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Shabby Public Realm

Northern Light said:
Where did you get that timeline?
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Work details
Remaining wall finish panels, and temporary lighting supports at platform level will be removed and disposed. New wall finish panels, ceiling, lighting, and surveillance system will be installed along with cosmetic upgrades.

Work hours and noise
The Queen’s Park and St. Patrick Station Finishes program will take place in phases over the next two years.
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Queen's Park and St. Patrick stations - station finishes renewal program

pw.ttc.ca pw.ttc.ca

Northern Light said:
Can't agree with this, I don't like the original Line 1 scheme at all. I think the public washroom aesthetic is terrible, and I liked the trackside finishes in Osgoode and St. Andrew better before the recent refit (subject to my universal complaint that the TTC rarely cleans them and they get grubby as all get out, irrespective of finish)

I think King and College both look fine if a bit worn. No one ever liked the re-do of Dundas, but no one liked it before either (except maybe you) LOL. Wellesley also wasn't a great improvement.
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Personally I think there is some opportunity for some throwback to the original mid-mod vitrolite designs, IMO. I really am not a fan of the current 70s-80s tilework which hardly speaks of any sort of design excellence.

Regardless, I want them to figure out an unified design scheme for the original Yonge Line stations, perhaps following on the tail of the Bloor-Yonge Station redesign, or depending on the current political mood, if platform screen doors get installed.

Northern Light said:
There is certainly a need for less visual clutter on the TTC; and for running conduit either in the ceilings, or at least stylishly ducted.
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Somehow I feel like dealing with conduit clutter is somewhat of a herculean tasks with current TTC habits.
 
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jje1000 said:

Queen's Park and St. Patrick stations - station finishes renewal program

pw.ttc.ca pw.ttc.ca


Personally I think there is some opportunity for some throwback to the original mid-mod vitrolite designs, IMO. I really am not a fan of the current 70s-80s tilework which hardly speaks of any sort of design excellence.

Regardless, I want them to figure out an unified design scheme for the original Yonge Line stations, perhaps following on the tail of the Bloor-Yonge Station redesign, or depending on the current political mood, if platform screen doors get installed.


Somehow I feel like dealing with conduit clutter is somewhat of a herculean tasks with current TTC habits.
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I find unified design schemes to be boring and overrated on rapid transit lines. There should be some common design themes from station to station and predictable and intuitive layouts.

However, the Montreal Metro approach of every station looking different makes for a more pleasant experience using the system versus seeing the same tiled or bare concrete walls over and over again over the course of a commute.
 

On the topic of shabby/unfinished looking TTC properties, what on earth is happening at Islington station? It's utterly depressing! It's got that neglected soviet vibe...can't imagine the air quality is very good down here either with these weeping/peeling walls. And why does the ceiling look like that?

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bedoozled said:
On the topic of shabby/unfinished looking TTC properties, what on earth is happening at Islington station? It's utterly depressing! It's got that neglected soviet vibe...can't imagine the air quality is very good down here either with these weeping/peeling walls. And why does the ceiling look like that?

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It's par for the course. Over the last few decades, I don't remember Islington ever not looking like shit, though it's certainly worse than ever now.
 
bedoozled said:
On the topic of shabby/unfinished looking TTC properties, what on earth is happening at Islington station? It's utterly depressing! It's got that neglected soviet vibe...can't imagine the air quality is very good down here either with these weeping/peeling walls. And why does the ceiling look like that?

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This is the new unified design standard the TTC is rolling out on all of our subway stations.
 
bedoozled said:
On the topic of shabby/unfinished looking TTC properties, what on earth is happening at Islington station? It's utterly depressing! It's got that neglected soviet vibe...can't imagine the air quality is very good down here either with these weeping/peeling walls. And why does the ceiling look like that?

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It is in a perpetual state of construction unfortunately.

My take on it is that they are trying to keep it upright as long as possible given the design. Without a second entrance/exit from platform level you cannot really tear down the station without shutting down the line from Jane to Kipling (Maybe Royal York if they used the outdoor pocket track near Islington).

In my honest opinion, they need to tear down the station before it collapses in on itself (which given the stations condition I am surprised has yet to happen).
 
bedoozled said:
On the topic of shabby/unfinished looking TTC properties, what on earth is happening at Islington station? It's utterly depressing! It's got that neglected soviet vibe...can't imagine the air quality is very good down here either with these weeping/peeling walls. And why does the ceiling look like that?

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Islington Station

www.ttc.ca www.ttc.ca

Permits are in process, but early. I would presume work to begin no earlier than fall.
 
Toronto Hydro is conducting a survey concerning their 2025-2029 Business Plan. Toronto Hydro's infrastructure often blights the public realm with ugly overhead wires and utilitarian wooden poles and street lights. Toronto Hydro's equivalent agencies in New York and London have done considerably more to bury overhead wires and to install aesthetically pleasing street lights.

If you're supportive of the notion of making hydro infrastructure more aesthetically pleasing by burying more overhead wires and using ornamental street lights in more areas, let them know in the space they provide for comments (and that you're willing to pay higher prices for better-quality infrastructure).

Those kinds of changes significantly improve the public realm. They allow buildings to stand out more and change the look and feel of a street significantly. A better public realm encourages people to get out of their homes and into the city's many vibrant mixed-use areas, which promotes cultural and economic activity. It encourages repeat tourism.

I've filled out the survey. Unfortunately, it's only open to Toronto Hydro customers.
 
If we had a land value tax, I think it would be a foregone conclusion that utility lines should be buried where practicable.
 
Admiral Beez said:
I wish this city would do a better job of clearing up litter. I was on Britain St. yesterday and there's trash everywhere, not to mention used Naloxone kits and needles dumped on the sidewalk.
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Did you report to 311? Really better to report this kind of thing to those who can (and do) deal with them
 
DSC said:
Did you report to 311? Really better to report this kind of thing to those who can (and do) deal with them
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I regularly report to 311 (and will continue to do so), but it is exhausting to have to request what should be basic maintenance.

For more than a year I had to campaign to have trees replaced on Front Street East that have been dead for over three seasons. How was this not done in that time frame?

311 should really be for exceptional circumstances, but it has degraded into a complaint system for substandard City services. The system is broken.
 
Dr. Snoot said:
I regularly report to 311 (and will continue to do so), but it is exhausting to have to request what should be basic maintenance.

For more than a year I had to campaign to have trees replaced on Front Street East that have been dead for over three seasons. How was this not done in that time frame?

311 should really be for exceptional circumstances, but it has degraded into a complaint system for substandard City services. The system is broken.
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Though at this point simply saying it's broken isn't sufficient - we need to ask what the public can do. Maybe we need to start having public volunteers taking ownership of park and public realm.

AoD
 
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