Yonge Street Revitalization (Downtown Yonge BIA/City of Toronto)

[isaidso]

If Paris can do this to their main street Champs Elyssée, there is no reason why Toronto can't reduce Yonge to a single lane in the centre with wider sidewalks on each side of it.

A better example would be Oxford Street in London. Lots of London streets are 1 lane in each direction or just 1 lane in total. Yonge should go to 1 lane in each direction.

 

[vatche]

But look at how wide that boulevard is.

 

[yyzhyd]

If Paris can do this to their main street Champs Elyssée, there is no reason why Toronto can't reduce Yonge to a single lane in the centre with wider sidewalks on each side of it.

You do realize the Avenue des Champs-Élysées is eight lanes wide right?
Additionally it is less than 2km long (~QQ to College)

 

[drum118]

A better example would be Oxford Street in London. Lots of London streets are 1 lane in each direction or just 1 lane in total. Yonge should go to 1 lane in each direction.

If one looks at old photos of this street, they would have seen cars parked and a single lane where the sidewalk are now.

I have a number of photos that are not fix at this time that would show what Yonge would look like if traffic was in the centre or on one side. In the end, cities in Europe are removing lanes for cars and turning them over to people/business or transit.

 

[vatche]

But European cities have very mild winters. We don't! I think that makes a huge difference. I was in Paris last January and it was so mild. Try walking then in Toronto. Besides! their subway system is so extensive. So I'm not sure we could give up our roads as easily as Europe can. Europe was built when cars did not exist.
Having said that I'm ok for converting it into a one lane street with wider sidewalks and nice landscaping. Healthy trees alone would change the whole feel of it tremendously. Look how nice and lush bloor st looks now. They don't need to use granite and they don't need to have those plants. Just concrete, trees and in the summer they can add plants here and there.

 

[DSC]

The City's tax arrears listing ( see http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2012/gm/bgrd/backgroundfile-49915.pdf ) shows that 205 Yonge owes lots of taxes - this seems to be the northern of the two old bank buildings north of Queen Street (the one with the Irish flag)

205 Yonge Street
Owner: Midas Investment Corporation
Mailing Address:
75 Courtneypark Drive, Unit 1
Mississauga, ON L5W 0E3
Property classification: Commercial
OUTSTANDING: $ 576,009.24 Balance represents unpaid 2008 to 2012 interim taxes, penalties and water charges. On October 12, 2011
Revenue Services registered a Tax Arrears Certificate against title to the subject property.

 

[k10ery]

^Excellent news. If the tax arrears certificate has been registered, then within a year this building could belong to someone who actually knows what to do with it.

 

[RC8]

But European cities have very mild winters. We don't! I think that makes a huge difference. I was in Paris last January and it was so mild. Try walking then in Toronto. Besides! their subway system is so extensive. So I'm not sure we could give up our roads as easily as Europe can. Europe was built when cars did not exist.
Having said that I'm ok for converting it into a one lane street with wider sidewalks and nice landscaping. Healthy trees alone would change the whole feel of it tremendously. Look how nice and lush bloor st looks now. They don't need to use granite and they don't need to have those plants. Just concrete, trees and in the summer they can add plants here and there.

Toronto's winters are rough, but for 9 months a year you can walk anywhere for hours without a problem here. I usually go for casual strolls even in the coldest days every year, it's really not that bad if you dress intelligently.

 

[Tewder]

Looks to me like they use smaller pavers in Europe so that repairs can be done easier and better. You don't see the cheap-ass concrete we typically get in Toronto.

 

[DSC]

Looks to me like they use smaller pavers in Europe so that repairs can be done easier and better. You don't see the cheap-ass concrete we typically get in Toronto.

In Britain, where I lived for many years, they use 'paving stones' (i.e. concrete pavers about 2 feet by 3 feet). In theory they can be lifted when underground work is needed and then relaid. In practice the pavers get very uneven over time and whole streets need to be redone. As you might imagine this does not happen as fast as it should and there are patches of asphalt, wobbly pavers (which squirt water when it rains) and a very uneven surface. With the frosts we get I bet they would do even less well here. Concrete works well and with the brick inlays that are common in many areas of Toronto look pretty decent.

 

[Tewder]

Yes, I've seen some unkept areas in the UK too... but, I think overall their solution works better, though perhaps with adapted materials to deal with our frost? If they can put a man on the moon...

 

[junctionist]

In Britain, where I lived for many years, they use 'paving stones' (i.e. concrete pavers about 2 feet by 3 feet). In theory they can be lifted when underground work is needed and then relaid. In practice the pavers get very uneven over time and whole streets need to be redone. As you might imagine this does not happen as fast as it should and there are patches of asphalt, wobbly pavers (which squirt water when it rains) and a very uneven surface. With the frosts we get I bet they would do even less well here. Concrete works well and with the brick inlays that are common in many areas of Toronto look pretty decent.

Granite does endure harsh conditions as it's quite durable. Of course those pavers need to be relaid after awhile, like asphalt and concrete surfaces need to be scraped or broken up and repoured. Granite setts can last for generations. They look much better than asphalt and concrete, especially in mosaics. The concrete paver inlays one sees in Toronto only seem to aspire to something better. Granite setts are still used in cities in the Scandinavian countries, and European countries that have cold winters like Germany, Austria, Poland, Switzerland and eastern Europe (including Russia). Yonge Street in the Financial District itself has a heritage of stone paving, though it seemed to come right at the time when asphalt started to become dominant with the rise of the car.

 

[MisterF]

But European cities have very mild winters. We don't! I think that makes a huge difference. I was in Paris last January and it was so mild. Try walking then in Toronto.

I'd like to see you try to convince someone in Oslo or St. Petersburg that they have mild winters. But what does climate have to do with the thousands of people who crowd onto the Yonge Street sidewalks every day, all year round?

Europe was built when cars did not exist.

So was Yonge Street. And all of downtown Toronto for that matter.

 

[drum118]

Looks to me like they use smaller pavers in Europe so that repairs can be done easier and better. You don't see the cheap-ass concrete we typically get in Toronto.

That is true, but at what cost?

I lost a band new suitcase because of these pavers as the wheels were torn apart by them and it wasn't cheap. I got it replace under warranty over there and that one started to have issue the last week of the trip.

Walking on them is not fun as they do cause you to trip or twist your ankle.

The one hotel I stay at, my room face the street that went from asphalt to pavers and all you heard with the window close was the rumbling of the tires as cars drove by.

Our broken concrete sidewalks are a lot better than most pavers sidewalks. In fact, I saw next to no concrete sidewalks in Europe.

 

[Tewder]

Our broken concrete sidewalks are a lot better than most pavers sidewalks. In fact, I saw next to no concrete sidewalks in Europe.

I'm just not sure I understand your logic. I've tripped up several times on Toronto's broken sidewalks, almost twisting an ankle.

Let's see how Bloor Street fares over time. It is expensive, to be sure, but superior in looks and quality.