Great Canadian Suburban Skyline Thread! - Page 8

Ramako · #**141** Posted **Jan 8, 2014, 6:21 AM**

Nice shot of the Humber Bay Shores skyline too. Eau du Soleil is going to absolutely dominate it.

GernB · #**142** Posted **Jan 8, 2014, 9:41 PM**

Not even sure Mississauga should be considered a suburb anymore. Maybe an "edge city" ? A term I vaguely remember reading about years ago. They have an impressive DT of their own. When I hear the term suburb I think of shopping malls, carlots and detached houses. Mississauga looks like its gone far beyond that.

Chadillaccc · #**143** Posted **Jan 8, 2014, 10:06 PM**

Shopping malls, car lots, and detached houses is exactly what Mississauga is unfortunately. The situation is improving, but not quickly enough. The city does have some beautiful historic, walkable areas like Port Credit and a couple others, but the area that people traditionally consider Mississauga, especially DT Mississauga, is basically the farthest thing from pedestrian friendly.

Innsertnamehere · #**144** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 12:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GernB

Not even sure Mississauga should be considered a suburb anymore. Maybe an "edge city" ? A term I vaguely remember reading about years ago. They have an impressive DT of their own. When I hear the term suburb I think of shopping malls, carlots and detached houses. Mississauga looks like its gone far beyond that.

I can assure you it isn't a city. It has maybe 50 street-frontage stores in the entire city. skyscrapers =/= urbanism

GernB · #**145** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 12:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

I can assure you it isn't a city. It has maybe 50 street-frontage stores in the entire city. skyscrapers =/= urbanism

I've never been there and likely never will, just from looking at pictures posted here and elsewhere it seems impressive.

MonkeyRonin · #**146** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 1:10 AM**

Its skyline is impressive, the urbanity isn't.

Though it does have some pretty ambitious plans in the works to try to rectify that.

Chadillaccc · #**147** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 1:22 AM**

Wow, that is awesome!

If they can make all that work with Square One in the middle, it could turn out really great.

goodthings · #**148** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 1:44 AM**

As a new resident of this city, Mississauga fits both definitions as a suburb and as a distinct city. Mississauga's sprawl is very dense, but its core is definitely an improvement.

Mississauga is a suburb in terms of
- geography,
- history, and
- strength of the city core

All other measures point to Mississauga being a distinct city:
- the legal name itself,
- Fortune 500 HQs,
- commuting patterns,
- etc.

However, some factors point out that it is in the middle:
- increasing foot traffic, particularly on the western side
- shaping a new culture
- breaking off blocks for more human-friendly scale
- rankings of cities (some rankings like fDi Magazine's Cities of the Future separates Toronto and Mississauga, some rankings put it with Toronto).
- etc.

Therefore, if you're looking to the past and can't get over it, it is a suburb, but if you're looking to the future and can't wait about it, then it is a distinct city.

GlassCity · #**149** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 2:15 AM**

The word suburb has kind of changed meaning into any city that is secondary to the primary one in the metro area. Oakland is still a suburb of San Francisco and Newark is still a suburb of New York City. So even if a city like Mississauga develops a bonafide downtown with offices, hotels and night clubs it'll still be a "suburb". Maybe we need a new word to distinguish between the different types of suburbs.

saffronleaf · #**150** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 2:37 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GernB

Not even sure Mississauga should be considered a suburb anymore. Maybe an "edge city" ? A term I vaguely remember reading about years ago. They have an impressive DT of their own. When I hear the term suburb I think of shopping malls, carlots and detached houses. Mississauga looks like its gone far beyond that.

A few condos does not make a downtown. I grew up in Mississauga.

It is the best example of cookie-cutter suburbia. Single family homes and parking lots for miles. Main roads with no sidewalks.

It sucks. The downtown is centered around a massive shopping mall.

As Chad said, Port Credit is a nice area and so is Streetsville. But that's about it.

miketoronto · #**151** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 2:38 AM**

Mississauga is and forever will be a suburb. Having high-rises and attempting to build a downtown (which really is not a downtown) does not make it a city.

It just furthers regional tensions and issues to consider places like Mississauga as a city, when they are just a local area within a large metropolitan city called Toronto

.

Chadillaccc · #**152** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 2:54 AM**

Absolutely, and none of that takes away from it's skyline. It's just the reality on the ground for the forseeable future.

http://www.smaku.com/blog/2012/07/09...fest/dsc_6380/

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1662312

http://www.amitandroy.com/

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1662312

goodthings · #**153** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 5:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlassCity

The word suburb has kind of changed meaning into any city that is secondary to the primary one in the metro area. Oakland is still a suburb of San Francisco and Newark is still a suburb of New York City. So even if a city like Mississauga develops a bonafide downtown with offices, hotels and night clubs it'll still be a "suburb". Maybe we need a new word to distinguish between the different types of suburbs.

Exactly what I think too. This is the fairest assessment I can give with the city that I live in. Mississauga is totally not a stereotypical suburb, but its current situation is not elevated enough to be acting as a St. Paul to a Minneapolis or a Fort Worth to a Dallas (i.e. not a stereotypical city).

So, Mississauga as an Oakland or a Newark is definitely fair.

Burnaby doesn't seem to be a typical suburb too. Laval? Meh.

Quote:

Originally Posted by saffronleaf

Main roads with no sidewalks.

Where in Hurontario Street, Dixie Road, Burnhamthorpe Road, Dundas Street, Mavis Road, etc. does one see ZERO sidewalks?

Currently, admittedly yes, there are no sidewalks because they are snow-covered, but I still think that this is an exaggeration.

Fine, Ninth Line. Yes, but that was recently annexed by Mississauga from Milton. So that makes sense. But even Ninth Line itself is not really a main road.

Cookie cutter was also a fair assessment, but the latest developments are more grid-like, unless you consider it a grid-style cookie cutter. And admit it, despite the development style, they still planned for pedestrian pathways that lead to bus stops, hence it's way better than US suburbs.

Nouvellecosse · #**154** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 7:29 AM**

I don't think every suburb has to be the same or even similar to be called a suburb any more than every city has to be the same to be called a city. There's every kind of city from Hong Kong to Houston and Barcelona to Boise, so there's no reason suburbs can be as equally varied without having to choose a different name.

saffronleaf · #**155** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 7:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodthings

Exactly what I think too. This is the fairest assessment I can give with the city that I live in. Mississauga is totally not a stereotypical suburb, but its current situation is not elevated enough to be acting as a St. Paul to a Minneapolis or a Fort Worth to a Dallas (i.e. not a stereotypical city).

So, Mississauga as an Oakland or a Newark is definitely fair.

Burnaby doesn't seem to be a typical suburb too. Laval? Meh.

Where in Hurontario Street, Dixie Road, Burnhamthorpe Road, Dundas Street, Mavis Road, etc. does one see ZERO sidewalks?

Currently, admittedly yes, there are no sidewalks because they are snow-covered, but I still think that this is an exaggeration.

Fine, Ninth Line. Yes, but that was recently annexed by Mississauga from Milton. So that makes sense. But even Ninth Line itself is not really a main road.

Cookie cutter was also a fair assessment, but the latest developments are more grid-like, unless you consider it a grid-style cookie cutter. And admit it, despite the development style, they still planned for pedestrian pathways that lead to bus stops, hence it's way better than US suburbs.

Sure, some of those highway-esque roads may have sidewalks.

I often walked to school and back, and it was primarily on Britannia from around Mavis to Creditview, and there was no sidewalk; just a gravel patch next to the small shoulder lane. The public transport bus to the school was absolutely horrible and unreliable.

Things may have changed. But really, the main point is that Mississauga is purely a suburb and you pretty much must have a car to get around the 'city.'

Toronto's version of Newark or Oakland is Hamilton -- a real edge city. It's an actual city that sits on the edge of the GTA.

WhipperSnapper · #**156** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 4:12 PM**

Mississauga is a borough in the Region of Peel.

yaletown_fella · #**157** Posted **Jan 9, 2014, 6:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by miketoronto

Mississauga is and forever will be a suburb. Having high-rises and attempting to build a downtown (which really is not a downtown) does not make it a city.

It just furthers regional tensions and issues to consider places like Mississauga as a city, when they are just a local area within a large metropolitan city called Toronto

.

Mississauga has never been part of metropolitan Toronto.

It's part of the GTA but under the Peel Region bracket with Brampton.