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I always wonder at how many people tolerate the basic beige and ceiling lighting. The solution is to train landlords to select more pleasing shades!

It is the pre-cast that perturbs the intended "look of grandeur," as it is not a classical material. I think this company has good intentions, but I agree, Nordstrom exterior and interior design is a bit blah.

The West facing windows have been largely edited out. East-facing units retain their windows. I suspect the architect/developer has been informed that the property at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley is a candidate for future development.

The tall buildings in this area (south on Broadview, and just West against the Valley) were built with that raze-the-nabe and tower-in-the-park mentality. Not very sensitive. If 6-8 story buildings become common east of the Don, density would in fact go up substantially. I hink mid-rise...

A base population is required - both to generate revenue for business, and to create atmosphere. Moving a college in here might do the trick - I can't imagine a more interesting place to study! Nb: idea based on observation that the opening of the Maple Leaf Gardens mixed-use...

I also wish for more perennial flowers in public spaces, but when it happens, they're planted as blocky monocultures that fade into disrepair within a few years. Scant exceptions exist (such as University Avenue). Until Toronto allows volunteer groups to maintain public gardens, I hope the...

If it were easy to get there, I'd spend an evening on the scene - Ontario Place was awesome in the day. Before gridlock really tightened up, it was normal to access in 30 minutes by car. Now, it takes me 10 minutes just to get out the parking garage to Jarvis street, in aggravating slow...

Despite having arrived in Toronto after the club was closed, I was immediately informed via stories and media accounts of this tower's link to the past. The tower is a landmark - you don't need to dig very far in queer history or in archival photos to find it.

Think of retail character like ecological succession: certain species colonize, others arrive later when conditions are right. I think the planning requirements for granular retail along Yonge will bear out. Suburban retail blandness is durable largely due to car culture - you drive to your...

I say move the tower to the building roof - get the pesky thing away from the floor plate :)

If this development does run up to Grosvenor, the south part of this block to go soon too. I hope the City stipulates removing the EIFS "enhancements" - that would be a fair trade!

The commercial building fronting Grenville and Yonge (McDonalds as anchor tenant) is one story tall - I've been waiting for this building to develop. Across the street (Grenville) is Karma and YC. Maybe they'd develop North to Grosvenor, but South seems more likely to me. The McDonalds site...

The owner of the 377 property made an agreement with the developer to replace the upper two stories of their property (application sign on the window indicated this). This was an obvious stop-gap measure to deal with stability/safety issues I thought. Drum - are you saying an entirely new...

Regarding rate of build: workers were active on site all past weekend. I've seen a big increase in person-power in the couple weeks. The size of the transfer beams is impressive - those are almost an floor high!

Fair enough - when it is technically possible to clean without damaging - go for it. However, if squeaky clean is the game we all feel compelled to play, people can damage their structures, or even worse...cover them with EIFS or paint faux bricks. I think culturing acceptance around authentic...

To remove all dark residues, you almost have to remove the outer layer of brick, and that compromises the integrity of the masonry. They just sand-blasted (sand-blasted!) St. Basil's in the St Michael's campus, and I'm shocked at how much they removed to achieve the glowing yellow colour...

The TGH interior is far better than it's predecessor - ditto for WCH. The magic happens inside, and the design is driven by function. Flexible modular (read boxy) spaces are important. I suspect Bridgepoint was well designed because it's a rehab/long term care site, and they wanted people to...

QPC and University Avenue were expanded in an era when cars were all the rage - we are lucky that the City didn't tear down more to expand this road. While it's far more expensive and political, and definitely counts as scope-creep in this project, reducing the width of the road, reducing...

When I first came to Toronto I stayed there - as did lots of students. Young people aren't all terrible... I can see why the hostel had to go eventually though - even then, interior maintenance was light. These things have a way of being self-limiting in lifespan given the lack of budgets to...

Oops. Thanks for catching that.