Shabby Public Realm

[Torontovibe]

I like how Boston responds to it's public realm. (go to 10:27) Toronto should look and see how other cities maintain their public reals and incorporate some of those ideas here.
[video=youtube;6ctxP6Dp8Bk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ctxP6Dp8Bk[/video]

 

[CanadianNational]

Thanks for posting that. There's a lot of intelligence and optimism in this video - good to see. It gives one hope that Toronto might see a resurgence in urban innovation, implementation, happiness and thought after this stultifying mayoralty has gone.

 

[vatche]

I'd be satisfied if they just cleaned up the University Street median a bit and got those fountains working again. I feel like even that is expecting too much.
At least there are some good looking buildings all around this area with pretty diverse architecture.

More direct to this building, I took a walk all the way around the base an hour ago looking for cladding... But alas we're made to wait a little longer.

Didn't I hear that they're fixing that poor fountain???

 

[Penny]

The fountains at University and Queen are finally being repaired. I passed some city workers as they were turning on the south fountain on Saturday. They confirmed that the fountain on the north side of Queen will be next but it is in terrible shape, so it may be a while. Still, it's nice to see some action there. It always vexed me to see that eyesore right in the heart of the downtown core.

 

[vatche]

It is such an important intersection. The opera house is right there, the shangri la is opening soon with a great resto, soho house will be there. I mean come on, the city has to fix things and make it look beautiful. So much tax is being collected from the surrounding buildings

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

They really should think a bit bigger re: fountains - at the very least, apply the same paving system as the one to be used at the NPS Queen St. forecourt/frontage.

AoD

 

[DSC]

It is such an important intersection. The opera house is right there, the shangri la is opening soon with a great resto, soho house will be there. I mean come on, the city has to fix things and make it look beautiful. So much tax is being collected from the surrounding buildings

There's lots on this fountain in NPS thread - the City has awarded a contract to fix it a month or so ago - the problem was not only that a car ran into it but also that it leaks into the subway.

 

[nstuch]

the discussion on postering inspired me to resurrect this thread..

another thing that seems prevalent in Toronto and non-existent in other major cities is weeds growing everywhere.. in many cases the ones growing at the base of trees are becoming mini trees themselves

 

[Torontovibe]

Look at the paving on those sidewalks. OY VAY!

Thank god, or whoever, that the West Don Lands will have all those electrical wires buried underground. The same goes for Regent Park, Front Street East and The Esplanade, so those ugly wires are not going to be much of a problem on the downtown east side. (thankfully!)

 

[junctionist]

Actually, weeds growing in cracks in pavement is fairly common in cities with a similar climate, but perhaps not to the same extent. Here they can make a shabby public realm look even worse. I wonder if the city accepts and acts on reports to 311 about areas with excessive weeds growing in between cracks in paved surfaces. There are sealing options.

 

[deerparker]

I emailed my councillor after noticing the weeds around sidewalk trees along Richmond (between Jarvis and Victoria) had gotten out of control. While I didn't receive a reply, I did notice about a week later that all weeds had been pulled and the planters/tree boxes filled with wood chips. Only a two-block stretch out of countless that need the same treatment, but I was happy to see some action.

 

[adHominem]

I'll agree that the state of the pavement in those photos (and in many, many other places around town) is terrible. As someone who frequently runs before dawn, it's really quite treacherous, as well as aesthetically disappointing.

That said, I'd happily choose a neighbourhood that was shabby but vibrant over one that is beautiful, pristine, and dull. It frequently feels like those two things (vibrancy versus, I don't know, let's call it "niceness") are at cross-purposes. I just read this article the other day, and it raised some interesting points about how people feel more comfortable and engaged in a messy streetscape than one whose aesthetics are tightly controlled. (I freely acknowledge that I may just find the article interesting because it confirms my own biases.)

 

[jozl]

Years ago I started a tally of the number of utility poles at various intersections. There are intersections downtown that have as many as 27 utility poles within a 25 meter radius and many of the poles have nothing attached to them. If I were king of the forest I'd use those poles to hang, in effigy, Toronto Hydro engineers, city planners and anyone else responsible for this crap on our streets. A simple first step is to GET RID OF REDUNDANT AND UNUSED POLES. Then, force TH to bury all hydro lines as streets are repaired and or repaved. It's time for me to write another angry letter to my city councilor.

 

[junctionist]

I'll agree that the state of the pavement in those photos (and in many, many other places around town) is terrible. As someone who frequently runs before dawn, it's really quite treacherous, as well as aesthetically disappointing.

That said, I'd happily choose a neighbourhood that was shabby but vibrant over one that is beautiful, pristine, and dull. It frequently feels like those two things (vibrancy versus, I don't know, let's call it "niceness") are at cross-purposes. I just read this article the other day, and it raised some interesting points about how people feel more comfortable and engaged in a messy streetscape than one whose aesthetics are tightly controlled. (I freely acknowledge that I may just find the article interesting because it confirms my own biases.)

The key is to attain beauty and a high standard for maintenance in public spaces without dullness or sterility resulting. Patios, street vending, art, and bike racks can help support the spontaneity that adds to the appeal of a vibrant street. The Whole Foods facade used as a point of comparison in that article doesn't sound like it offers much to add to spontaneity. It's critical that urban design encourages and accommodates a wide variety of people to enjoy the spaces. In North America, the pristine, beautiful urban areas are often only designed with a narrow range of users like tourists or affluent shoppers (for instance, Bloor Street in Yorkville with landscaped areas replacing spaces where food carts used to operate), so people outside of that narrow frame may feel uncomfortable and may not visit. It's a design issue as opposed to something inherent in beautiful, pristine public spaces. Control the aesthetics, not the law-abiding people.

 

[pman]

...

That said, I'd happily choose a neighbourhood that was shabby but vibrant over one that is beautiful, pristine, and dull. It frequently feels like those two things (vibrancy versus, I don't know, let's call it "niceness") are at cross-purposes...

I'm not sure I understand why burying the wires and providing an urban standard of sidewalk paving, width and furniture will lead to a loss of vibrancy. London buries the wires and paves its sidewalks decently as a matter of course, yet miraculously its street life makes Toronto seem very small town, even in our "shabby but vibrant" neighbourhoods. It's a false dichotomy to suggest that if we fix our incredibly sad and shabby public realm we'll lose our hipster (in our own eyes if nobody else's) soul.