AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
isaidso
Actually smart urban planning will accommodate diverse needs with complexity and grace - and good urban design highlights the importance of urban, human scale. Stupid urban planning is what you've suggested - i.e. taking an existing site with potential and reduce it to a carte blanche. Doing so in the name of progress is ironically quite regressive - stuff from the 50s-early 70s - and we all know just how smart that era was.
Don't confound architectural value to urban design values - individually they might not be significant - but taken as a whole the streetscape certainly is. Just because the buildings and streetscape is in a degraded state doesn't mean there is no worth - and FYI, good urban planning is about accepting that there are competing interests and coming up with a solution that is acceptable to most, financially viable and aesthetically pleasing.
I don't think you have presented any planning rationale as to why the 5ive model isn't what Toronto needs, as opposed to mass produced housing blocks achieving the same planning objectives (i.e. increased density) that require a carte blanche to execute.
AoD
For a lot of people, that's the goal. Heritage protection is important, but not if it gets in the way of smart urban design/planning.
Actually smart urban planning will accommodate diverse needs with complexity and grace - and good urban design highlights the importance of urban, human scale. Stupid urban planning is what you've suggested - i.e. taking an existing site with potential and reduce it to a carte blanche. Doing so in the name of progress is ironically quite regressive - stuff from the 50s-early 70s - and we all know just how smart that era was.
The low rises on Yonge are completely the wrong scale for modern Toronto; they're not even of much value architecturally. Urban planning can't be about turning Toronto into a working museum. Yonge has always been an utter embarrassment and I can't wait for the day that every last one of those 3 storey buildings get flattened.
Don't confound architectural value to urban design values - individually they might not be significant - but taken as a whole the streetscape certainly is. Just because the buildings and streetscape is in a degraded state doesn't mean there is no worth - and FYI, good urban planning is about accepting that there are competing interests and coming up with a solution that is acceptable to most, financially viable and aesthetically pleasing.
5ive is a fabulous attempt to maintain the 3 storey frontage and meet the demands of modern Toronto, but it's wrong headed and falls so short of what this city really needs. These buildings are 3rd rate Victorian era housing stock and their time has passed. Save the best and get on with the job of re-inventing Toronto
I don't think you have presented any planning rationale as to why the 5ive model isn't what Toronto needs, as opposed to mass produced housing blocks achieving the same planning objectives (i.e. increased density) that require a carte blanche to execute.
AoD
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