Canadian Urban Canyons

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Who knew Robin Wright was renting short-term in Ottawa.

You're right it's Jen-nay!

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I don't know if this has been discussed but what it the smallest community in Canada to have an urban canyon? I'm interested in reading what you all think it is.

That’s an interesting question, but similar to defining the line between a hill and a mountain, the boundary between what one can consider to be an urban canyon or not is very blurry and subjective.

Personally, for me the only cities in Canada to have true urban canyons are Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton.

Winnipeg kind of has a few urban canyon vantage points, so I say Winnipeg.

Halifax is another border case.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

That’s an interesting question, but similar to defining the line between a hill and a mountain, the boundary between what one can consider to be an urban canyon or not is very blurry and subjective.

Personally, for me the only cities in Canada to have true urban canyons are Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton.

Winnipeg kind of has a few urban canyon vantage points, so I say Winnipeg.

Halifax is another border case.

Definitely subjective. In terms of scale there's no competing with Toronto and Montreal.

Based on the images our friends in Atlantic Canada have posted, Halifax probably qualifies with regard to canyons less "deep"

But what about Victoria? Or Regina??

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Definitely subjective. In terms of scale there's no competing with Toronto and Montreal.

Based on the images our friends in Atlantic Canada have posted, Halifax probably qualifies with regard to canyons less "deep"

But what about Victoria? Or Regina??

I actually find Montreal and Vancouver to be pretty comparable for the scale of their canyons.

Toronto though is in another league for sure.

Yeah, that’s the thing, if you consider Halifax to have canyons then one can make the stretch to Regina and even Victoria.

A soon to be impressive canyon is actually Kingsway in Metrotown (Burnaby) in about 5 to 10 years if all currently known proposals are built.

[MonkeyRonin]

Halifax has some pretty solid canyons. Eg:

https://goo.gl/maps/mTyaXCzw9WGEfUrbA
https://goo.gl/maps/Gv1ZQ6ya9mYWobsb7
https://goo.gl/maps/KVZJkYbdKh4GxjEM6

Even if nothing is that tall, it helps that the downtown core is compact & tightly spaced. Victoria in comparison feels a bit more spacious - it's likely just as dense, but the high-rises are more spread out, roads are wider, etc. These couple blocks are probably about as canyony as it gets:

https://goo.gl/maps/KYVALwVFTwvg62E18
https://goo.gl/maps/A8E1miSUNVw58i6w7

[someone123]

My pictures are out of date now but here are some Halifax scenes:

This scene now has another tower on the right and there will be 2 more on the left, plus a development happening around the building with the copper cornice.


Hollis

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Loco101

I don't know if this has been discussed but what it the smallest community in Canada to have an urban canyon? I'm interested in reading what you all think it is.

mmmm Well here is an intersection of a downtown street in Timmins where you reside.
Nothing noteworhy as far as Urban canyons, but unlike a lot of small city downtowns, it hardly looks abandoned either. Maybe Yellowknife has something?

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.4749...7i13312!8i6656

Yellowknife

https://www.google.com/maps/@62.4526...7i13312!8i6656

[Pavlov]

To me, an urban canyon must be at least five or six blocks long to really constitute a "canyon". Otherwise, its more of an "urban pit".

[TorontoDrew]

Nice Halifax Canyons.

[someone123]

In Halifax there are some prominent empty lots that make it much less canyon-y than it could be. This empty lot is the Skye site:


(Streetview)

The developer has a demolition permit and I've heard some work has happened here so maybe the buildings will be built soon. But it has been empty since the original circa 2004 proposal. If build it'll really change the feel of the blocks around there. Not just because the new building is a highrise but because the current site is so ugly with chain link fence, weeds, and wooden utility poles. Also note the multiple kinds of street lighting around there.

This is the development. The white striped building in the image above is visible on the left here:


https://www.skyehalifax.ca

[AuxTown]

I think we need a new thread called "Great Canadian Future Urban Canyons Thread"

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

I think we need a new thread called "Great Canadian Future Urban Canyons Thread"

I would say it is a good 10 years away but Kingsway through Metrotown could become the most impressive suburban canyon in Metro-Van.

Look to the right of this render.

There are two other 200m+ proposals currently known not shown in this render along this stretch of Kingsway.

[TorontoDrew]

Looks a bit like Yonge in North York.

[ScreamingViking]

Re: those "suburban" ones, they may be canyon-esque looking down the street, but if the gaps between the towers are wide, is it really a canyon?

This is the issue in a lot of smaller downtowns too. Hamilton is like that -- the view down parts of Main or King or James streets looks like a canyon, but when you travel down those roads you see that the larger buildings are separated, with much smaller ones lining the gaps between them. With new condos going up there will be some real urban canyons at some point, but it's going to take a while yet.

[TorontoDrew]

Bay Adelaide Centre by Jack Landau, on Flickr

St. Clair Avenue by Jack Landau, on Flickr

Bay Adelaide Centre by Jack Landau, on Flickr

TD by Jack Landau, on Flickr

King and University by Jack Landau, on Flickr

Financial District Towers by Jack Landau, on Flickr

Exhibit Residences by Jack Landau, on Flickr

Yonge Street Canyon by Jack Landau, on Flickr

Adelaide Street by Jack Landau, on Flickr

[rousseau]

Toronto: it's not beautiful, it's not daunting, but it's definitely not uninteresting.

[Metro-One]

I know it’s far from being a true canyon, but still interesting in that no one would ever guess that this is little old Kelowna:

Originally Posted by LFC

Every time I walk down this alleyway between Prospera Place and BNA I always feel like I’ve been transported to Vancouver.


Hard to believe this is Kelowna.

[WhipperSnapper]

Condo towers don't surprise me. Kelowna housing is expensive. Definitely invesotors trickling in from Vancouver. The size and scale of the office towers. That's unexpected.

[Martin Mtl]

Saint-Jacques looking east from Lucien l'Allier


Photo: Mtlarch @ agoramtl.com

[Martin Mtl]

University street looking south with the new National Bank at the end.

Photo by Kolev3000 @ Agotamtl.com