Canadian Twin Cities

[Razor]

Well two of the obvious ones are Port Arthur and Fort Francis making up Thunder Bay as well as Ottawa/Gatineau. Bonus points for the third which I left off for someone else to name..No it's not Okotoks and Calgary either, although they better be amalgamated by next census or there will be a few disgruntled people.

Name some others, or some potential twinnings due to growing cities creeping into one another.

I'm not referring to subdivisions, but bonafide cities that you can see paired up in the near future. Is there even any in this vast expanse of a country with a relatively low population?

[RHINO]

Twin cities in my opinion mean cities of similar size and appearance, like Vancouver B.C. and Sydney Australia. Calgary and the Okotoks though... Are we talking Cities that are combined to form a city or one that may over take another?

[MolsonExport]

Rouyn-Noranda
Chicoutimi-Jonquiere
Moncton-Dieppe
Halifax-Dartmouth
Sydney-Glace Bay
Kitchener-Waterloo (and Cambridge)

[Stryker]

I call them binodal cities.

Which I think is a more accurate term.

Althought from Toronto's perspective it's a joke, Mississauga is its own city atleast on some level.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Rouyn-Noranda
Chicoutimi-Jonquiere
Kitchener-Waterloo (and Cambridge)

All great examples right there.

Are Welland/Port Colbourne with St Catharines poised to be one tri city, or are they still too far apart?

Originally Posted by RHINO

Twin cities in my opinion mean cities of similar size and appearance, like Vancouver B.C. and Sydney Australia. Calgary and the Okotoks though... Are we talking Cities that are combined to form a city or one that may over take another?

I was thinking of established cities/towns that are poised to become one, although one can be larger..Ideally similar sized, but I think they have already been highlighted.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by Razor

All great examples right there.

Are Welland/Port Colbourne with St Catharines poised to be one tri city, or are they still too far apart?

The whole east Niagara region is a mess of towns.

Do Burlington and Hamilton count? Burlington is hard a work building a downtown.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Rouyn-Noranda
Chicoutimi-Jonquiere
Moncton-Dieppe
Halifax-Dartmouth
Sydney-Glace Bay
Kitchener-Waterloo (and Cambridge)

People actually used to call Halifax and Dartmouth the twin cities but nowadays Dartmouth isn't really a "thing" anymore accept for people who have lived there all there lives. I would love to see Dartmouth return to be a real city with a downtown similar in size and activity to Charlottetown which I sort of admire.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by Beedok

The whole east Niagara region is a mess of towns.

Do Burlington and Hamilton count? Burlington is hard a work building a downtown.

I would say that it would count..

I'm looking for that classic twin of similar size, but I'm sure we named them off..Future amalgamations or pairings would make for a good discussion though.

Timmins/ South Porcupine in Northern Ontario used to be separate but amalgamated in the early 70's and is just called the Town of Timmins now.

They still each have 2 distinct little downtown areas to this day.

How about the Prairies?..Are there any towns in Saskatchewan/Alberta that you can see one day being twinned..Red Deere is still too far, but it's not unfathomable to think that it can one day be paired up with either Calgary or Edmonton providing all three cities grow along that corridor.

[eemy]

In its strictest definition, I think the essence of twin cities is that despite being externally indistinguishable (ie. when looking at a map, it's not immediately obvious there is more than one settlement), the cultural differences remain distinct.

Kitchener and Waterloo are undoubtably twin cities; there is no obvious border between them, but there are still significant cultural differences. Cambridge is not, as its geographic boundaries remain evident, though it has an even more distinct identity within the tri cities. Within Cambridge, Galt, Hespeler and Preston wouldn't count either, as the geographic boundaries are indistinct, but the cultural markers of each no longer really exist.

As mentioned by the OP, Ottawa-Gatineau is another obvious example. Although the river is an obvious boundary between them, it isn't necessarily obvious that the settlements on both sides of the river are distinct.

Also mentioned, Thunder Bay is the other major one. Port Arthur and Fort William (not Fort Frances - that would be a megalopolis of unprecedented scale!) have indistinct geography, but very distinct cultures.

Getting into examples that don't satisfy the strictest definitions (because of geography), but are commonly twinned in Ontario:
Port Elgin & Southampton
Collingwood & Wasaga Beach
Pembroke & Petawawa
Midland & Penetanguishene
Elora & Fergus
St. Catherine's & Niagara Falls (& Welland)

[Xelebes]

Edmonton-Strathcona used to be twin cities. They amalgamated in 1912 so. . .

North side of the river still has some distinct difference from the south side of the river. The Strathcona side still has the artsy, newcomer side while the north side is a bit more established but disturbed feel.

[1overcosc]

Toronto-Hamilton?

A very long time ago, >150 years ago, Kingston, ON and Portsmouth, ON. Portsmouth became overshadowed by Kingston by 1820 and by 1900 was basically part of it (although an independent municipality until 1959).

[Bcasey25raptor]

Vancouver-abbotsford.

[Razor]

Sault St. Marie Ontario and Sault Michigan would be another example except for that one little disqualifier called an international border..Same with Windsor/Detroit.

[softee]

Oshawa-Whitby are side by side and form a single CMA.

[snowmobile]

Lloydminster Ab / Lloydminster Sk

Morden / Winkler MB

[Razor]

[QUOTE=1overcosc;7123694]Toronto-Hamilton?.QUOTE]

Why not Hamilton Toronto?..I think that they can be almost be considered twin cities.

Originally Posted by softee

Oshawa-Whitby are side by side and form a single CMA.

Oshawa and Whitby are another good example..You can almost throw in Ajax and even Pickering in that mix

To me, Thunder Bay and Rouyn Noranda are the most classic examples I can think of for similar sized towns being joined..Only because they were so close to size from one another.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

Kitchener and Waterloo are undoubtably twin cities; there is no obvious border between them, but there are still significant cultural differences. Cambridge is not, as its geographic boundaries remain evident, though it has an even more distinct identity within the tri cities. Within Cambridge, Galt, Hespeler and Preston wouldn't count either, as the geographic boundaries are indistinct, but the cultural markers of each no longer really exist.

Also mentioned, Thunder Bay is the other major one. Port Arthur and Fort William (not Fort Frances - that would be a megalopolis of unprecedented scale!) have indistinct geography, but very distinct cultures.

I haven't been out KWC way in a long time, but from what I've seen on google maps Cambridge doesn't seem much more split off from Kitchener than Port Arthur and Fort William are separate. The Intercity zone in TBay is pretty wide and noticeable as you enter a zone of often patchy warehouses.

[Dalreg]

Saskatchewan could argue Martensville, Warman as the best example of twin cities.

Does Stony Plain, Spruce Grove count?
St Albert, Edmonton?

[Boris2k7]

Turney Valley-Black Diamond



The town boundaries are only a quarter-section apart, and the towns are roughly equal in population.

TV - 2,167 (2011)
BD - 2,373 (2011)



http://town.blackdiamond.ab.ca/_cabi...P_complete.pdf

[mattpa]

I wish winniepg was still divided and st bonifaces downtown rivaled winnipegs