Toronto/Montreal equivalents

[Docere]

It's interesting to note that either Vancouver or Montreal can be compared with Toronto fairly well, but try Van/Montreal equivalents!

[mistercorporate]

Vancouver's very much its own thing, but if I were to make a comparison, Gastown does have similarities to some older parts of Montreal such as Old Montreal and the Plateau Mont Royal.

Burnaby/Metrotown looks a lot like a mixture of CityPlace and Square One (Mississauga) in the Toronto area.

Toronto and Montreal have a lot more similarities however, probably due to having more similar climates. Vancouver's climate allows for a different suburban vibe. Actually, now that I think of it, suburban West Vancouver and North Vancouver do have some very Rosedale type neighbourhoods.

[Docere]

I think West Van is more comparable to Oakville. Or more specifically a hybrid of Oakville and Beverly Hills.

[ue]

So now we need a Montreal-Vancouver comparison thread to come full circle.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Or Longueil?

courtsurletopetlongueenarriere

[SkahHigh]

No offense to Torontonians, but Toronto, outside the central areas is much more like a big suburb than Vancouver (I'm talking North York, East York, Etobicoke and Scarborough).

[hipster duck]

^Well, sure. Basically any area in Canada built after about 1955 is suburban in character.

Most of the City of Vancouver was built out by the 1950s, so it would be less suburban in character than most of Scarborough or Etobicoke.

[shappy]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

courtsurletopetlongueenarriere

Holy lord... it's like, where does the gel stop?

[franktko]

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

The Decarie trenched expressway did not require "mass demolition of urban neighborhood", only the sinking of an already very large boulevard.


Source

Well, this picture is looking North from Queen-Mary road. South of this intersection, I call it "mass demolition of urban neighborhood". Each red dot represent a demolished building (photo from 1947).

(sorry for the big ass picture )

[Martin Mtl]

Ok, I stand corrected. Still, the longest part of the expressway, north of Queen Mary, did not require mass demolition though.

[niwell]

For comparison / contrast, here's some information about the areas demolished in South Parkdale for the Gardiner in 1956-58. The area was already pretty cut off from the rest of the neighbourhood by the rail tracks, and had seen significant demolition when Lakeshore Blvd was constructed in the 30s (I believe). About 150 houses demolished in total, at least some of which were more like cottages or considered substandard at the time. Other than this very little had to be destroyed for the Gardiner, as it generally threaded through mostly vacant industrial land created when the harbour was filled in.

All images from the Lost Toronto blog http://lost-toronto.blogspot.ca/2010_07_20_archive.html



The area before construction of Lakeshore, with houses to the south of the rail corridor.




In process of demolition in 1956 - you can see where the Lakeshore pushed through earlier. Probably would not have been a great area to live.



Post construction.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

courtsurletopetlongueenarriere

• Video Link

[Rico Rommheim]

Of course, the two Mies:

Westmount Square, 1967





Toronto Dominion Centre, 1969

[kwoldtimer]

One of the most concrete examples (so to speak) of Toronto/Montreal equivalents.

[niwell]

In some ways Westmount is the most Toronto looking (albeit very upscale) area in Montreal as well.

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by niwell

In some ways Westmount is the most Toronto looking (albeit very upscale) area in Montreal as well.

I would argue NDG to be the most TO looking and TO feeling area in Montreal. It's full of rows of semi-detached and fully detached English-style houses with porches and front lawns and gardens. The people in NDG are resolutely anglo, along with a healthy dose of english-speaking immigrants from the caribbean.

When I came back from TO recently I kept thinking that Toronto is the answer to the question "what if NDG were allowed to become its own metropolis?"

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

I would argue NDG to be the most TO looking and TO feeling area in Montreal. It's full of rows of semi-detached and fully detached English-style houses with porches and front lawns and gardens. The people in NDG are resolutely anglo, along with a healthy dose of english-speaking immigrants from the caribbean.

When I came back from TO recently I kept thinking that Toronto is the answer to the question "what if NDG were allowed to become its own metropolis?"

I've only spent a bit of time NDG years ago but yeah, based on streetview it looks quite similar. The mix of housing and larger pre-war apartments can be found around St. Clair and Bathurst areas in particular. The english-Caribbean thing would vibe with that area as well.

[mistercorporate]

What surprised me the most about Montreal, at least the downtown area, was how much it felt like Toronto. New York (culturally) and Montreal (architecturally) were the two areas that felt most familiar to me in all the cities I've visited in the world. You would think Chicago would too, but other than some neighbourhoods here and there, it had a very different vibe. It felt more American.

[Beedok]

I certainly find Toronto-Vancouver comparisons more apt. Montreal felt like a very different beast, while those two feel very similar.

[Martin Mtl]

I have to say I really don't feel that Toronto ressembles Montreal at all. I feel completely in a different city when I'm in Toronto. I don't think there is one single intersection where you could drop me in Toronto and I would not know instantly that i'm not in Montreal anymore. It's a good thing by the way. For me, Ottawa looks a lot more like Toronto, albeit in a much much smaller scale.