Toronto College Park Revitalization with Barbara Ann Scott Skate Trail | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto | RAW Design

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There will be so little natural tree shade in this park, now that the plans for including a number of trees have been altered from the original plan (in fact, the plan posted on the barriers of the park right now isn't even accurate anymore). Apparently, the soil isn't deep enough to support larger trees like there was before, so it's going to be a lot more shrubs and tiny trees. Thankfully the giant buildings will cast enough shade to keep the sun out of the park for most of the day o_O
 
City crews are great at conveying hectic activity. Materials deployed tactically around the site, countless small vehicles scattered here and there. It all looked like the Normandy invasion. Yet, nothing is actually happenening.
ITS JUST A PARK!!!!
 
buildup said:
City crews are great at conveying hectic activity. Materials deployed tactically around the site, countless small vehicles scattered here and there. It all looked like the Normandy invasion. Yet, nothing is actually happenening.
ITS JUST A PARK!!!!
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The work is being done by a contractor, NOT City. (However both City and contractor crews do tend to leave bits and pieces all over the place.)
 
I wouldn't recognise that vantage if not for Aura. I do wish the grassy triangle spaces were built as little hills rather than flat because I think people might prefer to sit on small hills for lines of sight of the activity (e.g. Berzky park fountain of this working well).

The wide passage from Yonge to this park is also a great opportunity to create a sitable and animated space in and of itself. It will potentially be very popular because people often prefer to sit in pocket parks and spaces along or near streets where they can watch other pedestrians walk by. In a European city, you might see cafes and restaurants along such a wide passage, but I suppose the fire department here might oppose that because of vehicle access. Some kind of water feature along that passage could also provide a soothing escape from the bustle only a few steps away.
 
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I'm taking bets on how long till the following...

Utility paint lines on the concrete

Which pad gets dug up first, then and patched with asphalt

Ice rink not working

Grass dead

First skateboarder

Buildings tagged (part of the one is wood...o oh...I mean fire)

Trees dead

Bonus bet for how many months in total the fountain will work
 
I'm wondering why there is no paved sidewalk cutting through the lawn from northwest to southeast just north of the skate trail. Surely that's a desire one that will become evident soon through trampled and then dead grass.

42
 
interchange42 said:
I'm wondering why there is no paved sidewalk cutting through the lawn from northwest to southeast just north of the skate trail. Surely that's a desire one that will become evident soon through trampled and then dead grass.

42
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Completely on point, in line with the Berczy thread.

There are 2 clear choices here, one is establishing the path you indicated, the other is setting up barriers (extend the non-grass plantings), or place seating directly in front of the obvious desire line, blocking it.

The fact this has not been done will likely to lead to well worn path through the sod.
 
interchange42 said:
I'm wondering why there is no paved sidewalk cutting through the lawn from northwest to southeast just north of the skate trail. Surely that's a desire one that will become evident soon through trampled and then dead grass.

42
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I specifically brought this up as a point last month with one of the city workers involved in the implementation of the design. The original design plan from 2012 included a cement path from northwest to southeast because it was observed that traffic patterns catered to this flow of pedestrian traffic. The landscape architects took a lot of time to study how people use the park and how they pass through the area. I was there at the original public consultation in 2012 and remember this point with clarity. Since then though, the plan has clearly changed to revise the footpaths through the park in a way that doesn't match with the original findings. [Sidenote: I can't believe that 8 years after the consultation, the park STILL isn't finished...]

The city planner who I spoke with last month mentioned that they studied historical Google Maps images from previous years to find the natural grooves in the use of the park, and based their current design on that, which explains the existing (in my words) "pathway to nowhere" that cuts through across the top corner. My rebuttal was that the park was so gross and neglected at that time that nobody dared cross from northwest to southeast for fear of stepping on muck, garbage, and dog urine & crap. I distinctly remember how disgusting that northwest part of the park was a few years ago, and even though I wanted to cut through the "grass", I didn't ever dare do that, but rather stuck to the cement.
 
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