Mayor Olivia Chow's Toronto

[Northern Light]

uuuh High park? Don valley park? riverdale? coronation? soon to be portlands?

I dont get this "downtown has no park space" like it has so many parks

I'm going to echo @DSC above.........

High Park is nowhere near downtown, its not even a stretch, its a 5km distance from Spadina Avenue; or a 1 hour, 15 minute walk at a good pace for a healthy adult, 2 hours, 30 minutes round trip.

The transit ride, unless you're a few minutes from Line 2, is a solid 30M on Dundas Streetcar.

Needless to say those times and distances are much larger if you live in the central or eastern portions of downtown.

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Coronation Park is at least closer, but still a ~2km walk from Richmond and Spadina (roughly 30 minutes, or 60 minutes round trip).

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Meanwhile Don Valley Park, which doesn't really exist, has, south of Gerrard:

- Zero sports fields
- Zero playgrounds
- Zero Washrooms
- Zero picnic spaces

And is squeezed between the river, and a fence abutting the rail corridor, with the DVP and Bayview then hemming it in; its essentially a bike path only.

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DSC also rightly points out that the amount of parkland per person is quite low, so low in fact that if you can find a downtown-based soccer team for adults or kids, chances are it plays its home games at Trinity Bellwoods or further away than that, because the few downtown fields are so oversubscribed.

 

[Richard White]

High Park is nowhere near downtown, its not even a stretch, its a 5km distance from Spadina Avenue; or a 1 hour, 15 minute walk at a good pace for a healthy adult, 2 hours, 30 minutes round trip.

Anecdotally, I can say I have seen encampments in High Park.

There is a growing homeless population in the area which in the summer congregates in the park. Normally, they are in the far corners like at Clendenan and Bloor St or alongside Ellis Park Road. Being away from the Downtown area is not a factor anymore.

 

[zang]

Anecdotally, I can say I have seen encampments in High Park.

There is a growing homeless population in the area which in the summer congregates in the park. Normally, they are in the far corners like at Clendenan and Bloor St or alongside Ellis Park Road. Being away from the Downtown area is not a factor anymore.

Being outside of Toronto is not a factor either. There are encampments all over Durham county.

It’s obvious our demonize and raid strategy just doesn’t work and only stands to make the situation worse. Why continue spending money doing something that has never shown to improve the situation?

 

[toonderly]

Wayfinding

Speaking of wayfinding, I have seen some very tasteful little black pointers around. Are these used city-wide or only in certain neighbourhoods? Are they funded by the local BIA? I was scratching my head over why the Rogers Building rates a mention on the signage at Bloor and Ted Rogers Way (formerly Jarvis).

 

[DSCToronto]

Speaking of wayfinding, I have seen some very tasteful little black pointers around. Are these used city-wide or only in certain neighbourhoods? Are they funded by the local BIA? I was scratching my head over why the Rogers Building rates a mention on the signage at Bloor and Ted Rogers Way (formerly Jarvis).
View attachment 567454

TO360, they are everywhere and VERY nice. See: https://www.toronto.ca/services-pay...rtation/sidewalk-tours-wayfinding/wayfinding/ A great City project and very well managed - thanks Chris Ronson!!

 

[Admiral Beez]

DSC also rightly points out that the amount of parkland per person is quite low,....

At Doors Open last year I saw a presentation on how where the Eaton Centre is today was intended to be a grand park. Imagine if we'd got that. Heck, I'd support knocking it down now.

 

[Coolibop]

TO360, they are everywhere and VERY nice. See: https://www.toronto.ca/services-pay...rtation/sidewalk-tours-wayfinding/wayfinding/ A great City project and very well managed - thanks Chris Ronson!!

Am I right in reading it took almost 10 years to put up 225 signs (assuming completed in '19)?

Further down on this page...

... I don't think there is any integration between these systems. I think it's safe to say PATH and Metrolinx wayfinding (particularily at Union Station) is quite poor. I would also note TTC is oddly missing from the above... And the Metrolinx link connects to the 2041 transportation plan. Everything is piecemeal and it shows.

Finally, I'm not certain how this changes or integrates with online services (google maps et al) that I am sure visitors use to navigate around.

 

[DSCToronto]

Am I right in reading it took almost 10 years to put up 225 signs (assuming completed in '19)?

Further down on this page...
View attachment 567457
... I don't think there is any integration between these systems. I think it's safe to say PATH and Metrolinx wayfinding (particularily at Union Station) is quite poor. I would also note TTC is oddly missing from the above... And the Metrolinx link connects to the 2041 transportation plan. Everything is piecemeal and it shows.

Finally, I'm not certain how this changes or integrates with online services (google maps et al) that I am sure visitors use to navigate around.

Not sure how many signs they have but undoubtedly more than 225. There are finger-posts, maps etc. The main part of the project was the mapping and TTC and PFR are supposed to be using same mapping for their signage. (I have seen some of the new TTC maps in stations and they are clearly using TO360 standards). PATH and MLX signage is poor but not connected to TO360.

 

[adma]

At Doors Open last year I saw a presentation on how where the Eaton Centre is today was intended to be a grand park. Imagine if we'd got that. Heck, I'd support knocking it down now.

I wouldn't. The Toronto Eaton Centre isn't a woebegone sitting duck like those other erstwhile Ontario Eaton Centres.

 

[Jonny5]

Speaking of wayfinding, I have seen some very tasteful little black pointers around. Are these used city-wide or only in certain neighbourhoods? Are they funded by the local BIA? I was scratching my head over why the Rogers Building rates a mention on the signage at Bloor and Ted Rogers Way (formerly Jarvis).

The Rogers building is odd as the only one there, though I can see that building having a lot of out of town visitors like people going on the TV or radio shows, or Rogers staff visiting from other cities for some reason, but then I wouldn't expect them to be walking to it from wherever but taking a taxi/uber to the front door.

 

[toonderly]

The Rogers building is odd as the only one there, though I can see that building having a lot of out of town visitors like people going on the TV or radio shows, or Rogers staff visiting from other cities for some reason, but then I wouldn't expect them to be walking to it from wherever but taking a taxi/uber to the front door.

I don't know how the different parts of the Rogers campus are laid out and how people travel between buildings. There is an obvious entrance at 333 Bloor St E on the southeast corner. The fingerpointer is on the northwest corner and if it is supposed to be directing people to that Bloor St entrance that doesn't seem very helpful since it is pointing directly south. I think I assumed it was pointing to an entrance further down Jarvis somewhere near the tree sculpture, especially since Jarvis St is also marked as the same distance of 3 minutes away. That does make sense since the city renamed Jarvis as Ted Rogers Way for that little stretch and people might reasonably be bewildered.

I have never run into anyone on that block who seemed to be confused about where to find Rogers. If Rogers didn't donate $$$ to TO360 it makes me wonder if Tory had his thumb on the scale.

 

[T3G]

Not really the best thread for this, but I can't think of one that would be more appropriate... does anyone know WTF happened today downtown??? About 5:30 PM this afternoon I was doing some railfanning on Spadina just south of Front when I saw a cop car, sirens ablazin', heading south along the streetcar ROW. A minute later, another two cops were heading northbound, also sirens ablazin'. A minute after THAT, I saw yet another cop, sirens -----, heading southbound in the northbound lanes of Spadina Avenue, and turn east onto Front.

Given this immense response, I assumed something momentous had occurred, but nothing in the news. Anyone catch wind of anything?

 

[DSCToronto]

The Rogers building is odd as the only one there, though I can see that building having a lot of out of town visitors like people going on the TV or radio shows, or Rogers staff visiting from other cities for some reason, but then I wouldn't expect them to be walking to it from wherever but taking a taxi/uber to the front door.

There were quite extensive public consultations on what to point to and how to describe them. In the ones I participated in (Sr Lawrence and Financial District) we generally avoided pointing to buildings occupied by one company unless they were, at least, occasional 'destinations" (e.g. CBC Bldg) but .... There is also a desire to have at least 4 'pointers' and maybe in the Rogers case it was the only serious option?

 

[Towered]

Not really the best thread for this, but I can't think of one that would be more appropriate... does anyone know WTF happened today downtown??? About 5:30 PM this afternoon I was doing some railfanning on Spadina just south of Front when I saw a cop car, sirens ablazin', heading south along the streetcar ROW. A minute later, another two cops were heading northbound, also sirens ablazin'. A minute after THAT, I saw yet another cop, sirens -----, heading southbound in the northbound lanes of Spadina Avenue, and turn east onto Front.

Given this immense response, I assumed something momentous had occurred, but nothing in the news. Anyone catch wind of anything?

No idea, but perhaps the TPS X account might yield further info.

 

[T3G]

No idea, but perhaps the TPS X account might yield further info.

That was my first look, but nothing came up that matches the timeframe.

Forever shall it remain... a mystery