[RiverCity1]

Oh FFS I'm offended by the sheer stupidity shown in this post towards language that's as anodyne and commonplace as "goddamn". Do you know how this word pales in comparison to others freely accessible on the internet, Flanders?? And do you go into high dudgeon and write to tv stations that dare broadcast this hideously profane and offensive utterance?? Uh-uh.

Freedom of speech must necessarily include the license to offend, because mere offence doesn't inflict social harm. But social harm does occur when moral crusaders invariably seek to restrict language or expression based purely on religious grounds.

So if you don't like someone's diction, go complain to a mod. Otherwise piss off and go pray for their soul.

Not sure why on earth you would think a private forum has anything to do with freedom of speech. Most other private forums I know of would ban someone like you. UT seems exceptionally tolerant. Would you talk to your employer or mother like this and tell them to piss off like you did to me just now? Also not sure why people think things like manners, decorum, and etiquette are not required on the internet. You just seem like another internet bully. It's permissible to have an unexpressed thought once and awhile.

 

[interchange42]

What is anodyne for some simply is not for others. Please just let's agree to disagree without being insulting about it. (RC1's restrained response is appreciated.)

In regards to the gray, yup, we've got way too much of it. In regards to the "two most nearly complete buildings", we have not been up close enough to them yet to get a really good take on just how they complete they are or are not… not enough to draw any conclusions yet as best as I can tell. If the "innards of the walls exposed" comment refers to the east walls, I don't think those are complete at all.

42

 

[urbandreamer]

why is the default colour of this city grey? Why is the default shape a box? And why is the default material glass and spandrel?

Because most developers only care about the bottom line. Sad but true.

However, a box is the most efficient shape in terms of a floor plan. Try drawing one and you'll get it. Most lots in Toronto--indeed everywhere--are square-ish. This is common most places infact. Only in Vancouver do you get bizarre shapes due to view cones, trying to maximize waterfront/mountain views, and perhaps cheese-ball developers.

Grey coloured glass spandrel, window frames etc is sort of the equivalent buying a car a few decades ago: recall when plain black bumpers on economy cars were $500 cheaper than the body-coloured option? Again, there is nothing wrong with this lack of colour but just like on the car example, some panels are sexier than others--depends on the design team, eh.

The default colour of Toronto is not grey; it is red brick. You need to hit the real streets and nabes of Tdot to figure that out!

 

[hawc]

I just got back from Paris and now Toronto feels ugly. Nothing built on a human scale here. Everything huge. Canyons of condos. Paris did it right. Narrow roads and 7-story high buildings. Oh well at least West Don Lands is way better looking than the Liberty Village monstrosity and the park is pretty.

 

[SP!RE]

As much as I believe highrise towers have their place, a midrise neighbourhood always feels best to me... I love the scale. Really love the feel of this area already, and it's still far from completion. And indeed Corktown Common is its crown jewel.

 

[Torontovibe]

I just got back from Paris and now Toronto feels ugly. Nothing built on a human scale here. Everything huge. Canyons of condos. Paris did it right. Narrow roads and 7-story high buildings. Oh well at least West Don Lands is way better looking than the Liberty Village monstrosity and the park is pretty.

Yeah, you've got a point there but shouldn't we aspire for something better than Liberty Village? Remember, WDL was started from scratch, so we had the opportunity to create anything we wanted. It should have been something special.


The NEW default colour in Toronto is grey. Red brick was our past but if you look at what is going up TODAY, nobody can deny that grey spandrel is our new default colour and material. There may be nothing wrong with grey but there is something very wrong when it becomes ubiquitous in this city. When every developer gives us 50 shades of the most boring of colour, yes, it is a problem.

I just don't understand why people are so afraid of colour. We have such a huge range of vibrant, rich colour choices and yet, we continue to pick the blandest, most conservative one of the bunch. Pretty soon they'll start calling us Taupe Toronto. You can't get any blander, timid and safe than that. (safe but so uncreative)

 

[urbandreamer]

^I'm not afraid of using colour on my buildings:

 

[RiverCity1]

They were planting lots of trees along Cherry Street yesterday afternoon and again this morning. Didn't have my camera with me, but I will try and take shots later today. It's amazing what a little greenery does to soften all the concrete and pavement. The trees should look fairly decent by summer of 2015.

 

[Homer]

also correct me if I am wrong but people in general do not like to decorate an oddly shaped condo.

 

[rdaner]

This is a less than ideal pic of the new light standards at Lawren Harris Park. I really wish that I had taken a pic of the vista that is now fully formed from Corktown Commons looking west along a now widened Front Street to the Financial District; this has the potential to be beautiful. Thank you Waterfront Toronto!

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

I just got back from Paris and now Toronto feels ugly. Nothing built on a human scale here. Everything huge. Canyons of condos. Paris did it right. Narrow roads and 7-story high buildings. Oh well at least West Don Lands is way better looking than the Liberty Village monstrosity and the park is pretty.

Sorry, that's revisionist history. If the Baron was bulldozing the Paris slums today, he'd put up glass condos. The only reason he chose 7-stories was that was as far as a chamber pot could be carried, in his opinion, or he would have stacked the slumdwellers higher.

Agree on Liberty Village - it started out so nice, and got strangled by crap.

 

[AlexCorey]

Sorry, that's revisionist history.

Agreed - and Paris' situation is far from ideal. While it might be aesthetically pleasing to a certain degree, it's plan was largely influenced by a desire to create strong geographic divisions between classes, expelling the poor from the urban core, and ridding the city centre of inconvenient nooks and crannies too difficult to aim a canon down.

As for contemporary Paris, many of these problems still exist (re: class division) and the mid- to low-rise nature of the urban core has resulted in astronomical rents, forcing all but the wealthy into the surrounding arrondissements and suburbs.

The Atlantic ran a great article with interesting data maps that illustrate some of the issues Paris is dealing with:

http://m.theatlanticcities.com/neig...hy-some-parts-are-much-wealthier-others/5962/

 

[hawc]

Agree on Liberty Village - it started out so nice, and got strangled by crap.

What went wrong? I'm trying to figure it out myself. Because like you said it started out great, but now it's just a mass of overdevelopment or something.

 

[hawc]

Can someone give me the geographical boundries of Corktown and the central most intersection in Corktown? I'm trying to figure out this area. It seems kind of nebulous.

 

[someMidTowner]

Can someone give me the geographical boundries of Corktown and the central most intersection in Corktown? I'm trying to figure out this area. It seems kind of nebulous.