Toronto Sherbourne Common, Canada's Sugar Beach, and the Water's Edge Promenade | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto | Teeple Architects

Just putting it out there... but I met with officials from the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, as well as a major real estate development firm several years ago, and the question "What is one thing Toronto does right that you would like to see Chicago learn from?" was asked.

The answer? Our parks and public spaces. They liked the connectivity of our spaces, the animation in our spaces, and the quality of our spaces. They pointed out that our ravine system was something they were jealous of, and even pointed out our waterfront as an example of a place built for people.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side people. We have something good here, and even those places we praise as being better than us are looking to us as a good example. I mean, you can get all the rave reviews in the world, but the only thing that really matters is the reviews from people who use the spaces.

June Callwood Park is a perfect example of this. Received rave reviews, yet the community that actually uses it has come out against it for it not meeting their needs. It's nice to look at, but nothing more.
 
I'm curios re: June Callwood Park, what needs weren't met ? If its greenspace cityplace and the waterfront gives so much of this.

I find often the "community" are just the most vocal folks who generally aren't happy with anything that's a change.
 
taal said:
I'm curios re: June Callwood Park, what needs weren't met ? If its greenspace cityplace and the waterfront gives so much of this.

I find often the "community" are just the most vocal folks who generally aren't happy with anything that's a change.
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The space simply isn't being used. There is a lack of seating, a lack of activities for children, a lack of garbage bins, the crushed stone is being spread throughout the park, there are tripping hazards, the hard surfaces aren't drawing people in, the children's play areas aren't fun, its become a magnet for skate boarders, there are no dog friendly amenities, the plants didn't survive, many of the trees are dead are the comments I have seen so far.

I walked through it yesterday and it was a ghost town. The space was definitely over designed, and it seems like the community is not embracing it like other communities have done with their own public spaces. A large group of residents have voiced their concerns, so I wouldn't be surprised if some changes occur to the space as a result.
 
From a design perspective, June Callwood Park is beautiful. From a practical usage perspective, it's a fail.
 
In other news, the water portion of the park is 100% functioning at this point, which is nice to see, along with the fountain at Sugar beech.
 
Tuscani01 said:
The space simply isn't being used. There is a lack of seating, a lack of activities for children, a lack of garbage bins, the crushed stone is being spread throughout the park, there are tripping hazards, the hard surfaces aren't drawing people in, the children's play areas aren't fun, its become a magnet for skate boarders, there are no dog friendly amenities, the plants didn't survive, many of the trees are dead are the comments I have seen so far.

I walked through it yesterday and it was a ghost town. The space was definitely over designed, and it seems like the community is not embracing it like other communities have done with their own public spaces. A large group of residents have voiced their concerns, so I wouldn't be surprised if some changes occur to the space as a result.
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Ah interesting ok there seems to be credible concern here, I agree there is a lack of seating. Its funny I actually think the northern part of Sherborne commons may suffer from something similar ! I always notice its nearly empty compared to the southern part (south of Lake Shore), in some ways the design is similar too, to be fair there is more seating though, still an interesting comparison.
 
taal said:
Ah interesting ok there seems to be credible concern here, I agree there is a lack of seating. Its funny I actually think the northern part of Sherborne commons may suffer from something similar ! I always notice its nearly empty compared to the southern part (south of Lake Shore), in some ways the design is similar too, to be fair there is more seating though, still an interesting comparison.
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The north side will fill up when people live right beside it in a few years. People will be sitting at tables munching away on lunch, etc., once Monde's retail spaces open.

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Adjei said:
If that's your idea of getting rave reviews from the international community, then so be it.
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Sugar Beach won many awards locally and internationally, including the American Society of Landscape Architects' 2012 Honor Award and the Environmental Design Research Association's Great Places Award in 2014.
 
junctionist said:
Sugar Beach won many awards locally and internationally, including the American Society of Landscape Architects' 2012 Honor Award and the Environmental Design Research Association's Great Places Award in 2014.
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But you don't understand - it's not Millenium Park (tm).

Toronto's Waterfront is going to receive rave reviews from all over two continents in just a couple of months. Mark my words.
 
Torontovibe said:
I would like to see a few destination areas and major attractions on the waterfront. I just wish a few spaces were zoned for tourism/work and developed as tourism focused public spaces and entertainment/cultural uses. Office towers and condos are both needed but we also need to animate the waterfront with culture, entertainment and destinations that attract crowds/tourists. We have miles and miles of waterfront for residential but we only have one downtown, central waterfront that can hold major attractions that are easily accessible to large numbers of people and can become a focal point. That's where I think Chicago really stands out with Millennium Park.
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Except we do have this...Harbourfront Centre. Which draws over 4 times the visitors and Millennium Park couldn't hold a candle to Harboufront's cultural programming. So what if Millennium Park is perceived as more famous?

Ok...it doesn't have a $28 million Big Shiny Bean, but I wouldn't really want to trade in something like Festival of Authors for it. With Toronto's 1% for art program, there are, and will be no shortages of public sculptures, as there seems to be no shortage of development...especially on the downtown waterfront. We just might be able to have our cake and eat it too.
 
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