toto
Active Member
There are 100 buildings in Toronto taller than Winnipeg's tallest. No comparison.
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Let cities reach for the sky - Density Issues - Toronto compared
- Thread starter E.B.
- Start date
There are 100 buildings in Toronto taller than Winnipeg's tallest. No comparison.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Being prolific doesn't mean that an academic isn't sloppy. Sometimes I feel it actually contributes to sloppiness - once an author is revered enough, they can get pretty much anything published without doing the leg work.
I have to really read Glaeser's book to find out, but to me, making a conclusion about someone's attitude toward skyscrapers and ignoring the context and the time in which Jane Jacobs wrote her book is incredibly shoddy academic work. It's like the people who get offended that Mark Twain used the word "nigger" in Huck Finn, completely oblivious to the time when the book was written (people used to talk like that very openly), and the fact that Twain himself was trying to call attention to a huge social problem. Even if we ignore the fact that Glaeser can't situate his work in context, if you read DLGC carefully, you'll notice that Jacobs made very few overt references to skyscrapers being deadening; she mentions Lower Manhattan, but is more critical of its single use as a commercial district than the building type on the ground. In fact, Rittenhouse Square is one of the celebrated neighborhoods she mentions, and it was a high-rise apartment district even at the time.
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Come on, Winnipeg is a dump with a 1/2 dozen out dated hi-rises.
Winnipeg's historic core is more impressive than Toronto's. If I were to take a visitor without any knowledge of Canadian history around both downtowns and make a claim that Winnipeg was a bigger, more important city than Toronto in 1910 (it was not), they would probably believe me.
Dan416
Senior Member
Sounds like a good idea to me!
adma
Superstar
I think Jane Jacobs was more "LECTOR, SI MONUMENTUM REQUIRIS CIRCUMSPICE" by disposition. (Thus, the nearest thing to a local monument is Jane's Walk as an institution.)
Anyway, when considering these JJ vs EGlaeser arguments, remember the subject of this thread: The Donald, aka The Short-Fingered Vulgarian. So, Trump vs Jacobs. Take your pick...
Anyway, when considering these JJ vs EGlaeser arguments, remember the subject of this thread: The Donald, aka The Short-Fingered Vulgarian. So, Trump vs Jacobs. Take your pick...
Art Vandelay
Active Member
Surely you can't be serious. Take a picture from the front steps of the Manitoba Legislature and one from Ontario Legislature and ask someone which is the bigger city. Not to mention most of historic downtown is marred by a series of connecting glass tubes giving the city a hamster cage feel.
Bogtrotter
Senior Member
Really nice pics of the 'Peg, but I still don't specifically see the Toronto comparison. I mean any city of significant size that maintains a few historic buildings could be compared with TO in that regard.
HHC
Active Member
For those that are so quick to bash Winnipeg's historical architecture stock, I'd suggest you take a look at these pictures first.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=189279
Better than what Toronto has? Maybe. Someone would have to prove me wrong. Toronto did A LOT of demolishing to facilitate all those tall towers in the core you know. We have better housing stock though.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=189279
Better than what Toronto has? Maybe. Someone would have to prove me wrong. Toronto did A LOT of demolishing to facilitate all those tall towers in the core you know. We have better housing stock though.
Bogtrotter
Senior Member
Nice. I spent a few months in Winnipeg years ago and well remember it's historic district. I was underwhelmed at the time coming originally from Montreal, however it certainly has a very impressive stock of historic buildings : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_District
Hipster Duck
Senior Member
Historic. The operative word is 'historic'; as in, Winnipeg has a more impressive collection of heritage buildings than Toronto. Some of it is, of course, due to the fact that Toronto demolished a good chunk of its historic core.
That's not to say that Winnipeg feels bigger at the current time than Toronto. Of course not. My original post was a response to Automation Gallery's ignorant comment about how downtown Winnipeg is just a collection of crappy skyscrapers.
If downtown Toronto had the energy that it currently has, but have buildings more representative of Winnipeg's exchange district, or Old Montreal, it would undoubtedly be a more impressive city.
Art Vandelay
Active Member
I hate the "hamster tubes" running between the buildings. Toronto's PATH system is far superior.
Jasonzed
Senior Member
from the Mississauga Clock Tower
HHC
Active Member
What interests me is how Winnipeg managed to save their building stock because back then if they weren't occupied, they were demolished for parking lots. That's the fascinating part... in the 50's and 60's it seems like there weren't many NA cities spared from the inevitable mass exodus of parking lot construction in historic downtown cores.
Redroom Studios
Senior Member
crazy photos JZ! its amazing to see how many layers of development the GTA has in images such as those...
jetsbackincanada
Banned
I know, I was thinking that same thing. I can't think of anywhere else that exists like this.. Once your outta downtown Chicago, it gets pretty flat. Maybe reminds me of some Asian cities, like Shenzen, or even Tokyo.