The Most Underrated City in Canada

[BretttheRiderFan]

Pretty straightforward question: What to you think is our country's most underrated city, and why?

[Ashok]

I guess the difficulties lie within the question, but I would say Yellowknife is up there.

[FrAnKs]

Saguenay.

Beautiful place, awesome natural settings and a not so bad skyline.

[SignalHillHiker]

I'd say any city in Ontario excluding Toronto and Ottawa.

If I had to pick one in this region, I'd choose Saint John, New Brunswick. It's absolutely gorgeous and overshadowed even within its own province, although it's probably more well known than many far-larger cities in Ontario.

If I had to choose one in this province - and extended it to towns - I would choose Newtown. It is completely off the radar of tourists, but it one of the most picturesque communities in the province. It should be up there with Trinity, Salvage, Bonavista, Cupids, etc. During Pride this year:

[RyLucky]

Hamilton. I know some GTA-dwellers who look down their nose at the Hammer as though it were some kind of outpost in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Hamilton's got waterfalls, good trails, warm microclimate, affordable housing, low traffic, great services, and most of the amenities of a city many times its size. It even has a decent art/music scene. While the economy isn't as strong as in the past, the flip side of that coin is that the terrible pollution is gone as well.

A few years ago, I might have said Calgary, but now I think people are realizing how amazing Calgary is.

[Ashok]

Speaking of Ontario, Kingston should get more coverage

[MonkeyRonin]

Saint John, Trois-Rivieres, Kingston, and Hamilton all have a pretty impressive collection of urban delights that seem to fly under the radar.

[VivaPhysicality]

I'll nominate New Westminster, B.C.

It's the oldest city in Western Canada, lending it a bit of that historic, gritty, Eastern Canada feel, but with the West Coast climate and close proximity to Vancouver and the mountains.

It's a dense riverfront city with palm trees, heritage buildings, an urban grid layout, and rapid transit. It deserves to be recognized as its own city rather than being concealed under the Metro Vancouver umbrella, especially since its been around longer than Vancouver itself.

[samne]

Ontario- Kingston and Hamilton

[Beedok]

Thunder Bay is fairly ignored due to isolation. It isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but has solid urban bones in place for a city of its size.

Moose Jaw seems to get used as a go to for rural hick town (probably in part for the name) but from what I've seen and read it has an impressive downtown for such a small town and a half decent bus system.

Windsor, Sarnia, London, and Peterborough seem to be forgotten a lot. Same with Edmonton. I haven't been to those cities though.

Hamilton probably does the worst overall though. Rather than just being ignored or forgotten it's actively disparaged. (Though that might partially be hometown pride at work.)

[Franco401]

Ah, yes, Saint John, my old stomping grounds. http://imgur.com/a/slW1y

Wouldn't call it all that underrated, though. Definitely Hamilton or Kingston, both are beautiful.

[Razor]

London or Halifax anyone?

I've been to London, and was impressed with all the greenery..It has the reputation of being a sleepy university town, but it does have lots going for it..Well serviced and solid mid sized (by Canadian standards) city. It felt like it had some size when I went there for the first time.

I've never been to Halifax, but all I hear is great things about the night life and how urban that city is..Especially in the summer time..

I totally agree with Hamilton btw..I loved the feel of that city.

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I'd say any city in Ontario excluding Toronto and Ottawa.

mmm In some ways I feel just like Hamilton,Ottawa is underrated. Both are little urban darlings.It Needs more rapid boosterism I suppose.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by Razor

I've never been to Halifax, but all I hear is great things about the night life and how urban that city is..Especially in the summer time..

Hard to call it "underrated" in that case.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Saint John, Trois-Rivieres, Kingston, and Hamilton all have a pretty impressive collection of urban delights that seem to fly under the radar.

yeah, these are good contenders. Sherbrooke also. And Saguenay. I would throw in St. John's, but the latter seems to get a lot of coverage lately

What about Barrie? Nanaimo is pretty nice too.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Hard to call it "underrated" in that case.

yes..Maybe "under represented" is more the correct term for Halifax.

[SignalHillHiker]

Hahaha. SSP coverage. I think we're well known enough.

Agree about Ottawa the city not being well known. Just that it's the capital.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

yeah, these are good contenders. Sherbrooke also.

Trois-Rivières' downtown is a LOT more urban than Sherbrooke's.

I would say 3R definitely punches above its weight for downtown core urbanity in this country. It's quite impressive.

The suburbs though (excluding the other shore...) are plain horrible. On par with the worst of Laval/North Shore of Mtl.

[lio45]

BTW, my #1 pick would be Hamilton for this thread.

[artvandelay]

I'd say Saskatoon, it's a nice little city. Reminds me of Calgary in a lot of ways.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I guess it has to be Hamilton based mostly on the fact that people, who have never set foot within its confines, actively disparage its reputation.

There are lots of contenders for the second slot, though my vote goes to Winnipeg. Way more of a city than I had expected.

The most overrated city would be an interesting discussion but I guess we ought to stay away from that topic.