W. K. Lis said:
The bad news is that most cities these days would refuse to allow house conversions into retail. Which is too bad. Would like to see convenience stores or kiosks next to bus stops. Too bad. They'll force them to have parking.
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Yes, totally agree, I fail to see why many of our smaller streets can't function like Newbury st, Boston. So much more interesting than a mall. As to side walk, widening it can't be too hard or difficult. Instead, we have all the pure residential streets, and there is no where to shop beside Queen , part of Bloor and the Eaton Centre. Jarvis is another street I can see converting into large amount of retail.

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ksun said:
Yes, totally agree, I fail to see why many of our smaller streets can't function like Newbury st, Boston. So much more interesting than a mall. As to side walk, widening it can't be too hard or difficult. Instead, we have all the pure residential streets, and there is no where to shop beside Queen , part of Bloor and the Eaton Centre. Jarvis is another street I can see converting into large amount of retail.

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Yes, charming smaller retail-filled streets like Newbury demonstrate exactly why places like Mirvish Village on Markham should be preserved
 
Wait, Toronto needs more retail? If anything there is too much retail in Toronto for the population density. If you doubt me try opening up a retail location. By North American standards Toronto is bursting with street-level retail.
 
TrickyRicky said:
Wait, Toronto needs more retail? If anything there is too much retail in Toronto for the population density. If you doubt me try opening up a retail location. By North American standards Toronto is bursting with street-level retail.
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Street level retail is indeed alive and well in Toronto, thankfully. However there are few examples of successful retail strips with an active street life that are located on side streets. Elm St, Markham, and Baldwin St come to mind but that's all I can think of.
 
That's one thing I dislike about retail in this city; it's basically restricted to linear, aterterial roads exclusively, rather than blocks of it in every direction. As soon as you step off the main roads, you're basically met with quiet residential neighbourhoods.
 
Armour said:
That's one thing I dislike about retail in this city; it's basically restricted to linear, aterterial roads exclusively, rather than blocks of it in every direction. As soon as you step off the main roads, you're basically met with quiet residential neighbourhoods.
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Exactly my thought. And I truly hate this kind of planning. Queen, Yonge, Bloor, they are all like that. Everything is on one street, 50 meters into a side street there is nothing. Check Yonge/St Clair, Yonge/Eglinton. All like that. One retail street in a sea of residential houses.

CML said:
Street level retail is indeed alive and well in Toronto, thankfully. However there are few examples of successful retail strips with an active street life that are located on side streets. Elm St, Markham, and Baldwin St come to mind but that's all I can think of.
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Yes. For example, Dundas W between Bay and Beverly has some retail, but it is all spreadout creating not successful street life. Elm and Baldwin, as well as Front st at Church/Jarvis are good examples of what retail street should be like.

Tewder said:
Ever been to Yorkville?
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Yorkville and St Lawrence Market area are the only two areas I can think of that is not linearly planned. These should be what most of downtown looks like.
 
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Toronto Preservation Board adopted staff recommendation this morning and placed 35 buildings, many in Mirvish Village affected by the Westbank proposal, into the City of Toronto Heritage Register, which effectively "List" the heritage buildings but not "Designate" it at this time. The Honest Eds building itself is not included/affected. I wonder what implications this would have on the Westbank proposal on these lands?

Adopted Motion:
http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2015.PB7.4

Staff Report:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pb/bgrd/backgroundfile-83577.pdf

Map of 35 Properties added to Heritage Registry:
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2015/pb/bgrd/backgroundfile-83579.pdf
 
ksun said:
Yes, totally agree, I fail to see why many of our smaller streets can't function like Newbury st, Boston. So much more interesting than a mall. As to side walk, widening it can't be too hard or difficult. Instead, we have all the pure residential streets, and there is no where to shop beside Queen , part of Bloor and the Eaton Centre. Jarvis is another street I can see converting into large amount of retail.

back-bay-newbury-street.png
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Newbury is a fantastic street to shop on and just walk around. I wish our downtown core had more streets like this. To have Dundas and Church be such a disaster, just 2 blocks away from our most crowded retail intersection, is just mind blowing. I would love for Yonge/Dundas to be similar to Union Square in San Francisco, where the retail fans out for blocks, in all directions. All those streets are highly animated and filled with people. I like that compact, high density retail district and the vibe it creates. Hopefully with all the new condos going up near Yonge Street, retail can spread out in all directions.
 
Yes, I've noticed that in Toronto, retail is mostly just on a single street. Some exceptions are Yorkville and Kensington Market. I would love to see places like SoHo, where retail is spread over multiple blocks.
 
I think the downtown area between Church to McCaul, and Davenport to Queens Quay is spread over multiple blocks.
 
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