ADRM said:
I walk that stretch every day and definitely feel a little bit of both sides. I do think, though, that this development is in one of the most desirable stretches anywhere in the area; the residents are very lucky to have both the small park-to-be immediately to the south of the towers and the existing green space to the southwest of the towers.

And, of course, a stroll through the adjoining U of T campus is one of the nicest in the city. I usually skip off of Bay at St. Joseph to head north up to Bloor through the campus, and it's downright bucolic.
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I know exactly what you mean. St. Mike's is just absolutely beautiful. My favourite pocket of campus, and one of my favourite areas in the entire city. There's a perpetual calm that looms over that college.

And no, I'm not religious.
 
The stale air inside them must be aging like a fine wine.

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Park getting very close; now with benches 'n bike rings 'n things:

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Checked out the base yesterday for the first time. Courtyard is nice but I find it big and empty. Too much open space spread around the towers. Especially for such a downtown location. Basically a modern version of a tower in the park.

Buildings themselves are cool.
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Edward Skira said:
Basically a modern version of a tower in the park.
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Except right on a main street and integrated well with the city around it. So really not a tower-in-the-park format at all. ;) A green-space as a space of respite in the city is a positive thing.

Forumers here seem to be suspicious of any greenspace that lacks intensive programming, and the term 'tower in a park' is thrown around without little regard for what made it problematic (wholesale clearing out of existing urban fabric, greenspace on a vast and unusable scale, lack of connection to streets and commercial activity). But the U Condominiums have nothing to do with that particular tradition.

In this case, the greenspace is part of the existing site fabric, are a response to the context of the St. Michael's campus, and give something back to the neighbourhood and to the residents coming and going from the towers here.

Had there been the available depth to the building footprints, I feel that townhouses facing the courtyard may have worked well (instead of facing Bay, and instead have commercial activity along Bay), but I also could see how space was limited and that could have created a more private and unwelcoming feel for the courtyard as an extension of the campus space. Regardless, there was a very explicit and appropriate response to the campus context here. The overall approach to site is very urbanistic and has very little in common with the tradition of the anti-urban towers-in-a-park.
 
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Those benches need a metal guard rail as soon as possible! Haven't people realized by now, that the skateboarders in this city will tear up any bench that is not protected? They need to be skateboard proof right from the start!
 
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