DSC
Superstar
The 'foundation' of the old Cherry Bridge are almost all gone - they are now removing the 'build-up' on the south side of the Villiers Channel too.
hawc
Senior Member
Like it never existed...
Bibi L
Active Member
votemac
New Member
3Dementia
Senior Member
stjames2queenwest
Senior Member
To be fair the graffiti in the photo above is clearly a paint marker not spray paint. But agreed, let us have nice things please.
ear2ear
New Member
There is something fundamentally human about using our environmental surroundings as a canvas for expression, be it freight trains, cave walls, new bridges, or renaturalized flood plains we convert into park space. It's all vandalism in some regard. I think our efforts are better spent critiquing the work rather than bemoaning the inevitable.
skycandy
Senior Member
Graffiti notwithstanding, it warms the cockles to see such an intense and concerted effort in this massive project by its impressive number of workers. Almost impossible to do a head count, but everywhere you look, there are teams of workers doing their part for the grander effort. A selection of morning shots today.
The final clearing of the large ‘mound’. With some scurrying bandits.
The observation tower removed, presumably to clear this entire space.
These look more like planters than stairs!
Playtime…
Wish I’d snapped an image a little earlier…when numerous irrigation sprayers were watering much of this area.
Curvy framing around the entire ‘structure’.
Finally a glimpse of the beavers and badlands beyond the owl.
The final clearing of the large ‘mound’. With some scurrying bandits.
The observation tower removed, presumably to clear this entire space.
These look more like planters than stairs!
Playtime…
Wish I’d snapped an image a little earlier…when numerous irrigation sprayers were watering much of this area.
Curvy framing around the entire ‘structure’.
Finally a glimpse of the beavers and badlands beyond the owl.
hawc
Senior Member
Are they taking extra dirt (like the big mountains of it) off site somewhere by barge to Leslie Street Spit? Or are they just moving it around on site and making new hills etc?
UtakataNoAnnex
Senior Member
Giant big hippy park in the port lands... <3
DSC
Superstar
They are placing the topsoil they have been collecting for years in places that need it.
DSC
Superstar
It looks to me as though they have already started to remove the north plug (into Keating Channel).
jxmith_
Active Member
hawc
Senior Member
Globe & Mail article this morning (behind paywall) about Villiers being another potential disaster. Can anyone post a summary of what it's saying?
allengeorge
Senior Member
Article:
Toronto is racing towards yet another housing disaster with Villiers Island
After a 15-year grind of studies and plans, what the city is planning for a major new waterfront neighbourhood falls far short of what it needs to be
www.theglobeandmail.com
“ The city, province and the feds could build thousands more affordable homes here; city planners and the agency Waterfront Toronto would prefer not to.”
1. Low number of homes
“ The 40-hectare island, on the doorstep of downtown Toronto, is now planned for about 9,000 homes, plus cultural uses and retail. That density number is very low – perhaps half of what any private landowner would ask for today.”
2. Poor streetscape
“ This “mix” is a stew of the technical and the subjective, including “solar access” and a desire for very wide streets. Somehow the island plan has almost as much street space – 8.8 hectares – as the 10.6 hectares devoted to buildings.
That is disastrous urban design, without precedent or excuse.”
“ Panel member Nina-Marie Lister, a planner, ecological designer and Toronto Metropolitan University professor, sent criticisms to the panel by e-mail.
…
“The precinct looks and feels like more of the same,” she wrote. It seems to be “a neighbourhood catering to the car,” and it needs more density, narrower streets, multiple scales of buildings and a “finer grain” of development.””
Note: Alex compares it incredibly poorly to Montreal’s own project:
Montreal’s Wellington Basin project should inspire new urban developments across Canada
The Montreal plan has two unusual characteristics: there are buildings of different sizes and shapes, and car-free public space forms the bones of the neighbourhood
www.theglobeandmail.com