Parkdalian said:
  • Alex Bozokovic is a smart guy and a good writer writing click-bait-y articles so that he doesn't get algorithm-d out of a job.
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Most journalists don't write their own headlines! Anyway, I like Alex's work, and fall somewhere in the middle of Northern and Alex's views of the project. I think there can definitely be improvements, but I still think it's on track to be a successful neighbourhood.
 
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The Villiers proposal was adopted at Committee and is now on to Council.

There was a supplementary report, for information, that does not alter the plan, as such.

That report can be found here:


It addresses the issue of R-O-W widths and how they are divvied up.

It also addresses the idea/challenges of incoporating the Essroc site in the near term.

***

Of note here, WT/Planning are clearly open to reconsidering the ROWs, and the granularity of development here, post-zoning.

From the report above:

1718297441277.png
 
Parkdalian said:
I think a lot of the points above are correct, but at the end of the day, I think that "success" and "failure" are primarily just fancy ways of saying "I like this area" and "I don't like this area."
  • People still live in "unsuccessful" neighbourhoods and like them, and feel happy in them. It always feels a little obnoxious to tell people that they are living in a failed neighbourhood.
  • I often find that "successful" neighbourhoods often equals "bougie neighbourhood that I want to live in" or "bougie neighbourhood I saw on my vacation that I want to live in." There's a lot of snobbery in urban planning. (Sorry!)
  • I think we can get a little too hung up on the exact details of a neighbourhood in planning it. I think what is vastly more important than choosing the right details is making neighbourhoods flexible and open to reuse and change. Setting exact streetwalls or worrying about widths of parks is less important than: have we provided a framework that will allow this neighbourhood to change over time?
  • Alex Bozokovic is a smart guy and a good writer writing click-bait-y articles so that he doesn't get algorithm-d out of a job.
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Excellent points.

On your first point, for instance, I LOVED living in CityPlace the years I was there, even though everyone kept telling me I had bought a condo in a future 'St. James Town' and that it was or was about to become a huge failure. I always thought it was great. And now people are like, "Oh yeah, I guess it's not going to be the disaster we predicted...."
 
hawc said:
Excellent points.

On your first point, for instance, I LOVED living in CityPlace the years I was there, even though everyone kept telling me I had bought a condo in a future 'St. James Town' and that it was or was about to become a huge failure. I always thought it was great. And now people are like, "Oh yeah, I guess it's not going to be the disaster we predicted...."
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It looks butt ugly, doesn't mean it's an ugly neighbourhood to live in. There is a difference. I mean, if folks enjoy where they live even if they have to hold their noses everytime they look up...then it still meets the requirements of a healthy 'hood, as far as I am concerned...

...personally though, I prefer to have the best of both worlds. That is, good to live in and it looks fantastic!
 
It’s weird to me that Canary District and its ROW/sidewalks etc suddenly became loathsome to most. It’s very walkable, bike friendly, Corktown Commons is a jewel. I’ve never felt the presence from the George Brown dorms though, so unsure of how full it is and when. I do recall during some of the fires in Alberta a few years back, they were housing some displaced folks there.

But if those big sidewalks aren’t full enough for folks- consider Maple House isn’t at capacity yet, Cherry House is under construction, as is Canary House. The pipe dream that is Reiki Centre -who knows- and then there’s still the 32-story tower at the east end, the remaining school and towers by the railway, and whatever becomes of the Foundry. Other sites to wait and see are the Cube house, the auto body shop on Eastern and whatever the storage facility becomes if and when owners wanna get rich(er).

Front is two cars wide with bike lanes in either direction. Those big wide sidewalks are gonna be full with school fun fairs, Canary Eats, community yard sales, patios, indigenous events, all sorts of stuff for years to come. And I’m sure neighbours are glad they’re not peering out their window into someone’s bedroom.

The good news with Villiers is that all the armchair types will chase at least two-three other urbanist trends before anyone shows up with a moving van in 2031. I’m sure they’re getting around to cancelling curb-cuts
 
jxmith_ said:
Front is two cars wide with bike lanes in either direction. Those big wide sidewalks are gonna be full with school fun fairs, Canary Eats, community yard sales, patios, indigenous events, all sorts of stuff for years to come. And I’m sure neighbours are glad they’re not peering out their window into someone’s bedroom.
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The school, of course, is not built and the land is frozen until the Ontario Line is finished.

We made good use of Front St when our kid was a toddler. It's a nice place to learn to scoot and bike because of the vast empty space where you won't run into other people, there's a splash pad that is never busy, and patios that you can always get a seat on.

They didn't get everything wrong on Front St by any means. And it will fill up with more life over the years. But it's way too wide.
 
hawc said:
Someone mentioned there might have been a leak at the North Plug so I flew over it to see if I could see anything obviously leaking through, but not to my untrained eye...

View attachment 572986
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Great photo, they have clearly started to expose the 'piles' on west (left) side in preparation for eventual removal and I think they said that if there is a bit of leakage now it does not matter as the river and lake are now at same level so water will not flood in (or out) should a breach occur. I think the north plug is due to be removed next spring - presumably so that the debris area upstream can be finished and catch some or all of the 'crap' before it hits the new river and gets into the Lake. They may also want to finish the dredging of the Keating Channel - which is scheduled to start when the final bits of the old Cherry St bridge are gone.
 
Great video, I had no idea there were tennis (??) courts south of Villiers St just west of Munition St. Maybe NEXT week you can fly north of the Keating to look at the debris area and Ontario Line bridge work??
 
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