Canadian Cities and Urban Development Discussion Thread

[habfanman]

Originally Posted by Ramako

In fact, it is already happening. The building on the very left of that render was completed last year, along with the adjacent promenade and Sugar Beach. It is now the home of Chorus Entertainment:

BORING!! So this is what we've waited 30 years for (plus another 30)? Brampton By The Sea? What exactly are people supposed to do there? What's the draw? The 'restaurant'? The 'ground floor retail'? "Let's hit up Rabba before we go to Jack Astors!! woo hoo!!"

Corus was supposed to be a 'culturally significant' building. Instead, it looks like something from an Oakville office park. Sherbourne Park looks cool but what can you do there but walk around and look at condos. And given Toronto Parks and Rec. reputation for letting everything go to waste, it'll be ghetto within 5 years- fountains won't work, trees will be dead. Same for Underpass Park which wouldn't even be necessary if they would simply remove the overpass like most cities are doing.

If you think this will work out as planned then ask yourself the following:

What happened to the plan to redo Queens Quay, which is the ugliest street to run down any waterfront anywhere? Postponed for another 10+ years?

Where are the streetcar extensions? Postponed for another 10+ years?

What happened to the 'iconic' 4 pad ice rink? Postponed forever?

Where's the rest of the white elephant Filmport? Made a good jail during the G 20 embarrassment to Canada but..

This is just more of the same boring condofront, mini City Place. And we'll have to wait 10+ years to see just how crap it all turns out.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by habfanman

BORING!! So this is what we've waited 30 years for (plus another 30)? Brampton By The Sea? What exactly are people supposed to do there? What's the draw? The 'restaurant'? The 'ground floor retail'? "Let's hit up Rabba before we go to Jack Astors!! woo hoo!!"

Corus was supposed to be a 'culturally significant' building. Instead, it looks like something from an Oakville office park. Sherbourne Park looks cool but what can you do there but walk around and look at condos. And given Toronto Parks and Rec. reputation for letting everything go to waste, it'll be ghetto within 5 years- fountains won't work, trees will be dead. Same for Underpass Park which wouldn't even be necessary if they would simply remove the overpass like most cities are doing.

If you think this will work out as planned then ask yourself the following:

What happened to the plan to redo Queens Quay, which is the ugliest street to run down any waterfront anywhere? Postponed for another 10+ years?

Where are the streetcar extensions? Postponed for another 10+ years?

What happened to the 'iconic' 4 pad ice rink? Postponed forever?

Where's the rest of the white elephant Filmport? Made a good jail during the G 20 embarrassment to Canada but..

This is just more of the same boring condofront, mini City Place. And we'll have to wait 10+ years to see just how crap it all turns out.

Moving those goal posts again I see? You claimed the vision in that rendering isn't happening. I have proved that it is. You are wrong. Just admit it. Of course, you won't...

Also, I love your desperate attempt to shit on this project in some other way in order to hide your ignorance. Let's see... Filmport (not even a part of the East Bayfront) is being built in phases, a couple of which have already been built. The Ice Pad has been cancelled - a minor loss - though also not part of East Bayfront.

A new City Place? Brampton by the Sea? Utterly laughable. CityPlace's problem is that it is nothing but condos whereas East Bayfront is a mix of several uses, including office and broadcast space, educational space and retail, and of course that's the draw to the neighbourhood. It doesn't have to have a local circus to draw people in from around the city, as the promenade and beach alone have proven.

The street car and street improvements are up in the air given the new priority to funnel money toward building subways on Eglinton and Sheppard, but as is always the case, such large infrastructure projects take time. It will eventually happen.

But oh no! We'll have to wait 10 years to see how it all turns out!

Oh no! In 5 years all the trees will be dead!

Oh no! In 3 years those fountains (which are not purely aesthetic but part of major infrastructure) will be forever broken!

Oh no! What if a Jack Astors moves into one of the retail spaces?!


You know, you really are a miserable wretch. I hope you enjoy your misery, because I certainly do.

[Gerrard]

In some ways the east bayfront is preferable to anything else on the harbour.

There's tons more of interest within walking distance or even a short bicycle ride and for some reason it feels much less cut off from the city than even cityplace.

[caltrane74]

Within 5 years time it will be the new 'trendy' Toronto neighborhood.

[kw5150]

Originally Posted by habfanman

Woo! That'll be exciting! Nothing more fun than seas of condos.

Hey, weren't you the guy who was boasting about the Entertainment District being the "biggest in the world" a couple of years ago?

You mean "A sea of people". Condos bring people and the rest follows. Low rise on the waterfront is always a good combination.

In Calgary right now, we are very much looking forward to addiing to our sea of condos. We have quite a few south of downtown and with every new one that is built, you see more people on the street at all hours making the neighborhood very successful.

The fact that this develoment has a fountain from filtered stormwater is MINDBLOWING! Right on Toronto. Make it happen!

[caltrane74]

New Restaurant at the East Bayfront - by christof53 at UT

Thread Here:

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthr...s-D-S)/page123

Originally Posted by christof53

It seems as if the new restaurant located in the Corus building, "Against the grain" is now open. It looks pretty good.

Some photos from their website.
http://www.atgurbantavern.ca

[Travis007]

From Urbanation's Twitter:

Monarch purchases TAS Design's former Gansevoort hotel/condo site at 306-322 Richmond St W for $20.8 Million - potential 2011 opening!

Hopefully they keep the original design.

[caltrane74]

I thought the city/OMB rejected this project.

Don't think they will copy the design, stick with safe and boring as usual.

[caltrane74]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2051113/

Ultra-high-speed broadband for a wired waterfront



We have the Annex, Distillery District and Mink Mile. Toronto’s newest neighbourhood will likely be called High-speed Haven.

Waterfront Toronto announced Tuesday that new commercial and residential developments along the lakeshore will be outfitted with an ultra-high-speed broadband network, providing Internet access more than 500 times faster than that of other parts of the city

“Until now, broadband of this calibre has not been available for residential use in Toronto,” said John Campbell, president and CEO of Waterfront Toronto.

The new fibre-optic wiring will be built into all new developments within the East Bayfront and West Don Lands regions of the waterfront, part of an effort to attract the digital media industry and other creative endeavours to the area.

The Corus Entertainment building on Queen’s Quay is already wired with the system, which will also be incorporated into the new waterfront campus of George Brown College, as well as an affordable housing complex to be built by Toronto Community Housing and the athletes village constructed for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

The first condo owners to benefit will be residents of the Parkside development, a residential tower to be built between Sherbourne Common and Bonnycastle Street, south of Lake Shore Boulevard. The units go on sale this September, and the building is expected to be completed by 2014.

It will also be included in River City, a condo development south of King Street between River Street and the Don River.

Waterfront residents will pay for the service through a $60 charge included in their monthly condo fees.

Dan Armstrong, president and CEO of Toronto’s Beanfield Metroconnect, the company that will be installing the broadband system, said the price – and the speed – will be guaranteed for 10 years after the last of the planned developments is completed.

“There will be ongoing investment to make sure we are always on top,” he said.

The company will also be moving IT staff into a permanent storefront in the community and providing a local web portal, which will include CCTV feeds from around the waterfront, allowing residents to “check whether there is a seat available on Sugar Beach.”

Wiring the area is expected to cost $30-million in capital investment, which will be paid for by private-sector investors, who expect to recoup their money through service fees paid by corporate and residential tenants.

Read the rest of the article here

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2051113/

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by telyou

Wow habfanman, you really are a sad little boy.
For someone who hates Toronto so much why do you always make comments on the city.
Why don't you just ignore and move on?


Speaking of neighborhoods, what's the draw and attraction of Rosemont Mr Habfanman?Yeah i forgot, absolutely nothing.

wikipedia

MNA for Rosemont

[telyou]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

MNA for Rosemont

I'm still questioning her motives for standing as an independent.
Though, anything that stops the provincial government from handing them money to build this fantasy arena is a good thing.

[kw5150]

This used to be a "drowning machine" for rafters, boaters etc.....now it is the new urban playground for river users! This is a very exciting project for Calgary and it opens soon!

• Video Link

[Travis007]

http://spacingtoronto.ca/2011/06/09/...intersections/

The top 25 walking intersections in Toronto

BY DYLAN REID
JUNE 9TH, 2011

As part of Global's story this week on the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians, their map-maker Patrick Cain put together a simple map showing the City of Toronto's pedestrian counts (number of pedestrians in one day) for all signalized intersections in Toronto (where there are at least 500 pedestrians a day).

The deeper the red, the larger number of pedestrians -- so, not surprisingly, walking is concentrated in the centre of the city. It's worth noticing, however, that major intersections all over the suburbs also have heavy pedestrian traffic. It's a myth that there are no pedestrians in the suburbs -- there are many, but they don't show up as strongly because they are more spread out.

Patrick Cain kindly sent me the list of the 25 most pedestrian-heavy intersections. The surprise is that the intersection with the heaviest pedestrian traffic isn't downtown, but is in fact Yonge and Eglinton -- by quite a wide margin. It suggests that, as many people have proposed (including some of the local councillors), Yonge and Eglinton should be the next candidate for a scramble intersection.

Here is the list of the 25 Toronto intersections with the heaviest daily pedestrian traffic, with their pedestrian counts:

EGLINTON and YONGE: 42680
BAY and DUNDAS: 35585
BAY and WELLINGTON: 32319
DUNDAS and YONGE: 31802
CARLTON and YONGE: 29115
QUEEN and YONGE: 28209
ADELAIDE and BAY: 27086
KING and YONGE: 25743
BLOOR and YONGE: 25696
BAY and BLOOR: 24246
ST CLAIR and YONGE: 24195
UNIVERSITY and YORK: 24056
ADELAIDE and YONGE: 23297
GERRARD and YONGE: 22771
BLOOR and CHURCH: 22634
BAY and KING: 22398
DUNDAS and UNIVERSITY: 21610
HARBORD and ST GEORGE: 21163
BAY and COLLEGE: 21161
JOHN and QUEEN: 20656
WELLESLEY and YONGE: 20133
BAY and QUEEN: 20124
AVENUE and BLOOR: 18872
FRONT and JOHN: 18295
UNIVERSITY and WELLINGTON: 17246

The fact that most of these intersections are downtown is no surpise. What stands out to me is the extent to which Yonge Street really is Toronto's spine. Ten of the top 25 intersections are along Yonge Street, including both of the intersections that are north of Bloor (Eglinton and St. Clair). The subway certainly has something to do with it, but none of the other subway lines (University/Spadina, Bloor/Danforth, Sheppard) are represented anywhere near as heavily. Yonge is such an unpreposessing street in so many ways, but more of us cross it every day than any other street in the city.

[caltrane74]

The fact Yonge and Dundas is not #1, not even in the top 3.

That is blowing my mind.

Just crazy... Yonge and Dundas is an extremely busy pedestrian intersection, the fact that Yonge and Eglinton has more foot traffic isn't surprising I guess, so much as the fact as the distance it has surpassed Yonge and Dundas by.

Yonge and Dundas


blogto.com



by me

Yonge and Eglinton





by me


Ok honestly, which is the busier intersection?

[caltrane74]

Just to give some context and information regarding the pictures above for those that don't know Toronto well:

Yonge and eglinton is a one hour walk from Yonge and Dundas.


Ok 2 Mins away from Yonge and Dundas at Yonge and Bay while trying to take a photo of Burano I captures this.

[caltrane74]

Big Plans to make John Street the cultural and arts street of the city....

http://www.urbantoronto.ca/news/2011...lization-plans





images by Dumitru Onceanu

[caltrane74]

Rendering Here:

Originally Posted by drum118

June 19
This place is turning out nicely and too much flashback to get inside shots. It has an upstair bar or something where the front door are. The place is only weeks away from opening as everything is in place with the large TV screens working.

The flower beds are complete, but are different from the ones that open up last year, which still need fixing. Don't why they did not remove the dead trees before planting the new stuff.

From the looks of things, no outside eating/drinking area. If there is, it will be on the west side, since there more room there and less traffic. Seen a number of these soup up cars in the area these days.

New Sidewalk Planters built on Dundas west, as well a New Joey's Lounge and Grill.

Photos by drum118 at UT

Thread Here:

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthr...-Dundas/page10

[caltrane74]

New Civic Square in Mississauga




From Jasonzed at UT

Thread Here:

http://urbantoronto.ca/forum/showthr...itects)/page29

[Travis007]

http://www.ryerson.ca/news/media/Gen...R_funding.html

MEDIA RELEASE

McGuinty Government funds new Health Sciences Building at Ryerson University

$56.4M investment provides state-of-the-art facilities


June 21, 2011

The Government of Ontario is investing $56.4 million in a new health sciences building at Ryerson University. The Hon. John Milloy, Minister of Training Colleges and Universities joined the Hon. Glen Murray, MPP for Toronto Centre and Minister of Research and Innovation to make the announcement today at a news conference on the Ryerson campus.

Today's announcement by the McGuinty government will enable Ryerson to build a new health sciences building with state-of-the-art labs and classrooms to house a number of health-related programs, including the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing.

“It will also enable Ryerson to increase our enrolment by 1,800 students,” Levy said. “We are especially grateful for the support of our MPP, The Hon. Glen Murray, Minister of Research and Innovation, and The Hon. John Milloy, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.”

Ryerson is continuing to experience high levels of demand at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The university has the highest ratio in Ontario of first choice applications from secondary-school students to number of places available. At the graduate level, Ryerson has more than 2,200 students in 52 programs.

[Travis007]

http://thetorontoblog.com/2011/06/22...cester-street/

Condo tower in the works for 2 Gloucester Street?

Originally constructed as a Masonic Hall, and currently housing loft condos, retail shops and restaurants, the elegant red brick Gloucester Mews building that has graced the northeast corner of Yonge & Gloucester Streets for the past 123 years could soon become part of a condo tower development project.

According to a development projects entry on the City’s website, an official plan amendment and rezoning application for 2 Gloucester Street was filed earlier this month. However, the website provides no further details about the June 10 application, such as the size or height of whatever building a developer may be planning for the site.

Architects and urban planning consultants identified the properties as a suitable condo tower site several years ago, and city planners told public meetings I attended this past spring that highrise condo development on the corner site was inevitable. Also this spring, word circulated amongst area residents that the Fire on the East Side building had been sold to a developer. What hasn’t been certain, though, is just how big and how tall a developer will seek to build there. I expect those details will be released soon. And until that information is available, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the Gloucester Mews — one of my favourite downtown buildings — will be retained as part of whatever development occurs, rather than being reduced to a mere facade.

According to architectural journalist Patricia McHugh’s Toronto Architecture: A City Guide (Mercury Books 1985), the Gloucester Mews/Masonic Hall was for “many years the tallest building on Yonge Street north of Dundas.” She noted that the Masons met in a fourth floor hall “for 33 years until 1921 when a new Masonic building was constructed at Davenport and Yonge.” In 1972, the firm Adamson Associates renovated the Masonic Hall, joining it to the “Bay-n-Gable” house at 8 Gloucester with a two-storey glass link. “Though still called Gloucester Mews, the shops-around-a-courtyard mews plan was early abandoned to allow Fenton’s Restaurant to fill the glass-covered interior space as well as the old house,” McHugh wrote.