I am usually more surprised how seemingly useless parkettes are quite heavily used. That small park on the north side of Queens Quay between Riviera and Rabba would often have a number of people in it eventhough to me it seems so small that I would think to myself that it is already occupied and that I should not enter. There are some less heavily trafficked parks out there though... but as the density continues to grow it is better to have these public spaces in advance.
 
taal said:
Not only that ... you should try visiting some of those parks on the weekend ... cityplace in particular, they're heavily used ...
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I spent a lot of time photographing parks around downtown in spring and summer of 2009, Torontonians love their parks.
 
US, if your in Thorogoode's garden on Allen, let me know how my tomato plants in the back corner are doing!! My son loved that garden as did all the kids on the street. It's parks/gardens like that that make this city a gem to live in.

My only complaint with toronto parks is I wish we'd invest in more communal seating. Ie; NYC, the have great benches that follow the walking paths and flower beds, whic in turn get people to socialize more. In toronto we stick the odd pick nic table here and there and would maybe have two - three benches facing the street scape.
 
EnviroTO said:
I am usually more surprised how seemingly useless parkettes are quite heavily used. That small park on the north side of Queens Quay between Riviera and Rabba would often have a number of people in it eventhough to me it seems so small that I would think to myself that it is already occupied and that I should not enter. There are some less heavily trafficked parks out there though... but as the density continues to grow it is better to have these public spaces in advance.
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Yes, passive enjoyment is sometimes underrated. That's what I like about the variety we get on the Quay - for every fancy Sugar Beach or HtO there's a Reese Parkette or that green space that apparently doesn't really exist south of Harbour Square that people enjoy.
 
The Waterfront Toronto website now says that Sherbourne Common will be officially opened on September 24, although I presume that will be just for the south part of the park.
 
Is that area near the centre for Bocce Ball?

scs.jpg
 
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Check out the cool cladding on the side of the water feature, in this video. I'm glad to see that first art thingy was repaired. (or replaced?) It's gonna be really nice surrounded by all that water, on hot days, next summer.
[video=youtube;mpUoGl6r9jw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpUoGl6r9jw[/video]
 
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I'm surprised they haven't reoriented Lower Sherbourne yet. Surely they will do it before completing the north part of the park??
 
EnviroTO said:
I'm surprised they haven't reoriented Lower Sherbourne yet. Surely they will do it before completing the north part of the park??
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Good question. The City expropriated a piece of the FedEx carpark in May 2011, I suspect the owner is fighting this. The documents sent to Council in May explain ( http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2010/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-29555.pdf ):

"WT has been engaged in negotiations with the owner of the Required Lands for inclusion in the realignment of Lower Sherbourne Street since 2007. Unfortunately attempts to date to acquire the properties have proven unsuccessful. The primary reason for this is that the land owner has an outstanding appeal against the City regarding certain aspects of the East Bayfront Zoning By-Law, and does not want to deal with the realignment
issue in isolation.
Although negotiations with the owner will continue, in order to achieve the timelines required for the park completion and the construction of Lower Sherbourne Street to match the opening of Dockside Drive as a public right-of-way, WT has requested the City of Toronto to exercise the City of Toronto’s powers of expropriation. WT has no power to expropriate and so must rely on the City to do so."

The North Park is now being built right up to the edge of the existing road and the City has already passed the necessary ByLaw to close this section of Lower Sherbourne and make Lower Sherbourne a one way street southbound "while construction proceeds" so I suspect that it won't be long before the northbound lanes are closed and added to the park. When the road gets straightened out the street will be two-way again.

Added info from WT CEO Report to June Board mjeeting:

City Council recently approved applications to stop up and close a portion of Lower Sherbourne Street, thereby allowing for the completion of Sherbourne Park North by the end of 2010. They also approved a report supporting the expropriation of certain privately-held lands in support of the realignment of Lower Sherbourne Street, if necessary.
3
Management continues to negotiate with the land owner; however as the road needs to be constructed in 2011 it was deemed necessary to have this option.
 
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If you haven't seen the fountain turned on at Sugar Beach, check out this video.[video=youtube;9f9yMcF1VR8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f9yMcF1VR8[/video]
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
I even saw a two gay couples making no bones about holding back from enjoying each other's company, one handsome duo is pictured below in the centre

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maybe they're just european ... lol

the guy on the bottom is going to have a mismatched tan of a head impression if they stayed out too long like that
 
a few friends of mine went and came back calling it a sandbox ..... i have to go check it out myself but this might be renamed as Sugar Sandbox instead of Sugar Beach in the near future.
 
MBS-Guru said:
a few friends of mine went and came back calling it a sandbox ..... i have to go check it out myself but this might be renamed as Sugar Sandbox instead of Sugar Beach in the near future.
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It actually does feel very much so like a giant sandbox.
 
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