Great Canadian "City of the Decade" Thread

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Couldn't you have gone back *one more decade*?

I think Halifax might have been the fastest-growing city in Canada in the 1940's (+32% in the city/towns and county from 1941-1951). It was a very busy and important city during WWII, something locals know but which is probably not well-known across Canada. Streetcars on Barrington were running at 90 second frequencies, and ships constantly gathered in the harbour and basin to form convoys and avoid U-boats.

Here's one famous picture:


Source

Winston Churchill also made a point to visit the city in 1944; the visit was kept secret until he left. The Churchill statue at the old library commemorates that visit.

The city also did relatively well in the 1930's while a lot of other Canadian cities were in decline. It barely grew during the 1920's while most cities farther west were booming.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

In spite of the absolutely terrible economy of the 80's I'd put Calgary as the city of the 80's. We had the Olympics which at least 2 movies were based on (Cool Runnings and Eddie the Eagle) and we won the Stanley Cup. You also had wrestlers like Brett the Hitman Hart who were from here and athletes like Doug Flutie who helped the Stamps dominate the CFL and eventually went on to the NFL. Most of our downtown seems like it went up in the 80's too.

You make a pretty good case!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Vancouver is potentially the city of the 2010s. It's the only city whose local affairs hold much interest for other Canadians (see the "deemed" thread for an example of the nationwide fascination with Vancouver house sales).

Outside of SSP and a few other limited circles I guess, most people in Canada aren't even aware of local Vancouver issues. Even the housing market - other than to vaguely know that it's expensive. The ancillary factors are never discussed by anyone AFAIK.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Outside of SSP and a few other limited circles I guess, most people in Canada aren't even aware of local Vancouver issues. Even the housing market - other than to vaguely know that it's expensive. The ancillary factors are never discussed by anyone AFAIK.

That doesn't match my own experience, that's for sure.

[1overcosc]

Kingston might be a good candidate for "city of the decade" for the 1820s.

At the time it was the largest city in Upper Canada, which itself was growing rapidly, and the Rideau Canal project had begun which appeared to ensure the city's position as a major transportation and military hub (the warming of relations with the US and emergence of railways ultimately meant the canal never did do that; but at the time of its construction, it appeared it would). Furthermore, of all the urban centres in Upper Canada, Kingston was the most "refined"--it had the grandest architecture and the wealthiest population and it lacked a lot of the rough-and-tumble culture that the rest of the colony had. To an observer in the 1820s it would have appeared that Kingston was symbolizing the growth and taming of British North America's interior (Quebec not being part of the "interior" due to the St. Lawrence being navigable by oceangoing ships through to Montreal).

This started to fade in the 1830s, as Kingston was surpassed by Toronto on all of these fronts. However, when Kingston became capital of the United Province in 1841 it was still competitive enough that it seemed being made capital would be enough to bring it back on top, but then the capital was moved to Montreal in 1844 and all hopes for national prominence were permanently dashed, so the 1840s is not a good candidate for Kingston being "the city of decade", even though it did contain the short period where it was capital.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Andy6

That doesn't match my own experience, that's for sure.

People in Toronto talk about Vancouver's housing market on a regular basis, really?

More so, than say, people in Vancouver, Halifax or Edmonton would have talked about Rob Ford?

[giallo]

In the BC bubble, the 1980s are generally regarded as a big coming out party for Vancouver and the province. Vancouver went from an overgrown mill town to having some international cache thanks to Expo 86.

[lrt's friend]

Definitely Montreal in the 1960s, but the shine came off in the 1970s, 80s and 90s with the FLQ crisis in 1970, the PQ election in 76 and the two referendums that caused a great exodus of people and money and the language sensitivities. I have noticed how Montreal has realized again that one of its great assets is its bilingualism and we are now seeing the city's recovery because of it and a more stable political climate.

[hipster duck]

2010s: Toronto

2000s: Calgary

1990s: Vancouver. I remember when I was a kid around 1993 there was a Macleans magazine with the Vancouver skyline on the cover. It showed some of the then very new condos right across from Granville Island against the sunset. It had a title like "Canada's Golden City", or something like that, and it contrasted with the various levels of economic despair across the rest of the country. The 90s were the decade of Hong Kong mass migration, the first monster homes (which now look really mouldy and dated), the best urban planning (thanks, Larry Beasley), a massive airport expansion, the rise of film production, and an interest in things Pacific Northwest.

1980s: Edmonton. The dream team of the Oilers winning back-to-back Stanley cups. West Edmonton Mall opens. The LRT opens, beating Vancouver as Canada's third subway. All the major institutions around the river valley (Muttart conservatory, Shaw centre, etc.) open.

1970s: Toronto. "New York run by the Swiss". "The city that works". The CN tower, the Eaton Centre, First Canadian Place. John Sewell. Jane Jacobs. The Blue Jays. The decade that the financial industry moved from Montreal. When streetcars were saved, and the Spadina freeway was halted and urban professionals began to take a renewed interest in Victorian neighbourhoods. When all the commie blocks seemed shiny and new.

1960s: Montreal. Expo 67. Drapeau megaprojects. Quiet Revolution. "Vive le Quebec Libre!". Leonard Cohen. The international style skyscrapers. The Metro so modern that its cars still look futuristic 50 years later.

1950s: Uh? For some reason, the 1950s strike me as an especially sleepy decade for Canada relative to other places.

1940s: Halifax?

1930s: Montreal? The amount of art deco seems to suggest that it was another Montreal decade.

1920s: Vancouver had a City Beautiful plan and was throwing up acres of crafstman bungalows. Surpasses Winnipeg to become the 3rd largest city by 1931.

1910s: Winnipeg. The general strike. The Chicago of the North. Beaux Arts commercial blocks.

[SignalHillHiker]

1950s is when Canada got us, really. We'll take it if there's no others.

[esquire]

I think Hipster Duck pretty much nailed it.

[ssiguy]

I would not say Vancouver was the city of the 90s at all. I would say it was Toronto.

In the 1990s people were leaving BC and the economy was sluggish and Prmier Clarke did everything in his power to make it so. It waart of the Vancouver condo mania thanks to the influx of HK money in '89/90 but the city didn't really flourish. It certainly didn't do badly but nothing stellar either.

I wouldn't say Vancouver has ever been a complete "it" city for a decade. That to me is not neccessarily a bad thing because a massive boom can also result in a massive bust. Toronto has been the exception to that but being the largest city and the beneficiary of the Montreal exodus, it's situation has been unique.

[ue]

I like hipster duck's list. Edmonton feels very 1980s even today, though that's been shed more and more over the past 5-7 years. Even though the city is doing really well for itself these days, that decade feels like Edmonton's zenith. It was also before Calgary really pulled ahead as Alberta's primetime metropolis. The '80s were more of a tug of war between the two, with decades before being more Edmonton-centric within Alberta, and decades after being more Calgary-centric.

Also agree with Vancouver about the '90s. It was when the city had become more popular and was increasingly international, but still had its grit, its left-wing counterculture throughout, without being marginalized by glass condos and foreign investors. It also felt like the only city that was really prospering in Canada in the 1990s, though Calgary and Victoria do deserve some mention.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by mistercorporate

Okotoks

/Thread

Hipster Duck's synopses are persuasive.

[Acajack]

Great responses so far.

Note that I mentioned that this wasn't necessarily a positive.

That's why I still maintain Montreal, for better or for worse, was Canada's city of the 90s, with Oka, Meech, Charlottetown, the referendum and continuing separation anxiety and rumblings (the PQ was still in power) almost all the way to the end of the decade.

[Darkoshvilli]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Great responses so far.

Note that I mentioned that this wasn't necessarily a positive.

That's why I still maintain Montreal, for better or for worse, was Canada's city of the 90s, with Oka, Meech, Charlottetown, the referendum and continuing separation anxiety and rumblings (the PQ was still in power) almost all the way to the end of the decade.

It was probably the main news maker of that decade, thats for sure. Which is ironic considering thats when the city hit its lowest population since the late 50's early 60's.

[GreaterMontréal]

Originally Posted by Darkoshvilli

It was probably the main news maker of that decade, thats for sure. Which is ironic considering thats when the city hit its lowest population since the late 50's early 60's.

Quebec as a whole stalled in the 90's, the population growth was very abysmal. But it may have helped us to a certain point. It marked the end of the exodus in Montréal (island), and right now, the city is growing at a steady pace. With more than 2M people living on the island, Montréal has never been more populous than it is right now.

[Mikemike]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

In spite of the absolutely terrible economy of the 80's I'd put Calgary as the city of the 80's. We had the Olympics which at least 2 movies were based on (Cool Runnings and Eddie the Eagle) and we won the Stanley Cup. You also had wrestlers like Brett the Hitman Hart who were from here and athletes like Doug Flutie who helped the Stamps dominate the CFL and eventually went on to the NFL. Most of our downtown seems like it went up in the 80's too.

With zero grey cup appearances in that decade (to edmonton's 6 incluidng 4 wins, and one Stanley and one runner up (same as montreal) to edmonton's 4 plus one 2nd place your argument is, essentially, Olympics.
And Brett Hart, who WAS pretty cool, but not that cool.