Shabby Public Realm

[Northern Light]

I'm not quite certain that this belongs here or a different thread but IMO it certainly falls under the category of "shabby repair." Who to contact about the increasingly common practice of replacing the hydro poles with fresh ones, but then putting these new poles in WORSE positioning than the previous one? The sidewalks already seem too narrow/not a modern width and now it's even more hostile to walk here than usual. Who does this job and thinks "Yeah, this'll do!"

This is on west sidewalk of Dundas on the curve that's north of Bloor and happened sometime in the last week. I'd say it's less than a metre wide now.

- People are getting bigger
- Strollers are getting wider
- Winter snow shovelling is poorly done
- And of course...an accessibility nightmare

View attachment 442773

The Irony, if that's the word here, is that if Hydro, a City agency had to get permits from Toronto Buildings, for pole placement, they would be refused.

Buildings lets somethings go that it should not.

But they are quite rightly officious about where one places things in the ROW.

So a developer that submitted plans showing a pole placed like this would get a hard no; but Toronto Hydro slips by, because they don't run their work plan by Buildings.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I’ve just returned from a week in/on Manhattan, where we saw two musicals (Hadestown and Six) and stayed at the Hotel Edison, just off Times Square. It’s been about eight years since I was last in Manhattan and I have to say, compared to downtown Toronto, Manhattan’s public realm is nicely improved. There’s apparently a big problem with rats, but I didn’t see any. For starters, traveling across Manhattan on foot and subways, I saw almost no visibly homeless and zero panhandlers and no encampments in any parks. Next, I saw staff in most subway stations mopping up and cleaning, plus there were NYPD officers everywhere on transit and around the city. Unlike in Toronto where we almost never see a police officer out of their car or off their bike unless they’re on paid duty, in Manhattan I saw police on foot everywhere. I came across three mentally ill guys over the week, one lying on the floor in a drugstore, another harmlessly muttering to himself on a subway platform, and another staring into a store window scratching at the glass - none of this trio presented anything worrying. When we left the two musicals we were surprised by the lack of panhandlers that always appear when a Toronto theatrical production lets out. The city felt safe.

How does Manhattan do it? Why are there no homeless encampments in Central Park, or homeless shanties and squats in abandoned storefronts and laneways, or panhandlers outside of subway stations or theatres like we have in downtown Toronto? Has Manhattan just pushed all the homeless, mentally ill, addicted and panhandlers off the island into Queens or Brooklyn? What does Manhattan do that downtown Toronto could do? When I walk through Allan Gardens with tents and mess everywhere I think to myself, I want nice parks too. How does Manhattan do it?

 

[JasonParis]

I was in Chicago for a week in November and it was much the same. Now, I say this with a pretty massive caveat that there are parts of Chicago that few would ever go (and which are far worse than NYC or Toronto), but at least in The Loop, River North, etc. it was exceptionally clean and with comparatively fewer examples of obviously mentally ill people roaming the streets. The CTA was definitely dirtier than the TTC though, although with fewer vagrants, but still some.

As cities, we allocate our resources differently, and for good or bad, American cities often focus more on tourist-heavy and business-type districts, but it's not by any means a suggestion that Toronto can't do better either. The amount of garbage blowing around Dundas Square and caked into the tiles is one such example. I literally never see anyone cleaning it, whereas in Time's Square there is a dedicated crew consistently cleaning the square.

 

[Northern Light]

I’ve just returned from a week in/on Manhattan, where we saw two musicals (Hadestown and Six) and stayed at the Hotel Edison, just off Times Square. It’s been about eight years since I was last in Manhattan and I have to say, compared to downtown Toronto, Manhattan’s public realm is nicely improved. There’s apparently a big problem with rats, but I didn’t see any. For starters, traveling across Manhattan on foot and subways, I saw almost no visibly homeless and zero panhandlers and no encampments in any parks. Next, I saw staff in most subway stations mopping up and cleaning, plus there were NYPD officers everywhere on transit and around the city. Unlike in Toronto where we almost never see a police officer out of their car or off their bike unless they’re on paid duty, in Manhattan I saw police on foot everywhere. I came across three mentally ill guys over the week, one lying on the floor in a drugstore, another harmlessly muttering to himself on a subway platform, and another staring into a store window scratching at the glass - none of this trio presented anything worrying. When we left the two musicals we were surprised by the lack of panhandlers that always appear when a Toronto theatrical production lets out. The city felt safe.

How does Manhattan do it? Why are there no homeless encampments in Central Park, or homeless shanties and squats in abandoned storefronts and laneways, or panhandlers outside of subway stations or theatres like we have in downtown Toronto? Has Manhattan just pushed all the homeless, mentally ill, addicted and panhandlers off the island into Queens or Brooklyn? What does Manhattan do that downtown Toronto could do? When I walk through Allan Gardens with tents and mess everywhere I think to myself, I want nice parks too. How does Manhattan do it?

Your answer isn't hard to find:

State of the sweeps: Has NYC’s encampment crackdown made a dent in the homelessness crisis? | amNewYork

Many New Yorkers saw the operations as long-overdue action to address the inaction that led to a rise of street homelessness in recent years. But in the eyes

www.amny.com

 

[Admiral Beez]

Heather Mallick: When ‘creating anxiety’ is code for ‘violent’

If we won’t pay higher taxes for mental hospitals, will we pay to protect people from violent injury and death? asks Heather Mallick.

www.thestar.com

I’m beginning to feel paranoid, thinking that there are random crazies among us complacent “normies“, waiting to violently strike at random. I worry most for children, smaller females and the elderly. Insane or not, the violent EDP seemingly target those who they hold physical power over.

 

[yrt+viva=1system]

So this is an honest question. What is causing this uptick in attacks, harassment, the mentally unstable and homeless to flood the TTC system? I definitely have noticed an uptick in the number of unstable and homeless in the system since October. It has significantly gotten much worse December and now. Is the shelter system at full capacity? Where were they staying before?

Something of peculiar I have noticed are Sundays seems to have far great disruptions on the TTC by unruly people. But why? Do homeless shelters lock the doors and dump people? Finch station is a good example, Sundays there are at least a dozen homeless people sleeping in the station which I gather is due to being unable to get to the giant Willowdale homeless centre.

 

[christiesplits]

Maybe some progress on park washrooms.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1617905837766475777

 

[PinkLucy]

So this is an honest question. What is causing this uptick in attacks, harassment, the mentally unstable and homeless to flood the TTC system? I definitely have noticed an uptick in the number of unstable and homeless in the system since October. It has significantly gotten much worse December and now. Is the shelter system at full capacity? Where were they staying before?

Something of peculiar I have noticed are Sundays seems to have far great disruptions on the TTC by unruly people. But why? Do homeless shelters lock the doors and dump people? Finch station is a good example, Sundays there are at least a dozen homeless people sleeping in the station which I gather is due to being unable to get to the giant Willowdale homeless centre.

I don't know, but there was a stabbing on a streetcar today

https://twitter.com/x/status/1617966336205783040

 

[tiffer24]

A cheap and shabby public realm is not just about aesthetics.

Residents of Dundas Street West, near Brock Street, say a broken patch of sidewalk is causing headaches for pedestrians.

The broken, heaved and unevenly repaired sidewalk is only about two metres long. But so far it's tripped up at least five pedestrians, the local Little Portugal Toronto Business Improvement Area says, some of whom have suffered injuries that required hospital care.

In 2020, the city received, staff say, 3,030 complaints about sidewalks that needed repairs. That number jumped to 3,601 in 2021 and to 4,208 in 2022.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-sidewalk-hazards-dundas-west-1.6789054

 

[jje1000]

So this is an honest question. What is causing this uptick in attacks, harassment, the mentally unstable and homeless to flood the TTC system? I definitely have noticed an uptick in the number of unstable and homeless in the system since October. It has significantly gotten much worse December and now. Is the shelter system at full capacity? Where were they staying before?

Something of peculiar I have noticed are Sundays seems to have far great disruptions on the TTC by unruly people. But why? Do homeless shelters lock the doors and dump people? Finch station is a good example, Sundays there are at least a dozen homeless people sleeping in the station which I gather is due to being unable to get to the giant Willowdale homeless centre.

My personal opinion is that policing measures are far more reactive than preventative nowadays, and a not insignificant number of already precariously housed/employed people have fallen through through the cracks during the pandemic and post-pandemic economic shocks, possibly displacing some of the other homeless.

A cheap and shabby public realm is not just about aesthetics.

Residents of Dundas Street West, near Brock Street, say a broken patch of sidewalk is causing headaches for pedestrians.

The broken, heaved and unevenly repaired sidewalk is only about two metres long. But so far it's tripped up at least five pedestrians, the local Little Portugal Toronto Business Improvement Area says, some of whom have suffered injuries that required hospital care.

In 2020, the city received, staff say, 3,030 complaints about sidewalks that needed repairs. That number jumped to 3,601 in 2021 and to 4,208 in 2022.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-sidewalk-hazards-dundas-west-1.6789054

It's ridiculous how these issues (sidewalk state-of-repair) which have already manifested themselves during Miller's mayoralty have not been fixed at all- it's an institutional and funding issue.

 

[DSC]

It's ridiculous how these issues (sidewalk state-of-repair) which have already manifested themselves during Miller's mayoralty have not been fixed at all- it's an institutional and funding issue.

As noted above, the 'broken sidewalk' on Dundas was broken during a Toronto Water project that finished late last fall. The temporary repair was clearly not done well but it is unreasonable to expect new concrete sidewalk to be poured in winter. Most TW (and most other utility company) projects now include the permanent sidewalk and road repair and these are now actually handled much faster than they used to be. Perfect? NO. Better? YES.

 

[Towered]

*UPDATE*

The paint has been removed from the sides of the building.

View attachment 441627

Yeah, I’m very confused why they painted it white in the first place only to remove it. Still very sloppy though:

 

[Towered]

 

[jje1000]

View attachment 469070

I can't believe it's going to take two years to fix this, and I honestly wish that the TTC figured out a design language that considers 1.) Figuring out a new ceiling design/management system given that they cannot seem to reliably replace ceiling slats in a timely manner; 2.) Moving to a metal panel system for the original Yonge Line like at St. Andrew Station reflecting the original color schemes (and replacing the awful 80s-era retrofits); and 3.) Consolidating all signage/wayfinding (the second biggest design issue I noticed is that there is an abundance of useless visual clutter on the TTC).

Still, it unfortunately seems like there is little money to go around at the moment to consider these things, and the image of our city suffers for it.

 

[Northern Light]

I can't believe it's going to take two years to fix this

Where did you get that timeline?

, and I honestly wish that the TTC figured out a design language that considers 1.) Figuring out a new ceiling design/management system given that they cannot seem to reliably replace ceiling slats in a timely manner;

The TTC has a new standard ceiling panel for retrofits, its awful, they used it in Sherbourne Station, I posted a photo.......let me see if I can find it...

2.) Moving to a metal panel system for the original Yonge Line like at St. Andrew Station reflecting the original color schemes (and replacing the awful 80s-era retrofits);

Can't agree with this, I don't like the original Line 1 scheme at all. I think the public washroom aesthetic is terrible, and I liked the trackside finishes in Osgoode and St. Andrew better before the recent refit (subject to my universal complaint that the TTC rarely cleans them and they get grubby as all get out, irrespective of finish)

I think King and College both look fine if a bit worn. No one ever liked the re-do of Dundas, but no one liked it before either (except maybe you) LOL. Wellesley also wasn't a great improvement.

and 3.) Consolidating all signage/wayfinding (the second biggest design issue I noticed is that there is an abundance of useless visual clutter on the TTC).

There is certainly a need for less visual clutter on the TTC; and for running conduit either in the ceilings, or at least stylishly ducted.