ShonTron
Moderator
Harbour Square was, indeed, a pioneering building, unimaginative 2, not only expressively - the concrete brutalism that's so characteristic of the Toronto of that time - but because it was the first to bring people to live in a derelict former industrial district and helped revive it. Pier 27 continues that initiative. I realize you have a history here of objecting to reviving derelict former industrial sites for people to live in, but that doesn't negate the fact that it's happening and that good local firms are doing the work, now as before.
Honestly, that's the first time I have read someone defending Harbour Square and praising it as something we want on the waterfront. But we at least agree that Pier 27 and Harbour Square are the same concept, just built at different times.
And I know for a fact that unimaginative (like myself) is keen on many residential re-uses of derelict industrial lands. Like in Kitchener (notably the Kauffman Lofts) or King-Spadina. There have only been two examples in which I can think of where there's been conflict about rehabilitating derelict industrial sites - the Distillery District and here. Another one of many generalizations on both sides of this debate.