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arvelomcquaig said:
Because it's grotesquely commercial, tacky, and suburban.
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I agree with the grotesquely commercial, tacky, but suburban?

I actually like old Times Square when it was full of strip clubs, junkies, hookers and cross dressers. No Disney store in those days ;)


AlvinofDiaspar said:
Hate to say it, but all the media towers in the area didn't help with the ambiance of the area - they all look rather tired, shabby and not at all engaging. One can dress them up with more advanced screens, but at the end of the day, they aren't really integral to the buildings they're attached to and it shows.AoD
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Agreed. If you're going to have a grotesquely commercial square, do it right! Time to up date the video screens to high-def like those giant screens in Times Square. More high-tech billboards would help too.
 
gabe said:
I agree with the grotesquely commercial, tacky, but suburban?
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Suburban in the sense that most of what's there now consists of chain stores and restaurants which aren't any different from what you'd see in a typical suburban mall or big box center (except they cost more). Times Square is still pretty and dazzling, but the novelty wears off quickly, and you're left with a ridiculously crowded overpriced tourist trap. Locals have absolutely no reason to go there, and plenty of reasons to avoid it.

It's rather ironic that so many people from across the USA travel to New York, but end up frequenting the same places they have at home.
 
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Bruno Republic said:
Suburban in the sense that most of what's there now consists of chain stores and restaurants which aren't any different from what you'd see in a typical suburban mall or big box center (except they cost more). Times Square is still pretty and dazzling, but the novelty wears off quickly, and you're left with a ridiculously crowded overpriced tourist trap. Locals have absolutely no reason to go there, and plenty of reasons to avoid it.

It's rather ironic that so many people from across the USA travel to New York, but end up frequenting the same places they have at home.
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Ah...... i see what he meant by "suburban" Y&D will always be suburban because of near by Ryerson. A lot of those kids come from the suburbs and grew up with those big box chains and restaurants. Same with new condo owners that move into the city from the burbs. They are used to shopping, dining at corporate chains. There is obviously demand for chains otherwise they would all be closed.

Read this forum. I see all kinds of people wanting flagship Apple stores, Target, Walmart, chain restaurants. I don't have a problem with that as long as they aren't in a place like Cabbagetown, Kensington or The Annex. Stick the chains in Dundas Square area where they belong.
 
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arvelomcquaig said:
Here is a great and relevant rant by Fran Lebowitz about the suburbanization of New York to attract tourists and Times Square.
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Lebowitz is a wonderful curmudgeon, but really was Times Square ever just another New York neighbourhood? No. It was always ground zero for 'big city' entertainment. If anything, the seedy years were the exception and not the rule... but why single out the loss of some fantasy of an authentic Times Square? You may as well lament Greenwich Village or Harlem too or almost any other Manhattan neighbourhood. Whether they're now catering to suburban rubes from Ohio, the bridge and tunnel crowd from Jersey or hipster jerks who think they've discovered cool, it's all the same thing.
 
gabe said:
Stick the chains in Dundas Square area where they belong.
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I agree... and it's economics really. Can little boutique restaurants afford the rents and real estate prices of Yonge/Dundas Square? Probably less and less.
 
Do we have any update on the actual addition to the main building? (Is the media tower worthy of a separate thread?) I'm personally more interested in what is going on there then with the media tower... Any updates?
 
I knew it'd be big, but jesus! Was kind of surprised when I was walking by Yonge and Dundas today. It's about double the size of the screen at 10 Dundas. Looks like they still have a strip to install at the top too!

2014-05-03 by chris.kotsy, on Flickr
 
I would think the top would be some kind of boarder. I think the whole screen needs a nice boarder.

Did anybody notice the new video screen on the Ed Mirvish Theatre? I don't know how long it's been up there but I just noticed it a few days ago. It's a pretty small screen but the quality looks decent. It advertises the theatre's plays, of course.
 
It's not zoned residential, so no boarder.

42
 
Bed, Bath & Beyond & Alleen's are going to see another run on blackout blinds from residents at the Pantages condos once they flick the switch for that sign on!
 
khristopher said:
Jazz as well. When I lived on the 25th floor, it was so bright!
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I lived in a north facing 23rd floor apartment at 33 Wood Street (right next to the Gardens) for a year around 2002 and there was a much smaller media sign on the south side of the Scientology building - that's like nearly a mile north, and at night I'd get flashing on the walls when watching TV with the lights dimmed or turned off. It wasn't horrible, but it was kind of annoying so I finally bought cheap Ikea blinds for the living room and my bedroom as I knew it was just a temporary stay. They worked fine.
 
Torontovibe said:
I would think the top would be some kind of boarder. I think the whole screen needs a nice boarder.

Did anybody notice the new video screen on the Ed Mirvish Theatre? I don't know how long it's been up there but I just noticed it a few days ago. It's a pretty small screen but the quality looks decent. It advertises the theatre's plays, of course.
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Hi Torontovibe, not to be nit-picky but you actually mean 'border'! :) 'Boarder' means something else and Interchange42's comment on 'no residential, therefore no boarder' plays off of the actual meaning of the word 'boarder' (a person who receives regular meals when staying somewhere, in return for payment or services). :)
 
Yes, I realized that after Interchange42 pointed that out. To quote a very wise man, you may be perfect but.....lol
 
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