[Anth]

Bravo! *wipes away tear*

I could make a bolt of wallpaper out of all the fiendish rants I've had the urge to display prominently inside my home.

 

[balmoral]

Couldn't agree more. What gets me is the little things: I was at Nathan Philips Square for the breast cancer run yesterday, and its unbelievable to see how shoddy the whole area is. Peeling paint on stairwells, brown patches of dirt instead of grass, crumbling benches, tangled overhead wires. What does it say about the city when they can't even keep their own "backyard" even remotely presentable? And I don't buy the argument that they're about to re-do NPS, so what's the point. How hard is it to put a fresh coat of paint on a stairway bannister?

 

[rdaner]

What exactly is going to be done?

 

[Hydrogen]

.

I'm not going to give a Fiendish Librarian-esque diatribe about why I enjoy graffiti since I believe that that is a matter of personal taste. Just remember, Graffiti has been going on for thousands of years and will probably go on for thousands more - it cannot be killed.

Some of us don't share your "taste" in graffiti and are not interested in being forced to do so.

Your last point can be applied to other forms of public vandalism as well, including littering and the like. To say that something has existed for thousands of years is an excuse and not a justification for its existence.

Remember, you can always enjoy graffiti inside your own home where it will not be a bother to anyone else. Just invite one of the vandals in to "decorate" your property for your own private pleasure.

 

[Tewder]

Good point Hydrogen. It's easy to be cavalier about graffiti until you wake up one morning and find it all over your own house. Graffiti is not art it is vandalism. Graffiti is not legitimate protest it is propaganda.

 

[Dichotomy]

It has been proven time and time again (most notably by NYC's efforts in the '90s) that one piece of litter on a street (or one piece of 'graffiti') can lead to a cascade.
Although this thread appears to have been hijacked, 'FL's rant clearly comes from a place of frustration. The smashed computer screens, broken grocery carts and graffiti under the rail bridge south of St. Clair in David Balfour Park are recent events, too. It's suddenly every where.
Twenty years ago, that park was a beautiful place to have one's lunch, but now it is filthy, overgrown and both foot bridges are in danger of being washed away, due to neglect.
This is why I get angry when I see Miller at pretty ribbon cuttings and his wanting to spend hundreds of millions of money we don't have on Cherry Beach, Regent Park and other areas while large swaths of this city are literally under seige from neglect.

It's great that University Avenue and 'the traingle' get all this attention, but what about the rest of this city?

 

[maestro]

Couldn't agree more. What gets me is the little things: I was at Nathan Philips Square for the breast cancer run yesterday, and its unbelievable to see how shoddy the whole area is. Peeling paint on stairwells, brown patches of dirt instead of grass, crumbling benches, tangled overhead wires. What does it say about the city when they can't even keep their own "backyard" even remotely presentable? And I don't buy the argument that they're about to re-do NPS, so what's the point. How hard is it to put a fresh coat of paint on a stairway bannister?

It seems so simple to paint a bannister however I've been in a situation where a similar job was forever being deferred for others of greater importance. I'm not condoning the deplorable state of the public realm but do understand the complexities of having everything fall apart at once from the previous 60s/70s boom while trying to manage the current one. That's one luxury the screwball Europeans have on us.

 

[nstuch]

It has been proven time and time again (most notably by NYC's efforts in the '90s) that one piece of litter on a street (or one piece of 'graffiti') can lead to a cascade.
Although this thread appears to have been hijacked, 'FL's rant clearly comes from a place of frustration. The smashed computer screens, broken grocery carts and graffiti under the rail bridge south of St. Clair in David Balfour Park are recent events, too. It's suddenly every where.
Twenty years ago, that park was a beautiful place to have one's lunch, but now it is filthy, overgrown and both foot bridges are in danger of being washed away, due to neglect.
This is why I get angry when I see Miller at pretty ribbon cuttings and his wanting to spend hundreds of millions of money we don't have on Cherry Beach, Regent Park and other areas while large swaths of this city are literally under seige from neglect.

It's great that University Avenue and 'the traingle' get all this attention, but what about the rest of this city?

don't forget, it was only due to the efforts and cash from Fairmont that this even got done in the first place! they were probably embarrassed that their guests had to look at a scrubby run down piece of land sitting smack dab in one of the most prominent parts of the entire downtown core.

since all David Miller did was show up at the ribbon cutting, how can he dare claim it is part of the clean and beautiful city campaign?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

How dare someone who has done absolutely nothing to improve the situation at this spot criticize the decision by the funder of the project as to who they should partner with (beyond the obvious fact that this someone probably knew nothing about the behind the scenes work required for partnerships of this nature).

AoD

 

[AKS]

I'm not going to give a Fiendish Librarian-esque diatribe about why I enjoy graffiti since I believe that that is a matter of personal taste.

I don't know if it's a matter of personal taste if the fixes have to come out of your pocket. When I lived in scarborough, someone would feel liberated to scratch the elevator metal piece with "decoration" or wood and management would have to fix it. Then that costs gets added into your fees. It's probably the same with everywhere else. If government has to clean up places to get rid of graffiti, the clean up charge would be taken from tax payer's pockets. It is personal taste to make other people pay for what the person damages?

 

[interchange42]

For the record here is a look at the triangle from the other side of university. Please excuse the amateurish stitch job.

Just wondering, in that picture above ... are they done?? Or are they just starting to work on the triangle now?

It looks done enough to me. On the left there are new plantings - ones that look like they are low maintenance/drought resistant types, while on the right you get seating. Three frames wired for climbing plants are in place and should be covered in green by next summer. There are plaques by the seating explaining the site.

What looks so unfinished?

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[Tewder]

How uninspiring. Remember, they cut ribbons for this.

 

[interchange42]

What were you looking for, Tewder?

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[taal]

I take back what I said ... I saw it today in person ... it's functional enough. Nothing inspiring but not bad. It was actually in use when I saw it as well.

The angle of the picture doesn't do it any justice.

Still though in the future I think it would be an amazing place for a monument / water fountain of some sort.

 

[interchange42]

Splashing water is always good for mitigating traffic noise a bit - boy would they need a lot of water in this case!

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