fred said:
What's so nice about this stretch of road? It's just a wall of mediocre condos with a few fast food outlets? It's a tribute to developer greed and the contempt they have toward this city and the people who live here.
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it's basically the only decently tall street canyon north of queen in the city.. and one of the only ones outside the CBD... the height of the buildings (at least for TO's standards) are pretty tall, and all of this condensed into a street is impressive.

and ya, i agree. U condos is gonna be huge, though it has a high potential to fail... speaking of U condos, WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG!?!?! feels like no progress has been made, and this one's been around for a while...
 
fred said:
What's so nice about this stretch of road? It's just a wall of mediocre condos with a few fast food outlets? It's a tribute to developer greed and the contempt they have toward this city and the people who live here.
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Well, clearly we have different tastes here. Frankly, I'm such an urban density nerd that I look over some of the more important and weighty issues you've raised. I like tall buildings and dense corridors, and that's about where I leave it.
 
There are a lot of flaws with the upper Bay corridor. The Bay corridor is dense but filled with many missed opportunities. It's a long, barren, wind tunnel for the most part with horrendous pedestrian appeal. The POS brick and precast condos from the 90's and early 2000's have done a lot of harm aesthetically. Murano, Burano, and Lumiere have done a great job breaking up the sea of grey and brown, and added some much needed fresh life into the area visually. The U Condo towers look promising, although having townhouses instead of retail at the podium is a big mistake imo. 1Thousand Bay and 43 Gerrard both look sharp.
 
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Travis said:
There are a lot of flaws with the upper Bay corridor. It's a long, barren, wind tunnel for the most part with horrendous pedestrian appeal. The POS brick and precast condos from the 90's and early 2000's have done a lot of harm aesthetically. Murano, Burano, and Lumiere have done a great job breaking up the sea of grey and brown, and added some much needed fresh life into the area visually. The U Condo towers look promising, although having townhouses instead of retail at the podium is a big mistake imo. 1Thousand Bay and 43 Gerrard both look sharp.
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You and Fred both raise good points, ones I agree with. Part of my affection is that I grew up in Toronto, then in my early twenties lived around this area and went to school around here for almost ten years. That's part of it. I grew to like, especially because it has an understated, almost quiet touch to it. Especially around St. Joseph street and St. Mike's.

But it's also that my aesthetics are bit different from your guys--frankly, more superficial. I like urban landscapes, even when they're ugly. I like the portlands, I like polson street. This also has to do with the fact that I have a rehearsal space down there, so I'm there a lot. But regardless, I just like various urban environments.
 
That's cool. I fully understand what you're saying, we all have our own sentimental opinions on urbanity. For me, I grew to love Waterloo while studying there, despite the city overall being very suburban. But the UW campus, "The Plaza", and the Uptown Waterloo stretch on King Street will always hold a special place in my heart.
 
I walked around the site the other night. What's that structure that's being built on the west side of Burano?

Also, They installed windows on the 1st floor of the heritage building on the south side. I don't like them at all. Thought they'd go with a more classic style but they're just the same ole condo windows. Maybe they're just temporary.
 
JayBee said:
Also, They installed windows on the 1st floor of the heritage building on the south side. I don't like them at all. Thought they'd go with a more classic style but they're just the same ole condo windows. Maybe they're just temporary.
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That's a considerable concern, getting the heritage structure right is an integral part of the success of Burano IMO.
 
Yeah the ground level windows are the same type as used on the tower portion... modern, with grey metal mullions. It doesn't look good at all and I'm disappointed because otherwise this restoration and incorporation of a historical facade was done so beautifully.
 
fred said:
What's so nice about this stretch of road? It's just a wall of mediocre condos with a few fast food outlets? It's a tribute to developer greed and the contempt they have toward this city and the people who live here.
Click to expand...

I don't think there is such thing as instant urban magic. - But the first step is getting the people there, and seeing what happens. It might be hard seeing how most of the commercial retail all these guys will ever need is over on Yonge Street. But maybe a niche for some different type of retail might emerge here over and above the coffee shops and bank branches that habitat it now.
 
Travis said:
That's cool. I fully understand what you're saying, we all have our own sentimental opinions on urbanity. For me, I grew to love Waterloo while studying there, despite the city overall being very suburban. But the UW campus, "The Plaza", and the Uptown Waterloo stretch on King Street will always hold a special place in my heart.
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Hey, another Warrior on here! :cool:

I agree, and I like Uptown Waterloo and DT Toronto for different reasons. I like Uptown Waterloo for the same reason I like downtown Oakville, it's a very nice almost small-town feel that is very pedestrian friendly. I do like dt Toronto for its density and urbanity too. They're both 2nd homes to me.
 
caltrane74 said:
I don't think there is such thing as instant urban magic. - But the first step is getting the people there, and seeing what happens. It might be hard seeing how most of the commercial retail all these guys will ever need is over on Yonge Street. But maybe a niche for some different type of retail might emerge here over and above the coffee shops and bank branches that habitat it now.
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Yeah, agreed. But also: not every street needs to the 'the' bustling street, 'the place to be'. I found that, after having lived in the city for a long time, I didn't want to go to the Yonge Streets and Queen Wests, but was quite happy around the Bay Streets and Jarvises. After all, it's around those places where actual Torontonians are, whereas many of the other places are for tourists, both travelers and others coming into the city for the day because they want to shop at Yonge street.

I think having an affection for these less bustling areas is part of having an affection for the city as a whole, beyond the hits you get as a tourist or where you want to be when you first move here.
 
caltrane74 said:
I don't think there is such thing as instant urban magic. - But the first step is getting the people there, and seeing what happens. It might be hard seeing how most of the commercial retail all these guys will ever need is over on Yonge Street. But maybe a niche for some different type of retail might emerge here over and above the coffee shops and bank branches that habitat it now.
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Car dealerships?
 
No! Why did they make the mechanical recessed from the envelope of the residential. Completely wrecks the sleekness of the tower. What do you aA apologists have to say now about their supposed pureness and attention to detail. :(
 
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