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F

FutureMayor

Guest
Toronto Public Space Renaissance

A quick glance at recent newspapers headlines and attending several public meetings personally, it dawned on me that Toronto is experiencing an explosion of new outstanding parks or “public spacesâ€.

By 2008 we will have FIVE new major downtown public spaces:

HtO Park by the Waterfront

Commissioner’s Park in the Portlands

June Callwood Park in Fort York

Don River Park in the East

CityPlace Park Downtown

While not in downtown, Downsview Park in North York will be another addition and possibility Canada Square at Harbourfront Centre.

Finally the revitalization of the Prince’s Gates at Exhibition Place, Marilyn Bell Park (site of 2006 International Dragon Boat Competition) and our beloved Nathan Philips Square are also underway.

As we have read and seen these will not just be simple community parks with a patch of grass and trees, rather impressive, animated, high quality new spaces. New public amenities and works of arts will be built and installed. At least over $150 million will be invested in all these new parks, representing a huge investing in Toronto’s public spaces and contributing to our city’s cultural renaissance.

All these projects combined, plus the smaller neighborhood projects planned across the city has the potential to transform our city into a more vibrant place to visit and live.

I believe this city-wide strategy of investing in new spaces and revitalizing our existing ones will do more then investing in one major project such as Chicago’s Millennium Park which concentrated in just one part of the city.

Island Airport Needs to be Closed

Toronto is heading in the right direction here, we need to maintain the momentum. The Island Airport must NOT be allowed to expand and should be CLOSED.

Island Residents

While we are at it, I’m also in strong favor of evicting all the residents off the Island itself. It would have been another story if they paid fair market value for living on the Island, but from what I understand they do not. While contraversal, the Harris government was in the process of evicting them as it was widely reported they are being heavily subsidized for living there.

It is unfair that a select few get to live on the Island and have huge influence on what happens on and around the Island itself. The Island belongs to all citizens of Ontario and when Island residents go to court about music coming from the Docks Entertainment Complex and limiting the events allowed on the Island such as Wakestock, both of which actually bring down thousands of people to the lake and economic activity, I have a real problem with that.

Expo Needed

Finally, the Expo 2015 bid has real potential to kick start development in our Portlands. I’m a firm believer that we need a major international event with tight deadlines to get all the stakeholders working together to complete the transformation in a timely matter. While it will cost us taxpayers billions, the return on investments to our city would be enormous in a short period of time. A cleaned upped, fully serviced, revitalized Portlands, new transportation links, huge economic spin offs and increased tourism.

Louroz
 
Future Mayor, did you write that?
If so thats amazing!

I fully agree with you about the expo, island residents thing and airport issue ;)
 
^ ... well. After all he is a future mayor ;)

I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's amazing the transformation going on in T.O.

Although the downtown parks are awesome and I can't wait to see them finished, I'm very anxious to see the plans for Nathan Philips Square. Our premier public space definitely needs a rethinking and the results could become iconic for our city. When is the competition?
 
Don't be holding your breath over Nathan Philips Square. The city recently put any plans on hold as they simply do not have the money.

Downsview park is not going ahead with any speed (their latest excuse is that they want to the land to remain fallow for a period) and Canada Square at Harbourfront remains stalled as well.
 
I think having people living on the island is good. I don't think it's easy or convenient to live there, so it's not the free ride some think it is, and it takes a special kind of weird-o to do it, and it makes the island unique.

Like full funding for catholic schools, it's a historic anomaly we should live with.
 
theny,

Thanks for the compliments. I encourage you to get involved in the many public consultations for these new public spaces by either attending the meeting or submitting comments online. There is an Expo Meeting at Harbourfront Centre tonight at 6:00PM

MetroMan1000,

I'm the FutureMayor of Mississauga not Toronto, but I'm equally as passionate about downtown TO.

As a matter of fact we are investing in new public spaces all over the GTA, including the new town square in front of the Rose Theatre in downtown Brampton, the revitalization of Mississauga Civic Squares and Burlington is building a magnificant new waterfront with a Frank Ghery inspired pier stretching into Lake Ontario, a waterfall/skating rink and a glass amenities pavilion.

alklay,

NPS will be revitalized with new public money, it's a question of how much? I always believed the $40 million budget first proposed was over the top. A few million dollars to declutter the square by moving certain pieces, improvements to the signage, seating and landscaping can go a long way.

As annouced in October, Downview Park's first phase of Tree City is funded and is in full swing.

Also Canada Square will be built, it's a matter of when. It was also reported in the paper last week. From the sounds of it, the Conservatives are ready to invest in Toronto's waterfront plans.

shawnmicallef,

I agree that having residents on the Island makes it unique, however when the start talking and acting like they OWN the whole place, it annoys me greatly. Either they tone down their own noise complaints about public events on and around the Island or get off of it!

Louroz
 
I agree that there is a lot of great stuff going on with parks and squares. However I feel these big ticket projects can be a distraction from much needed improvements to the city's real public space, which is its streets.

Our streetscaping is about a century behind New York, Montreal, and other leaders in North America, to say nothing of cities in Europe. That's the real public space battle, and it's not getting much attention from media or government aside from this street furniture project. What about widening and repaving sidewalks, putting in decorative light standards, and burying--for the love of all that is good and holy, FINALLY--the absurd hydro wires? What about better and more street trees? The cross streets in Upper Manhattan look absolutely magnificent this week with huge cherry and magnolia trees in full bloom, growing right out of the sidewalk. If they can succeed in an environment that urban, what is our excuse?

None of these issues seems to get much attention in TO.
 
allabootmatt,

I absolutely agree with you. If you spend anytime walking around with me in downtown Toronto I can't help but start bitching and complaing of broken sidewalks, ugly overhead wires, dead trees, overflowing garbage cans, and huge black gum spots on the street.

We are beginning to act on these issues, the city of Toronto is finally launching a cordinated Street Furniture Program which should roll out by 2008.

Bloor Street through Yorkville will hopefully get a massive makeover in the next few years.

However, Yonge Street, Bay Street, Front, King, and Queen all need MAJOR makeovers. They all need to be repaved, new standard streetlights/banners installed, and trees planted and well maintained.

I've also personally e-mailed and lobbied downtown BIA's to scrape the black gum spots off their streets at least once a year. Trust me it makes a HUGE difference in the appearance of a sidewalk!

Louroz
 
FM> Agreed -- would like to see Islanders quiet down a bit too. Some noise/public is part of living there, just like the difficult commute is.
 
Our streetscaping is about a century behind New York, Montreal, and other leaders in North America, to say nothing of cities in Europe.
Click to expand...

Fully agree with your assessment.
 
FM> Agreed -- would like to see Islanders quiet down a bit too. Some noise/public is part of living there, just like the difficult commute is.
Click to expand...

I'm actually quite fond of how ornery and territorial the Islanders are. It's like the place is haunted by magic garden gnomes who get irritated by the big folk tramping through.

It sometimes helps a public space to not be ENTIRELY public, but instead to have some aura of local ownership at the same time - it's good for both character and policy. It was the gnomes, of course, who were rallying against the bridge (for entirely selfish reasons) long before Miller took up the cause as an election plank.
 
Heh, gnomes. But you articulated why I like them around better than I did.
 
I absolutely agree with you. If you spend anytime walking around with me in downtown Toronto I can't help but start bitching and complaing of broken sidewalks, ugly overhead wires, dead trees, overflowing garbage cans, and huge black gum spots on the street.
Click to expand...

www.gumbusters.com/home.html

I fully believe that the city should have a staff of these people working full time.
 
I agree with Futuremayor, except for the Islanders part. I actually like having the quirky Islanders there, it makes the east Island more interesting.

So, Futuremayor, as the future mayor of Miss, what are you going to do to fix up that disaster? I think you should worry about Miss, as I find it one UGLY place. (Sorry to insult your city but I'm just being honest) I wouldn't live in Miss if you gave me the boaring, suburban bungalo for free. (unless I could sell it and move to the Annex or Cabbagetown lol) Fix up that pedestrian hostile city, whenever Hazel retires. Mississauga needs an urban-minded mayor.
 
Island Residents

While we are at it, I’m also in strong favor of evicting all the residents off the Island itself. It would have been another story if they paid fair market value for living on the Island, but from what I understand they do not. While contraversal, the Harris government was in the process of evicting them as it was widely reported they are being heavily subsidized for living there.

It is unfair that a select few get to live on the Island and have huge influence on what happens on and around the Island itself. The Island belongs to all citizens of Ontario and when Island residents go to court about music coming from the Docks Entertainment Complex and limiting the events allowed on the Island such as Wakestock, both of which actually bring down thousands of people to the lake and economic activity, I have a real problem with that.
Click to expand...

I do agree regarding fair market value and the influence they have over the entire Island, though I have to admit the little residential neighbourhood is quite nice. I don't have a problem with them there as long as they pay for the privledge.

Or it might just be better to evict them and use the homes as hotel rooms.
 
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