The view of Toronto's skyline from the Gardiner is great. It never fails to impress visitors, whom I specifically take along there because of the reactions it gets.

My unpopular view is that as tearing down and replacing the Gardiner (a financially disastrous idea, likely a boondoggle, and a traffic nightmare during construction years) would remove a major asset, we should be looking at ways of improving the looks of the underside, and the pedestrian links crossing it, instead. Those links aren't going to seem so arduous to pedestrians as more buildings line the sidewalks leading up to the Gardiner anyway...

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I also enjoy the view of the downtown from the elevated expressway but unfortunately a 'cool view' for me is not reason enough to keep it. Money no object I'd rather see it come down between bathhurst and jarvis and replaced by a tunnel.
 
The Gardiner view will get better except between the SkyDome and the ACC...there was always a void there that offered the most spectacular views of downtown, with the Royal York in front of a world class-ly dense mass of skyscrapers. This view is being assassinated by new towers, especially crap like Infinity (the shorter one is crap...the taller one is actually ok, just completely inappropriate at that location).

Condos will grow around the highway like vines and as Lakeshore and other streets are calmed by buildings and streetwalls, crossing on foot will become easier, but, yeah, a tunnel would be nice.
 
and how about this: we dig a tunnel for the highway and leave gardiner but turn it into pedestrian boardwalk with grass, trees bicycle path, and vendor stands... and we may add streetcar tracks as well.

Bogtrotter said:
I also enjoy the view of the downtown from the elevated expressway but unfortunately a 'cool view' for me is not reason enough to keep it. Money no object I'd rather see it come down between bathhurst and jarvis and replaced by a tunnel.
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Once the Gardiner is hemmed in on all sides by condo and office towers - as is already the case around Yonge and Bay - the Disneyesque Tomorrowland monorail charm of the thing will rapidly disappear, since it will no longer be elevated above anything.
 
The Gardiner's skyline view is not going away, it's just getting more interesting all the time, and it cannot be translated to ground level streets...

...and it would absolutely bankrupt this city to remove and replace it, so let's move on from that idea, spend a small amount sprucing it up, and try to find the vast sums for public transit infrastructure that the GTA desperately needs over the next decades.

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Urban Shocker said:
Once the Gardiner is hemmed in on all sides by condo and office towers - as is already the case around Yonge and Bay - the Disneyesque Tomorrowland monorail charm of the thing will rapidly disappear, since it will no longer be elevated above anything.
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I don't think the charm of driving into TO via the Gardiner will ever disappear. I think it'll only increase as downtown intensifies.
 
alklay said:
Imagine how much higher the buildings will seem if you take away the Gardiner and travelled on a road which was actually at ground level. :rolleyes:
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Yea but you wont get the feeling of flying like you get from being on the Gardiner... above street level.
 
Suburban boys like their highways (and cars)

Obviously, you guys are suburbanites because everyone I know who lives within walking distance of the Gardiner, wants it to come down, desperatly! I think the people who have to live with this monster 24/7 are the ones who should decide it's fate, not people who live outside of Toronto.
 
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