[AlbertC]

Here's my interpretation of Toronto's urban realm:

Red = Traditional area of downtown
Blue = Secondary level area of urban relevance
Green = Tertiary level area of urban relevance
Turquoise = Notable retail strip or stretch of noticeable urban context


The core:

Overall city:

 

[buildup]

My apolgies, I appreciate your sincerity and seriousness. Perhaps in some sense we are unique as compared to many other places because our European footprint has been so brief, and our aboriginal foorprint so recent.

On a recent visit to a cottage in the Lower St Laurence I was impressed to realize that entire drive from Bay St Paul to La Malbaie is essentially the crater of a massive meteor and the distant mountains the ripples from the impact. Sudbury, the pre Cambian shield etc are interesting.

I will check out your link.

 

[scrapergeek]

They all think they should be the chefs, and their recipe is better... always....
Facts are simple... for todays economics, and with modern design quality, and building techniques , these are better than average, and far from the eye sores that many worry they will be.....

Not that legit points aren't made.
You just have to sift through pages of self righteous opinions and over educated bloviates....... this is where architecture is!!!!
The alternative to 1 Bloor isn't Chrysler Buildings, or Rockerfeller Center,..... Sadly it is an empty lot!!!
Its this or nothing!!! You could see Aura and 1 Bloor built anywhere... Singapore, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and honestly, these designs are so much better than what is going on in the middle east, or even Miami, and Panama!!!!
But these insecure Torontonians love to feel less than, it is their credo!!!!!!
I see one city in NA, tackling the future and really going for an overhaul, as a way to survive..... This is a blood transfusion, for the urban core.... A response to decay and an evolution into the new model.... SO exciting!!!!!
Toronto is leaping on to the GLOBAL stage, and yet the locals don't see that emergence??? They see too tall in my backyard....??
You want the city to have $$$$$ for new infrastructure.... well, all these middle class tax dollars, filling the coffers, in the next 10 years will vastly increase the LOCAL TAX BASE!!!!!

What is the projected pop. increase of the downtown area, say from 2000, vs say 2015?? (Willing to bet, that by then we will have the 2nd or 3rd highest downtown core pop. in NA???? ) If we don't already?! LOL

Excellent post.

 

[bmiller]

Our history pales in comparison to other cities in the world, hence the term new world in history books. To compare our history, as brief and colouful as it is, with European or Asian cities is naive. This discussion is over for me.The others who wish to beat this to death, Carry on.

 

[Strange Advance]

Just stumbled into this page (36), and had to look at the title to be reminded what the topic is. There seem to be five different discussions going simultaneously.

 

[freshcutgrass]

Here's my interpretation of Toronto's urban realm:

Red = Traditional area of downtown

The SAnnex is clearly a "downtown" neighbourhood. You can't say the south side of Bloor is downtown and the north side isn't. The old grid system was built on the commercial main street, with it's accompanying residential side streets. That's why the residential portion of the Annex (between Dupont & Bloor) are downtown. The "Downtown West" section is a more recent addition.

What is the projected pop. increase of the downtown area, say from 2000, vs say 2015?? (Willing to bet, that by then we will have the 2nd or 3rd highest downtown core pop. in NA???? ) If we don't already?! LOL

Toronto's downtown residential population is clearly in 2nd place, and has been for a while. It's over 200k as we speak, and it's going to keep growing by thousands every year. But I think it will have to always settle for #2, as reaching Manhattan numbers isn't likely in our lifetimes. Sorry, but I see the island of Manhattan as one giant downtown core.

 

[BobBob]

Toronto's downtown residential population is clearly in 2nd place, and has been for a while. It's over 200k as we speak, and it's going to keep growing by thousands every year. But I think it will have to always settle for #2, as reaching Manhattan numbers isn't likely in our lifetimes. Sorry, but I see the island of Manhattan as one giant downtown core.

That seems a bit arbitrary. If Washington Heights and Harlem are "downtown", why not Parkdale? Why not Little Italy, Trinity Bellwoods, etc?

 

[freshcutgrass]

That seems a bit arbitrary.

Well, it's not hard science, so a bit of arbitrary has to accepted. I would certainly accept an argument that excluded any area north of Central Park, the same as I would Parkdale.

 

[junctionist]

99% of cities in North America would KILL for a proposal of this magnitude. I live in Dallas where downtown is still mostly a wasteland and the tallest building under construction right now is under 180m.

Other than the UT snobs here, the vast majority of the public that will be walking past or driving past this building will not be thinking "oh gosh, this totally ruined the postcard view from the islands..what a shame."

Many ordinary people won't conceptualize a cityscape's beauty like an urbanist would in terms of specific landmarks and vistas, but that doesn't mean that ordinary people don't notice these elements. If a person without any interest in city-building takes a look at a cityscape of bland towers and uninteresting vistas, they may say something like "this city isn't that special", and not "too bad that new tower by Wallman with its crude proportions ruined this view of the city's great 20th-century landmarks". But these two reactions are more similar than they are different; the way a "UT snob" sees the world is often the same way as an ordinary person. One person can say "this sucks" on the street and another on UT can say the same thing more eloquently with some reasons for the sake of informed discussion. But in the end, there's a common sentiment.

Ya, sad in the same way those tourist-less cities of Paris and New York have relied on the old and boring Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building, right?
I'm really sorry but as someone who has worked in tourism policy at the municipal and provincial level, one new fancy skyscraper isn't going to attract people to this city. Otherwise an edgy (no pun intended) project like the ROM would be attracting people by the millions. And it's not. Sure, there are people who travel for all sorts of reasons, architecture being one of them, but by no means is building a fancy skyscraper going to turn a city into a mecca for tourists. One example I can think of is the Bilbao Guggenheim, but seeing as how it's a museum, it's really not in the same ballpark.

New York has an impressive collection of pre-Modernist skyscrapers in the Art Deco, Beaux-Arts, and Gothic styles. The great city must have a good collection of exceptional buildings which set the tone for its most spectacular landmarks. Architecture has always been a significant attraction for urban tourists. But even if it's not critical for everyone, a successful metropolis with a high international profile should be able to dominate in every aspect of tourism, with a big variety of offerings in different parts of the city to give the impression that you can't see it all and must return to that city you've fallen in love soon. Toronto also has at least 300 years of history accessible to anyone who steps foot on our streets. That's less than a lot of world cities, but it's more than enough to impress people in this regard, especially considering that most of what you see in the average European city that feels historic or impressive is quite often the result of massive reconstruction in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

 

[Xray_Crystal_Junkie]

Had lunch in Yorkville today and walking along Bloor at the corner of Bay I was handed a promotional card for this project. Essentially trying to get people to register, what I found interesting was a (perhaps arbitrary) cut-off date of May 15th (can't be sure, I threw away the card) for getting first look at the available floor plans. The way I read it was that floor plans would be available on this date, but perhaps that's not the case.
Is the community consultation expected to be wrapped up by mid next month?

 

[AlbertC]

Potential new rendering (?)

 

[ttk77]

Am I the only one that thinks this looks like a stretched out borg cube?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Dropping code from Matrix...

AoD

 

[ptbotrmpfn]

Amazing!

 

[SP!RE]

I like the appearance of a glass flatiron cantilevered off the podium!