Toronto L-Tower | 204.82m | 58s | Cityzen | Daniel Libeskind

^I'd also like to see the TTC get involved with that as well. In Dublin, on O'Connell St. they have a centre for people looking for transit info that is run by their version of the TTC (I think its called Dublin Bus, but not sure). It was very handy and they had schedules on leaflets for every bus route in the city. Potentially, the TTC could sell some swag there as well.
 
jn_12:

Of course, it's an unspoken rule that such facilities will have ample opportunities to exploit...eer...I meant entice tourists with souveniers. :D

re: TTC - yes, but I hope they don't sell the trash like the store at what, Union Station currently offers.

AoD
 
jn_12 said:
^I'd also like to see the TTC get involved with that as well. In Dublin, on O'Connell St. they have a centre for people looking for transit info that is run by their version of the TTC (I think its called Dublin Bus, but not sure). It was very handy and they had schedules on leaflets for every bus route in the city. Potentially, the TTC could sell some swag there as well.
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Be careful what you wish for. Getting the TTC to run a self-promotion centre would be like getting your wedding catered by Taco Bell.
 
AlvinofDiaspar said:
What they should do is to use the space for AHA Centre as a one-stop tourist centre, like the Capital Info Centre in Ottawa. It's on Yonge Street, close to Union Station and St. Lawrence/Old Toronto - sounds perfect to me.
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That really is a great idea. Then, all we'd need is some actual tourist attractions for it to inform visitors about.
 
such a cynic!

but I sort of agree in a way... personally I like to find my way around a city when I visit and stumble upon interesting places or restaurants, etc by chance. I dont really like the idea of getting the "tourist" package. But maybe thats just me.
 
Sir Novelty's comment is unwelcome and unjustified and can only reflect inexperience or provocation. It's such a "whatever" thing to say.

When I visit cities, I enjoy seeing both major tourist attractions, and little oddities that you stumble across or search out based on tips or particular interests. Major tourist attractions exist because they are something that is unique or highly desirable and over time become something to see. Little oddities are great but had to identify in advance.

Toronto is bulging with both. If Sir Novelty doesn't know this, well, that's too bad for him, but doesn't really reflect on the city in any significant way.
 
Well, evidently it was a just a little jab, Archivist. It was a thought that crystallized at one of these urban panels - I think this was from a book launch at the Gladstone - where one of the panellists mused aloud about the fact that every time he saw one of those double-decker tour busses, he wondered about what those poor tourists were actually going to see. Casa frigging Loma? Toronto is better experienced than gawked at.

I do think, on the whole, that this city is better to live in than to visit - especially for middle-of-the-road tourists without a specific agenda, just looking for large shiny objects to divert them. It all depends on who you are and what you're looking for.
 
Point taken. But I wonder the same thing in any city I'm in. I'd rather die that sit on one of those things, doesn't matter if it's New York or London or North York.

But even if people want big shiny things, we have the CN Tower (big), the ROM (shiny), and the Eaton Centre (a thing). Surely that's enough to fill their weekend?
 
Archivist said:
But even if people want big shiny things, we have the CN Tower (big), the ROM (shiny), and the Eaton Centre (a thing). Surely that's enough to fill their weekend?
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This is true too, at least for a weekend, as you say. Though I think it's a crying shame that the Science Centre (which I think really *is* a world-class attraction) is so inaccessible by transit, relatively speaking.

But - back to the original point - I really did seriously think that Alvin's idea was a good one. Especially if it was an urban centre of the sort that Spacing's been on about lately... a place where urban-saavy tourists could learn more about what neighborhoods to go walking in. This might dovetail with the painfully vague multi-culti museum idea...
 
I totally agree. I can think of two precedents in cities I visited.

In Buenos Aires they had done a series of pamphlets, with a common look and feel, that highlighted different areas of the city. They gave a really nice feel for the neighbourhood, and had a map with stores, restaurants, attractions, etc. I have always thought that Toronto could do something like that really well.

The other thing I can think of that impressed me was in Osaka when I asked about the work of a particular architect at a tourist bureau, knowing only that I wanted to see one of Tadao Ando's buildings "in the suburbs". They handed me a sheet, in English, of all the architect's buildings in the Osaka area with detailed and accurate instructions on how to get there. I was *completely* blown away. I'd love to see something that highlights Toronto architecture for tourists and allows them to appreciate what we have.
 
Great points from Archivist and SNF. It seems like urban tourism is something that simply isn't understood by the marketing industry that is always hired to promote it.
 
Any tourist info centre shouldn't cater to one sector - if some of them wanted to see the big, shiny and tacky, they should be eased into doing that at such a facility; if others wanted to enjoy the subtler pleasures of Toronto, there should also be the capacity to cater to that - and that's an aspect I found to be really quite poorly served right now. They should look at models like volunteer tourist guides (or even "rent boys"?) that knows the local "scene" in various ways - be in architecture, design, the arts, music, restaurants, nature, the naughty, etc. that tourists can have for say half a day or night.

Oh and I hate to say it - and I will probably get flak from certain quarters for doing so - but forget loading up such a centre with information on gawd-knows-what-museum in gawd-knows-where. This should be about Toronto and the GTA first and foremost, not a glorified provincial highway tourist centre with its' attendant tepidness.

AoD
 
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