Is Sudbury, Ontario worth visiting?
March 17, 2009 7:04 PM Subscribe
Is Sudbury, Ontario worth visiting? There's a science writer's conference going on there in May. It's going to take 6-8 hours for me to get there on a bus. I'm debating whether Sudbury is interesting/pleasant enough to justify the trip. Your thoughts?
I used to take a 6-8 hour round trip by bus to Sudbury when I had a girlfriend who went to university there. Even with copious sex at the far end, it was hardly worth it. It does have Science North, and the Big Nickel, but the points of visitor interest are thin on the ground there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:11 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:11 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
Science North is kinda cool, and if you like looking at rocks it could be fun... but I applied to Laurentian and decided not to go because I thought I would go insane hanging out in Sudbury.
posted by riane at 7:15 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by riane at 7:15 PM on March 17, 2009
Well, pleasant is perhaps not the right term, but interesting could well be, particularly if you're interested in science. Plus, the city features in three of my favourite sci-fi novels, the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy by Robert Sawyer.
posted by angiep at 7:20 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by angiep at 7:20 PM on March 17, 2009
Lord, no.
posted by Freyja at 7:21 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by Freyja at 7:21 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I hear about Sudbury all the time because my girlfriend is from there and we live on the West Coast. She is a proud Sudburian and I love her anyway.
My perspective: I've been there three times and I would describe visiting Sudbury as having as much fun as standing outside a suburban strip mall hung over with one leg in a dirty snowbank up to the knee. It's the worst of suburban sprawl and the scenery is rock. But if you do go, the Townehouse is a really great bar if you like drinking with every kid you went to high school with in a rec room with christmas lights. (Nah, it's a great bar.)
Her perspective: Yes, visit the Townehouse, the Budda for lunch and beers, Mimi and Lulu for craft classes and gifts, the big nickel, Science North, and Coppercliffe which is at the bottom of the giant Inco smokestack (it's pretty cool and surreal). Too bad you'll miss the Northern Lights festival in July. There's also a big French community and overall the University students will treat you well. Um, don't count on taking public transit.
posted by sambiamb at 8:12 PM on March 17, 2009
My perspective: I've been there three times and I would describe visiting Sudbury as having as much fun as standing outside a suburban strip mall hung over with one leg in a dirty snowbank up to the knee. It's the worst of suburban sprawl and the scenery is rock. But if you do go, the Townehouse is a really great bar if you like drinking with every kid you went to high school with in a rec room with christmas lights. (Nah, it's a great bar.)
Her perspective: Yes, visit the Townehouse, the Budda for lunch and beers, Mimi and Lulu for craft classes and gifts, the big nickel, Science North, and Coppercliffe which is at the bottom of the giant Inco smokestack (it's pretty cool and surreal). Too bad you'll miss the Northern Lights festival in July. There's also a big French community and overall the University students will treat you well. Um, don't count on taking public transit.
posted by sambiamb at 8:12 PM on March 17, 2009
You can take some pretty awesome photos of mine tailings.
Unless you have a burning desire to know more about mining, I would never ever recommend anyone go there.
posted by piper4 at 8:18 PM on March 17, 2009
Unless you have a burning desire to know more about mining, I would never ever recommend anyone go there.
posted by piper4 at 8:18 PM on March 17, 2009
I've divined from your profile that you're from one of Canada's nicer cities. So, doubly no - unless you really want to know just how lucky you are.
Alright, maybe I'm being unfair. There's nothing overtly toxic about the city (from what I can remember, anyways), and if you're interested in the conference then by all means go. But I wouldn't go just for the sake of being in Sudbury.
posted by wsp at 8:27 PM on March 17, 2009
Alright, maybe I'm being unfair. There's nothing overtly toxic about the city (from what I can remember, anyways), and if you're interested in the conference then by all means go. But I wouldn't go just for the sake of being in Sudbury.
posted by wsp at 8:27 PM on March 17, 2009
If you have outdoorsy interests, the area around Sudbury might be nice. But Sudbury itself? Not an attraction.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:36 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by jacquilynne at 8:36 PM on March 17, 2009
Though, to be fair to Sudbury, it's not, like, a hellhole. If you're interested in the conference, there's no reason not to go because it's in Sudbury, but don't count on the location adding any interest to the experience.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:37 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by jacquilynne at 8:37 PM on March 17, 2009
Oh, god, I've always wanted to see the world's tallest smokestack. There should be plenty of tailings ponds to explore on your way to the site.
Here's a picture of the Inco Superstack on a cold winter morning, it's fallout plume blowing jauntily in the chill wind.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:49 PM on March 17, 2009
Here's a picture of the Inco Superstack on a cold winter morning, it's fallout plume blowing jauntily in the chill wind.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:49 PM on March 17, 2009
Sudbury is pretty cool if you substitute Algonquin Park for Sudbury.
posted by cranberrymonger at 8:55 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by cranberrymonger at 8:55 PM on March 17, 2009
My friend Ed came from there and felt like Kelowna, BC, was paradise in comparison. Which tells you something.
On the other hand, I know another guy who prefers it to Toronto. But he is strange.
posted by Beardman at 9:05 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, I know another guy who prefers it to Toronto. But he is strange.
posted by Beardman at 9:05 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
no.
posted by modernnomad at 9:32 PM on March 17, 2009
posted by modernnomad at 9:32 PM on March 17, 2009
Based on what my coworker has to say about his old hometown, i'm going to say that's a "oh hells no."
Who throws a sci-fi conference in Sudbury?
posted by chunking express at 7:24 AM on March 18, 2009
Who throws a sci-fi conference in Sudbury?
posted by chunking express at 7:24 AM on March 18, 2009
It sounds like the only thing that will make it fun is if you really like the sound of the conference or if you know you will see some good friends.
Personally, I think Sudbury looks like the moon.
posted by Gor-ella at 9:30 AM on March 18, 2009
Personally, I think Sudbury looks like the moon.
posted by Gor-ella at 9:30 AM on March 18, 2009
When I went to Sudbury for the first time (to attend a wedding) I didn't know anything about it. My uninformed reaction was: Wow! Lookit the landscape around here! It's so beautiful! So barren and craggy! Weird little trees! You can see the shape of the Shield like nowhere else because the rock is laid bare on the surface and in this way it is completely fascinating. So it's not exactly Mordor to the untrained eye.
The fact that the smelters totally destroyed the landscape actually makes it somewhere you SHOULD see, since it's such a great large-scale example of how humanity fucks up the natural environment.
The town itself is a typical Canadian shield mining town, there's a downtown strip of vague historical significance/feel but most of it is like anywhere rural and small in Canada: hard to judge with only a few days to do so. The people are nice and you may detect a faint northern Ontario accent.
I say go.
posted by Mrs Hilksom at 2:49 PM on March 18, 2009
The fact that the smelters totally destroyed the landscape actually makes it somewhere you SHOULD see, since it's such a great large-scale example of how humanity fucks up the natural environment.
The town itself is a typical Canadian shield mining town, there's a downtown strip of vague historical significance/feel but most of it is like anywhere rural and small in Canada: hard to judge with only a few days to do so. The people are nice and you may detect a faint northern Ontario accent.
I say go.
posted by Mrs Hilksom at 2:49 PM on March 18, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:06 PM on March 17, 2009 [1 favorite]