Canadian Global Cities

[logan5]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

heck downtown Melbourne had the same street buzz as downtown Mississauga on most nights (which isn't an insult by the way, ive heard lifelong calgarians tell me its busier in the Mississauga city center neighbourhood than downtown Calgary on any given night)

It's too bad downtown Melbourne and downtown Calgary have suffered the same fate as Mississauga.

Mississauga is going through the same process that Metrotown went through in its first few decades. Because of a huge mall, there's no incentive for developers to build retail, so your left with a towers in the park scheme for the area. Even without street level retail, townhouses or low rise apartments could have been built along the street but in alot of cases they were not. Without any Jane Jacobs eyes on the street, MCC feels cold and desolate.

[isaidso]

I wonder how long it will take before some of these studies start ranking Calgary on par with Vancouver. I think it could happen.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I wonder how long it will take before some of these studies start ranking Calgary on par with Vancouver. I think it could happen.

Not if Vancouver keeps rising as well.

[BretttheRiderFan]

I think Vancouver being ranked on par with Montreal may happen before Calgary is ranked on par with Vancouver.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I wonder how long it will take before some of these studies start ranking Calgary on par with Vancouver. I think it could happen.

If it does happen, it won't be for a decade at best. However, I could see it happening too, as Calgary is already considered the primary city of Alberta (as far as economics go), and is likely considered a de facto economic centre for Saskatchewan(resource extraction companies), basically having the catchment economic area of two provinces, containing 5.3 million people currently, but by then it will be over 6 million. While Vancouver is the primary city of BC, and is much larger, I think the fact that it deals economically with only one province may give Calgary the edge. Don't forget though that Calgary is gaining ground on Vancouver in the population department and has been for a while now. I don't expect Calgary to overtake Vancouver even in the mid term or long term, so that's not what I'm saying, but the difference in population is likely to shrink from the current 1.1 million to likely around 900 000 by the late 2020s.

[RyLucky]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I wonder how long it will take before some of these studies start ranking Calgary on par with Vancouver. I think it could happen.

Originally Posted by Denscity

Not if Vancouver keeps rising as well.

Actually, if things stay as they are for the next 50ish years, Calgary and Vancouver are both likely to surpass Mtl in population. However, there are certain factors that will bolster Vancouver and Montreal as important cities:

Vancouver (area) is and always will be Canada's, a resource nation with growing trade in Asia, premier Pacific port.

Montreal is and likely always will be THE premier centre of commerce in French Canada, a culture that is here to stay. Moreover, Mtl has historic, institutional, and geographic significance.

Alberta, on the other hand, will never have an ocean or seaway, but has the unique advantage of vast democratized wealth and few establishments. They have a chance to build any place they want and hopefully continue to diversify before o&g prices dry up. This makes it a great place to live for now, but there is uncertainty in the long term. Personally, I think they are taking 90% of the right steps to building quality urban environments.

[RyLucky]

^I want to add that I think it's vital that Calgary and Edmonton cooperate in order to gain influence in the province. This is a hot issue out here and has a huge effect on our politics.

[osmo]

Originally Posted by BIMBAM

I'm not too sure about Vancouver. Having lived in both cities, Vancouver does feel a tier lower, despite absolutely being an important global city. It's true that Vancouver has a bigger port and lots of wealthy expats, but it just doesn't have the same critical mass of stuff that Montreal does despite being great and an up-and-comer. There's the global headquarters issue, but besides that Montreal's also got a UN agency (aviation), it still has a stock exchange, there's national institutions in the city and more universities, there's banks in the city, and it is still a significantly larger metro. Not to knock Vancouver at all and it's only getting better, but I get the ranking.

Vancouver's Port. Don't underestimate its importance. This is the very reason Halifax got a boost as it still has significant port traffic coming through. Winnipeg is a massive inland portal for rail and trailer trade into America. Edmonton is a key of research and so is Ottawa (even minus to Govt and international hanger-ons). Quebec City... take away the Provincial Government and it is a sleepy tourist town. Hamilton.. to close to Toronto with not enough divergent industry with the necessary scale to set it apart.

[BretttheRiderFan]

Calgary bigger than Montreal?

Not in any of our lifetimes.

[MolsonExport]

Anything is possible, but it is highly improbable.

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

Actually, if things stay as they are for the next 50ish years, Calgary and Vancouver are both likely to surpass Mtl in population.

City or CMA ? the city of Montréal is growing by 20k/year. 1,717,767 (2013) Island 2M

[Chadillaccc]

I don't agree with what he said, but I think it's clear he was referring to CMA, as he said "Calgary and Vancouver" the municipalities of which are nowhere near similar in size (610 000 vs. 1 200 000). But I'd say the municipality of Calgary (growing at 38 000/y) has a much better shot than the CMA does

[Acajack]

As others have said, anything is possible and it's all in the spirit of good discussion, but when I hear talk of Calgary overtaking Vancouver or even Montreal in year 2XXX, I think of the discussion we've had in another thread where people were predicting Saskatchewan would have 10 million people at one point (based on trends in their era).

[Beedok]

It's very true anything is possible. Thunder Bay or Yellowknife could end up the largest city in the country by 2100 if extreme events occur.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Acajack

As others have said, anything is possible and it's all in the spirit of good discussion, but when I hear talk of Calgary overtaking Vancouver or even Montreal in year 2XXX, I think of the discussion we've had in another thread where people were predicting Saskatchewan would have 10 million people at one point (based on trends in their era).

I see what you're saying, however, they had only a decade or so of data to base the "10 million in Saskatchewan" assumption on, whereas in the modern day, we have a good seventy years - century worth of very clear trends to base this stuff on. That said, I have never said, nor do I think, that Calgary will overtake Montreal. So let's not go caught in that dumpster fire of an argument PLEASE . However, I do think Calgary could one day come to a sort of parity with Vancouver once the cities are between 3 million (Calgary) and 3.5 million (Vancouver) in 40 or 50 years.

[1overcosc]

Isn't Montreal CMA still growing faster than Calgary CMA in absolute numbers?

[Chadillaccc]

As of the last two years, it is not.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

I've been to Sydney twice, and it is an extremely awesome place. Who really cares if the buildings are a little shorter? Maybe I need to grow up.

Heresy! This is skyscraperpage.com, not awesomecities.com.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Isn't Montreal CMA still growing faster than Calgary CMA in absolute numbers?

Last numbers I saw, I think that yes, but I'm not a stats geek.

I seem to recall that they're both around +35k / +40k a year these days. I don't know if the figures that I recall are for Greater Mtl and Greater Cal, or for smaller areas.

(Obviously, figures for the city proper won't be apples to apples; I expect the unicity to have bigger absolute numbers. I think we all agree that for urbanity and population purposes, the arbitrary lines that tell people to which city hall they have to pay their municipal taxes are essentially pointless and irrelevant.)

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Beedok

It's very true anything is possible. Thunder Bay or Yellowknife could end up the largest city in the country by 2100 if extreme events occur.

Among possible events, Quebec's independence would certainly hurt Montreal's numbers... (and, come to think of it, if it comes to pass, regardless of what happens to Montreal's numbers, Vancouver and Calgary would be #2 and #3 in Canada.)