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

Tewder said:
I don't know, i've always felt that Toronto has so many innate graces. Don't like winter? It'll be spring soon enough, or summer, or autumn which is magic time in this city with the fall colours...

Personally my criticisms of the public realm, harsh at times, never stems from a belief that Toronto is inferior. On the contrary, it comes from a belief that the city has so much raw potential to realize. When I see streetscapes improved, like Market Street or Front by Union Station for example, I see an extraordinary city emerging from mediocrity... and would just like to see more of it. This is not depressing at all.
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+1
 
Red October said:
Having councillors that don't actively work against the downtown realm would be a good start.
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We'd need de-amalgamation for that to happen. As the Gardiner decision shows, City Council is dominated by a suburban majority that privileges driving above all other considerations, completely misallocates what little transit investment we can manage, and displays outright hostility to anything remotely urban.
 
De-amalgamation? Toronto's entire history consists of annexations and amalgamations. How far do we go back? The Gardiner, of course, was always a Metro road, so it's not as if amalgamation had any impact whatsoever on yesterday's decision. Zero.
 
pman said:
We'd need de-amalgamation for that to happen. As the Gardiner decision shows, City Council is dominated by a suburban majority that privileges driving above all other considerations, completely misallocates what little transit investment we can manage, and displays outright hostility to anything remotely urban.
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I agree with the second part but unfortunately the Gardiner would have been a Metro decision, which was even more suburb-dominated. So de-amalgamation wouldn't have helped.
 
Well not all infrastructure benefits everyone, sadly. The Mayor is for all the people, not just downtown and not just for the suburbs. This revitalization of NPS will benefit only some people. Does that mean it shouldn't have been approved because not everyone will benefit? I seriously think people are crazy and only interested in what benefits themselves. The internet has created a comment-freak culture of entitlement and self-serving interest groups.
 
NBGtect said:
I'm actually not sure we will recover. We used to love UT but it's people like you who ruin every single thread they can pipe in on with their agenda. But we do look forward to your pictures (sans any of your thoughts or opinions).
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I understand for sure, but that's irrelevant. I expressed my opinions about projects in the city I partly pay for, and you expressed yours. I don't think I need to consider your feeling before making comments on this forum - you obviously didn't consider mine. Ruin every thread? If you consider any criticism as an attempt to ruin your day, I am afraid the internet is not a good place for you to hang out.

Additionally, to compare with Philadelphia, a declining city with shrinking population and feeling good about Toronto is kind of pathetic. You might as well compare with Cleveland and find some pride. Speaking of Chicago, its inner city is miles ahead of Toronto in terms of urban amenities. Whoever dismisses Chicago as a blighted city is being ignorant. And other cities having thousands of years of culture is really not an excuse for the lame work we do here in Toronto. although quite convenient. It is time we refuse to look for those excuses and refuse to accept second class projects such as the NPS, Queen's Quay etc., it is weird to me that so many look at those as if they were big successes. They are just far from good enough. Even the acclaimed Sugar Beach is really a so-so product that will impress no one (here, I said it), and Sherbourne Commons a rather boring one. I have seen much poorer and less developed cities with far better designed and more enjoyable public spaces than those.
 
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ksun said:
I understand for sure, but that's irrelevant. I expressed my opinions about projects in the city I partly pay for, and you expressed yours. I don't think I need to consider your feeling before making comments on this forum - you obviously didn't consider mine. Ruin every thread? If you consider any criticism as an attempt to ruin your day, I am afraid the internet is not a good place for you to hang out.

Additionally, to compare with Philadelphia, a declining city with shrinking population and feeling good about Toronto is kind of pathetic. You might as well compare with Cleveland and find some pride. Speaking of Chicago, its inner city is miles ahead of Toronto in terms of urban amenities. Whoever dismisses Chicago as a blighted city is being ignorant. And other cities having thousands of years of culture is really not an excuse for the lame work we do here in Toronto. although quite convenient. It is time we refuse to look for those excuses and refuse to accept second class projects such as the NPS, Queen's Quay etc., it is weird to me that so many look at those as if they were big successes. They are just far from good enough. Even the acclaimed Sugar Beach is really a so-so product that will impress no one (here, I said it), and Sherbourne Commons a rather boring one. I have seen much poorer and less developed cities with far better designed and more enjoyable public spaces than those.
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I think you are being harsh portions of your comment. I agree with you about NPS. I just don't find the redesign anything special and the square overall is average. Toronto just have any special squares and we don't know how to design new ones. We often go cheap when building them and they turn it not looking good. Queens Way should be how most of our streets should be looking as a standard. The way it was hyped with the comparisons to Champs Ellysees was funny and shows how clueless some people in Toronto. The same way they have been hyping up the UP Express. Look at Yonge and Dundas Square, Ontario and Canada Square on the Waterfront. As for Sugar Beach and Sherbourne Commons, I find them well done and they are up there with many of the top contemporary urban parks being built around the world.
 
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Pool is filled and the water feature is working (ie, the water flows out around the edge of the flame and into the pool). It makes a very peaceful sound.
 
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