Toronto Pan Am Village in the West Don Lands | ?m | ?s | DundeeKilmer | KPMB

grey said:
Corktown Common is not up to your standards, then?
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Corktown Common is a nice park so I don't want to be overly critical of it but at this point, it doesn't really offer me much. I'm an urban guy. I want big city parks that offer serious animation and things to do besides sports. I am not a sports guy. When I go to Corktown Common, I sit and look at the skyline for 5 minutes, then I go. There is nothing else for me to do there. The park has been almost empty whenever I go, so it's not a good people watching place. (at this time) There are no flower gardens or design elements that hold my attention. There is nothing outstanding to film besides the skyline. There is no focal gathering point where interesting things go on or people ineract. In fact, it's pretty much just grass and tress, with a nice children's playground. (so far, not many children here either) I much prefer public spaces like Washington Square in NYC. (I love crowded parks & people watching)

At this point, there is not much reason to go to this park, except for just going for a walk, which is what I do. I take a walk through here to see if things are changing but it pretty much stays the same. What I almost always see is 3 or 4 people walking their dog and on a rare occasion, a couple with their child, in the playground. I have never seen more than 10 people in the park at one time. Of course, that is because the Pan-Am Village is empty, I realize that. It will get busier in time but I don't think it will get much more animated unless they program events in the park. I hope that is in the plans.

I wish this park would have had at least a small public square at the entrance near the street.(with a cafe/restaurant directly across the street) A central work of art/fountain with close grouped seating and a performance stage, would have been great. If I'm going to stay in a park, I need something to keep my attention. I need good people watching, entertainment or something beautiful to look at/film.

There are no formal gardens or colourful plants in this park. Something like the new art on Cherry Street would be fantastic in a park like this. This park is great as a neighbourhood park or as a place to play sports or even walk your dog. I don't see this park as a destination for anyone outside of the neighbourhood. Maybe one day, when we see ourselves as a truly world capital, we will build those kind of parks. I think we might just be on the cusp of that. Each year we are getting more ambitious designs in everything from parks to condos, so I'm hoping things keep going in that direction.

There is nothing wrong with building neighbourhood parks or passive parks to play sports & walk fido. Every neighbourhood needs local, neighbourhood parks but I also think great cities need a few distinctive, stand out parks, that are major attractions. For some reason, the people of Toronto do not want these landmark parks and that's why we have so few. Roundhouse Park with its trains, is one of the few distinctive parks we have and on weekends, it's a great place to be. Yep, grand parks cost big bucks and obviously, this city does not go for things that are grandiose.

The same thing applies to our public realm and even our beaches. I'd love to see just one beach cleaned up, upgraded and given a stylish redo but as we know, that's not in the cards.
 
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urbandreamer said:
Torontovibe needs to escape his concrete hell and move to a proper Toronto 'hood like T-Bells, the Junction or St Clair & Oakwood.

I was thinking that just like what happened in Vancouver, the market may crash just as the Pan-Am games complete.
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Anything north of Summerhill station is totally unacceptable! Concrete hell? lol I prefer nicely paved granite, with a fabulous pattern.

Toronto's core isn't urban enough for me as it is. I love huge megga-cities like Paris, London and NYC. Toronto has lots of good places to live right downtown. I think Cabbagetown, the new Regent Park, the Distillery, the Pan-Am Village, Corktown, St. Lawrence, the Gay Village, Yorkville, the Central Waterfront, the Annex, Little Italy, West Queen West, the Entertainment District and even Parkdale all make very good neighbourhoods. All of them have shopping and lively streets to animate them. I think most of downtown is a great place to live but my favourite area is St. Lawrence. I prefer a bit of charm with my urbanity, which is why I hate grey spandrel and glass walled retail in podiums. I need a dose of COLOUR! Don't get me started on the grey spandrel in the Pan-Am Village. GGRR!!!

I am seeing more and more colour used on balcony ceilings and side panels. Cinema tower started that design, with their orange side wall but now Picasso and Pace, are on to that idea. Is this developing into a trend? Red is my colour, so I won't be complaining, although, mixing in a few other colours would be good too. I will be so happy when the grey spandrel fetish comes to an END!
 
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salsa said:
^ What's your opinion on Mel Lasman Square and Regent Park?
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Actually, I grew up in North York and I was quite excited to see Mel Lastman Square open. I haven't been there in a number of years but from what I remember it had a performance stage, a fountain with a water channel, a reflecting pool/skating rink and a formal garden, so it has a number of features. I don't know how well it's used or if it seems animated. I do like the fact that it's programmed with entertainment. I'm not sure how well all the different elements come together. I remember it seeming just a bit disjointed but like I said, I haven't been there in a long time. Is it a well used square?

I think Regent Park is turning out pretty good. Its main purpose seems to be a neighbourhood park but it has more going for it, then a typical local park. (including the pool and cooking facility) I like the public square area facing Dundas but it needs something. Of course, a great fountain right in the centre, would have been nice. I would have also liked to have seen a decorative pattern to the paving.

The areas to the right and left of the square, were supposed to be pick-nick areas but have so far, just been left as grass and trees. They serve no real purpose. I would have preferred those areas to be treated as formal gardens, with detailed designs like the Music Garden on Queens Quay. I would have liked to have seen decorative planters with lots of colourful plants and other decorative elements, like pathways and art.

I LOVE the new art in the square!

The rest of that park is pretty good. The children's play area is very well done. The outdoor cooking area is not so great. I would have build more of an enclosed area for pick-nick benches, like what they have in the Beaches. You need something to protect pick-nickers from the elements. Of course, I'd want it to be stylish or charming and not just utilitarian.

Regent Park was not meant to be a showpiece. It's a local park for the community, so it does what it's supposed to do. I don't think it will attract many people from outside the community, unless it has special events. It's not quite as popular as I thought it would be but maybe that will come in time. The funny thing is, when this park was still under construction, I was surprised to see it full, with people going through a break in the fence. That lead me to believe that once the park opened, it would be packed with people but that so far, is not the case. It's been pretty quiet, the many times I have walked through there but I have not seen any programmed events in this park so far. Maybe events bring out the bigger crowds.

But like I said earlier, I'd like to eventually see a few parks that are all about beauty and design. I want to see something designed from top to bottom, with the intention to be a beautiful, showcase park. I'd like it to be highly animated and built for year round use, so with an enclosed area too. I am not holding my breath, as this is more fantasy, than reality, at this point. (especially with John Tory in charge)
 
Toronto isn't urban enough for a lot of people that really want to live in NYC or Paris or London. It breaks my heart too that we aren't the same size or have the same animated spaces with big fountains for people watching. Sadly, it will never be our fate. But maybe John Tory will give us our big fountain!!
 
Tour of th neighbourhood:


Excellent addition to Toronto. Too much grey but otherwise well done. Love how they did the sidewalks instead of all the poured concrete sidewalks we get here.
 
Looks quite boring. Obviously due to its emptiness but even the grey architecture is quite boring.
 
It would be "interesting" if they can get Alsop to drop by and do something at least one of the remaining sites. I am sure that would shake things up significantly.

AoD
 
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The athletes have started to arrive
 

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