Toronto Berczy Park Revitalization | ?m | ?s

ChesterCopperpot said:
Is there a list anywhere of "off-leash" dog parks in the city - particularly in the downtown core? I would like to see that.
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The off leash parks I know of are at Power Street (between Richmond & Adelaide), Allen Gardens (separate areas for big and small dogs), Clarence Square, and on Adelaide (west of Brant).
 
AndreaPalladio said:
That's not an official one - in that it's not fenced and what not. It's really just people in that baseball field with their dogs.
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Well it's marked with city signage as a designated off-leash dog park, and that's literally all the field is used for, but yes, it's not fully fenced. I sure wouldn't want to take my chances playing baseball in that field, it's got a non-stop stream of dogs going through it.
 
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AndreaPalladio said:
The off leash parks I know of are at Power Street (between Richmond & Adelaide), Allen Gardens (separate areas for big and small dogs), Clarence Square, and on Adelaide (west of Brant).
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Add the one in Regent Park that will be finished in a few months.

I believe there'll be an enclosed dog run as part of the Signature building amenity space - which would be a first I think
 
slicecom said:
Well it's marked with city signage as a designated off-leash dog park, and that's literally all the field is used for, but yes, it's not fully fenced. I sure wouldn't want to take my chances playing baseball in that field, it's got a non-stop stream of dogs going through it.
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Yes, it's an official off-leash park. But only the western half, not the part of the park where the actual baseball diamond is. And since kids who use the diamond rarely hit the ball hard enough to enter the outfield, in theory this should work. But yeah, keep your eye on your shoes.
 
Late to the party but my first reactions to the animation/design:
-Love the overall design of the park, including the walkways, the flowerbeds, cobbled brick, etc.
-The dogs on the fountain are a bit tacky, but I don't feel strongly about them one way or another, and it seems like many kids would love it.
-I've always thought this park was underused and underrated for its location, and a sprucing up would do well.
-Always keep the mural on the back of the Gooderham Building. Personally I love murals, and there seem to be barely any in the city.
 
Re lack of park space in this area -- and the core of the city in general -- here is a fantasy map of new parks/park expansion that would be nice if ever carried out. Some of this land, however, is privately owned. Expanding David Crombie Park to the rail line would roughly triple its size. This would require burying the power generating station that currents stands to the south, or relocating it. Additionally, I would like to see Parliament Square Park expanded northward. In this map I have it extending all the way to Front St (but that is very unlikely to ever happen for several reasons).

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The Throbulator said:
Re lack of park space in this area -- and the core of the city in general -- here is a fantasy map of new parks/park expansion that would be nice if ever carried out. Some of this land, however, is privately owned. Expanding David Crombie Park to the rail line would roughly triple its size. This would require burying the power generating station that currents stands to the south, or relocating it. Additionally, I would like to see Parliament Square Park expanded northward. In this map I have it extending all the way to Front St (but that is very unlikely to ever happen for several reasons).
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Yes, more parks would be great but your fantasy map is just that. The likelihood of moving or burying The Esplanade transformer station is zilch as this station supplies almost all of the eastern downtown (and was fairly recently linked to the one on Front and Windsor via a deep tunnel to help spread the load.) The Parliament Square Park WILL be expanded when the First Parliament site is fixed up - there are details of that project on the FP thread. It will probably NOT go right to Front Street (or at least not all of the Front Street 'frontage' but this is not yet settled as the exact siting of the new 'commemorative centre' and new district library (which may be combined) cannot be settled until the plan for the whole site is developed over the next year or 18 months and more work is done to identify pollution hot-spots and the exact locations of the archaeological remains are confirmed. That said, there WILL be more parkland there.

You also seem not to realise that David Crombie Park will be expanded one block westwards (to the west side of Lower Jarvis between The Esplanade and Wilton Street) as soon as the new North Market is built - 2017. (The existing parking lot on that block will become the site of the temporary Market and then the park will come.) If one wants a NEW park the best chances are for an existing vacant block - the surface parking lot on the NW corner of Front and George has always struck me as a possibility but the City sold off an even better one at 154 Front (the former Greyhound site) so seeing them actually BUY a site for a park is probably VERY wishful thinking.

Now, back to Berczy!
 
DSC said:
Yes, more parks would be great but your fantasy map is just that. The likelihood of moving or burying The Esplanade transformer station is zilch as this station supplies almost all of the eastern downtown (and was fairly recently linked to the one on Front and Windsor via a deep tunnel to help spread the load.) The Parliament Square Park WILL be expanded when the First Parliament site is fixed up - there are details of that project on the FP thread. It will probably NOT go right to Front Street (or at least not all of the Front Street 'frontage' but this is not yet settled as the exact siting of the new 'commemorative centre' and new district library (which may be combined) cannot be settled until the plan for the whole site is developed over the next year or 18 months and more work is done to identify pollution hot-spots and the exact locations of the archaeological remains are confirmed. That said, there WILL be more parkland there.

You also seem not to realise that David Crombie Park will be expanded one block westwards (to the west side of Lower Jarvis between The Esplanade and Wilton Street) as soon as the new North Market is built - 2017. (The existing parking lot on that block will become the site of the temporary Market and then the park will come.) If one wants a NEW park the best chances are for an existing vacant block - the surface parking lot on the NW corner of Front and George has always struck me as a possibility but the City sold off an even better one at 154 Front (the former Greyhound site) so seeing them actually BUY a site for a park is probably VERY wishful thinking.

Now, back to Berczy!
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Wow, thanks for that post. I learned so much about my neighbourhoods' future!

In regards to Berczy, I like the idea of the on-leash dog area as explained by interchange42, but I hope dog owners will try to stick to that area and avoid the hilly grassy areas that would be nice to read a book in under the trees.
 
DSC said:
Yes, more parks would be great but your fantasy map is just that. The likelihood of moving or burying The Esplanade transformer station is zilch as this station supplies almost all of the eastern downtown (and was fairly recently linked to the one on Front and Windsor via a deep tunnel to help spread the load.) The Parliament Square Park WILL be expanded when the First Parliament site is fixed up - there are details of that project on the FP thread. It will probably NOT go right to Front Street (or at least not all of the Front Street 'frontage' but this is not yet settled as the exact siting of the new 'commemorative centre' and new district library (which may be combined) cannot be settled until the plan for the whole site is developed over the next year or 18 months and more work is done to identify pollution hot-spots and the exact locations of the archaeological remains are confirmed. That said, there WILL be more parkland there.

You also seem not to realise that David Crombie Park will be expanded one block westwards (to the west side of Lower Jarvis between The Esplanade and Wilton Street) as soon as the new North Market is built - 2017. (The existing parking lot on that block will become the site of the temporary Market and then the park will come.) If one wants a NEW park the best chances are for an existing vacant block - the surface parking lot on the NW corner of Front and George has always struck me as a possibility but the City sold off an even better one at 154 Front (the former Greyhound site) so seeing them actually BUY a site for a park is probably VERY wishful thinking.

Now, back to Berczy!
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I do realize that David Crombie Park will be expanded westward; I filled it in in my map. That is such a small plot of land, however. Still, it's better to make it a public space than leave it as a parking lot.
 
Regarding the Dog Fountain, anyone else find it kind of ironic that this is the year Woofstock decided to move (to the beach) : - ) ... any idea why they moved the location ? Buskerfest moved locations out of this area to last year (to Yonge). Any idea why ? Did the local community push for them to be located elsewhere ?
 
taal said:
Regarding the Dog Fountain, anyone else find it kind of ironic that this is the year Woofstock decided to move (to the beach) : - ) ... any idea why they moved the location ? Buskerfest moved locations out of this area to last year (to Yonge). Any idea why ? Did the local community push for them to be located elsewhere ?
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Both festivals out-grew St Lawrence and both the BIA and the neighbourhood assn. felt it was time for them to move - as far as I know both festival organisers agreed. Buskerfest did FAR better on Yonge and Woofstock (which started in The Distillery) has high hopes for their move too,
 
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