Calgary - Canada

These are great threads Keep em coming!

I love seeing the hardcore snow environment... it's just the total opposite of Australia.

The smoke coming from the tops of the skyscrapers in some pics is coming from heating systems of some sort I take it?

^^ Yeah it's the heating system, there are also some on the actual streets

Love the snow scenes. Impressive skyline too for a city of around a million.

Calgary is a nice city.
Also, calgary has developed an interesting pedestrian system for downtown workers who can't handle the cold on their lunch.
Calgary has what is called the "Plus 15-30" system. All major buildings must be connected to the system which is a climate-controlled walkway between the building one or stories above the road, hence 15/30. It is the largest overhead system in the world and is always expanding due to the huge developments going on downtown. Right now there are 40 buildings under construction right now in Calgary with a minimum of 10 stories. Nearly all are downtown/inner city. All the new building of any size must be connected to the system.
The reason the system is above ground and not underground like most systems in the world is because Calgary has a very high water table.

I don’t think there would be a similar sized city on this planet with a better skyline. Very impressive!

Yeah, the plus 15 is also a bonus when you are an Australian in Calgary in the middle of January!

Adelaide... take note. This is how a city with 1mil should look without exception. And note that there are no particularly tall buildings in the CBD. Just shows what could be done even with Australian LGA's stifling all high rise development.

(Adelaidians, don't get offended. I reckon Calgary shits on Perth especially in terms of CBD density. But compared to Aussie cities, Adelaide is more comparable in population terms)

Rezz said:

These are great threads Keep em coming!

I love seeing the hardcore snow environment... it's just the total opposite of Australia.

The smoke coming from the tops of the skyscrapers in some pics is coming from heating systems of some sort I take it?

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That's not "smoke", rather it is condensation coming from the buildings' heating systems. The phenomenon is very similar to the condensation produced by jet engines at high altitudes (where jets fly) due to the low temperatures.... aka "con trails" for condensation trails. This condensation also comes out the exhaust of vehicles.... at times it can be blinding to the driver behind.

NailZ said:

Adelaide... take note. This is how a city with 1mil should look without exception. And note that there are no particularly tall buildings in the CBD. Just shows what could be done even with Australian LGA's stifling all high rise development.

(Adelaidians, don't get offended. I reckon Calgary shits on Perth especially in terms of CBD density. But compared to Aussie cities, Adelaide is more comparable in population terms)

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Perhaps Perth would look similar if we had of persued smaller more viable building heights.

Shits on Allot of Australian skylines :lol: . Vancouver is what Perth and Brisbane should aim for. Adelaide looks like a twin to this city.

Citystyle said:

Perhaps Perth would look similar if we had of persued smaller more viable building heights.

Shits on Allot of Australian skylines :lol: . Vancouver is what Perth and Brisbane should aim for. Adelaide looks like a twin to this city.

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Adelaide looks like a twin to this city?

Citystyle said:

Shits on Allot of Australian skylines :lol: . Vancouver is what Perth and Brisbane should aim for. Adelaide looks like a twin to this city.

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Couldn't agree more.. Calgary had experienced a massive resources boom and few cities in North America could match them in terms of construction activity. During the Adelaide City Council submissions we studied Calgary, along with other similarly sized cities such as Auckland and felt that Calgary was a shining example not only for Adelaide but many cities across the world.

~ Calgary a city that punches well above it's weight.

NailZ said:

Adelaide... take note. This is how a city with 1mil should look without exception. And note that there are no particularly tall buildings in the CBD. Just shows what could be done even with Australian LGA's stifling all high rise development.

(Adelaidians, don't get offended. I reckon Calgary shits on Perth especially in terms of CBD density. But compared to Aussie cities, Adelaide is more comparable in population terms)

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The difference is Alberta has a population of 3.5 million, and SA has a population of 1.5 million. If we take the JayT method of population modelling, Calgary has more people within 300km than Adelaide, therefore Calgary is bigger.

One thing I don't understand about Calgary (and North American cities in general) is how can the skyscrapers surrounded by acres and acres of surface level car parks be justified economically? In Australian cities, the owners of the car parks would have long ago cashed in on their value and developed them, reducing demand for floor space (and thus skyscrapers). You don't see large surface level car parks in any major Australian city.

Citystyle said:

Perhaps Perth would look similar if we had of persued smaller more viable building heights.

Shits on Allot of Australian skylines :lol: . Vancouver is what Perth and Brisbane should aim for.

Click to expand...

Are you kidding? Both Perth and Brisbane have nicer skylines than Vancouver does.