Downtown Yonge

[Thanos]

The Pickle Barrel tweeted a pic of their Yonge St. patio space... on Yonge St. itself (for those who like exhaust fumes with their meal).

Wow, what will you do if you ever go to Montreal, Quebec City or many cities in Europe that have thousands of restaurants with patios right next to passing cars.

 

[SP!RE]

The Pickle Barrel tweeted a pic of their Yonge St. patio space... on Yonge St. itself (for those who like exhaust fumes with their meal).

Rome wasn't built in a day. Did you really expect that for a one-month event they would actually pave out the sidewalks and purchase big mature trees? Baby steps, my friend. The Pickle Barrel has since added TONS of greenery and plants along their frontage and their temporary patio. It looks wonderful!

A shot from this evening:

 

[Jonny5]

A shot from this evening:

That picture looks like it's in front of Trois Brasseurs. Is the Front of the Pickle Barrel like that too?

 

[to_l]

That picture looks like it's in front of Trois Brasseurs. Is the Front of the Pickle Barrel like that too?

No, it's not. From Dundas to Gerrad, it's only the planter boxes so far.

 

[canmark]

The sand and trees are in front of ING at Shuter. Pickle Barrel, Three Brothers, Paramount, Firkin all have patio spaces on the street in front of their restaurant. Elephant & Castle up at Gerard may have a patio, too. Yesterday I saw a fenced area, although no tables at that time.

It seems the planter boxes were sponsored by different landscape companies, so there are many different sets with different arrangements of plants/flowers.

 

[to_l]

The tables are up at Elephant & Castle.

 

[canmark]

Kristyn Wong-Tam tweeted this photo of the parkette at 205 Yonge (next to the future Massey Tower site), and a giant chess board.

And somebody tweeted a pick of the trees:

Edit: BlogTO and Torontoist have photos. I wonder if Mayor Ford will put in an appearance, or does he consider Celebrate Yonge part of the "war on the car."

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Kristyn Wong-Tam tweeted this photo of the parkette at 205 Yonge (next to the future Massey Tower site), and a giant chess board.

That photo reminds me, through the 80's & 90's there used to be four, perhaps six permanent chess boards on the top of concrete tables on Gould Street, along the side of the bank (which later became part of Sam's). They were well used too from spring through fall, often well into the late evening hours.

Edit: BlogTO and Torontoist have photos. I wonder if Mayor Ford will put in an appearance, or does he consider Celebrate Yonge part of the "war on the car."

He can't argue that Yonge Street through this area is congested, I think Wong-Tam said on the news that this stretch of Yonge only carries about 350 cars per hour at peak times.

 

[SP!RE]

Indeed, the Downtown Yonge BIA has made use of numerous traffic studies and pedestrian counts. Yonge Street only normally carries about half (it may be even less) of the normal traffic load that comparable downtown streets have driving on them. Also, 70% or so of the neighbourhood's traffic is pedestrian/foot-traffic, with around 28% being vehicular traffic.

 

[James]

That photo reminds me, through the 80's & 90's there used to be four, perhaps six permanent chess boards on the top of concrete tables on Gould Street, along the side of the bank (which later became part of Sam's). They were well used too from spring through fall, often well into the late evening hours.
...

That was the 1st thing that came to my mind as well when I saw those photos. I've always thought it was a really neat concept to have those little chess stations. I like the new vision on Yonge Street and I know it's going to continue the rejuvenation that's been long overdue. Heck, remember World's Biggest Jean Store at the southeast corner of Yonge & Dundas way back when?

 

[Torontovibe]

I like the attempt to turn Yonge Street into a leisure destination but those metal barricade patio particians, have got to go. If you're going to put a sidewalk restaurant patio on Yonge Street, there has to be some effort to make it decent. I hope they upgrade it, quickly. Not all the patios are so cheap. Some have nice planters and have attempted to make an effort.

 

[Thanos]

This is great to see. I have heard a lot of store owners complain about the Kensington pedestrian sundays. What are you guys hearing from business owners on Yonge street about this effort? Are they in complete support? I know the Elephant and Castle owners were opposed to it at the beginning.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

That was the 1st thing that came to my mind as well when I saw those photos.

This is not a great shot, but it's the best I could find of the chess tables, I think that there were four or six of them. Some years later (late 80's?) a few permanent canapes were installed and goods like crafts, sunglasses & such were sold from underneath them just west of the chess tables on Gould St.
This photo is dated 1979, I'm not sure if it's correct or not, I will presume that it is.

 

[CDL.TO]

The chess tables were there until around the time that Sam shut down. In the final days of Sam, they started selling coffee and ice cream from a window facing Gould... I can't remember if that was the impetus for the removal.

They were relocated to Nathan Phillips Square, near the Queen/Bay intersection. I'm pretty sure they're still there.

 

[canmark]

There are also chess tables in front of the Metropolitan United Church at Queen/Church.