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

The photo above almost looks too good to be true, at a quick glance once could confuse it with a rendering. Well done! By this time next year we could have a dozen beautiful photos like this when Yonge to Avenue Road is fully completed and landscaped. I can't wait!!
By the way (not a complaint) this stretch at night is very dark with the cover from the tree canopies already blocking the hydro lighting!
 
There's lots still going on to turn the rest of the street into the shot above. Here's the progress as of late:


Bloor01Peridot.jpg

While work on the hydro vault outside of Peridot and The Spotted Dick is finished, the sidewalk still has not been completed here. The restaurants have missed having a patio this summer.


Bloor02YongeSubExit.jpg

Laying of the black granite sidewalk tiles outside of the Bloor-Yonge subway exit was also delayed so that work could be completed on the hydro vault below.


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West of Bay, north side, outside of Banana Republic. Granite tiles go down on a level bed of sand.


Bloor05RootsVault.jpg

Further west, in front of Roots, work is only as advanced as the excavation stage.

Bloor04RootsVault.jpg



Bloor06Pottery.jpg

Ready for sand and granite in front of the Pottery Barn.


Bloor08Bridge.jpg

Bridges connect pedestrians to shops.


Bloor07Silva.jpg

Silva cells will maintain the height of the space under the sidewalk and prevent the compaction of soil once trees are planted.


Bloor09Redeemer.jpg

Concrete substrate ready for the finishing layers outside of the Church of the Redeemer at Avenue Road.


Bloor10ParkHyatt.jpg

Work is continuing west of Avenue Road in front of the Park Hyatt.

Bloor11WestEnd.jpg



Bloor12Ports.jpg

Sidewalk and planter construction is closer to completion on the south side of Bloor. These images are from out front of the Colonnade.

Bloor13Wash.jpg


Bloor14Sweep.jpg



Bloor15Equipment.jpg

Each planter includes 4 inch diameter irrigation pipes and is wired for tree uplighting.

Bloor16Equipment.jpg



Bloor17Planter.jpg

This tree pit is also wired for uplighting, with space for pot lights sunk into the sidewalk on either side. A 1 inch diameter irrigation tube awaits the day water will flow through it.


Bloor18EastofBay.jpg

East of Bay the new planters await the fall when transplantation of the London Plane trees will be least stressful on them, and the spring when tulips will colour the street.


42
 
That's a fantastic and thorough update I42. I've considered several times doing an update like this but it's so laborious with a dog at my side not to mention crowds, traffic and construction personnel everywhere. Brilliant, and thank you!
 
Thanks for the great pics. It's amazing to think that we're just a month or so away from the sidewalks being just about done.
 
It is an enormous improvement no matter how you look at it, and nicely done by and large.
 
interchange42 said:
Sorry, but I cannot see this as a failed endeavour. I think that when Bloor St. is finally finished, a cheer will go up for the beautiful new sidewalk, the lush planters, and the stone benches that we have that we never used to have. East of Yonge Bloor looks like a destination now: it's just going to need the buildings and ground floor offerings themselves to improve!

When we take a big step forward, unrelenting negativity amazes me. We may not be getting something perfect, and we will likely identify some aspects of the project that need further action, but mostly I think people will be hugely happy with how great Bloor looks.

42
Click to expand...

I have to confess that my last post was unduly harsh due mostly to my lingering frustration with not finding any bike posts on this sidewalk shortly before venting on this forum.

I will admit that the finished portion looks impressive and posh enough to shut the yaps of the snootier folks jetting in from Chicago and other points. But I still find there to be an inherent joylessness in the design and get a strong sense that the rather pedestrian needs of regular bike riding, bench warming schmoes like myself have deliberately been excluded in order to fully cater to the credit card wielding elite shoppers that the local businesses hunger for. When people are sitting on planters, and locking bikes to trees, that to me suggests a fundamental design flaw.

Years ago I recall seeing a plan that was equally opulent but more playful and engaging for both shopper and casual onlooker. I don't know why that one was dropped in favour of the aA one. Anywho, I'll wait to see the finished product before whinging anymore on this particular thread. No doubt the whole thing will improve with age.

Oh, and btw, nice photos 42.
 
I agree with you regarding the missing bike rings, and I suspect it's for the reason you give too. Signs attached to the trees remind people not to lock bikes to them - and that it may even be illegal, I cannot remember for certain - and neither does one want to damage the trees, but it will likely soon become a problem that the BIA and/or City will have to address. One hopes they will address it before it becomes a problem for the trees.

42
 
"bench warming schmoes like myself have deliberately been excluded in order to fully cater to the credit card wielding elite shoppers that the local businesses hunger for"

I don't want to sound fascist but do we really want bench warming schmoes clogging up the pathways? Bloor is busy, businesses are understandably trying to make a buck, and the image of people camped out from 10am legs stretched out oggling passerby is off-putting.
 
That's pretty ridiculous buildup. Do you really know that many people with time and will to sit on a bench on Bloor all day? First, most people don't have that kind of time or interest which cuts down the number of potential people doing this to an unnoticeable level and second, city benches aren't made to be comfortable enough to sit on for hours on end.

I think having people sit on benches along Bloor would add even more colour and liveliness to the stretch and would do no harm to businesses. In fact, it may help them when people are encouraged to sit down and spend more time in the area rather than just zoom by.
 
With around 3 million people in the city, I'm sure 10-20 volunteers can be found. An example would be the seating in the Manulife Center just outside Bay/Bloor Radio. Those seats are occupied virtually all day by transients.

Anyway, we'll see. My prediction is bench occupants will be 80% male, in pairs, looking rather different than typical artistic renderings.

Although as i recall from postings years past, you would be on standby (like on the subway) to physically evict questionable characters.
 
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I hope there are a few more benches too, people like to sit for a few minutes and "people-watch", grab a quick bite to eat or take a phone call - that's what we do. The one's by the Xerox building are designed in such a way that they can't be slept on and I can tell you first hand that I walk this stretch 5 or 6 times a week and have only seen business types having a cigarette or eating a snack during the day, I've not seen them used at all at night.
I've seen a few bikes locked to the trees despite the signs on each tree. The whole bike rack thing definitely has to be addressed.
 
This is a generalization and of course the specific context matters most, but I find that most store owners dis-like having benches in front of their establishments. They don't feel this way because they are pricks (although some are). They don't feel this way because they don't understand business or how streets work, no in the context of their neighbhourhood and store-front they understand how the street works better than we do. They dis-like benches in front of their businesses because benches invite activity in the public space they do not control, a space that has direct impact on the space they do control. So the philosphy generally goes, sure benches are great for the street...just not in front of me.
 
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