Toronto Bloor Street Revitalization | ?m | ?s | Bloor-Yorkville BIA | architectsAlliance

[P23]

Bit by bit, Toronto is growing up on the public realm front. We're slowly getting rid of the poured concrete sidewalks on main streets. A lot of the Financial district had already done so — albeit not coordinated. Queens Quay, Bloor Street and Union Station Plaza are the most recent examples. King West and the Entertainment district are primed to be next.

The Queens Quay revitalization has created skilled labourers in cobble stone specialty — a style of public realm seen mainly in Europe. With Queens Quay complete, those workers are now free to move on to other projects. If poor nations can cobblestone entire cities, then Toronto can at least get major streets done like Queens Quay.

Yorkville ave is also halfway finished with it's paving project and it's looking excellent as well.

 

[Miscreant]

Bit by bit, Toronto is growing up on the public realm front. We're slowly getting rid of the poured concrete sidewalks on main streets. A lot of the Financial district had already done so — albeit not coordinated. Queens Quay, Bloor Street and Union Station Plaza are the most recent examples. King West and the Entertainment district are primed to be next.

The Queens Quay revitalization has created skilled labourers in cobble stone specialty — a style of public realm seen mainly in Europe. With Queens Quay complete, those workers are now free to move on to other projects. If poor nations can cobblestone entire cities, then Toronto can at least get major streets done like Queens Quay.

I hope you're right, but something about this sounds unduly optimistic to me. At bottom, it's about funds. And I just don't see where they'll be coming from when we struggle to get our municipal act together on the basics--transportation, housing, and tax policy.

 

[MetroMan]

It's not overly optimistic. It's just what is happening. All of those that were already done, were done in the last few years. Queens Quay is a huge success serving as a template for the public realm in the city. The plan for the Entertainment District is already on the books and will proceed. Councillor Wong Tam is pushing ahead with a similar pedestrian friendly Yonge St revitalization. Nathan Phillips Square was also done and is expected to spread into a coordinated City Hall precinct. King West has become very much like Yorkville with deep pocketed restauranteurs and appears likely to be next.
Over time, more of downtown Toronto's main pedestrian streets is receiving this treatment over the cheap poured concrete. It hasn't reached a tipping point but it's getting there. When it does, the remaining concrete sidewalks on main streets are going to look out of place and be motivated to get fixed up too.

 

[interchange42]

Here's Yorkville Avenue in fading evening light a few hours ago.

Pretty much finished looking west from Hazelton Avenue…

But there's lots to do east of it still:

The connection to Olde York Lane:

Belair Street is closed for the reconstruction, but it looks like it's just a staging area currently for Yorkville Avenue work:

42

 

[freshcutgrass]

Queens Quay is a huge success serving as a template for the public realm in the city. The plan for the Entertainment District is already on the books and will proceed. Councillor Wong Tam is pushing ahead with a similar pedestrian friendly Yonge St revitalization. Nathan Phillips Square was also done and is expected to spread into a coordinated City Hall precinct. King West has become very much like Yorkville with deep pocketed restauranteurs and appears likely to be next.
Over time, more of downtown Toronto's main pedestrian streets is receiving this treatment over the cheap poured concrete. It hasn't reached a tipping point but it's getting there. When it does, the remaining concrete sidewalks on main streets are going to look out of place and be motivated to get fixed up too.

Keep in mind there are those in high positions like DMW who do not see Queen's Quay as a "huge success" at all....but a financial debacle. There's a new sheriff in town....and he doesn't like expensive umbrellas.

The BIAs on the other hand have a much better chance, as it involves partial private funding and the public portion is directed by the BIA.

 

[Miscreant]

Keep in mind there are those in high positions like DMW who do not see Queen's Quay as a "huge success" at all....but a financial debacle. There's a new sheriff in town....and he doesn't like expensive umbrellas.

Yep, exactly. I'm skeptical--though hopeful--that the city will agree to these kind of beautification projects, unless a BIA steps in in a major way.

 

[Edward Skira]

Yorkville is looking amazing now.

 

[vatche]

Can that building in front of the Hazleton hotel please go away. I don't like it.

 

[junctionist]

The public realm in Yorkville is superb. Yorkville Avenue looks beautiful. But it didn't happen overnight. They've been investing in it for decades. The pavement is being upgraded to an attractive brick surface in a herringbone pattern, but the street already had buried overhead wires, ornamental lighting, landscaped pedestrian lanes with retail fronting onto them and healthy street trees.

 

[Benito]

Taken just now.

 

[someMidTowner]

We stopped by for an update on the repaving: http://urbantoronto.ca/news/2015/07/partially-repaved-yorkville-avenue-looking-better-day

Bonus photos (plus a few from the article)!

 

[Filip]

Yorkville is such a jewel... I wish the whole city looked like that.

 

[Tuscani01]

This road is too confusing now. It needs signs to tell people not to drive in the middle, or on the left. It should also have crosswalks painted on the ground. Oh, and dedicated left turn lanes because how am I supposed to know where to make a left turn?

 

[modernizt]

We also need to ensure that Hydro marks it up with as much spray-paint as possible, especially a type that will never fade away entirely. I'd also like to suggest that when bricks are removed for underground work, they are never replaced and instead asphalt is used to replace them.

 

[Torontovibe]