Canadian Urban Canyons - Page 12

Nouvellecosse · #**221** Posted **Mar 30, 2010, 3:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by le calmar

^ Montreal definitely has canyons, not the tallest, but they remain canyons!

Yes, some people here seem to have MISinterprested the title of the thread to mean Canadian skyscraper canyons, rather than urban canyons in general. While the Calgary skyscraper canyon pic may be the most impressive, the MTL urban canyons are no less enjoyable. I must thank all those who've taken the time to contribute.

francely57 · #**222** Posted **Mar 31, 2010, 3:11 AM**

University Street
I used to walk there every day... that's why I have so many pics of this street

Upper part

looking south, March 8, 2009

looking south from above, January 22, 2009

looking south from Sherbrooke, September 8, 2008

some snow... April 4, 2008

...January 28, 2009

when they were almost done constructing the bike lane, October 27, 2009

Middle part

looking north from René-Lévesque, September 19, 2008

Lower part

looking north from Notre-Dame, May 12, 2009

looking north from St-Antoine, May 12m 2009

francely57 · #**223** Posted **Apr 15, 2010, 12:03 AM**

Now the major ones...

De Maisonneuve Boulevard
In case you don't know, this boulevard was created in the 1960s during subway construction...
Many buildings were demolished to 1) dig tunnels, 2) connect+enlarge smaller streets to make a single Boulevard. So there used to be TONS of parking lots.

looking west from the Eaton Centre, March 17, 2010

looking east, March 19, 2010 (with Louis-Bohème anchoring the east end)

looking west from above, September 29, 2009

looking west near the ROW OF UGLIES, February 26, 2009

looking east from above, June 17, 2009 (the crane was for the ugly St-Martin Hotel on Ben's site)

looking east when there were more cranes, July 8, 2009

looking west, March 22, 2009 (with a brown tower anchoring the west end)

looking west from Guy, March 24, 2010 (i.e. that's beyond the brown tower)

for fans of uniform height:

looking west from Peel, March 17, 2010

looking east from Drummond, March 19, 2010

Nouvellecosse · #**224** Posted **Apr 15, 2010, 6:39 AM**

WOW! Thanks for the stunning selection of pics. Very enjoyable!

MolsonExport · #**225** Posted **Apr 15, 2010, 1:15 PM**

Outstanding Mtl Canyons, Francely. ROW OF UGLIES and all

I love this one:

Quote:

francely57 · #**226** Posted **Apr 18, 2010, 11:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

WOW! Thanks for the stunning selection of pics. Very enjoyable!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Outstanding Mtl Canyons, Francely. ROW OF UGLIES and all

I love this one:

Thanks guys! 2 more left! I guess you all know which ones.

francely57 · #**227** Posted **Apr 18, 2010, 11:50 PM**

Sherbrooke Street
Of course the central part is more a 'cliff' than a canyon because the row of towers faces McGill University.
But east and west of McGill are some of the most massive streetwalls in Montreal.

Outside downtown...
there are several towers + midrises extending very far east of downtown, but they don't form a real canyon
I think it's like Yonge Street north of downtown Toronto

looking west from St-Denis, July 21, 2008

looking north from above, towards Sherbrooke Est and its row of towers, September 11, 2006

Alright, let's go Downtown

looking west from Bleury/Parc, March 17, 2010

looking east from MacKay, March 24, 2010 (you can see work being done on the Fine Arts Museum's expansion)

looking west from McGill College, September 8, 2009

looking west from Durocher, April 26, 2009

looking west from Metcalfe, April 4, 2009

looking east from Stanley, September 4, 2008 (the massive streetwall WEST of McGill)

looking west from Parc, September 1, 2009 (the massive streetwall EAST of McGill)

looking west from Aylmer, September 15, 2009

...March 17, 2009

Bonus, with the Hilton Garden Inn (37 storeys, 2009), March 8, 2009

caltrane74 · #**228** Posted **Apr 20, 2010, 5:31 PM**

nice pictures!!! - gotta hit the streets again to keep Toronto in the competition!!

someone123 · #**229** Posted **Apr 23, 2010, 9:22 PM**

Here's a small but interesting spot I forgot about in Halifax. Bedford Row:

It has some cool buildings such as this one (taken by Colin N. on flickr):

Source

In the same series I have an old, dark photo of Hollis:

Sackville Street is not really a canyon yet...

Source

But it happens to have 6 highrise buildings proposed for adjacent blocks right now (including a ~15 storey addition atop the stone building on the right that says "discovery centre" and then a 27 storey glass tower for the block behind). If even a couple of those are built it will be much more canyon-like.

caltrane74 · #**230** Posted **Apr 23, 2010, 9:24 PM**

by me

• Video Link

isaidso · #**231** Posted **Apr 24, 2010, 4:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by caltrane74

nice pictures!!! - gotta hit the streets again to keep Toronto in the competition!!

Surprisingly, Toronto doesn't seem to be winning this contest. Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa all have awesome urban canyons.

caltrane74 · #**232** Posted **Apr 24, 2010, 4:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

Surprisingly, Toronto doesn't seem to be winning this contest. Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa all have awesome urban canyons.

Toronto will gladly give this prize to the three amigos'!!

We win, and will always be winning where it counts.. height superiority!!!!

Trading half a dozen 200 meter towers for a couple of streets lined with 25 storey blocks on both sides seems more than fair to me.

anyways... you reminded me, I need to upload some of my canyon shots..

caltrane74 · #**233** Posted **Apr 24, 2010, 5:08 PM**

We have half ass canyon's in Toronto!!

Like This!!!!!!

one half of an ass, with the second asscheek inset from the sidewalk.. still for the height it's bringing, I'll take it!!!!

looking up!!

The other side of the street is the 300 meter FCP, first canadian place, just in case you think I'm cheating. Wouldn't be fair to include a tall building in this thread about Urban Canyons...now.

isaidso · #**234** Posted **Apr 24, 2010, 5:09 PM**

Toronto has the height, for sure. It should translate into the best canyon shots, but it doesn't seem to. Any how, the more the merrier. I saw a really great University Avenue canyon shot though. I'll try and find it.

caltrane74 · #**235** Posted **Apr 24, 2010, 5:16 PM**

The reason the height doesn't translate well is because you need to be airborne to appreciate it.

from greenleaf at UT

francely57 · #**236** Posted **May 19, 2010, 10:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

Surprisingly, Toronto doesn't seem to be winning this contest. Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa all have awesome urban canyons.

That's what I thought.

Anyway it was nice competing with the other big cities!

francely57 · #**237** Posted **May 19, 2010, 11:01 PM**

René-Lévesque Boulevard
Don't forget Dorchester Street (then Dorchester Blvd, then René-Lévesque Blvd) was widened in the 1950s, and there used to be tons of parking lots. There are still some in key areas, but we're filling them up (slowly)

Let's start with the east end:

looking east from St-Alexandre, April 20, 2010

looking west from Bleury, April 20, 2010

looking west from Jeanne-Mance, April 19, 2010

...April 20, 2010

a little backstreet perpendicular to René-Lévesque, April 20, 2010

looking west from Beaver Hall, April 20, 2010

looking west from St-Laurent, April 2, 2010

looking west from St-Hubert, April 2, 2010

looking east from Lucien-L'Allier, May 2, 2009

looking east from Crescent, June 7, 2008

looking west from above (St-Luc Hospital), January 5, 2005

looking west from University, May 5, 2008

... February 17, 2009