Where Do You See Your City?

[Razor]

In say 25-30 years?

I was just looking at some of the transit maps on another thread, which spawned this idea.

Be semi-realistic, but you could also include future completed projects that are just conceptual right now...Kind of a Sim city for your own city, but again being realistic about the achievements. So futurists, take out your crystal balls and have fun with this.


A few for for Ottawa for starters.

I can see Hi- Tech making a large come back , as it never completely went away.The infrastructure is still here, and the proximity to the federal government is the enticement for setting up shop in an already established Hi-tech area...As a result, I can see Kanata taking on that secondary skyline or third skyline if you were to count Gatineau taking on that strong secondary role. ..Maybe Kanata will not be at the same scale as Mississauga, North York or Burnaby is to their respective cities, but I can see a larger skyline popping up in the West end with more Hi Tech and research and development clusters of towers moving in over the next 30 years.

Height restrictions will be more relaxed, and I can't see why this recent push on condos can't continue, but with more daring architecture and some height.


Phase two of the Light rail will be completed, and this will help all the condo developers' plans to intensify downtown westward adding some much needed flair to the dull government buildings..

The new Arena will be realized and built at Lereton Flats..The CTC will just be converted to offices somehow.I can't see it being a white elephant for long.

A tunnel running down Bank street from Billings Bridge to Wellington will also be completed.By then LRT will basically run from Bayshore to Orleans East To West, and to Letrim road South through expansion of the already existing South Keys.There will also be three tunnels by then..One on Rideau Street (being constructed right now), One under the parkway under NCC lands as part of the phase two LRT expansion, and one on Bank Street.

I know they have plans on the Gatineau side including a rapid bus route, so it would be interesting to hear from others, and how it would seam into Ottawa's overall future plans.

Maybe Ottawa's metro will be hovering around the 2.0 million mark maybe 1.8..30 years to pick up roughly 300,00- 500,000 people is a tad optimistic but not that much out of reach.

Now if that interprovincial HSR line ever gets realized In the next 30 years, that could be a game changer..More businesses would set up shop in all cities involved along the route, but that's a different thread.

[SignalHillHiker]

In my estimation, St. John's is going to continue to sprawl for quite some time yet as rural Newfoundlanders move to the northeast Avalon - probably enough that St. John's CMA and Bay Roberts CA will merge and no more beyond that. The urban portion of the city is already dwarfed in geographic area and population by the suburban, exurban, and rural sprawl that surrounds it. This will only get worse - however, density will increase in the inner suburbs - especially the West and East ends of St. John's, Mount Pearl, Paradise, and Conception Bay South.

Once this influx of economic refugees from rural Newfoundland is exhausted, the city's population growth will stagnate. We attract precious few people from any other source.

The Province will eventually have to force some sort of amalgamation of the various municipalities that comprise the St. John's CMA. Public pressure will probably ensure that the City of St. John's remains what it is, and potentially the City of Mount Pearl is untouched as well, while the remainder are amalgamated into just one or two other municipalities. Regional cooperation will develop in regards to certain municipal services, such as public transit and garbage collection.

The City of St. John's will continue to chip away at its heritage, especially in Heritage Zones with less than Level 1 protection and in areas outside of the Old Town core. This may result in a few attractive modern buildings but I wouldn't hold my breath. Victories like Fortis Place are few and far between for us. Development in St. John's has been little more than a race to build the ugliest building.

If the Conservatives remain in power federally, St. John's will continue to be strip-mined of anything that could possibly be closed down or serve the province from Halifax instead. This will continue province-wide, with anything that relies on federal dollars - from Goose Bay to Gander - suffering death by a thousand budget cuts.

Development will be allowed at elevations where it is currently prohibited. It'll be suburban in character, no matter its proximity to the core.

If the Liberals remain in power long provincially, the same process carried out by the Feds will be used to transfer offices and services out of St. John's to other municipalities. Expect more decisions like the one that's resulted in St. John's having absolutely NO DMV. The nearest one - and the only one for almost 275,000 people - is in Mount Pearl. Compare that to most mainland Canadian cities, which have many within their boundaries.

But, it'll be fine. The city will continue on with its unique strength of character, culture, accents, and everything else. It'll still be blocked with icebergs, whales, and tourists in the summer and huddled around a pint in a dingy bar during the winter. It'll still revolve around its music. Its high schools will still have choirs among the top-ranked in the world, and still be bringing home awards from Vienna and Dublin.

Everything that's great about her now will still be there, and perhaps even a little more abundant. And everything that's horrid about her now will have grown exponentially, but almost all of it safely outside Empire Avenue, out of sight, and out of mind. It matters little to me whether the Corolla passing my rowhouse commuted from Paradise in 2014 or Bay Roberts in 2034. I hate the driver's existence anyway.

Oh, we've had our share of history
We've seen nations come and go
We've seen battles rage over land and stage
Five hundred years and more
For glory or for freedom
For country or for King

All the 9-5s survive the day
With a sigh and a dose of salts
And they're parkin' their cars and packin' the bars
And dancin' the St. John's Waltz

So leave the wayward free to wander
Leave the restless free to roam
You'll find your way back home
So don't question or inquire
What's been gained, what's been lost
In this world of romance, don't miss out on your chance
To be dancin' the St. John's Waltz

[BretttheRiderFan]

The economy will continue to grow into the future as the province's economy diversifies, but the growth will be more stable in the Edmonton of 2040. Sectors such as health care, education and construction will continue to be important. Overall, it will be a much more livable city, with the LRT fully built out to the international airport (and directly connecting via high speed rail to Calgary), the Valley Line from Mill Woods (likely extending further south into a more sprawled out city) to past the West Edmonton Mall. The Metro Line by this time has extended into the city limits of St. Albert, which is far more integrated into the city by now, but not amalgamated. Whyte Avenue is a car-free zone of hubbing activity, serviced by an old-fashioned trolley line running from 109st street to 99th street (okay, maybe some wishful thinking here ).

Downtown will continue to swell in population and density, with the City Centre airport being closed for nearly 30 years (and a watered down version of Don Iveson's vision for the Blatchford Redevelopment standing in its place, with plenty of mid-scale development and residential space, with beautiful greeneries and transit accessibility) Edmonton has done a great deal of catching up to the skyline a city of its size and economic clout should have, and the skyline will look similar to Calgary's today, but extending even further along the river valley.

Traffic in the city is still a nightmare, the metro population has swelled to just north of 2 million, and the population is far more diverse than the already diverse reality of Edmonton today, with many more multi-racial and Metis residents. The Edmonton of 2040 is home to the largest Aboriginal population in Canada, and has been for almost 20 years, solidly putting it in the category of cultural capital of Aboriginal Canada (which is a much more prominent part of our national landscape overall in 2040 than today). This will also present a bevy of challenges as well as opportunity for the city.

The river valley has been spruced up to be more than simply uncontrolled brush and continues to be the jewel of the city, known all over the continent. The University of Alberta, Macewan and NAIT have all grown substantially, making Edmonton one of the educational and research centres of Canada.

There will be talk of seriously renovating the downtown Rogers Place Arena (which will undoubtedly be renamed to something like Huawei Place or the Alibaba Centre by then) to meet the standards of the NHL of 2040, but it won't be moved out of the downtown core. The pedway system has been expanded, and it's now possible for many downtown dwellers to completely remove themselves from the ever-more extreme climates during the winter months. Commonwealth Stadium has seen further reductions in seating capacity and is more intimate, but the building is still one of the best in the league after many upgrades and the atmosphere at Eskimos games is superior to 2014. Edmonton also has a franchise in the MLS that enjoys strong fan support playing out of Commonwealth Stadium (the league also expands to Ottawa, but Calgary remains uninterested).

By this time the provincial governing party are known as the Democratic Conservatives, formed after the merger of the opposition NDP with the governing Tories in 2021.

[Pinion]

Asian majority population in Vancouver/Richmond/Burnaby/Coquitlam, Burnaby/Metrotown has the most impressive skyline in the region, blue collar workers commute from beyond Abbotsford while Surrey continues to have a terrible reputation and underbuilt urban core, especially since the downtown east side has gentrified and all its current residents will be kicked out to Whalley. New Westminster is the hottest place to live for the remaining few ethnic European youngsters. Housing prices inexplicably double with no improvement to the regional economy, beyond the increasingly important sea port.

As far as transportation, skytrain lines down Hastings and Broadway. New Patullo and Massey bridges (10 lanes for the latter), maybe plans to build a third north shore crossing by then and turn Lions Gate into a bikes-and-transit-only bridge.

Basically this

• Video Link

[scryer]

Because I pretty much live in two cities at this point in my life, and bearing in mind that everything is subjective...

Vancouver

Mostly what the previous post just said. But I have a feeling that the Asian influence on Vancouver will affect the tourism economy and raise identity issues about Vancouver across the country. This will cause politicians to react; I don't know how.



Winnipeg

Shortly after "phase 2" of the BRT is completed and running, the next step will be upgrading the entire system to LRT. Most likely a grade-integrated one which is what they should have done in the first place (IMO). But this won't be done for a LONG time, knowing the 'Peg. And people will NOT trust public transit projects for a long time as well, and continue to be a car-centric city.

Winnipeg will continue developing its suburbs to the Perimeter highway before considering densification. There may be a highrise or an infill here and there but nothing to really attract anyone downtown; just some minor projects downtown.

There will come a time where Winnipeg will actually need to address The Bay downtown. This probably won't happen until the structural integrity of The Bay is crumbling. Honestly, I think that turning some of the parking lots around it into infill residential buildings (NOT student housing) may help but I ain't no architect or city planner.

[GreaterMontréal]

Montréal will have a big table topped skyline.

[kwoldtimer]

K-W will be one pole of a thriving K-W/Toronto high tech corridor. It will be a prosperous and amazingly diverse region and a key engine of Ontario's economy. Kitchener will actually have a skyline!

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Once this influx of economic refugees from rural Newfoundland is exhausted, the city's population growth will stagnate. We attract precious few people from any other source.

Honestly I think if this commodities bust last another year or so I think your gonna start seeing population contraction.

Aside from us poor refugees, I seriously doubt you'll be able to attract people from anywhere else long term.

The city isn't inviting to anyone that isn't from there.

Even from across the island its uninviting mainlanders find it worst, and its especially bad for immigrants.

That being said I think the rural population is gonna rapidly start shrinking.

Which means the province will become far more urban breaking the 50% relatively soon.

So I do think it there will be a stronger economy. I just don't think population growth is in the cards.

[1overcosc]

In 2040 Kingston will be a little bit bigger than today, maybe 15-20k more people. Queen's will have expanded significantly, up to ~25k undergrads from 15k today (17k in 2018), with lots more international students, probably about a third of the student body coming straight from Mainland China. That growth will be most of the city's growth, as it always has been. To fit everything in all the surface parking lots on Queen's Main are gone and infilled, and to fit all the new student housing lots of mid-rises will have gone up around the inner city, maybe a highrise or two at a couple major junctions. A couple of office high rises built in the now vacant North Block wasteland. Out in the suburbs, sprawl has gone down Princess Street almost all the way to Odessa, and the sprawl crosses the 401, too. The Third Crossing to the east end will have been cancelled for the second time after being proposed for the fifth, so nothing new out in the east end really.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

In 2040 Kingston will be a little bit bigger than today, maybe 15-20k more people. Queen's will have expanded significantly, up to ~25k undergrads from 15k today (17k in 2018), with lots more international students, probably about a third of the student body coming straight from Mainland China. That growth will be most of the city's growth, as it always has been. To fit everything in all the surface parking lots on Queen's Main are gone and infilled, and to fit all the new student housing lots of mid-rises will have gone up around the inner city, maybe a highrise or two at a couple major junctions. A couple of office high rises built in the now vacant North Block wasteland. Out in the suburbs, sprawl has gone down Princess Street almost all the way to Odessa, and the sprawl crosses the 401, too. The Third Crossing to the east end will have been cancelled for the second time after being proposed for the fifth, so nothing new out in the east end really.

That's a reasonable assessment, though I don't think sprawl will reach Odessa. There's currently plans to redevelop some of the former Nortel site as low-density residential. I think Kingston's population growth will be in intensification in the downtown area, but I don't see much population growth not related to Queen's. Kingston as it stands now does not attract young people - in fact I heard recently that 97% of Queens grads leave Kingston upon graduation. I'm a young person who moved to Kingston over two years ago and plan to leave this coming spring as I've become disappointed with the lack of young professionals in the city and things to do for young people age 25-35 - my entire social life is now with Queen's undergrads 6-8 years younger than me, and it's too difficult to fit in as an almost 30-year-old business professional among 21-year-old liberal arts students. That lack of critical mass of young people age 25-35 that may later start families in the city is going to impede growth. The critical mass of that age group in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and even K-W and London is going to continue attracting other young people away from smaller cities. Kingston's other issue is a perceived high number of parolees on the streets which may make the city less attractive, and this has been a concern I've heard from some Queens students and my landlord.

Cities that have a high median age and very few immigrants are going to run into problems once the Baby Boom generation has passed on. Because of Queens, Kingston will at least fare better than cities like Belleville, but in the long term (30-40 years) I think Kingston might actually lose population compared to what it might be 10 years from now.

[Deepstar]

For Calgary I see the central core will have increased in density significantly, but the suburbs will have also grown. The positives that I see is the building out of Transit node developments, and better leveraging of the existing rail network. This has started to happen, and I see much more of it coming down the pipe. The downtown portion of the LRT will be buried underground sometime within the next 20 years.
I see the downtown CBD, and the Beltline having a few more towers, especially the Beltline.

The biggest change to the core will be to the surrounding inner city villages (East Village, Eau Claire, Bridgeland, Mission, Bankview/Marda Loop, Kensington and Inglewood). Those districts will be far more built out than what we see today.

As for the suburbs, they'll be much the same as today only more of them. Hopefully they will be designed better than the typical subdivisions of today.

Aside from infrastructure type stuff, I see some big changes on the cultural side. Within the next 5-10 years, the new National Music Centre and new central library are opened up, and Calgary's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) finds a permanent home.

Overall I'm loving what's coming down the pipe. It's going to be an excited couple of decades.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

That's a reasonable assessment, though I don't think sprawl will reach Odessa. There's currently plans to redevelop some of the former Nortel site as low-density residential. I think Kingston's population growth will be in intensification in the downtown area, but I don't see much population growth not related to Queen's. Kingston as it stands now does not attract young people - in fact I heard recently that 97% of Queens grads leave Kingston upon graduation. I'm a young person who moved to Kingston over two years ago and plan to leave this coming spring as I've become disappointed with the lack of young professionals in the city and things to do for young people age 25-35 - my entire social life is now with Queen's undergrads 6-8 years younger than me, and it's too difficult to fit in as an almost 30-year-old business professional among 21-year-old liberal arts students. That lack of critical mass of young people age 25-35 that may later start families in the city is going to impede growth. The critical mass of that age group in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and even K-W and London is going to continue attracting other young people away from smaller cities. Kingston's other issue is a perceived high number of parolees on the streets which may make the city less attractive, and this has been a concern I've heard from some Queens students and my landlord.

Cities that have a high median age and very few immigrants are going to run into problems once the Baby Boom generation has passed on. Because of Queens, Kingston will at least fare better than cities like Belleville, but in the long term (30-40 years) I think Kingston might actually lose population compared to what it might be 10 years from now.

Queen's growth does tend to create sprawl because Queen's hires new staff which creates middle-class jobs.

I think the city's official models do predict a decline in population starting around 2040 or so, precisely because of the boomers.

Odessa is a bit of an exaggeration on my part, I'll admit, but it's definitely moving in that direction. Most of the city's urban expansion lands are that way, I think everything along Princess/Hwy2 all the way to the municipal border is in the OP as growth lands.

[kwoldtimer]

[QUOTE=manny_santos;6860416]That's a reasonable assessment, though I don't think sprawl will reach Odessa. There's currently plans to redevelop some of the former Nortel site as low-density residential. I think Kingston's population growth will be in intensification in the downtown area, but I don't see much population growth not related to Queen's. Kingston as it stands now does not attract young people - in fact I heard recently that 97% of Queens grads leave Kingston upon graduation. I'm a young person who moved to Kingston over two years ago and plan to leave this coming spring as I've become disappointed with the lack of young professionals in the city and things to do for young people age 25-35 - my entire social life is now with Queen's undergrads 6-8 years younger than me, and it's too difficult to fit in as an almost 30-year-old business professional among 21-year-old liberal arts students. That lack of critical mass of young people age 25-35 that may later start families in the city is going to impede growth. The critical mass of that age group in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and even K-W and London is going to continue attracting other young people away from smaller cities. .....QUOTE]

That feels like a left-handed compliment! In theory, Kitchener these days is all about attracting and keeping young professionals, but it still has a long way to go.

[Franco401]

I can do central NB since I spend a fair amount of time in Moncton and SJ, and each would be too small to make up a post.

Fredericton

Developments downtown should continue for many years. Height restrictions should be lifted, although the no-taller-than-the-cathedral rule should remain in place. A certain amount amount of sprawl would probably be allowed, like in Brookside West, filling in this gap. 7-8 story buildings steel buildings would be ideal for many of the older abandoned lots in the core. TD Tower 2 would be the first, most important one. The raceway and exhibition grounds, along with the field house project, should be moved outside the core, maybe here, just outside the woodlot boundaries. Various old rail yards, like York St and in Marysville, as well as the FREX grounds, should be converted to high-density multi-use neighborhoods. York is incredibly important as in provides the opportunity to create a sort of "midtown" area. As for infrastructure, I already covered under this thread in the Atlantic section, but mostly just build a third bridge from Ring Rd to Route 8, and extend 2NC to the Marysville Bypass as a divided boulevard. Measures should be taken to stop the insane sprawl in Hanwell and Richibucto Road.

Moncton

Hopefully some more life to be seen in downtown. The new developments planned at Main/Vaughn Harvey as well as the events centre will be crucial. The McLaughlin Rd/TCH/Veteran's triangle will fill up eventually. Dieppe will continue its War on Sustainability, unless new rules are made to limit sprawl. The 2/15 Interchange should be redesigned, maybe something like this that doesn't involve completely dismantling the current one. The causeway should be twinned replaced with a wider bridge, and Findlay Blvd and Gunningsville Blvd should be divided, four-lane boulevards. A new boulevard and bridge from Gunningsville Blvd at Pinewood Rd to Wheeler at Champlain.

Saint John

Here's a wildcard. I can only be kind of vague here, but I predict one of these scenarios.

Scenario 1

Uptown is revitalized, sprawl in KV in controlled, and more and more people start moving uptown. The second refinery and Fundy Quay are essential.

Scenario 2

Business as usual. The return to the core is significantly less than expected, a bridge is finally built at Gondola Point and the Kingston Peninsula fills up with subdivisions like crazy. In this one, amalgamation with Rothesay and Quispam is the best option.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Basically this

• Video Link

Bra'tac!

Hmm....

I think Thunder Bay will probably be between 130k and 150k. It'll grow a bit with mining and whatnot, but not enough to create a massive boom or anything. Most of the growth will probably be from the growing native population (probably pushing 25% by then). I do expect unemployment and whatnot to have go down. Depending on how the technology develops there might be a LRT line (basically a streetcar) for the busiest bust route.

Ottawa will probably keep chugging along due to being the capital and all that. It will have fallen behind Calgary and Edmonton for size, but not by too much. It will probably feel a fair bit bigger though as all the nodes the city has start becoming more integrated.

Hamilton will probably be pushing 900k, maybe a million if it gets its act together. It will have sprawled out to the greenbelt, and probably gained a couple towns on the other side of the belt as suburbs (Caledonia, Smithville, Cayuga, etc.). There will be better transit connections to Toronto and the GTA. Probably complaints about the HSR bipassing the city. Meanwhile Hamilton's HSR will probably be finally entering the 21st century.

[WhipperSnapper]

I don't think the insanity in real estate investment over the last decade will last another. The skyline will change but, not nearly as much as some probably think. The full effect of all the new construction will be realized. For example, Lot more people on the street but, regret in siza/layouts of today's condos. The city will have a little more money to play with and this and well established BIAs will create a boom in city beautification out of the small steps underway now. Many of the today's TTC expansion will be built or be in the process of being built but I don't see anything new popping up from them. No downtown relief line. The fact the majority of these plans are being realized is pretty significant.The Go rail network will be drastically improved with further improvements underway and planned. The ever popular Gardiner Expressway will end at Jarvis.

[ehlow]

Toronto will be a massive city, much bigger than it is today. There will be multiple urban cores ("downtowns") throughout the GTA, such as in Mississauga & Markham. The massive port lands downtown will be developed. Yonge St up to Highway 7 will be a long continuous urban high density corridor.

The transit system will be much larger, with the biggest expansion being the transformation of the GO train corridors from commuter lines to frequent all-day rapid transit lines like the Paris RER. Development of urban nodes will happen along the GO lines.

Toronto will continue to become more visible & prominent internationally.

[Bcasey25raptor]

Vancouver of 2040 will have just shy of 4 million people.

Skytrain through broadway, surrey, and a possible LRT expansion on the north shore might happen.

Downtown will continue to have a table top skyline with short stubby towers dominating the peninsula but it will have expanded outwards into mt pleasant.

The tallest buildings will be in burnaby where I predict a few 250 meter towers or higher will eventually be built.

Housing prices will collapse in the late 2010s and will again build up from that point on. to a similar price per income level as today.

demographically the metro region will become slightly more diverse.

I predict it will be 40% white, 30% east asian, 10% south asian, and 20% other.
the DTES will continue to have problems but the western portions will be very rapidly gentrified moving the criminal and druggie problems out of main and hastings and into Oppenheimer park area.

Income inequality will cause multiple increases in protests and even forcible action on the part of what is left of Vancouver's anarchist and anti capitalist fringes.

The pipeline will be built and I fore see a spill in the burrard inlet. The beaches will no longer be swimmable.

Stanley park will still be around but parts of it will be opened to development.

sea levels will be 1 meter higher and thus high tides will become much more destructive.

Average summer and winter temps will rise by 1c on the whole giving Vancouver an average high of 8c and low of 2c in January and an average high of 24c and low of 13c in July.

[GreaterMontréal]

Quebec will build its own TGV network between Montréal and Quebec City (TR-Drummondville, etc), the population in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands will reach over 9M. The mass exodus from France will help the city of Montréal to become the largest french speaking city in the world. (city proper), with over 2.5M and a density of over 7000/km².

with the ''global warming'', southern Quebec will experience more and more severe thunderstorms. tornado sirens will cover the territory.

Pierre Bruno still working for TVA.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by GreaterMontréal

Quebec will build its own TGV network between Montréal and Quebec City (TR-Drummondville, etc), the population in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands will reach over 9M. The mass exodus from France will help the city of Montréal to become the largest french speaking city in the world. (city proper), with over 2.5M and a density of over 7000/km².

with the ''global warming'', southern Quebec will experience more and more severe thunderstorms. tornado sirens will cover the territory.

Pierre Bruno still working for TVA.

As will Pierre Bruneau ( ), who will break Lloyd Robertson's decades old record as Canada's oldest news anchor.