Leaside

[ksun]

Got a letter from planning about community consultation for the Sunnybrook plaza redevelopment. April 28 7-9 pm at Leaside Memorial Community Gardens. I can't go, but can anyone make it? Would be interesting to hear the community "feedback"*.

*feedback - handwringing about density, shadows, change in general and why we're not thinking about the children.

Density? Really? Leaside has a density problem? Increase the current density by 5X and it still won't be too dense.
What about the children? The fact that they only need suburban homes with yard and a lot of sacred "green space" and any towers, busy retail or walkable neighbourhood will instantly poison them?
Shadows, what an iconic first world problem, especially from a neighbourhood with hardly anything above 5 stories tall. I am sure the horrible shadows in Manhattan are suffocating people every second.

People can be so provincial. Why don't they move to Vaughan or Milton already. There wont be any density or shadow issues in the next 50 years.

 

[ksun]

Rosedale isn't car dependent though.. I mean, I'm sure most Rosedale residents have cars for sure, but it's only a 15 min walk from Bloor & Yonge.

It may be a 15 minutes walk, but do the residents walk there regularly? Not to mention the east part is a good 25-30 minutes walk.
To me, it is absolutely insanity that a place like Rosedale is allowed to maintain such low density - I am not suggesting to remove existing beautiful homes, but the entire neighbourhood should be rezoned for higher density, with more apartment buildings and more importantly, mixed used streets.

Compared with posh neighbourhoods such as Beacon Hill in Boston, Gold Coast in Chicago, Upper East Side in New York that are very close to downtown, where mid or highrise apartment dominate, Rosedale (Moore Park as well ) is shockingly lowrise and low density. This is Toronto's biggest waste of prime land.

 

[GenerationW]

Density? Really? Leaside has a density problem? Increase the current density by 5X and it still won't be too dense.
What about the children? The fact that they only need suburban homes with yard and a lot of sacred "green space" and any towers, busy retail or walkable neighbourhood will instantly poison them?
Shadows, what an iconic first world problem, especially from a neighbourhood with hardly anything above 5 stories tall. I am sure the horrible shadows in Manhattan are suffocating people every second.

People can be so provincial. Why don't they move to Vaughan or Milton already. There wont be any density or shadow issues in the next 50 years.

Those were speculative negative reactions, not actual ones. But that was a wonderful rant about a place you've only passed by in a car, and a place you think is the equivalent of Kennedy & Finch.

 

[TOareaFan]

Density? Really? Leaside has a density problem? Increase the current density by 5X and it still won't be too dense.
What about the children? The fact that they only need suburban homes with yard and a lot of sacred "green space" and any towers, busy retail or walkable neighbourhood will instantly poison them?
Shadows, what an iconic first world problem, especially from a neighbourhood with hardly anything above 5 stories tall. I am sure the horrible shadows in Manhattan are suffocating people every second.

People can be so provincial. Why don't they move to Vaughan or Milton already. There wont be any density or shadow issues in the next 50 years.

I have spoken to all of them and asked that question. 15% said they don't know where either Vaughan or Milton are...the other 85% said they would love to move but fear being the subject of a ksun rant about people not living near where they work. They are positively dizzy with confusion over what you want them to do with their lives.

 

[salsa]

Density? Really? Leaside has a density problem? Increase the current density by 5X and it still won't be too dense.
What about the children? The fact that they only need suburban homes with yard and a lot of sacred "green space" and any towers, busy retail or walkable neighbourhood will instantly poison them?
Shadows, what an iconic first world problem, especially from a neighbourhood with hardly anything above 5 stories tall. I am sure the horrible shadows in Manhattan are suffocating people every second.

People can be so provincial. Why don't they move to Vaughan or Milton already. There wont be any density or shadow issues in the next 50 years.

ksun, please go back to your tiny highrise universe south of Dundas St, and stay there. No one has as much contempt for 99% of the city as you do. How about you move to Hong Kong already?

 

[r937]

What Leaside used to look like in Toronto

 

[ksun]

ksun, please go back to your tiny highrise universe south of Dundas St, and stay there. No one has as much contempt for 99% of the city as you do. How about you move to Hong Kong already?

I thought posts should be about the topic, which is Leaside and urban planning, not where I should live or what I supposedly "contempt". Please be more mature in your conversation and stop acting like a child.

I live in a highrise apartment of 650sf and a pretty spacious terrace. Not sure if it is "tiny" by any standard. Not sure how many families of 4 in Toronto have 2600 sf of living space. And I live south of Queen, not Dundas.

 

[Therion]

I thought posts should be about the topic, which is Leaside and urban planning, not where I should live or what I supposedly "contempt". Please be more mature in your conversation and stop acting like a child.

You're the one who comes across as universally judgy and immature. Actually jealous is more accurate. I'm sorry I have a nice house in Leaside and don't want to "densify" it to satisfy your misplaced notion urbanity. Not every single neighbourhood in Toronto needs to be high density, especially since there is so much land still available to develop.

If you have nothing actually constructive to say about local issues, please stop butting into our conversation, as it is clear you have no idea about this neighbourhood or what goes on here.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

Leaside (and surrounding neighbourhoods) don't need to densify into midrises.

More 'Missing Middle' housing would be appropriate instead to meet the demands for growing density without changing the build form of the area.

 

[ksun]

You're the one who comes across as universally judgy and immature. Actually jealous is more accurate. I'm sorry I have a nice house in Leaside and don't want to "densify" it to satisfy your misplaced notion urbanity. Not every single neighbourhood in Toronto needs to be high density, especially since there is so much land still available to develop.

If you have nothing actually constructive to say about local issues, please stop butting into our conversation, as it is clear you have no idea about this neighbourhood or what goes on here.

No need to be so rude and snarky. I comment on whatever posts that interest me.
To be honest, I am jealous of how much those houses are worth, but definitely not jealous of physically living there. Appears very suburban and boring to me.

True, not every single neighhourhood in Toronto needs to be highly dense, but in reality, hardly any Toronto neighhourhood is highly dense. The densest part of Toronto - Old Toronto has half the density as Barcelona and 1/3 of Paris. For Leaside, it is not a matter to be high density - but rather avoid the very low density as it is now.

 

[ehlow]

Leaside (and surrounding neighbourhoods) don't need to densify into midrises.

More 'Missing Middle' housing would be appropriate instead to meet the demands for growing density without changing the build form of the area.

I think some areas could use some midrise, like the industrial areas east of Laird, or some spots on Bayview. But yeah, things like townhouses, basement apartments etc are a good way to increase density.

The 3 story townhouses at Aerodrome Cres near Eglinton & Brentcliffe are fairly dense for example, each floor being a separate unit.

 

[Therion]

But why do we need to avoid the very low density in every single neighbourhood? That's what I don't understand. We're not running out of room to build. When you have two kids and two cars like we do, you will appreciate the space. I'm walking distance to 7 (soon to be 8 with Whole Foods) grocery stores, about 50 or so restaurants, dozens of clothing stores, and schools from daycare to grade 12. How's that suburban? How many suburban addresses can say that?

What you're missing is that people who live here appreciate exactly the mix of suburban-looking space that doesn't feel suburban. That's probably you, as someone who occasionally drives through, think of it as non-urban, but I, as a local resident, never would.

 

[salsa]

I live in a highrise apartment of 650sf and a pretty spacious terrace. Not sure if it is "tiny" by any standard. Not sure how many families of 4 in Toronto have 2600 sf of living space. And I live south of Queen, not Dundas.

By tiny I'm referring to the small slice of the city where you live and almost never venture out of. Anything north of Bloor is a no-man's land a la Vaughan and Milton. You live in a small world.

 

[Midtown Urbanist]

I think some areas could use some midrise, like the industrial areas east of Laird, or some spots on Bayview. But yeah, things like townhouses, basement apartments etc are a good way to increase density.

The 3 story townhouses at Aerodrome Cres near Eglinton & Brentcliffe are fairly dense for example, each floor being a separate unit.

Yes, midrises are appropriate on main streets like Laird, Bayview and Eglinton. But we should be looking to encourage the transition from midrises to single-unit dwellings by having townhouses, duplexes and multiplexes in between. This way we can continue to build density beyond the midrise.

But why do we need to avoid the very low density in every single neighbourhood? That's what I don't understand. We're not running out of room to build. When you have two kids and two cars like we do, you will appreciate the space. I'm walking distance to 7 (soon to be 8 with Whole Foods) grocery stores, about 50 or so restaurants, dozens of clothing stores, and schools from daycare to grade 12. How's that suburban? How many suburban addresses can say that?

What you're missing is that people who live here appreciate exactly the mix of suburban-looking space that doesn't feel suburban. That's probably you, as someone who occasionally drives through, think of it as non-urban, but I, as a local resident, never would.

I know this is addressed to ksun, but to address your first concern, that is the point of the 'missing middle' housing I pointed to above. They maintain the build form and character of low-rise, single-family homes while adding more dwellings per acre.

We want to encourage density because density helps local businesses, encourages restaurants, supports local services and public transportation (a lowrise single-family home build-form cannot support public transportation on its own, but the 'missing middle' housing types increases density of low-rise areas to meet threshold for viable public transport), and because more people in the neighbourhood means more security and safety by virtue of having more eyes and more people walking on the street going about their business.

We as a city also have growing demands for density as we want to encourage development along transit corridors like Eglinton. We've been focusing purely on building highrise condos so far to meet this density, and we have an official plan encouraging the building of midrises along our avenues, but these are not the only solutions. Certainly for an area like Leaside that wants and should maintain its low-rise build form, zoning can be amended to allow the construction of denser low-rise housing.

 

[Bernoulli]

There have been a couple of kids killed after being hit by cars in the past 3 years in Leaside. Too many cars currently on the road that are driving too fast is a major concern. People want a safe neighbourhood and increased density means more people and likely more cars.