I was at the meeting last night. About 150 people were there, most of them dead set against the proposal. Peter Clewes presented a few tweaks to the plan, among them removal of the one-storey visitation element of Edgedale, (to be replaced by green space), elimination of surface parking for the restored heritage properties on Glen, and opening of the winter gardens between the three eastern towers.

He's also added a little more space between the two towers near Sherbourne and will be asking the City to calm traffic on Bloor East by introducing a light at Edgedale and by eliminating the southbound exit "ramp" to Parliament.

Clewes mentioned that he and his client were considering unspecified height reductions, although nothing had been decided. Later, when he was presenting shadow studies, he let slip that reductions of 2-6 storeys were a possibility. Of course, the audience was outraged by this disclosure, which was met with groans and cries of "That's nothing!"

I was the only person to express wholehearted support for the proposal, although there a few reasonable and constructive comments from a working group of nearby residents. Most of the speakers, though, were horrified by the height and density of what was frequently termed "these monstrosities".

The process continues. Public opposition seems to be mounting and this one will undoubtedly go to the OMB.
 
What was the one storey structure intended to be? (The one that was removed and replaced with greenspace)?

Thanks for your reporting that info. to us... very interesting :)
 
SP!RE said:
What was the one storey structure intended to be? (The one that was removed and replaced with greenspace)?
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I believe it was a covered entrance/driveway for the 56-storey tower that would have also had a garden or other amenity on top.
 
Thanks :).

If someone could post here when they know the date of the next meeting, I'd love to attend. I really wish I had been at the past meetings for this project. :( Next time I guess!
 
I'm surprised we haven't heard about any more meetings for this megaproject... if anyone hears of anything, please inform!

Thanks!
 
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I agree the rant is ridiculous, although I would not be opposed to seeing quite a bit more midrises in an area like this. These will look a little out of the ordinary at almost twice as tall as most of the builds around here.
 
... That person may have had some valid points but they were completely lost in the insanity of that letter. Just wow. Finally stopped reading when I hit this:
Later as the world secularized and the Age of "Reason" divided and compartmentalized the Divine and the Mundane, tall buildings were still designed to inspire a kind of awe and respect, only this time for the powers of nation, culture, and military victory.
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LOL

And it's quite obvious this man thinks very highly of his own intelligence (a quality he shares with many on this board ;)).
 
It's ironic that the NIMBY essay characterises the density of the proposed towers with “excessive consumption.†Despite the extant knee-jerk, hippie-like glorification of small-scale development, high density development is a step towards more sustainable societies where people make do with much less space.

It's frustrating that people continue to associate urbanism with consumption. I remember how surprised my aunt was when she heard I like tall buildings and the denser parts of Toronto. It seemed to contradict her idea that my artsy/progressive personality naturally favours a rural cottage life or something (when in fact it's the opposite).
 
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