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2nd Downtown: Yonge-Sheppard vs. Yonge-Eglinton

Yes that's a good point and way more so in NYCC

But the one thing to remember is some people like the fact that NYCC and Eglinton are NOT downtown i.e. that lower density you are referring too.
 
You are telling me people wouldn't want their provincial bunaglows replaced with something like this? :)
 
Just a few of us ; - )
 
I guess my original question was what people thought of each neighbourhood, and as the city grows, which part of the city (NYCC, Y&E or elsewhere) would become another core, either another CBD or entertainment node or dense residential cluster, whatever one wishes to call it.
 
Ignoring the question of which one is currently a better place to live (since more expensive stores and restaurants do not constitute "downtown"), it's extremely hard to argue that North York Centre doesn't have far more potential to become Toronto's second downtown...that is its intended purpose, after all. Yonge & Eglinton is a fully finished neighbourhood but Yonge & Sheppard is still composed largely of parking lots. Yonge & Sheppard is far from ideal and has problems that are not easily fixable without a Haussmannesque revolution, but the fact that a finished, mature area compares well with a much newer and substantially less established area speaks volumes about where each could be in 10, 20, or 50 years. Who knows, though, perhaps additional blocks near Yonge & Eglinton will be allowed to redevelop: having towers radiate out in every direction is a clear advantage over North York Centre's oppressively linear layout (a Potemkin veneer of downtown pasted onto suburbia)...also, no cross streets - including Sheppard and Finch - really have anything on them, but Yonge & Eglinton has both Yonge and Eglinton.
 
Eglinton has more actually ... not in terms of retail but at least in terms of denser living i.e. condos / rental buildings i.e. red path ... and bunch of other streets east of Yonge around Eglinton.
 
I'm still not sold on NYCC and its burgeoning condo population, and that's because to look at density alone is meaningless. Many of the people who live at NYCC are suburbanites at heart, would never consider giving up their car, but are simply OK with living in a condo. Contrast that with Yonge and Eglinton, where many of the people are urban at heart, happy to live car free, but simply don't want to live right downtown. This represents a fundamental and absolute difference between the two, which is why despite looking similar, they are anything but.

You might soon be able to call NYCC Toronto's second downtown based on appearance, and it may even be more desirable for the average GTA resident than Yonge and Eglinton. Either way, only Yonge and Eglinton will actually feel like a second downtown.
 
Yonge & Eglinton's towers spread NE of the intersection but nowhere else other than right along Yonge and Eglinton...if they were to spread in other directions, too, it would make a huge difference. If towers did sprout up continuously between Eglinton and Davisville or St. Clair, Yonge & Eglinton could become an extension of downtown rather than a second downtown - North York Centre will always have enough of a buffer from the central core that only it will feel like a separate downtown.

North York Centre has no equivalent to Mount Pleasant, though - Senlac and Willowdale are glorified side streets. If Mel really wanted to build the best downtown possible, he should have fought for just about *everything* between Senlac and Willowdale to be rezoned. If Senlac and Willowdale had old-timey two storey main street buildings with apartments on top of stores - not to mention if Finch and Sheppard were less suburban arterials and more bulkier streets - many more blocks of townhouses and some actual lowrise apartments could have been built west of Beecroft and east of Doris and this would help the area immensely. The two ring roads also cause problems by preempting organic growth and reminding us of how forced the downtownness really is. I'd love to see Park Home redeveloped with apartments overlooking the cemetery like Merton.
 
Another thing re the present and future of Yonge/Eg: NYC has no equivalent to Councillors Stintz and Walker. Thus, there's a better chance of future development being corralled in--and given the results in NYC, maybe not always for the worse--by the NIMBYs...
 
Also, North York Centre is substantially less homogenous than Yonge & Eglinton. North York Centre's extremely muddled age/race/class/income profile combined with its overscaled city building endeavours and other generic qualities do a lot more for its downtownness than Yonge & Eglinton's wealthy/white/yuppie vibe, which gives it an enduring uptown quality.
 
I think one of the things NYCC has going for it that Y&E initially doesn't is the presence of a park (mel lastman square). It may not be the most visually appealing, but it does draw it's fair share of people. I'd say right now Y&E is unquestionably a more likely area, especially in terms of nightlife. I think once they do something about those extra parking lots next to Y&S (Hallmark Centre is taking care of one, Emerald park is taking care of anther), then it may enable to area to stretch from NYCC station down to Sheppard. Because as it stands now, the actual Yonge & Sheppard intersection is pretty dead.
 
Very good point ... are you trying to imply there's something wrong with Mel's square though : - )

I think it's pretty nice and the design isn't bad ... it's used most of the year and really makes for a nice place to sit in the summer.
 
I like North Toronto park, nothing wrong with it...more of a traditional open space kind of park, but still a damn nice one. Certainly competes with Mel Lastman Square.
 
Also also, I wouldn't say that people who think Yonge & Eglinton's nightlife is noteworthy have the highest standards...

Mel Lastman Square should be razed to the bedrock and rebuilt...it's a really awkward space.
 
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