Toronto East Harbour GO & Ontario Line Station | 14.35m | 1s | Metrolinx | HDR

Someone had the right level of ambition when this started. Even if it was just a fantasy vision. That's what we needed to strive for. We often have people with a vision, but they’re most often never able to carry it through and pull it off.

We need collective force and willingness to do great things. A combination of political will and ambition of our government and the creativity and determination of architects, private sector and community leaders.

Do we have to wait another 20 years? Will it take a whole new generation of leaders to bring Toronto to that level or urban ambition?
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DarwinP said:
Someone had the right level of ambition when this started. Even if it was just a fantasy vision. That's what we needed to strive for. We often have people with a vision, but they’re most often never able to carry it through and pull it off.

We need collective force and willingness to do great things. A combination of political will and ambition of our government and the creativity and determination of architects, private sector and community leaders.

Do we have to wait another 20 years? Will it take a whole new generation of leaders to bring Toronto to that level or urban ambition?View attachment 729336
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UtakataNoAnnex said:
^Yeah, that went from that to this...


/bleah
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While disappointed myself, it's now my understanding that the station is being roughed in in anticipation of development surrounding it in the decades to come. Right now, there's nothing in the area and there won't be for a while. This is going to be a generational transformation with an "east downtown" popping up around East Harbour and the station itself transforming with each connected development.

This was always the plan, it appears, as futuristic renderings of an East Harbour station were always surrounded by skyscrapers, none of which will be built overnight or even in anticipation of the station.

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This is evidenced by the work we're seeing right now preparing the larger neighbourhood for development. https://urbantoronto.ca/forum/threads/broadview-eastern-flood-protection-and-area.38522/
 
...I've heard a whole lot of explanations how we got from there to here. And that this was a placeholder fantasy till things got hashed out, that we shouldn't rely on renderings and what not...but at the end of day we all got trolled really hard with this.

It would have been better if they started out with the Walmart entrance proposal and worked their way up as opposed to the other way around. This project would have been a lot more appreciated...instead lamenting for the rug pulled vision we where all handed at first, IMO.
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
...I've heard a whole lot of explanations how we got from there to here. And that this was a placeholder fantasy till things got hashed out, that we shouldn't rely on renderings and what not...but at the end of day we all got trolled really hard with this.

It would have been better if they started out with the Walmart entrance proposal and worked their way up as opposed to the other way around. This project would have been a lot more appreciated...instead lamenting for the rug pulled vision we where all handed at first, IMO.
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Totally agree, plus the fact they kept releasing new renders periodically where it got worse every time didn't help. So it wasn't just a one-time downgrade, it was several. Looking back through the renderings, I'd forgotten how many versions of this we've gotten from MX, and how while it was never going to be that Sci-fi-esque rendering above (that would have been impractical to build, for example, look how tall each panel of curtain wall is), there were versions that looked genuinely nice, and we still didn't even get those.

I remember this one feeling like a huge downgrade at the time but in retrospect it's so much better than what we're getting. It only kept getting worse from this. And it's structurally the same station at ground level in many ways. Just every nice architectural element went away.
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That said, if there is a silver lining, a canopy like this could be built over the station some day. It just sucks it won't be right now.
 
this new station does look like a temporary place holder station… if that’s the plan I believe it fully. So, we are now relying on decades of future redevelopment in which all these developers will be expected to pour millions in section 37 funds to pay for a decent station… sounds like a 20+ year plan if anything. Hey at least we will have a subway to move us around even if this looks like a shit.
 
I don't have time for a complete search now, but IIRC, all of the fanciful station design renderings have come from the developer/owners of the East Harbour site, as a way to attract businesses to relocate there, while all of the dumpy, boring, unimaginative and regrettably realistic renderings have come from Metrolinx. Anything fanciful depends on developer largess here, and both First Gulf originally and now Cadillac Fairview have so far been unable to attract any major office relocations. That's the rub.

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interchange42 said:
I don't have time for a complete search now, but IIRC, all of the fanciful station design renderings have come from the developer/owners of the East Harbour site, as a way to attract businesses to relocate there, while all of the dumpy, boring, unimaginative and regrettably realistic renderings have come from Metrolinx. Anything fanciful depends on developer largess here, and both First Gulf originally and now Cadillac Fairview have so far been unable to attract any major office relocations. That's the rub.

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It does explain why the rug was pulled on that vision. But it doesn't excuse Metrolinx with Doug's "I can build a fully kitted convention centre in the middle of Lake Ontario" narrative that could afford the funding for something like this at likely the fraction of the cost of said narrative.
 
UtakataNoAnnex said:
It does explain why the rug was pulled on that vision. But it doesn't excuse Metrolinx with Doug's "I can build a fully kitted convention centre in the middle of Lake Ontario" narrative that could afford the funding for something like this at likely the fraction of the cost of said narrative.
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Ford didn't randomly dream up this station like the floating convention centre or the 401 tunnel so he doesn't care about spending money on it. The other ideas get more money because he wants to have a signature legacy project like Ontario Place was for Bill Davis (which also might be why he completely ripped up Ontario Place...), and a station that has been planned since at least the Wynne years doesn't work for his ego.
 
Whether he has the political will to build this or not is not the really important here (although it's still important). The important thing is the fact that he can dream op these pie-in-the-sky legacy projects strongly suggests the funding is there. And if that makes sense.
 
DarwinP said:
Someone had the right level of ambition when this started. Even if it was just a fantasy vision. That's what we needed to strive for. We often have people with a vision, but they’re most often never able to carry it through and pull it off.

We need collective force and willingness to do great things. A combination of political will and ambition of our government and the creativity and determination of architects, private sector and community leaders.

Do we have to wait another 20 years? Will it take a whole new generation of leaders to bring Toronto to that level or urban ambition?View attachment 729336
Click to expand...
Too tall for Doug’s new jet landing at the island lol
 
Exactly what I thought they were going to do. The GO bridge over the Broadview extension was already built.

They had their gates opened this morning, so I got a really good view of it.

Facing south from Boradview...

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It looks like, maybe, the Ontario Line side of it still needs to be poured? Not sure though but this seems to fit.

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I don't think the south half of the GO tracks is a bridge. ie, there are no openings for the future Broadview extension. See kotsy's pics here:

East Harbour GO & Ontario Line Station | 14.35m | 1s | Metrolinx | HDR

How I wish this station had ended up like Bijlmer station in Amsterdam: https://grimshaw.global/projects/rail-and-mass-transit/bijlmer-arena-station/ Sure but you have to care about transit and believe in public transportation as something that helps shape society for the better, not merely...
urbantoronto.ca urbantoronto.ca
 
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