London, Ontario extreme seasons

[Blitz]

London is the capital of Southwestern Ontario and is located halfway between Detroit and Toronto. Metro population is 450,000.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Blitz

No southern Ontario photo thread would be complete without at least a couple inconspicuous Tim Hortons cups mixed in there.

Really nice city, though I personally don't like all those ultra-bland and nondescript apartment towers that have been popping up everywhere in the city... would it really kill those promoters to do something nicer? Some of them are almost Soviet-like.

Very nice collection of mid/high office buildings for the size of the city... my city's CBD looks downright pathetic in comparison (we're a city of 200,000, but you wouldn't guess it from our downtown).

P.S. Not impressed by the snow. We got 71 cm dumped on us yesterday morning, in addition to what we already had. I've lost my car somewhere in my (huge) driveway... it's there, but you can't see it at all; I'll be using my pickup until it melts.

[Simpseatles]

Absolutely Fantastic Blitz!

[jdcamb]

Fanshawe Park is one of my favorite Urban Parks. Kind of overlooked as the City is virtually a Park in of itself. I like London a lot. Thanks for the pics...

[lio45]

I also want to take my hat off to the several generations of caring Londonian owners and tenants who made sure this unbroken stretch of vintage buildings could reach us intact:

Originally Posted by Blitz

[flar]

I haven't seen London in a long time, great thread!

[MolsonExport]

really great series of shots. Very current.
been living in London since 2005. My place of employment is featured in one of the shots (guess which one: I am in academia).

[Blitz]

^ haha, yeah, I had to really zoom in to get that shot (I took it from my balcony on the top floor of City Place).

I agree about some of the apartment towers being a little bland but at least they're still building them...it's important for the downtown.

Some of these pics were taken in December after a snowsquall brought 80cm of snow in just two days.

[Simpseatles]

Originally Posted by Blitz

^ I agree about some of the apartment towers being a little bland but at least they're still building them...it's important for the downtown.

.

Definitely. When you start thinking about it, there's been quite a few residential towers go up around downtown in the last 10 years. Cityplace, The Harriston, Renaissance, Wellington park, 180 Mill. Not great design-wise but in the end the benefits of having more residents downtown far outways the cost of a sore eye in my opinion. I mean at least they are an improvement over the Colbourne Apartments, of heaven fobid, Cherryhill (something right out of Moscow)! Not to mention Old East 1 ,which has much more of a modern glass condo design, could have an effect on the design of residential buildings in the city. Then we can have the best of both worlds: aesthetically pleasing urban residential towers and a higher population downtown.

[ColDayMan]

I will never forget London, the place for which they did NOT take credit card at the Tim Horton's near the freeway. I cursed out this little white girl yet she offered me the donuts for free.

And with that, thank you London.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures. I haven't seen London on here in a while, and only a few times since I was there a few years ago. I see that the Renaissance condo is done (it was a 3- or 4-story shell when I saw it).

That is a lot of snow! 80 cm equals 31.5 inches, which is a ton. I was going to say that we got big snows like that last year down here, but they were measly 20 and 24 inchers. Still whoppers for this area, which makes the 4 and 6 inch snows look pretty wimpy nowadays.

[HHC]

Cool! I wanna visit London in the near future.. got some buddies at Western.

[haljackey]

B-E-A-utiful! Amazing shots Blitz!

Be sure to get some more once the snow melts and the "Forest City" starts to bud.

By the way the Metro area is now very close to 500,000, half a million!. We'll see for sure when the 2011 census comes out. (Estimated 492k for last year)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Blitz

Some of these pics were taken in December after a snowsquall brought 80cm of snow in just two days.

Don't tell me about THAT damn snowsquall!! I was going through the area at that exact time, was forced to take the 401 (best route for me, 402, was closed) and the conditions were horrible. I had to make it through (I needed to get to my destination before they closed for the Christmas break) so I kept driving. Had a close call, did a 180 and hit the concrete divider on the 401 somewhere between London and Windsor... (everyone was leaving a LOT of space between vehicles, so not such a big risk.) Saw at least 50 vehicles off the road in the area... they were all over the place.

Here's the damage (right rear) on my previously quasi-pristine truck. Pics taken in the Chatham Canadian Tire parking lot the following morning, so... only a minor thread hijack for London.







Ha, sorry for hijacking the thread. I had to vent since you mentioned that snowstorm. :-p

[Thundertubs]

Cool tour. I only stopped in London briefly a few years ago, and will need to give it a better shake next time.

[ldoto]

Looking Good!!!!

[BigMeanBean]

Great thread. It's nice to see one of my old apartments in your post. Stay warm.

[MikeOnt]

NICE!!!

Cant wait for summer in London!!

[Blitz]

Thanks all, I've been meaning to do a big photo tour of London for a while because it's rarely seen on SSP.

lio45, I know what you mean. I drive from London to Windsor once a week and it's hell in the winter.

[stepper77]

Great photos! I don't think I've ever seen this much of London before. Looks like a nice city. Thanks!