Your city's best-looking suburbs - Page 5

Pinion · #81 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 4:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VivaPhysicality

New West definitely has the best "urban bones" of any Vancouver suburb.

Lower and Central Lonsdale feels way more urban and is much nicer in general, but always forgotten.

North Van: View from Stanley Park by Alana Willans, on Flickr

North Vancouver - Lower Lonsdale by David Evanochko, on Flickr

Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver by chrisjohann, on Flickr

HFF! by Peggy Reimchen, on Flickr

Although for just "nicest suburb" I agree West Van wins hands down.

theman23 · #82 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 4:43 PM**

Torontos best burbs are probably the inner burbs. Etobicoke near the Kingsway, Scarborough near the Queen East terminus, etc. If those don't count, all the outer burbs have cute little town centres too but outside of those areas theyre very underwhelming. If I had to choose, it'd be between Oakville or Burlington.

West Mount is hands down the most beautiful burb in the country.

All of Vancouvers burbs have beautiful geography, but I find the architecture to be underwhelming. There aren't very many nice character homes in the area. I haven't spent much time in New West, so maybe I'll check it out.

Acajack · #83 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 4:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by theman23

Torontos best burbs are probably the inner burbs. Etobicoke near the Kingsway, Scarborough near the Queen East terminus, etc. If those don't count, all the outer burbs have cute little town centres too but outside of those areas theyre very underwhelming. If I had to choose, it'd be between Oakville or Burlington.

West Mount is hands down the most beautiful burb in the country.

All of Vancouvers burbs have beautiful geography, but I find the architecture to be underwhelming. There aren't very many nice character homes in the area. I haven't spent much time in New West, so maybe I'll check it out.

It's beautiful for sure but I don't even consider Westmount a suburb. It's a residential neighbourhood of downtown Montreal and no more a "suburb" than Rosedale is.

Acajack · #84 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 4:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kirjtc2

You see it to an extent in the Maritimes too. Halifax and Fredericton are probably the worst examples. Sprawly 1-acre lots that often aren't even hooked up to a decent water and sewer system.

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Wes...!4d-63.2712936

Yeah, I have relatives who live in areas like that in the Halifax region, and also in other Atlantic cities.

Around the NE US cities, the suburbs tend to be reasonably similar in layout, but maybe a bit denser and definitely more manicured. They also tend to have more attractive village centres. This is probably due to both the age and size of their metro areas vs. those in Atlantic Canada. Attractive suburban village centres in Atlantic Canada are quite rare.

Rico Rommheim · #85 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 5:02 PM**

Westmount = not a suburb.

Based on my experiences, Vancouver's suburbs are the nicest. Especially the ones on the north shore. When I was chilling in and around North Van, and walking down Lonsdale, I never felt that I was in a suburb.

New West for me shouldn't even be considered a suburb. Since it's older than Vancouver, was a former capital city and its core is more urban than most Canadian cities. It doubled as "The Bronx" in Jackie Chan's Rumble in the Bronx, so in my mind it is not a suburb. Of course though, Burnaby and Surrey feel totally suburban. Even Metrotown, for all its efforts at looking urban(ish) just feels like a slightly nicer-looking Laval.

Can't say the same when you're in Montreal's burbs. We truly have some of the worst looking burbs.

softee · #86 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 6:40 PM**

Unionville (which is now part of Markham) is a quaint suburban village with a heritage main street and surrounding old homes and was the location used in the Gilmore Girls' pilot episode as the ever so quirky and charming fictional town of Stars Hollow.

Docere · #87 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 6:49 PM**

Yeah Westmount is basically equivalent to Rosedale and the area around Yonge-St. Clair.

isaidso · #88 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 7:22 PM**

4 suburbs come to mind for me:

South end: Halifax
West end: Vancouver
Rosedale: Toronto
Rockcliffe Park: Ottawa

Southend Halifax, bordered by downtown, Point Pleasant Park, and 2 universities

Courtesy of marketleader

Lined with stately homes

Courtesy of CBC

Oland Castle, former home of the beer baron

WhipperSnapper · #89 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 7:28 PM**

How are Rosedale or the West End suburbs in 2016?

whatnext · #90 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 9:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by isaidso

4 suburbs come to mind for me:

South end: Halifax
West end: Vancouver
Rosedale: Toronto
Rockcliffe Park: Ottawa

In no way is Vancouver's West End a suburb! It was the city's first middle-upperclass residential area as Vancouver grew around the old Granville Townsite. It's like saying Greenwich Village is a suburb of Manhattan!

GreaterMontréal · #91 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 9:57 PM**

Sillery and Montcalm in Quebec City.

kwoldtimer · #92 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 10:08 PM**

edit

SpongeG · #93 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 10:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by theman23

Torontos best burbs are probably the inner burbs. Etobicoke near the Kingsway, Scarborough near the Queen East terminus, etc. If those don't count, all the outer burbs have cute little town centres too but outside of those areas theyre very underwhelming. If I had to choose, it'd be between Oakville or Burlington.

West Mount is hands down the most beautiful burb in the country.

All of Vancouvers burbs have beautiful geography, but I find the architecture to be underwhelming. There aren't very many nice character homes in the area. I haven't spent much time in New West, so maybe I'll check it out.

new west near queens park area has a great stock of old homes, its used a lot in movies.

cloudfront.net

amazonaws.com

glaciermedia.ca

CanSpice · #94 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 11:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

new west near queens park area has a great stock of old homes, its used a lot in movies.

cloudfront.net

This house was actually built in 2000. It's currently for sale for a cool $2.4 million.

Docere · #95 Posted **Dec 2, 2016, 11:52 PM**

One thing to keep in mind is that NYC and Chicago were already huge in 1900. Hence the wealthy were already living well beyond city limits in railroad suburbs, like Westchester County and Chicago's North Shore. The Bronx for example basically transformed from a pretty rural area to a very urban area for the working class - Westchester was the next logical step for those moving out of Manhattan (although you had a few areas like Riverdale in the Bronx and Forest Hills Queens as well).

In Toronto meanwhile it wasn't that big in 1900 - so the wealthy didn't have to go far at all, so you had Rosedale and North Toronto develop within the city limits (or just beyond in the case of Forest Hill). There weren't Scarsdale or Winnetka-type areas.

Toronto's Yonge St. wealth corridor if anything resembles Washington DC, along Wisconsin and Connecticut avenues, running from NW DC to Chevy Chase/Bethesda. Which makes sense given that Toronto and Washington were pretty similar sized cities. DC grew fast after WWII, so like Toronto it also has a lot of new suburbia.

ETA: The closest thing Toronto to an affluent railroad suburb is Oakville, which I guess is our Greenwich, Connecticut.

GeneralLeeTPHLS · #96 Posted **Dec 3, 2016, 12:00 AM**

From my experiences, I think my favourite inner suburbs (within actual city limits) of Toronto would have to be the swath of older suburbia from South of Lawrence to St. Clair. This area has housing I believe from around the 1930's to the 1950's, and has matured an incredible amount. I walk around these areas a lot, and it's really beautiful in fall, almost like your not in Toronto, but a nice smaller city (Like Peterborough). The west and east boundaries would probably be Bathurst or a bit farther and Bayview.

Now, for the actual suburb municipalities, I haven't had the chance to really see Burlington, Oakville, Oshawa or really most of these suburb cities in full depth. I'd probably say Pickering, or Burlington, for I've heard it has some nice qualities to it.

SpongeG · #97 Posted **Dec 3, 2016, 12:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanSpice

This house was actually built in 2000. It's currently for sale for a cool $2.4 million.

yeah there are a lot of faux heritage buildings mixed in but they are pretty grand, not quite shaugnessy but very different from what most who have never ventured to that area of new west before

queens park the park is really a nice place to spend the day

someone123 · #98 Posted **Dec 3, 2016, 1:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yeah, I have relatives who live in areas like that in the Halifax region, and also in other Atlantic cities.

Around the NE US cities, the suburbs tend to be reasonably similar in layout, but maybe a bit denser and definitely more manicured. They also tend to have more attractive village centres. This is probably due to both the age and size of their metro areas vs. those in Atlantic Canada. Attractive suburban village centres in Atlantic Canada are quite rare.

This varies from city to city. I am not really familiar with Fredericton, but in Halifax these large lot suburbs only make up a small percentage of new construction (maybe 10%; they look big on a map but the land coverage and number of housing units is low). There is more urban infill and a lot more medium-density suburban construction, most of which is apartments or townhouses. Some American metro areas are almost all exurb at this point.

The large lot subdivisions all target different market segments. That one posted is a basic one. There are also nicer ones that do have nice commercial buildings and other amenities. Some have golf courses, stables, or are on the ocean and everyone has boathouses, etc. Many of them do have city water and/or sewage.

I will say that, relatively speaking, more wealth still seems to be concentrated in inner neighbourhoods of cities in the Maritimes. There are a few cities in the Northeast US that have almost no wealthy families living in them; everyone moved out to the suburbs long ago.

Acajack · #99 Posted **Dec 3, 2016, 4:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

This varies from city to city. I am not really familiar with Fredericton, but in Halifax these large lot suburbs only make up a small percentage of new construction (maybe 10%; they look big on a map but the land coverage and number of housing units is low). There is more urban infill and a lot more medium-density suburban construction, most of which is apartments or townhouses. Some American metro areas are almost all exurb at this point.

The large lot subdivisions all target different market segments. That one posted is a basic one. There are also nicer ones that do have nice commercial buildings and other amenities. Some have golf courses, stables, or are on the ocean and everyone has boathouses, etc. Many of them do have city water and/or sewage.

I will say that, relatively speaking, more wealth still seems to be concentrated in inner neighbourhoods of cities in the Maritimes. There are a few cities in the Northeast US that have almost no wealthy families living in them; everyone moved out to the suburbs long ago.

I think my point, which I did not express effectively, is that American suburbia is probably not deserving of the global scorn that it is often the focus of. Certainly not from Canada, anyway.

I was of the "suburbs in the U.S. suck" crowd for quite some time, but after seeing an increasing number of them, many are actually pretty nice esthetically. Certainly more than we usually give them credit for.

Of course, most of them are very bad in terms of sustainability, ecology, transportation, etc. But that's another story. And ours aren't always good in that respect either.

1overcosc · #**100** Posted **Dec 3, 2016, 4:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

I think my point, which I did not express effectively, is that American suburbia is probably not deserving of the global scorn that it is often the focus of. Certainly not from Canada, anyway.

I was of the "suburbs in the U.S. suck" crowd for quite some time, but after seeing an increasing number of them, many are actually pretty nice esthetically. Certainly more than we usually give them credit for.

Of course, most of them are very bad in terms of sustainability, ecology, transportation, etc. But that's another story. And ours aren't always good in that respect either.

As a general rule of thumb, Canadian cities are denser than American ones. This stems from subtle factors that wouldn't be readily noticeable.. a big one being the widespread use of minimum lot sizes in American zoning--this produces lots that are bigger than in comparable Canadian suburbs but often they're "deeper", not wider, so from the street the difference is not readily apparent, although over hundreds of hectares, it does make a pretty big difference in population density.

Like many factors of American urban development, there's a not-so-nice reason behind the widespread use of minimum lot sizes--it exists as a way to force properties to be expensive in order to keep urban blacks from moving to them.

Race also informs another key difference between Canadian cities and American cities.. transit ridership is generally higher in Canada:

As you can see, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa outrank all American cities save New York when it comes to transit mode share, and even cities like Victoria and Halifax outrank almost all US cities.

Much of this stems from the powerful social bias against buses that exists in the American psyche due to their association with blacks and other minorities.