Toronto The Bentway (was Under Gardiner) | ?m | ?s | Waterfront Toronto

What should be the permanent name for the park under the Gardiner?

  • The Artery

    Votes: 12 6.6%
  • The Bentway

    Votes: 76 41.8%
  • Under Gardiner

    Votes: 52 28.6%
  • None of the above

    Votes: 42 23.1%

  • Total voters
    182
"The Bentway" is the best of this sorry lot, but I think the fix was in on the name from the start. Look at the branding for this exercise. It was all about the bents. The public naming idea was one that got early public engagement and publicity.

Except that no one know what the bents are by their name, and chances are no one will call them that even if you teach them so. As such you end up with an accurate (meaningful) name that you will slap on brochures, whatnot that no one other than the bureaucracy will ever pick up on.

AoD
 
I don't understand why naming this particular park is so difficult when people have been mostly satisfied with Waterfront TO's other park names? If all else fails, Place Name Park has been a standby for centuries.
 
I don't understand why naming this particular park is so difficult when people have been mostly satisfied with Waterfront TO's other park names? If all else fails, Place Name Park has been a standby for centuries.

Unlike the other parks, this one is funded at least partially externally by philanthropy - said funder sits on the naming committee. I mean this project had an entirely separate branding and marketing approach from the WT so far (and IMO, it sucked)

AoD
 
Unlike the other parks, this one is funded at least partially externally by philanthropy - said funder sits on the name committee.

AoD

I thought I detected an air of corporatism about the whole thing. They seem very focused on the 'brand', they mention a logo as well like a park ever needed one before.
 
I thought I detected an air of corporatism about the whole thing. They seem very focused on the 'brand', they mention a logo as well like a park ever needed one before.

I don't really see how it can be fairly characterized as corporatism—this project exists on the heels of a generous donation by a philanthropist and his wife (and, frankly, I don't much care what their motives are because we get a park out of it), and I think the folks running the thing have actually done a wonderful job with branding and communications (completely setting aside the naming process). Whatever it winds up being named, this project is a net positive for the city and we're playing with house money (at least for the construction component).
 
I don't really see how it can be fairly characterized as corporatism—this project exists on the heels of a generous donation by a philanthropist and his wife (and, frankly, I don't much care what their motives are because we get a park out of it), and I think the folks running the thing have actually done a wonderful job with branding and communications (completely setting aside the naming process). Whatever it winds up being named, this project is a net positive for the city and we're playing with house money (at least for the construction component).

Actually other than using the bents as a iconic element, the rest of their marketing and communication is pretty awful, along the lines of the new Union Station branding.

upload_2016-4-29_10-50-5.png

http://www.torontounion.ca/

Like who comes up with this **** anyways?

AoD
 

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Actually other than using the bents, the rest of their marketing is pretty awful.

AoD

Quality of marketing and communications material and strategy is of course highly subjective, and I for one think they've done a nice job, and have heard and seen many others remark the same.
 
I'm going to be the contrarian here and say that I think the marketing and branding has been great -- I love the bright yellow (it's a great contrast with the grey and dingy underside of the Gardiner as it is right now) and I love their use of the silhouettes of the bents. And, you know what? I'm actually digging "The Bentway" as a name. The other name ideas are pretty meh, but I like that they're introducing people to a new term for this infrastructure, one that they'll probably remember.

Also, TBH, I think y'all complain too much.
 
Let's back off, everyone. It's REALLY hard for 12 people to come up with a good name so let's just stick with one of these mediocre ones.

In my line of work, if a jury of 12 gets it wrong you appeal, and the verdict is overturned and the court declares a mistrial or makes a substitute decision. And this is after those jurors gave up weeks of their lives for their civic duty.

But yeah, these 12 jurors must be beyond reproach no matter how bad the shortlist.

(Actually I do civil law so our juries are of 6, not 12 like criminal cases, but I stuck with 12 here for the value of the simile)
 
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The name really doesn't matter - over time it's peoples association with it that does. Do we criticize High Park for it's relatively dumb name? I think what's throwing people off is the 'the' in the name, Bentway Park sounds like any other park named after some random person.
 
No one will be explaining it - when was the last time you explained the name of Allan Gardens, or any park for that matter to someone? Most parks are named after simple dumb things like high / central / etc. or some random person no one remembers - naming a park after a random piece of the gardiner seems mostly in line. Canadians have to autocorrect everything as is - no biggy. Also: when was the last time you used the word beltway?
 

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