Toronto Corktown Common | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto | Maryann Thompson

WTF, the nice waste containers designed for the park have been removed and replaced with these:

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It's possible they're temporary, but they are the standard bins for parks all over the city. The bins should be redesigned. The point of a park is to provide a pleasant and aesthetically attractive environment for residents of the city--a respite from the concrete jungle. Large utility bins that look like what you'd find in a back alley have no place in our parks.
 
Didn't someone post in this thread last year that the City refused to empty the custom designed ones? Now that the City has taken over maintenance of the park, that wouldn't surprise me one bit. If true, it would be very disappointing, but not at all surprising.
 
Hamiltonian said:
How do you know if those are actually permanent? They may be temporary so don't freak the f*** out.
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They are permanent. The City Parks people no longer look after collecting garbage/recycling in parks and it is done by Solid Waste Management. They insist on the plastic bins so that their trucks can pick them up and dump them directly into the trucks. Stupid, yes. It has happened in all parks in the City so if you don't like it contact your Councillor. (In David Crombie park along The esplanade, the St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association managed to get most of them removed and they put the standard black litter bins along the street frontages but that only works in "narrow' parks.)
 
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Cawthra Park, in behind my building and a park I'm most familiar with, has the same bins in three or four locations. They've been there for a couple of years now. City bins (the tonka toy one's) took a real beating this winter, I don't think there's a single one that isn't broken in one way or another within a mile of where I live. Lost more bicycle rings this winter too, every year there are fewer and fewer of them.
I can't wait to get out to Corktown Commons in the next month or so and photograph it, it looks terrific.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Cawthra Park, in behind my building and a park I'm most familiar with, has the same bins in three or four locations. They've been there for a couple of years now. City bins (the tonka toy one's) took a real beating this winter, I don't think there's a single one that isn't broken in one way or another within a mile of where I live. Lost more bicycle rings this winter too, every year there are fewer and fewer of them.
I can't wait to get out to Corktown Commons in the next month or so and photograph it, it looks terrific.
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You will be out of luck. CC is closing from June 1 to end of August for Pan-Am Games.
 
DSC said:
You will be out of luck. CC is closing from June 1 to end of August for Pan-Am Games.
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I was wondering when the date was - thanks for confirming. I wonder if they're going to preserve some sort of access to the underpass leading to the Lower Don trail?
 
DSC said:
Not as far as I know - the PAG perimeter will be the rail line.
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I figured - it was just wishful thinking on my part. Why accommodate people who actually have to, y'know, LIVE in the area?

I'm done complaining now - the legacy of the West Don Lands will far outlive any minor inconvenience to people like me out for a run.

I did notice temporary fencing being erected on the outside edge of the (still closed) "wet side" of the park - I guess this is the security fence?
 
During the games it will be open to the athletes and games officials, but not the public. Gotta give the visitors some space to roam about outside their rooms!

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DSC said:
They are permanent. The City Parks people no longer look after collecting garbage/recycling in parks and it is done by Solid Waste Management. They insist on the plastic bins so that their trucks can pick them up and dump them directly into the trucks. Stupid, yes. It has happened in all parks in the City so if you don't like it contact your Councillor. (In David Crombie park along The esplanade, the St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association managed to get most of them removed and they put the standard black litter bins along the street frontages but that only works in "narrow' parks.)
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This is the sort of stuff that keeps Toronto from becoming a truly great city on every level. The amount of petty politics, lack of cooperation between various facilities and services, poor attention to detail and lack of pride in our public realm- I might sound a bit extreme, but this is one of the most pathetic things I've heard, and it seems to happen every day around here. Toronto succeeds in spite of itself, but I sometimes wonder for how long with B.S. like this.
 
So when the contract with Solid Waste Management is up, refuse to give them a new contract unless they are willing to pick up from the trash bins we want. What choice would they have if they wanted the contract. Play hardball. I'm not sure why this wasn't in the initial contract.
 
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