Toronto Canoe Landing Park | ?m | ?s | Concord Adex

[TOBoy]

They're starting to lay down the grass...finally. They're working on the top of the hill at the moment.

 

[CityPlaceN1]

Can't wait for it to open.

 

[lead82]

Is it scheduled to open later this year?

 

[marcus_a_j]

September, according to Douglas Coupland's website.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Seriously...

what a hilarious park! i wonder how this one will age.

honestly, i like it so far. the canadiana is cute, accurate, and kind of ironic. at the same time, i feel coupland is in vancouver right now, laughing with his east coast friends about how he suckered toronto into making a park that is so ridiculous and cliched.

let's wait and see!

... you do mean his West Coast friends, right?

For me, the best thing about the new park is how it makes taking down the Gardiner irrelevant. The park, Fort York, and the greenery all the way down to the waterfront make this a great connceted green space, and (when walking anyway) the Gardiner doesn't feel oppressive at all.

 

[AKS]

... you do mean his West Coast friends, right?

For me, the best thing about the new park is how it makes taking down the Gardiner irrelevant. The park, Fort York, and the greenery all the way down to the waterfront make this a great connceted green space, and (when walking anyway) the Gardiner doesn't feel oppressive at all.

have you tried walking down to QQ via spadina and/or bathurst?

 

[khris]

Say "Gardiner" and out come the pitchforks!

 

[barrytron3030]

... you do mean his West Coast friends, right?

For me, the best thing about the new park is how it makes taking down the Gardiner irrelevant. The park, Fort York, and the greenery all the way down to the waterfront make this a great connceted green space, and (when walking anyway) the Gardiner doesn't feel oppressive at all.

oops, indeed i meant "west coast". i still think the gardiner is annoying and very much still "relevant". it's not fun to walk under and the space under and surrounding its base is ugly, wasted.

STILL! i like what's happening around it and i think this part of town could become a legitimate beauty in a few years.

 

[confusion]

A lot of blame gets put on the Gardiner, but really the barrier is Lakeshore Boulevard.

 

[OldManKensey]

...and, from Yonge to Simcoe, the railway corridor (as has been noted countless times before).

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Spadina vs. Bathurst to QQ and beyond

have you tried walking down to QQ via spadina and/or bathurst?

Spadina has the Gardiner much closer to the buildings, and the towers along Spadina and Bremner and then along Front. Taking down the Gardiner is irrelevant, because the buildings themselves now form a barrier between Front and QQ, much like saying 'let's take down the Gardiner at York', it gives you nothing better because we've built towers that are and will be just as bad as the Gardiner for blocking views. You can argue that it would be nice to take down the Gardiner at Spadina for the people who bought condos facing the Gardiner, but for anyone walking up or down Spadina, it's Spadina's busy thoroughfare, the condo towers, and Lakeshore Blvd. that make it a not particularly pleasant walk. The Gardiner sure doesn't help, but Spadina as it now stands would benefit only marginally from taking down the Gardiner.

However, I was talking about the part of the Gardiner which curves northward west of Bathurst. There, you have the crappy Weston dilapidated structure on the SE corner and the Amsterdam -- neither makes the walk up Bathurst beautiful -- but they could if/when somebody gives the corner at Bathurst the historical renovation it deserves. More importantly, on the west side of Bathurst you have Fort York, the greensward up the road beside the Armoury (don't remember the name), some beautiful new condos, the lighthouse tree park, then Centennial, then the western Waterfront Trail. This whole green band goes under the Gardiner to connect to Fort York, then Coupland's new park on the other side of Bathurst. So, when it's done, what'll you do if you're on a bike or walking from CityPlace? Unless you're headed to Harbourfront, you'll enjoy the cruise through the linked up parklands -- maybe even have an enjoyable ride over to Marilyn Bell as far as Sunnyside once they've solved the Waterfront Trail's last link issue at Ontario Place.

So, IMHO, taking down the Gardiner west of Bathurst will not be a big win because people have already grappled with the Gardiner issue and mitigated it nicely in various places.

BTW -- I don't have a problem with dropping the Gardiner east of Jarvis for the exact same reason: No one has developed buildings on that end of the Harbourfront for so long that they haven't built buildings to mitigate the Gardiner. Tearing down the Gardiner there now makes sense -- because you'll then have a clean slate to build a nicer neighbourhood that isn't partially designed to deal with the Gardiner.

And... after all that explanation... yes, I walked up Spadina from QQ to drop my aunt & uncle off at the Renaissance Rogers Centre two Saturdays ago. We had a Summerlicious at Biff's, walked down Yonge to Harbourfront (not a particularly pleasant walk) to show off the new stuff along the harbour, had a totally fabulous walk on the boardwalk past QQT, the bandshell, the wavedecks, and then up Spadina. If I had to choose between Yonge and Spadina, I'd say Spadina was better, but both were neither the point nor a particular problem. Cheers.

 

[marcus_a_j]

The problem with Spadina, as a pedestrians connection under the Gardiner, is that you have to be on the east side to cross (legally). The westbound onramp from Spadina is a constant flow of traffic pretty much all day. Brave souls will deal with and cross Lake Shore right there, but everyone else has to walk back north to Fort York/Bremner and negotiate that 3-stage crossing. It's a nuissance more than anything for those who are unfamiliar with the setup. Signs should be put up indicating this.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

The problem with Spadina, as a pedestrians connection under the Gardiner, is that you have to be on the east side to cross (legally). The westbound onramp from Spadina is a constant flow of traffic pretty much all day. Brave souls will deal with and cross Lake Shore right there, but everyone else has to walk back north to Fort York/Bremner and negotiate that 3-stage crossing. It's a nuissance more than anything for those who are unfamiliar with the setup. Signs should be put up indicating this.

When cycling south on Spadina to QQ, I'd obviously be on the west side of the street. I wondered why it was so difficult (and as you say, downright dangerous) to get across Lakeshore there. After all these years I never knew this.

 

[AKS]

When cycling south on Spadina to QQ, I'd obviously be on the west side of the street. I wondered why it was so difficult (and as you say, downright dangerous) to get across Lakeshore there. After all these years I never knew this.

There's the "on ramp" with constant traffic flow to the gardiner (no traffic lights) on the west side. On the east side, there's an "off ramp" from the gardiner (no traffic lights)

And... after all that explanation... yes, I walked up Spadina from QQ to drop my aunt & uncle off at the Renaissance Rogers Centre two Saturdays ago. We had a Summerlicious at Biff's, walked down Yonge to Harbourfront (not a particularly pleasant walk) to show off the new stuff along the harbour, had a totally fabulous walk on the boardwalk past QQT, the bandshell, the wavedecks, and then up Spadina. If I had to choose between Yonge and Spadina, I'd say Spadina was better, but both were neither the point nor a particular problem. Cheers.

Same issue as above. Yonge is easier to walk than Spadina due to the on and off ramps. You have to jay walk and becareful not to get hit by cars.

 

[marcus_a_j]

I noticed the offramp from WB Gardiner at Yonge now comes to a T-stop as opposed to before where cars had to stop on a curve, like shown here. This makes it a lot easier for drivers to see pedestrians whereas before you had to turn your head more than your neck would allow.