The Glue That Binds Us / What Unites Us

[O-tacular]

With all the division and tribal politics going on I was curious to know what fellow SSPers from the Canada Section still find common ground talking about, or just universally identify with from this site? All the recent 2 decade milestones on here make me wonder, as it has evolved what do we still have in common? For myself, and most threads in general it seems less about skyscrapers these days than when it started (not a bad thing just an observation).

[niwell]

There's a certain inertia that comes with being a part of something for so long. I'm sure other people have carved out their little corners but this one is ours. The conversation will naturally sway from the original purpose when you recognize the same posters and get a sense of what they're about.

Beyond that I do find that even when I disagree with people on here the discourse is at a higher level than most of the internet. I get the sense that I'd still be able to have a beer (or NA beverage of choice) with most people here and have a perfectly pleasant conversation.

[lio45]

“Dislike for Nickelback” gets my vote, with “dislike for soul-sucking architecture” a close second. (“Belief that our home area is the only corner of Canada that has a livable climate” is probably third.)

[Architype]

It's a toss-up between city photography and skyscraper / construction news, since there is no option for seeing how disagreeable and nitpicky people can be.

[Wigs]

City photography because we temporarily forget all of the pettiness of other threads, and I think we all appreciate the beauty of Canada as a whole!
We compliment the progress of other cities, and act as cheerleader for cities other than our home Metros/regions/Provinces. Seeing the country from coast to coast helps to bind us together, despite every shortcoming, flaw, negative of the 2020s.

[thurmas]

I am not sure there's really any national binding institutions left. Back in the day you could name off hockey or eatons or grey cup or comedy or music, but now I would say its not the case. Hockey is in decline eatons gone grey cup now has a dedicated following but many in Canada hold their nose at it in preference of nfl. Comedy and music we aren't as good as what we could produce in the 80s and 90s. I would say now we are a country of regional interests whats popular in Quebec only works there, Atlantic Canada has its own things Ontario is much more a u.s. style urban type of culture in music ect... the praries has its own things be it football or curling ect.. and BC well it does whatever ha ha.

[ScreamingViking]

I find the funny stuff binds strongest.

Otherwise, there just seems to be too much "thinking"

But I'm mostly on the Canada forum to see what's going on in other cities.

[SignalHillHiker]

For me, it's a blend between city photography and urban planning. I genuinely have a better day when I check in the morning and there's a pic post in the weather from Mc, Ardee, etc. I enjoy both good photography (like giallo) and recent photography (like MonctonRad), when someone posts something beautiful or something that was just recently taken, something about that deeply delights me.

And then the general urban stuff I love - especially mixed with photography. Things I wouldn't notice in my pics, good or bad, as they're normal to me (recent example, Molson pointing out all the Christmas candles, or a bigger example, people years ago pointing out clapboard is viewed elsewhere the way I view stucco, like the cheapest possible exterior, practically unfinished, might as well be bare insulation lol).

I've got a handful of FB friends from here and I love seeing their pics, especially if I see them on FB before here. I don't know what this "recent" thing is with me, but I apparently value it highly

Individual skyscrapers... I've kind of grown out of caring that much, probably just because we're not doing anything here lately.

[OldDartmouthMark]

To answer the question of what is the most unifying, I'd say city photography, especially in the weather thread. The Russian attack on Ukraine was the most unifying single event I've witnessed here, but other world events (such as Israel/Hamas) have been anything but unifying.

I come here to read peoples' take on Canadian politics, goings-on in local areas of the country with which I'm not very familiar, urban planning discussion, and to read up on the opinions/antics of posters with whom I've become familiar (just by reading what is written here, as I don't know anybody on skyscraper outside of the forum).

I've experienced a whole range of emotions reading the writings here over the years, but mostly it's been good... and always interesting. I've had some opinions changed, and some made stronger, but I always appreciate the mostly respectful exchanges, and the general intelligence of the forum on the whole.

[MonkeyRonin]

What binds us is that we all like this community and enjoy discussing and arguing about things with eachother. We don't have to be "united" by all agreeing with eachother and having the same opinion about something - it'd be an awfully boring forum if that were the case.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

What binds us is that we all like this community and enjoy discussing and arguing about things with eachother. We don't have to be "united" by all agreeing with eachother and having the same opinion about something - it'd be an awfully boring forum if that were the case.

Yeah it does seem many (including myself) are drawn to the debates. I was thinking more in terms of the common thread of interest that keeps us all coming back like zombies the last 20 years. Speaking of which where is MIGS 347.0?

[O-tacular]

Kinda surprised diagrams got no votes. When I first joined they were a major point of interest. Lol @ Clockzilla getting 17%! Woooooooooo!!!!!

[MolsonExport]

I haven't checked out diagrams in a year or more. SSP has lost a lot of its raison d'etre. The politics (and the "culture wars") has become incredibly polarizing. There is still good discussion to be had in some threads, and I enjoy the humorous rants about and mockups of ugly urbanity.

[Acajack]

This is a very "societally-interested" forum crowd. Since cities are a big part of where society plays out, it's not surprising that this is what drew many of us here, but that the discussion has over time spilled into a gazillion other aspects of that.

[hipster duck]

Increasingly, I'm going back to my old childhood roots of just being a skyscraper and construction fanboy.

On a base level, I just really love seeing cranes in the sky and big machines moving dirt around. Even if it's for a project that I don't think will benefit society - like a supertall for billionaires to park their wealth, or a freeway expansion that will just induce demand - something in my amygdala goes off looking at diagrams of plans and pictures of construction.

And, as Canadians, one thing we should be thankful for is that increasingly if a crane is in the sky or a machine is moving dirt on the ground, it's for something that's societally positive. We need housing. We need infrastructure. Even if it's a POS design with terrible layouts, those are housing units we desperately need. We also don't build "truly bad" things any more like coal plants or expressways through vibrant neighbourhoods.

The other thing that should tie us together is that all of this construction is happening everywhere - it's kind of a rare, pan-Canadian moment. It's not just a phenomenon in Toronto or Vancouver. Halifax, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Quebec City...all these places have many projects under construction.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Kinda surprised diagrams got no votes. When I first joined they were a major point of interest. Lol @ Clockzilla getting 17%! Woooooooooo!!!!!

"Clockzilla" and "Urban planning" were the two options I was hesitating between, because I genuinely think what unites us here the most is a shared dislike for bad architecture and bad urbanity, yet that wasn't one of the available poll answers -- but the two ones I mentioned kinda come close.

[thewave46]

A cross section of things is what brings me here.

The Venn diagram might be:

Canadian affairs/current events
Infrastructure in Canada (airports/roads/bridges/etc.)
Historical buildings/cities in Canada
Culture of the country I inhabit and its facets that are sometimes more opaque to me

There's not too many places on the internet that have the same depth on these issues.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

Increasingly, I'm going back to my old childhood roots of just being a skyscraper and construction fanboy.

On a base level, I just really love seeing cranes in the sky and big machines moving dirt around. Even if it's for a project that I don't think will benefit society - like a supertall for billionaires to park their wealth, or a freeway expansion that will just induce demand - something in my amygdala goes off looking at diagrams of plans and pictures of construction.

And, as Canadians, one thing we should be thankful for is that increasingly if a crane is in the sky or a machine is moving dirt on the ground, it's for something that's societally positive. We need housing. We need infrastructure. Even if it's a POS design with terrible layouts, those are housing units we desperately need. We also don't build "truly bad" things any more like coal plants or expressways through vibrant neighbourhoods.

The other thing that should tie us together is that all of this construction is happening everywhere - it's kind of a rare, pan-Canadian moment. It's not just a phenomenon in Toronto or Vancouver. Halifax, Kelowna, Saskatoon, Quebec City...all these places have many projects under construction.

I share this trait. To an insane level. For instance, there's this massive block sized pile of dirt near my office that has slowly been moved over the last decade to cap a nearby former landfill settling pond. I get excited every time I see land moving equipment show up to start digging and hauling it away. Originally the land was zoned for retail I think but now has been changed to industrial. Curious to see what gets built there eventually. Who else gets excited about moving dirt lol?!

I also live in a developing end of the city and get to see all manner of new construction going on. I watched the South Health campus being built, then the largest YMCA in the world, now new condos and retail. I get specifics on some of the projects from Skyrise cities but many I have to try looking up.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by lio45

"Clockzilla" and "Urban planning" were the two options I was hesitating between, because I genuinely think what unites us here the most is a shared dislike for bad architecture and bad urbanity, yet that wasn't one of the available poll answers -- but the two ones I mentioned kinda come close.

So which did you end up choosing?

Edit: Wow this is my 23,000'th post! SSP milestone there!

[MonctonRad]

Still a spring chicken (#33,451) .