canadian travel writer:

Morris finds St. John’s “the most entertaining town in North America: windy, fishy, anecdotal, proud, weather-beaten, quirky, obliging, ornery, and fun, full of irresistible talkers about themselves and their festivals, dramatically fjord-like harbour, and chunky wooden streets whose kind of throwaway picturesqueness suggests to me sometimes a primitive San Francisco, sometimes Bergen in Norway, occasionally China, and often an Ireland of long ago.”

[MonctonRad]

For Maritime cities:

Halifax - obviously Boston
Saint John - Portland ME
Moncton - Bangor ME
Fredericton - Augusta ME

Charlottetown & Sydney NS, I'm not so sure.

[Echoes]

Edmonton and Saskatoon are cousins. Each with a river as the defining physical feature, each overlooked by a grand railway hotel. The downtowns are on one side of the river (along with the roughest part of town just adjacent), while the university campus and trendiest urban strip (Whyte and Broadway) are on the other side. The old railway yards that established the downtown areas have been removed and redeveloped. Commie block architecture abounds in the residential high rise stock.

[someone123]

Augusta ME looks like a nice little town that follows the trend of tiny US state capitals. Fredericton is sort of similar but a bigger city in a smaller province.

Aside from being much smaller Halifax has been diverging from Boston for years now. The biggest difference seems to be that inner parts of the city have relatively little construction in Boston and it's slanted toward high-end commercial, boutique residential, and institutional projects. Meanwhile Halifax has a lot of relatively larger scale medium range residential. I wonder which metro has more highrise apartment buildings. Probably Boston but I'd guess the gap is much smaller than people think.

One interesting comparison is the Big Dig vs. Cogswell development. The Big Dig ended up being a super expensive underground highway project with mostly parks on top. Cogswell in Halifax isn't done yet but it's expected to be just surface streets with some modestly expanded transit and then lots of highrises built on the new land parcels.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Edmonton and Saskatoon are cousins. Each with a river as the defining physical feature, each overlooked by a grand railway hotel. The downtowns are on one side of the river (along with the roughest part of town just adjacent), while the university campus and trendiest urban strip (Whyte and Broadway) are on the other side. The old railway yards that established the downtown areas have been removed and redeveloped. Commie block architecture abounds in the residential high rise stock.

I'd agree with that.

Winnipeg is similar in feel to Regina and Edmonton, maybe less so Saskatoon. But that's not a controversial take as cities in the same region tend to have a lot in common.

I can't say I've visited any cities abroad that feel just like Winnipeg. I've been to cities with certain elements that make you fee like you're in Winnipeg, but not really the whole city or even downtown area. I haven't spent too much time in the midwestern US states but I suppose places like Omaha or Des Moines might fit the bill.

[Echoes]

Oh, and Saskatoon and Edmonton both got a CN Tower where the train station used to be.

(Although one is much more elegant.)

[Dengler Avenue]

Vancouver and Quebec City (if you're coming from the South Shore)

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

For Maritime cities:

Halifax - obviously Boston
Saint John - Portland ME
Moncton - Bangor ME
Fredericton - Augusta ME

Charlottetown & Sydney NS, I'm not so sure.

I'd actually suggest Halifax and Portland, ME, rather than Boston. Besides being much closer in terms of metro population, Portland is also a northeastern maritime city built on a peninsula, in an otherwise largely rural state/province. Both have historic downtowns flanked by a traditionally wealthy neighbourhood on one side, and a gentrifying but historically working-class/racialized one on the other. (South End vs. North End in Halifax, West End vs. East End in Portland.)

It isn't a perfect match of course: Halifax, like Boston, is a university town, and Portland isn't, at least not especially. (Then again, in Boston that means Harvard and MIT. So as much as I hold Dalhousie & co. in esteem, we're not exactly comparing apples to apples here.)

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I'd actually suggest Halifax and Portland, ME, rather than Boston. Besides being much closer in terms of metro population, Portland is also a northeastern maritime city built on a peninsula, in an otherwise largely rural state/province.

To me it's always been surprising how dissimilar Portland is from Halifax given how close the two cities are. In fact Halifax doesn't really look much like any New England city, even though the natural setting is similar.

I don't mean that as some kind of insult or competitive thing; I think a lot of New England cities are nice. But their carefully preserved red brick downtowns and heavily gentrified low density heritage residential districts don't remind me of Halifax much at all. And New England cities don't have analogs to Halifax's suburban highrise residential buildings. These days it seems Halifax is sort of dumpier looking than most of the New England cities but more flexible and vibrant. It reminds me of discussions on decadence and dynamism; I think Portland and Boston have slipped into decadence territory.

[kool maudit]

For Montreal, Philadelphia always struck me as a good comparison. I have never been to Chicago, and I have always found certain street views very Montreal-esque, but everyone who has visited tells me that, no, there is a pervasive difference.

I can see Pitsburgh, as Molson says, but that is also one of the only analogues I can think of for Toronto in a strictly vernacular architecture sense (obviously the scale, setting and landscapes are totally different). Streets like this just subtly hint 'Toronto' to me.

https://goo.gl/maps/Zy7rpsELM1x2Xxq36

Over here, it was obvious that Copenhagen was a part of that bricky, northern European scene centred on Hamburg and Amsterdam, but Stockholm is different and I will have to explore the region more. Stockholm has an Eastern, Baltic quality that almost seems to point to St. Petersburg at its outer limit. Pastels, domes, vaguely overpowering blocks with celebratory corners.

https://goo.gl/maps/NbxNyHSimdMooyZF6

https://goo.gl/maps/vgLCv5aqZm3Qq8zw5

It is part of something I haven't fully grasped yet.

[savevp]

Neat thread idea. In spite of climactic differences, Australian cities tend to be good analogues for Canada.

Melbourne is, as many have said before, analogous to Toronto. The inner suburbs in particular are almost carbon copies of Toronto's East and West Ends; strips of 2- and 3-storey brick retail along straight arterials with trams running down the centre. The whole city has a subtle topography, like Toronto, with nearby escarpment. There's also the 'messy urbanism' of Toronto and though TO is pulling away, Melbourne is also experiencing massive growth and redevelopment.

Hobart as St. John's works too; a fairly remote island capital on the edge of civilisation, the last safe harbour before an unforgiving sea. When I was there, I had thoughts of Halifax, but either works.

Woolongong NSW is like Hamilton as a steel town with changing economics, and in terms of its relationship to Sydney/Toronto.

I have Byron Bay and the peri-rural surrounds as analogous to Vancouver Island outside Victoria.

Darwin is a tropical Yellowknife, I think. And to that matter, much of the Australian interior retains a similar frontier, folksy, wild west vibe to the Yukon.

Sydney is too much like LA to be Canadian, but I found some parallels to Vancouver in terms of the outdoorsy attitude and favourable climate (and relative lack of cultural amenities). I would think New Zealand as a whole may have some parallels to Vancouver Island or Nova Scotia, too.

Beyond Australia, I find Toronto increasingly feeling like Amsterdam and Berlin. The Amsterdam comparisons are established but the hip, messy, up and coming Berlin vibe seems pervasive in Toronto. Montreal has obvious connections to parts of New York City, maybe Brooklyn, especially the old Jewish influenced areas like Mile End and then the hipster hangouts in the Southwest. MTL is way too cool and 'underground' to be New York though, and really is its own thing entirely. It definitely isn't like Paris, though I do feel the same driving on Decarie through the inner West suburbs as I do passing through Neuilly-sur-Seine or Levallois-Perret in Paris. Wonder if anyone can relate on that score?

Halifax to me doesn't seem anything like New England. It's much more like Dublin, I think. Also, I've not totally convinced myself yet, but Ottawa as Geneva or at least somewhat 'Swiss' seems increasingly apt to me.

[Harrison]

Originally Posted by Echoes

Edmonton and Saskatoon are cousins. Each with a river as the defining physical feature, each overlooked by a grand railway hotel. The downtowns are on one side of the river (along with the roughest part of town just adjacent), while the university campus and trendiest urban strip (Whyte and Broadway) are on the other side. The old railway yards that established the downtown areas have been removed and redeveloped. Commie block architecture abounds in the residential high rise stock.

Agreed in full.

[savevp]

Originally Posted by Harrison

Agreed in full.

And each with a massive project underway that will redefine the skyline and city centre; Ice District and River Landing.

[Acajack]

The older historic parts of Quebec City: Saint-Malo, France

The older but not-so-historic parts: Montreal/Philadelphia

The rest of the city: take your pick of most anywhere in Canada-USA

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by savevp

It definitely isn't like Paris, though I do feel the same driving on Decarie through the inner West suburbs as I do passing through Neuilly-sur-Seine or Levallois-Perret in Paris. Wonder if anyone can relate on that score?

Freaky. I have always said that driving down Décarie feels like the Boulevard Périphérique, which is the fully circular autoroute that marks the boundary between Paris city proper and its suburbs.

[savevp]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Freaky. I have always said that driving down Décarie feels like the Boulevard Périphérique, which is the fully circular autoroute that marks the boundary between Paris city proper and its suburbs.

That was what I was thinking of, thank you! Extremely similar visually.

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The older historic parts of Quebec City: Saint-Malo, France

The older but not-so-historic parts: Montreal/Philadelphia

The rest of the city: take your pick of most anywhere in Canada-USA

Agreed with Saint-Malo/Old Quebec City. As a matter of fact, I thought about Saint-Malo when I first saw this very thread, and before you brought it up.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

Over here, it was obvious that Copenhagen was a part of that bricky, northern European scene centred on Hamburg and Amsterdam, .

It also has a lot in common with former Hanseatic cities like Lubeck (once much more important) and Gdansk.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

What other city looks most like your city, in terms of physical characteristics?

I still think of Montreal as my hometown. It is hard to think of a city that has the river in the forefront and large hills/small mountain(s) right behind the skyline. (Vancouver is on a completely other level with its soaring peaks).

Pittsburgh, maybe? I cannot find a good skyline shot of Pittsburgh that has its mountains/hills as a backdrop, but the city does have mountains of similar height to Mount Royal, and is on the (mighty Ohio, as well as the Monogahela) river. It has a skyline comprised of buildings from various eras, with none too tall (not a sore-thumb, rather like Montreal's skyline).


pittsburghmagazine
.

You just reminded me of just how awesome the cathedral-like One PPPG Place is.

No one ever talks about it!