What was your biggest surprise/favourite thing about the cities you've visited?

[SignalHillHiker]

What was your biggest surprise/favourite thing about the Canadian cities you've visited?

I'll go East to West with a few of the most memorable ones for me:

Halifax NS: The biggest surprise to me was how modern it is. I just assumed it would look like a bigger, wealthier, equally historic St. John's. My favourite thing was seeing a city with, for the most part, distinct suburbs. By that I mean... the suburbs were largely as old as the city itself, and they grew into each other. This meant the suburbs were like bustling, separate towns/cities - not JUST urban sprawl. St. John's will likely have that as well as it spreads out over its surrounding cities and towns.

Charlottetown, PEI: The biggest surprise was actually the size of the island. In NL, we're used to every drive being 5-7 hours long. So we went to Summerside for lunch, and as we were leaving we discussed going to Charlottetown but decided against it, we didn't have time. Then, once we got back on the road, the sign said Charlottetown was only 20-something clicks away. We couldn't believe it, went, and had a blast. My favourite thing was, really, the level of perfection. It's a postcard example of a small city. Everything I saw worked in context.

Quebec City, QC: The biggest surprise for me was the people. I heard all the horror stories about the mean residents of Quebec City, all the warnings to at least try to speak French at all times. Nothing could have been further from the truth, in my experience. Only once was I asked to repeat myself, this time in French, and the waitress who asked was smiling and friendly about it - she was clearly doing it more as an invitation to experience some of the local language/culture than as a result of any kind of annoyance at my being English. She even moved her hands like a conductor while I spoke and clapped and cheered for me when I finished. And my favourite thing was the city walls. I remember thinking: "Are you ****ing kidding me? Like it's not enough they have all these stone buildings, they need the damn walls too? Could this get any prettier?"

Montreal, QC: The biggest surprise was the old town core. I didn't know it had one. I genuinely though most of the history had been erased and it was just another large, North American city. My favourite thing was a tiny little passenger/car ferry we rode on. Delightful.

Winnipeg, MB: The biggest surprise was the aggressiveness of the bums downtown. All cities have them, but Winnipegs will talk to you, follow you, yell at you. I thought I was on Just for Laughs or something. Also, holy multicultural. Diversity in NL is having Irish Catholics and English Anglicans in the same town. Winnipeg has the whole world. The other big surprise was how flat the city is! I know the prairies is flat, but Winnipeg is flat with a capital F. My favourite parts were the Exchange and the Forks. And the new airport terminal. That is ****ing beautiful. I remember thinking: it's like a big city version of the St. John's airport. And then, when I got home, thinking: Oh, nevermind. Theirs is a completely different league.

Calgary, AB: I was surprised by the size. Logically I knew it was a major city, more than a million... but I never really put it together in my head. And it came across as sssooo rich. My favourite parts were the glass apartment towers and (don't laugh at me, St. John's doesn't have this...) the cool little LRT system.

[Bluenote]

K I will be game for this, but please do not take offence as some of these cities it has been awhile.


Montreal- Dislike how I was treated just because I had a MB plate, I was given the finger way to many times and even at a service station was refused gas.
Likes, the cities history, buildings, etc are amazing.
Quebec City- Dislike ( not a thing )
Likes ( honestly compared to the people in Montreal, they were very nice, went out of their way all the time, and the history here is breathtaking. Would go again for sure.


Toronto and Area- Dislike, hate the 401 lol. And too much traffic.
Likes, it is amazing all the towers going up, IMO though, I think they are building way to fast and not planning the best for the future. But otherwise lots to see, and so nice to be on the lake.

Thunder Bay- Well I am sorry, it seems very run down when I was there, but the people were very nice, and I loved the surrounding area.

Winnipeg- Cannot comment as I live here

Brandon -City itself I like due to the Ass Valley going through it.

Regina- I dislike the fact they do not have enough Timmies, lol
I like their ( all though short ) glass towers down town.

Saskatoon: I dislike the road system, seems very unorganized.
Like, the fact they have a beautiful river running through it and have used it properly and not built up around it to ruin it.

Calgary- I dislike the fact that a lot of people are ignorant when you are downtown, not a very friendly spot, this may be due to the younger population though. But I like some of the new towers. But really I did not find Calgary to be a place I would want to visit again.

Edmonton - Over rated, and a down town that is currently ugly compared to Calgary, also the stink on the north side is unreal from the refineries.
Liked, the way they saved the Valley, it has awsome views, and so many bike and hiking trails, you can almost have a staycation their with that valley.

Vancouver- I love this city, even though it is congested, but I kinda grew up my child hood in BC so I am biased.
Victoria- Love the fact they saved most of their old downtown and it is actually vibrant, and not just a collection of old buildings. Again I am biased.

I'd mention all the smaller cities, but I never stayed in them long enough to mention good or bad. And I have yet to get to the East coast which I want to.

[Bluenote]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

What was your biggest surprise/favourite thing about the Canadian

Winnipeg, MB: The biggest surprise was the aggressiveness of the bums downtown. All cities have them, but Winnipegs will talk to you, follow you, yell at you. I thought I was on Just for Laughs or something. Also, holy multicultural. Diversity in NL is having Irish Catholics and English Anglicans in the same town. Winnipeg has the whole world. The other big surprise was how flat the city is! I know the prairies is flat, but Winnipeg is flat with a capital F. My favourite parts were the Exchange and the Forks. And the new airport terminal. That is ****ing beautiful. I remember thinking: it's like a big city version of the St. John's airport. And then, when I got home, thinking: Oh, nevermind. Theirs is a completely different league.

LOL, I like the BUM one, almost sig worthy. trust me they are harmless though. And we are cracking down on that part. it is a shame you could not have seen the rest of the city, lots more history then the exchange, as for flat, you are dead on, we live on a flood plain, everything west of us and east of us flows to us. Thus the massive flood we have. But unlike other flat provinces, you only have to drive a short distance and you are in the Whiteshell, and that is pretty much like the Maritimes, minus the ocean. Or you can get the feel of the Ocean 45 minute drive north to Lake Winnipeg, one of the Worlds largest inland seas. And to the west, a tad longer drive, we have what I call MINI mountains, but they still are mountains, and the way they drop off on the east side overlooking the plains is amazing.

[patm]

Well my list will be quite short.

Vancouver - I was suprised how dense it is. It seems like every corner in downtown is a tall building. Much denser then I imagined. Too bad it's not a little taller. Suprised how terrible the traffic is and that the weather is actually as bad as people say it is. I've never seen a sunny day in Vancouver. I've spent a week there for the last 3 years and never once did I see a real, sunny day. Those two factors would probably stop me from every considering a move there.

Edmonton - Suprised at how nice the river valley is. Makes me wish the bow was bigger.

[patm]

Originally Posted by Bluenote

K I will be game for this, but please do not take offence as some of these cities it has been awhile.
Calgary- I dislike the fact that a lot of people are ignorant when you are downtown, not a very friendly spot, this may be due to the younger population though. But I like some of the new towers. But really I did not find Calgary to be a place I would want to visit again.

Well aren't you a bundle of sunshine. Pretty negative list lol.

What do you mean by ignorant people downtown?

[le calmar]

Originally Posted by Bluenote

Montreal- Dislike how I was treated just because I had a MB plate, I was given the finger way to many times and even at a service station was refused gas.

Was it because of your plate? I don't know why people here would have something against MB (Ontario, maybe and even then that would be isolated cases) And they refused to serve you at a gas station, in Montreal of all places? This I find it hard to believe as I see a lot of plates from other provinces/states everyday, people are used to it. In Saint-Stanislas where they see 1 or 2 MB plates per year, hell maybe I don't know (but I seriously don't see why they would have something against Manitobans)

[kw5150]

Oh boy..........here we go again!

[Cowtown_Tim]

Weird. I've been to all those places you mentioned and outside of your opinions on Van/Vic/QC my experiences were 100% the opposite.

I especially love this one "Calgary- I dislike the fact that a lot of people are ignorant when you are downtown" WFT? It seems that people in downtown Calgary aren't the only ones that are ignorant.

Originally Posted by Bluenote

K I will be game for this, but please do not take offence as some of these cities it has been awhile.


Montreal- Dislike how I was treated just because I had a MB plate, I was given the finger way to many times and even at a service station was refused gas.
Likes, the cities history, buildings, etc are amazing.
Quebec City- Dislike ( not a thing )
Likes ( honestly compared to the people in Montreal, they were very nice, went out of their way all the time, and the history here is breathtaking. Would go again for sure.


Toronto and Area- Dislike, hate the 401 lol. And too much traffic.
Likes, it is amazing all the towers going up, IMO though, I think they are building way to fast and not planning the best for the future. But otherwise lots to see, and so nice to be on the lake.

Thunder Bay- Well I am sorry, it seems very run down when I was there, but the people were very nice, and I loved the surrounding area.

Winnipeg- Cannot comment as I live here

Brandon -City itself I like due to the Ass Valley going through it.

Regina- I dislike the fact they do not have enough Timmies, lol
I like their ( all though short ) glass towers down town.

Saskatoon: I dislike the road system, seems very unorganized.
Like, the fact they have a beautiful river running through it and have used it properly and not built up around it to ruin it.

Calgary- I dislike the fact that a lot of people are ignorant when you are downtown, not a very friendly spot, this may be due to the younger population though. But I like some of the new towers. But really I did not find Calgary to be a place I would want to visit again.

Edmonton - Over rated, and a down town that is currently ugly compared to Calgary, also the stink on the north side is unreal from the refineries.
Liked, the way they saved the Valley, it has awsome views, and so many bike and hiking trails, you can almost have a staycation their with that valley.

Vancouver- I love this city, even though it is congested, but I kinda grew up my child hood in BC so I am biased.
Victoria- Love the fact they saved most of their old downtown and it is actually vibrant, and not just a collection of old buildings. Again I am biased.

I'd mention all the smaller cities, but I never stayed in them long enough to mention good or bad. And I have yet to get to the East coast which I want to.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by le calmar

Was it because of your plate? I don't know why people here would have something against MB (Ontario, maybe and even then that would be isolated cases) And they refused to serve you at a gas station, in Montreal of all places? This I find it hard to believe as I see a lot of plates from other provinces/states everyday, people should are used to it. In Saint-Stanislas where they see 1 or 2 MB plates per year, hell maybe I don't know (but I seriously don't see why they would have something against Manitobans)

Maybe they were just sick and tired of hearing all those Daniel Lavoie songs on the radio?

[Acajack]

Vancouver: a lot sunnier than I expected it to be (been there several times), both when I visited and also statistically - I later checked.

Winnipeg: had a lot more contemporary immigration; I expected it to be diverse from immigration in the first part of the 20th century but did not expect to see so many recent immigrants.

Regina: similar to Winnipeg, I was surprised at the number of recent immigrants there

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by patm

Well aren't you a bundle of sunshine. Pretty negative list lol.

What do you mean by ignorant people downtown?

It appears that we have someone who believes that the word "ignorant" means rude. At least that's my guess based on the fact that he mentions "not a friendly spot" in the same line.

Ah, irony. You're so sweet.

I also found it ironic that we finally have a thread where it actually makes sense to have "Canadian" in the title... yet it doesn't. I thought this was going to be about cities in general. Ah well. Guess I was just being a typical rude Calgarian.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by freeweed

It appears that we have someone who believes that the word "ignorant" means rude. At least that's my guess based on the fact that he mentions "not a friendly spot" in the same line.

Ah, irony. You're so sweet.

I also found it ironic that we finally have a thread where it actually makes sense to have "Canadian" in the title... yet it doesn't. I thought this was going to be about cities in general. Ah well. Guess I was just being a typical rude Calgarian.

I REALLY did try but it just wouldn't fit. Hahaha... that's why I bolded it in the heading...

[kw5150]

http://www.pocketmoneyplus.net/shop/images/069.jpg


fishing troll!

Originally Posted by Bluenote

K I will be game for this, but please do not take offence as some of these cities it has been awhile.


Montreal- Dislike how I was treated just because I had a MB plate, I was given the finger way to many times and even at a service station was refused gas.
Likes, the cities history, buildings, etc are amazing.
Quebec City- Dislike ( not a thing )
Likes ( honestly compared to the people in Montreal, they were very nice, went out of their way all the time, and the history here is breathtaking. Would go again for sure.


Toronto and Area- Dislike, hate the 401 lol. And too much traffic.
Likes, it is amazing all the towers going up, IMO though, I think they are building way to fast and not planning the best for the future. But otherwise lots to see, and so nice to be on the lake.

Thunder Bay- Well I am sorry, it seems very run down when I was there, but the people were very nice, and I loved the surrounding area.

Winnipeg- Cannot comment as I live here

Brandon -City itself I like due to the Ass Valley going through it.

Regina- I dislike the fact they do not have enough Timmies, lol
I like their ( all though short ) glass towers down town.

Saskatoon: I dislike the road system, seems very unorganized.
Like, the fact they have a beautiful river running through it and have used it properly and not built up around it to ruin it.

Calgary- I dislike the fact that a lot of people are ignorant when you are downtown, not a very friendly spot, this may be due to the younger population though. But I like some of the new towers. But really I did not find Calgary to be a place I would want to visit again.

Edmonton - Over rated, and a down town that is currently ugly compared to Calgary, also the stink on the north side is unreal from the refineries.
Liked, the way they saved the Valley, it has awsome views, and so many bike and hiking trails, you can almost have a staycation their with that valley.

Vancouver- I love this city, even though it is congested, but I kinda grew up my child hood in BC so I am biased.
Victoria- Love the fact they saved most of their old downtown and it is actually vibrant, and not just a collection of old buildings. Again I am biased.

I'd mention all the smaller cities, but I never stayed in them long enough to mention good or bad. And I have yet to get to the East coast which I want to.

[vid]

I didn't have a problem with bums in Winnipeg at all. And Thunder Bay is a grungy little shit hole, I've never tried to hide it. We've always been that way. There is a sort of "why bother? No one cares" mentality here when it comes to improving the city. 42 years after amalgamation we still have no idea about where and what we want to be as a city.

Winnipeg:

Biggest surprises were the lack of people on transit buses (I am used to being packed like sardines in Thunder Bay's system), and the short hours that everything seemed to be open for. I didn't know that Manitoba still have restrictions on Sunday shopping. I am used to going to places at 8am on Sundays because it's quieter to shop then, in Winnipeg that is an impossibility. Subways were everywhere (and they close at night ), and there were very few Macs stores. Downtown streets are really, really wide.

Favourite thing: Very frequent transit system relative to the one back home, and that even though I was in a different city, much of the time I felt like I was just in a part of Thunder Bay I hadn't been to yet. (I don't mean that in an insulting way but I understand if you're offended.) The North End feels exactly like my neighbourhood in Thunder Bay except that the streets are a bit narrower. Lots of stuff to see and do compared to back home. Wasn't as "flat" as I expected it to be. It was basically like Fort William but someone erased the mountains from the skyline. I didn't get outside of downtown much other than the zoo and Polo Park though.

As soon as you cross the border into Manitoba, the highway is magically twinned and four laned... for a few minutes. It's like they tease you. "Manitoba has a decent highway networ- haha no we don't!"

[SignalHillHiker]

A few more for me:

Moncton, NB: The biggest surprise was the river. I'd never seen a brown one before. And then, on the other side of the causeway, it was crystal clear. My favourite thing was how homogeneous red brick/beige concrete the downtown was. It reminded me a bit of Winnipeg that way. Also, there are some NICE buildings in Moncton. Not especially tall or whatever else, but very attractive. There was one hotel there that I really liked, right on the river.

Fredericton, NB: I honestly thought it was a village on the highway. You can be steps from downtown and not even know it's there, it seemed like. Then, you find downtown, and it feels incredibly big and dense and modern and well-planned for a Maritime city. I was shocked by Fredericton. Spectacularly beautiful and just... smartly done. Tied with Charlottetown for my favourite small provincial capital.

Ottawa, ON: Every Newfoundlander I know who has moved to the mainland has absolutely hated it, with one exception. That exception is every single one I know (6 in total) who moved to Ottawa. They LOVE it. And I did too. I can't explain why. It just feels... satisfying. I think it's because it's so self-assured at being the national capital that it doesn't feel the need to strut its stuff. And the medium-height density was wonderful.

Kenora, ON: It was like a miniature Newfoundland. Like... if St. John's is a golf course, Kenora was mini-putt. The city was smaller, the hills smaller, the lake smaller than the ocean (obviously), but otherwise... very similar. Loved it.

Vancouver, BC: I LOVED it at night. Vancouver at night is a world class vista, easily. My biggest surprise was that it's not the capital. Mainland Canadians LOVE making seemingly random cities their provincial capital. I'm used to it being the biggest city, if only by default.

Victoria, BC: Flowers. Flowers everywhere. That's all I remember. I was 15. Even in the middle of suburbia surrounded by a McDonald's, flowers.

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Moncton, NB: There was one hotel there that I really liked, right on the river.

I really hope you're not talking about this monstrosity: https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=chatea...6.31,,0,-11.74

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by haligonia

I really hope you're not talking about this monstrosity: https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=chatea...6.31,,0,-11.74

****. It was.

And now I can't say... I remembered it differently than it actually looks, I was young... because it looks like backtracking. lol

[MonctonRad]

Hey, the Chateau Moncton is such a stunning architectural masterpiece that they just had to build a Chateau Saint John too!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Ottawa, ON: Every Newfoundlander I know who has moved to the mainland has absolutely hated it, with one exception. That exception is every single one I know (6 in total) who moved to Ottawa. They LOVE it. And I did too. I can't explain why. It just feels... satisfying. I think it's because it's so self-assured at being the national capital that it doesn't feel the need to strut its stuff. And the medium-height density was wonderful.

.

I can confirm this. For some reason Newfoundlanders are among the happiest adopted Ottawans I have ever met.

[digitboy]

Here is a few :

Toronto, ON - Surprisingly Clean city and I was there by the end of april / Yonge/Dundas / The PATH.

Moncton, NB - The effect of tides on the PetitCodiac River. Ability to get bilingual services at most places...

Halifax, NS - Waterfront, Marina & Purdy's Wharf towers. The Bridges.