Toronto Bloor Street Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Bloor-Yorkville BIA | architectsAlliance

[dt_toronto_geek]

I didn't have the camera handy (isn't that always the way?)

But the new flower displays are going in on Bloor..........VERY elaborate.....only comparable with University Avenue, nothing else comes close. Much more interesting that than the nice, but not awe-inspiring tulip effort.

I will get a pic or 2 when I'm next down there, but anyone there regularly should make a point of bring the cam, the displays definitely pic-worthy.....

I couldn't agree more, the annuals and perennials that have been planted look sensational and exceeded my expectations, I wish I'd had my camera with me. The whole feel of walking along Bloor between Church & Yonge is so completely different it's almost like a new street. The only thing missing on the north side are areas to sit, such as the granite seating found on the south side of Bloor. If something could only be done to open up that oppressive Bay store to the street a bit and once One Bloor is up this is going to be a mighty attractive area.

 

[interchange42]

All this talk about Bloor... I figured it was time to take the camera back down:


Planted!

Hydro vault pretty much finished outside Peridot. They'll be hoping to have the sidewalk completed soon so they can get their patio open.

Double row, looking west.

Double row, looking east.

The hydro vault outside the TTC entrance to the Yonge line is still a little bit away from completion.

On the north side of Bloor looking across Yonge.

Sidewalk construction on the north side of Bloor west of Yonge.

Silva Cell armature going in outside of Holt Renfrew.

Work closer to completion by the Manulife Centre on the south side of Bloor.

We hope Ashley's will be happy soon: their planter can't be too far off from completion.

Planter box on the south side of Bloor west of Yonge.

A planting up close.

42

 

[yyzer]

Looking very nice!!

 

[lead82]

Indeed it does. Let's hope they put out more benches for people to sit, especially near Yonge and Bloor as the previous displays were sat on by people out smoking or having a snack during their breaks.

 

[Rowe]

Looks wonderful!

 

[alklay]

It does look amazing. And we just now have to work on the rest of the city.

 

[ganjavih]

Wow. Keep it coming.

 

[bleeepbluuup]

Beautiful! Is that a banana plant in that last picture?

 

[barrytron3030]

I love this dirty town.

 

[condovo]

Work closer to completion by the Manulife Centre on the south side of Bloor.

We hope Ashley's will be happy soon: their planter can't be too far off from completion.

42

Generally, this is a vast improvement over what was there before and the plantings look great but it's unforgivable that the granite doesn't extend right up to the building's edge in many, many places, most glaringly in front of Ashley's. Worse still, at Manulife's main entry, instead of a clean line, the granite is cut at all sorts of strange angles to politely accommodate existing paving stones which, instead, should have been replaced to accommodate the new granite. (The pedestrians cover the worst of this in interchange's pic.) And it doesn't look like this can be corrected down the road, without ripping out all the granite and starting over again, as the pattern of stonework is already set in place. In typical Toronto fashion, this smacks of a lack of co-ordination and a job half-done and it's all very frustrating for us anal-retentives.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

condovo:

In typical Toronto fashion, this smacks of a lack of coordination and a job half-done and it's all very frustrating for us anal-retentives.

The City/BIA probably has no legal right to get the private properties to adopt their streetscape standards - and the even murkier issue of who will pay for that segment of the work.

And remember W Ashley is one the companies that sued the City/BIA for even implementing the current revitalization scheme...

AoD

 

[greenleaf]

Generally, this is a vast improvement over what was there before and the plantings look great but it's unforgivable that the granite doesn't extend right up to the building's edge in many, many places, most glaringly in front of Ashley's. Worse still, at Manulife's main entry, instead of a clean line, the granite is cut at all sorts of strange angles to politely accommodate existing paving stones which, instead, should have been replaced to accommodate the new granite. (The pedestrians cover the worst of this in interchange's pic.) And it doesn't look like this can be corrected down the road, without ripping out all the granite and starting over again, as the pattern of stonework is already set in place. In typical Toronto fashion, this smacks of a lack of coordination and a job half-done and it's all very frustrating for us anal-retentives.

It should be noted that the new walkway around the Chiurch of the Redeemer done by the new owners of the175 Cumberland building at Avenue & Bloor was done in black granite in a similar style to match the new city sidewalks. Someone over there was thinking ahead. I think androiduk had a picture of it a few pages back in the thread.

 

[condovo]

condovo:

The City/BIA probably has no legal right to get the private properties to adopt their streetscape standards - and the even murkier issue of who will pay for that segment of the work.

AoD

In other words, lack of co-ordination/communication. And do the little angles around Manulife's existing paving stones really trace the exact property line? Somehow I doubt it. At least we could have had a clean edge here. Inexcusable.

It should be noted that the new walkway around the Chiurch of the Redeemer done by the new owners of the175 Cumberland building at Avenue & Bloor was done in black granite in a similar style to match the new city sidewalks. Someone over there was thinking ahead. I think androiduk had a picture of it a few pages back in the thread.

Yes. That area looks great.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

condovo:

Lack of coordination suggest having common goals but not arranging the actions leading to such in a proper order. In this case, it is clear that there isn't a common goal at all.

AoD

 

[condovo]

So the dysfunctional city is toothless in enforcing common goals to the benefit of everyone, including the dissenters, and what we're left with 5 years and $25 million later is a sidewalk that looks half-done and, frankly, quite bizarre in places. Perhaps more effective communication and co-ordination could have brought the hold-outs onside.