Red Mars
Senior Member
Mar 8, 2024
Toronto 952 King West | 58.5m | 17s | Intentional Capital | Sweeny &Co
- Thread starter rdaner
- Start date
juicebox
New Member
I used to walk by this place all the time on the way to work. It was really annoying with the cars not paying that much attention trying to leave or enter, almost got hit a few times. Glad to see this go!
Application Details
www.toronto.ca
Resubmitted with the following changes:
- Storeys increased from 16 to 17
- Height increased from 56.6 to 58.5m
- Total residential units increased from 213 to 227
- Total vehicular parking reduced from 57 to 50
- Total bicycle parking increased from 221 to 256
Northern Light
Superstar
Application Details
Resubmitted with the following changes:
Updated renderings:
- Storeys increased from 16 to 17
- Height increased from 56.6 to 58.5m
- Total residential units increased from 213 to 227
- Total vehicular parking reduced from 57 to 50
- Total bicycle parking increased from 221 to 256
View attachment 560311View attachment 560312View attachment 560313View attachment 560314View attachment 560315
Notwithstanding the last render in this series above, the landscape plan here does show street trees for King!
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Overall, this is a welcome improvement on this site, the glazing at ground level though............ugh.
goodcitywhenfinished
Active Member
Trees are good to see on King!
I have always wondered - Is there any historical reason we don't have tree canopy on commercial/main streets in Toronto? Is it some auto-oriented planning rationale about businesses being able to advertise to drivers? Streetcar wires?
Here is La Condesa in CDMX. We have lush tree canopy like this in Toronto but not in commecial areas. This has always puzzled me.
Northern Light
Superstar
There are several reasons.
1) Utilities, Toronto runs most utilities under the sidewalk or curbside, both parallel and perpendicular (connection to building). This inhibits ability to provide proper soil volume below grade. We're now beginning to fix this issue, but it will take decades. In contrast, many other Cities, particularly Montreal in Canada and many cities in Europe require utilities to run in a single conduit either under the main road or rear lanes.
2) Road Salt, this is not unique to Toronto or Canada, but it is unique to more northerly, snowier, colder locations in terms of the volume. Obviously not an issue at all in warmer climates, but also not an issue in the same degree in many temperate climates, we use salt heavily here (excessively so) and that really takes a toll on may tree species.
3) Growing season, this is a natural issue, but the fact trees are dormant (don't grow) for six to eight months per year here means they simply take much longer to achieve the same height.
4) Road Widenings. In much of the City roads were systematically widened by removing the tree-lined boulevards and established trees, and/or a good chunk of front lawns and established trees from the 1950s to the 1980s primarily.
Take a look at Queen's Park Crescent, looking south from Bloor in the past:
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...g_north_from_Queen's_Park_to_Bloor_Street.jpg
All of that was cut down, needless to say.
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Additionally;
Toronto has had two waves of near complete die-offs of trees due to invasive pests.
Dutch Elm Disease wiped out a vast number of Elms when it established in the City.
More recently, we lost most of the older Ash Trees in the City due to Emerald Ash Borer.
.
goodcitywhenfinished
Active Member
Wow @Northern Light super informative reply thanks!
my heart aches every time I see a picture of Toronto streets pre 1950. Some of these areas would be so pleasant to walk through today.
my heart aches every time I see a picture of Toronto streets pre 1950. Some of these areas would be so pleasant to walk through today.