Marcanadian
Moderator
Sun Life Tower by Marcanadian, on Flickr
Sun Life Tower by Marcanadian, on Flickr
Sun Life Tower by Marcanadian, on Flickr- Thread starter nicetommy
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Sun Life Tower by Marcanadian, on FlickrSun Life Tower by Marcanadian, on FlickrSun Life Tower by Marcanadian, on Flickr
hawc
Senior Member
innsertnamehere
Superstar
That ramp is going to be coming down, remember.
Mo-tage
Active Member
Your sarcastic comment is a bit ironic given that you took the photo from the new PATH bridge that has made that area substantially more pedestrian friendly.
hawc
Senior Member
If you call walking inside through tunnels pedestrian friendly. It doesn't make the area more pedestrian friendly. It creates a little tube from Union Station to Waterpark Place so you don't have to go outside into the surrounding area. It's like saying driving to work really lets you get out and enjoy the Don Valley. Yeah, from inside your car.
condovo
Senior Member
Are you the anti-ksun? He wants the whole city plowed under to be more like Shenzhen. From the sounds of it, you'd like the whole city to be like Kensington Market.
hawc
Senior Member
*Shudder* I HATE Kensington Market. I wish they'd level it and put a Bed Bath and Beyond there surrounded by a huge parking lot.
PC9728
New Member
Ermm... I wonder if you've ever walked along harbour front in the wintertime.. IT IS FRIGGIN' COLD. I'm looking forward to not having to wear a coat to work. lol
hawc
Senior Member
The PATH has made getting to and from the various buildings INFINITELY more pedestrian friendly. But you're still inside the whole time. There is nothing pedestrian friendly about the exterior streetscape yet. A lot of that is weather related (it's flat out miserable down there in the winter) but it's also built on a massive vehicle scale not on a pedestrian scale. The lights are all timed in favour of the offramps and expressways not pedestrians. I've worked down there for many years and what the new PATH extension does is make you say, perfect now I need have to go outside again. So I would say it made the buildings more pedestrian friendly not the streetscape.
Mo-tage
Active Member
I'd have to say overall the new developments in South Core have a pretty good pedestrian experience. MLS, ACC, Telus, PWC, the new Delta and Bremner Tower all have nice wide sidewalks, the newer towers have restaurant spaces that face onto the street, the new Bremner Tower and Delta have restaurant spaces with room for patios in the summer. I find it a good balance between the corporate flashy grand lobby and providing visual interest and spaces for people. I find it a more pleasant experience walking down there than most of the CBD (although it's getting a lot better).
I'm not sure the Menkes/1 York street development will have as much success in that aspect as its buried between two 4-5 lane roads with an elevated highway on the north side. Not really much you can do there. But once the York East Teamway is done, plus one York street and the York/Yonge ramp removed, the walk from Union station down to Queens Quay should be pretty pleasant, aside from going under the Gardner.
I'm not sure the Menkes/1 York street development will have as much success in that aspect as its buried between two 4-5 lane roads with an elevated highway on the north side. Not really much you can do there. But once the York East Teamway is done, plus one York street and the York/Yonge ramp removed, the walk from Union station down to Queens Quay should be pretty pleasant, aside from going under the Gardner.
ksun
Senior Member
Don't speak for me. Just because you don't agree with me on some issues doesn't give you the right to generalize and misrepresent my position in such a misleading and exaggerated manner. It won't make you appear smarter either. I show no love for Shenzhen, nor have I ever been there. The fact that I hate two story houses doesn't mean I want the city to be full of generic glass condos. Bay st north of Dundas is as atrocious as Bathurst st.
On the other hand, I have no love to Kensington market either. Only someone who has no idea about how people outside north America live would think Kensington market is some sort of big deal. Individual grocery stores, shops, fruits on the sidewalk, small restaurants, surprise! I lived like that for half of my life before moving to North America, and if you travel around, most cities in Asia, Europe and South American function exactly like that. Only in Canada and US is this kind of lifestyle considered "interesting" just because people don't buy groceries in chain supermarket like Metro.
NBGtect
Active Member
ksun, don't fall into the trap of responding to troll bait. He's offended every single one of my friends who have accounts on here with degrading and personal remarks. The key to handling a bully is to ignore them.
stjames2queenwest
Senior Member
Whats with all the kensington hate in this thread? Different strokes for different folks. I buy most things from a commercial grocery store, but I'd rather independent stores than target. Hell Zellers was better than target and that's what they are getting at the base of this one. Welcome to downtown Toronto... here is a crappy american box store. A Walmart would have been better.
But whatever the area could use a department store so I wont complain too much.
But whatever the area could use a department store so I wont complain too much.
hawc
Senior Member
Agree.
Miscreant
Senior Member
Yep, I'll second that. Bremner is a pleasant street to walk down. I find it urban and dense without being anti-septic and boring.