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Absolutely cheaper. No flooring either, just bare concrete. Save $$ on finishes and sell it as a trendy loft look.

An Instagram ad for this one popped up while I was scrolling. "Live on Toronto's widest avenue". Wait, what? Is that like a thing, there's really nothing better to market about living in this area? lol I must say though, I don't think I've seen Spadina looking better than in this promo shot...

Agreed pretty much in full, my statement was a bit broad. Fountains and water features I am absolutely on board with; Love Park and Berczy Parks are fantastic recent examples. Perhaps my issue is exactly what you've noted here, much of our public "art" seems to be ill-conceived or half-baked...

Honestly I'd be fine if these public art budgets went towards more trees, plants and improved planting conditions. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I find a lot of these art installations tacky/ugly/underwhelming and add little value vs. more greenery.

DTAH looks good in renders, but there's way too much hardscaping. PMA's submission is by far the best, seems to have a good balance between green space, hardscaping and programmable areas. Would agree with comments by @Northern Light, but it's definitely the most workable. The rest run the...

Bush honeysuckle (diervilla) is a great native alternative to spirea; real underrated shrub that deserves to be used more often. No landscaping plan is complete without some Karl Foerester reed grass either lol

I was and still am hesitant about the mint green, but I complain about a lack of colour so here we are.

Yea, ok I'm starting to like this. I have been reserving judgement until it really started to take shape. They've used the mullions in a way that looks intentional and adds visual depth to the facade, giving it an almost structural look. It's in stark contrast to the often cheap, plasticky and...

Yes, I do love me some neon. It would be really Instagrammable too, and I mean, isn't that what's most important these days? lol

I think what's worse is now it's just a basic mechanical penthouse plopped on top, whereas it was previously incorporated into the architecture of the building. The watering down begins. I'm still holding out hope this turns out well though.

Smaller retail units should be a focus in this part of the city. While it's no love lost for an anti-urban strip mall, Lawrence supports an especially vibrant collection of restaurants and my worry is that will be lost as these plazas are redeveloped. Although I've never tried Coffee In, for me...

As long as it's not EIFS lol. If there's one thing I dislike more as a facade material than window wall (spandrel and mullion heavy specifically), it's EIFS. Unfortunately the state of architecture these days has come down to us hoping that "at least it's not as bad as ____". I do like Picasso...

Actually yes, you're right I did mean that since I put "by the time OL opens". Sometimes I forget what I've said even just a day later lol

Well, seeing as we were just talking about it, here are a couple of snaps of the old rail ROW and Meadow Way, including the eroding bank. Not much seems to have been done with it but as mentioned, one day it will put the transmission tower footings at risk. Still a ways to go though...

I was including Sheppard there, for some reason I thought it was older than 2002... But yea, that's kind of what I was touching on. It's almost too late now, we've fallen so far behind on building transit that we might never see an urban, non car-dependent GTA outside of select parts of Toronto...

Is it so bad for people to want higher quality or more imaginative architecture? It's just one dreary, grey window wall rectangle after another around here. This tower is meh at best. I guess that's good enough?

It absolutely should, in fact the entire GTA should be crisscrossed by subways and higher order transit by now. We'll have added what, 1 new subway line in 30 years by the time the OL is done? Two if you count Eglinton, if it ever opens... As a result much of the GTA might have tall towers but...

Personally I'd rather not see many excessively lit buildings, if anything we should be striving to reduce light pollution. Save it for a handful of important buildings; i.e. prominent historic buildings, CN Tower. We've got this one now with its goofy Hong Kong-esque lights, one or two are fine...

Interesting, all this time I had no idea I was walking on an old rail line. I work around here so I often go for a stroll along the creek channel and up to the hydro corridor; it's a brief respite from the concrete wasteland that is the Golden Mile. I have to say the meadow restoration work...

I sure wish the TTC preserved/still used those pavers between the tracks. I believe they were actual stone setts (likely granite?) in many cases too, not just plain old brick. Every so often old buried stretches are unearthed during roadworks offering a neat glimpse into the past.