Better and cheaper, now there's a contradiction. At this point it's been demonstrated over and over again that Toronto developers struggle to build anything resembling a decent at grade experience. Our only hope for streetscapes that aren't completely miserable is retained facades, even if I...
Unremarkable Victorian housing is a wild comment. This right here is where you've hit the nail on the head though; we need to stop eviscerating the livable older neighbourhoods and improve the suburbs.
Fun fact, one day I was curious so I looked at the density of some of our "unremarkable"...
I live somewhat near here and surprisingly it's not as bad as you'd expect. Backup definitely occurs due to the terrible design of the highway exit/entrances, because of the way it was shoehorned into south Oshawa, but I'll occasionally take Bloor to bypass slowdowns on the 401 and it moves...
It's such a joy to see intact - or in this case, partially intact - details on these old commercial buildings. The iron cresting and finials especially, as these bits are often the first to go. Beautiful millwork over the third storey windows as well.
Yes while in most cases the homes being replaced are relatively non descript, it would be nice if a bit of effort was put into material choice. We're rapidly losing our red brick streetscapes to this depressing onslaught of grey and "neutrals".
I truly wonder if we'll ever see another granite or stone clad tower in Toronto. Seems that today's economics (and developer cheapness) would never support it again. Perhaps it'll just be left as a relic of 1980s excess.
Seriously, this stuff looks like it was spec'd from the bargain bin of a hardware store. Pre-dented too, of course, because it's probably thinner than a soda can.