Toronto Nathan Phillips Square + Spirit Garden | ?m | ?s | City of Toronto

Whenever they finish this project, I hope to hell they ban those seedy run-down shitty little hot dog and fry kiosks that are squished side-by-side fronting Queen. Disgraceful.

I know people need to make a buck, for the love of Christ and all things holy, does your place of business have to look like you just pulled it out of a dumpster? And maybe offer something other than the same old boring hot dogs, sausages, hamburgers, fries, and pop. Jesus Christ. I'd like to drive the bulldozer myself and clean that frickin' "debris".
Completely agree with you. They're just awful, and I'd like to see them gone. Same with the tour buses.
 
Heaven forbid there should be some vitality, colour and character in a civic space. The tour busses are a nice reminder that people actually choose to come here!
 
Tour buses need to park somewhere close to major tourist sites, like NPS - I think the plans call for more reserved bus parking on Bay Street. Food trucks presumably want to be where there are customers but I too find the low-end trucks at NPS (and on Front at the Convention Centre) out of place. The City DOES have rules as to where truck can park - see: http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/c...nnel=7d931bbdf1595410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD I am not sure I want the City to somehow differentiate between low-end and high-end food trucks so if any trucks are allowed to park on Queen @ NPS we will probably see a continuation of the current situation. In fairness, they do a very good business (while the new Hero Burger at the skate rental building at the reflecting pool seems deserted) so they are clearly serving a need
 
Somebody already raised the issue of the bureaucracy surrounding food trucks. This probably explains why the standards we see are so low as nobody wants to invest in this minefield. I agree there should be regulations but the objective shouldn't be kill off the business model.
 
Progress on the Queen St side:

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What are those stubs along Queen Street and why are they in the middle of the sidewalk? (strange, lol) Also why not make the planter ledges taller, so people could sit on them? (comfortably)
 
What are those stubs along Queen Street and why are they in the middle of the sidewalk? (strange, lol) Also why not make the planter ledges taller, so people could sit on them? (comfortably)

The blocks are dual function vehicle barrier / seating.
Agree that they probably could have been placed a little further in from the curb based on the picture but not sure if it's really going to impede pedestrian flow.
 
Council raised concern and debated the food trucks on Queen Street late last winter/early spring. There was a Motion, something to the effect, for the City Manager to prepare a report along with Traffic Services as to what Council can do (legally) to remove the food trucks out in front once permits expire. The Motion was much more detailed, but they are looking into it as it is recognized that they don't exactly offer a great first impression to this important civic space.
 
Council raised concern and debated the food trucks on Queen Street late last winter/early spring. There was a Motion, something to the effect, for the City Manager to prepare a report along with Traffic Services as to what Council can do (legally) to remove the food trucks out in front once permits expire. The Motion was much more detailed, but they are looking into it as it is recognized that they don't exactly offer a great first impression to this important civic space.

How about putting a "No Stopping" or "No Parking" sign on Queen st?
 
What are those stubs along Queen Street and why are they in the middle of the sidewalk? (strange, lol) Also why not make the planter ledges taller, so people could sit on them? (comfortably)

The blocks are dual function vehicle barrier / seating.
Agree that they probably could have been placed a little further in from the curb based on the picture but not sure if it's really going to impede pedestrian flow.

They look too low to be seating, don't they? They are too close to the street to make that particularly comfortable anyway. There's plenty of sidewalk space to the north of them though, so I'm not worried about east-west pedestrian flow being impacted to any degree. I do know a number of people who won't walk on grates though, thinking they might fall through, so it will be interesting to see how that vent affects pedestrian flow.

In regards to the planter ledges, yes it probably would have been a good idea to make them, or some of them, a good height to sit on.

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Hmm, yeah, true. That's another category of pedestrian I was not referring to myself.

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Those stubs can't be the finished product. They are too low to the ground and too small to sit on. There must be a long, wooden bench portion going on top or something like that. There has to be some method in their madness. I just can't believe something this planned out would have something as stupid and useless as stubs that are too uncomfortable for anyone to use. There is no way this city is that dysfunctional.
 

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